Illinois isn’t just the flat, rolling fields of corn and soy we all visualize (although they do feed and fuel the world with 75,000 farms covering 76% of the 57,918 square miles of land). It’s the home of Chicago, a bastion of professional services in the financial sector, and top universities like University of Illinois, Loyola and Northwestern University. Biotechnologies, like clean energy technology, medical and nutritional products, chemistry and physics research breakthroughs are all part of the broad makeup of Illinois. The Illinois biotech sector alone is a $100 billion annual industry.

Sports fans root for “da Bears,” the White Sox and Cubbies, the Bulls and the Blackhawks while chomping down Chicago-style dogs. If you’re headed to the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, watch out for Jake and Elwood, a.ka. The Blues Brothers.. Their auction car has a “cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant. It’s got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks.” It may or may not have a giant bullhorn on top and be plowing through a local mall. By the way, Superman’s adopted hometown of Metropolis is a real town in southern Illinois.

Illinois is home to 1.2 million small businesses, or 99.6% of companies and provide 2.5 million private sector jobs. Exports are a large sector of the small business opportunity in Illinois, with 20,192 small businesses generating about $15 billion in exports in 2015. Professional, scientific and technical occupations are the biggest employers, followed by health care, retail and entertainment.

While there are a few and very limited exemptions, workers’ comp insurance, also known as workman’s comp in the Prairie State, is a must-have in Illinois. Failure to comply is considered a felony, so don’t take that chance. Joliet may be closed, but there are other prisons! Your employees are your greatest asset, so be sure to protect their assets from the slip on Greektown tzatziki sauce in the breakroom, or an over-eager and over-caffeinated young Exchange floor worker trying to hand you a morning cup of joe.