Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan to build the nation’s “most robust quantum ecosystem” in South Chicago took a quantum leap forward Wednesday, thanks to a stronger partnership IBM aimed at ensuring that “everyone benefits” from the quantum computing revolution. Sixteen months after IBM became the first Fortune 500 company to join the planned Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park on the South Side, IBM agreed to open a new FutureNow Chicago delivery center at the park that will create 750 full-time jobs. The groundbreaking investment includes IBM’s commitment to hire one-third of the qualified graduates from a new apprenticeship program to be started at the City Colleges of Chicago. Pritzker announced the new partnership at Olive Harvey College, one of the seven City Colleges whose current and future students stand to benefit from the apprenticeship program and the pipeline to permanent jobs it will create. Pritzker called it a quantum leap in his drive to ensure the economic opportunities created by the new campus will benefit everyone in the state. “With a transformation that’s this big, I intend to make sure that our working families and communities are at the core of the economic success that these changes are going to bring” to Chicago, the state and the nation, Pritzker told the gathering of political, business, civic and education leaders that included Mayor Brandon Johnson. “Through a new innovative workforce collaboration between IBM and City Colleges of Chicago and philanthropic partners, our people here in Illinois will benefit from the opportunities ahead. At IBM’s FutureNow Chicago center, residents of the South Side will be able to reap the economic lift from this new wave of technology. City Colleges are supporting 500 apprentices at IBM. Even more exciting, IBM has committed to hiring more than a third of qualified participants for full-time positions.”