Illinois continues Metro East showcase with Collinsville’s Teklab $10M lab expansion

 

By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE
Managing Editor, Illinois Business Journal
[email protected]

On Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, Teklab Inc. cut the ribbon on a new 36,500-square-foot laboratory in Collinsville, marking a $10 million investment that state and local leaders say reinforces the Metro East’s role in Illinois’ broader economic development strategy.

With its new facility, the veteran- and family-owned environmental testing firm expects to create at least 40 new full-time jobs while retaining nearly 100 existing positions, expanding its footprint in Madison County and positioning the region as a growing hub for environmental science and advanced laboratory services.

Gov. JB Pritzker joined Teklab representatives, as well as local, regional and other state officials for the ribbon-cutting celebration. His remarks at the event highlighted the expansion as an example of Illinois’ renewed focus on business growth and regional investment.

“There’s almost nothing more satisfying than seeing a great Illinois business expanding and employing more of our people,” Pritzker said during the event, emphasizing that the project represents “another significant step forward” in growing jobs and economic opportunity in Madison County and across the Metro East.

EDGE incentives and local partnerships

The project is supported by Illinois’ Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credit program, one of the state’s primary business attraction and retention tools. Through its agreement, Teklab has committed to investing $10 million and creating at least 40 new jobs, with company leadership signaling the potential for further hiring in the coming years.

For Collinsville and the broader Metro East, the impact of 40 to potentially 80 additional jobs is significant, Pritzker said further, calling the hiring “game-changing” for a region where incremental job growth can ripple through local families and small businesses.

The state worked alongside Madison County and the City of Collinsville to assemble a package that included enterprise zone incentives and local support to streamline permitting and construction, noted Teklab Inc. CEO John Riley as a part of his remarks.

Riley also shared details of the company’s history and emphasized its family-rooted, welcoming culture along with the support received from the community, regionally and from the state level as major contributors to its continued success.

“The choice to grow in Illinois is easy when we align the right tools with a world-class workforce,” Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Lisa Clemmons Scott said during her remarks at the event, further noting that companies participating in EDGE committed $2.6 billion in private investment statewide last year. She is the chief business attraction and development officer for Illinois DCEO.

A Metro East anchor with national reach

Founded in 1982, Teklab Inc. provides analytical testing of air, soil, wastewater, drinking water and emerging contaminants such as PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals.” The new facility triples the company’s space in Collinsville and expands its lab capacity at a time when environmental testing demand is rising nationwide.

State officials said expanded lab capacity in the Metro East will shorten turnaround times for municipalities and manufacturers, allowing faster water testing, environmental compliance reviews and infrastructure development. Acting Illinois EPA Director James Jennings said increased in-state capacity reduces delays and keeps more business activity, and revenue, within Illinois.

The facility and its expansion also strengthen the region’s role in supporting redevelopment and infrastructure projects, which rely on environmental testing to move forward safely and efficiently, Madison County Board Chair Chris Slusser noted.

Mayor Jeff Stehman called the investment a vote of confidence in Collinsville’s workforce and business climate, adding that the expansion will bring “jobs, innovation and economic momentum” to the city.

Workforce and regional competitiveness

Pritzker framed the expansion as part of a broader push to enhance Illinois’ competitiveness, pointing to workforce development programs and university partnerships that supply skilled chemists and lab technicians to companies like Teklab.

The Metro East, he said, is increasingly attractive for companies seeking proximity to major transportation corridors, access to skilled labor and competitive incentive packages, without relocating across the Mississippi River.

“They could have moved to Missouri or another state,” Pritzker said. “We wanted them to succeed here in Illinois.”

The governor’s visit followed his annual State of the State address, in which he cited Illinois’ $1.2 trillion GDP and recent gains in national business rankings as evidence of economic momentum.

For the Metro East, leaders say projects like Teklab’s signal a shift from simply retaining legacy employers to scaling homegrown firms into multi-state players while keeping their headquarters and high-value jobs rooted in southwestern Illinois.

As Teklab expands into new Midwestern markets and invests in added equipment over the next 18 to 24 months, company executives said Collinsville will remain the operational anchor.

For state and local officials, Teklab’s rooted combination — family ownership, technical specialization and reinvestment in place — represents the kind of durable growth they hope will define the next chapters of Metro East economic development.