110 ILCS 205/9.12

To encourage the coordination of research and service programs in the several State universities to furnish assistance to the communities and citizens of this State in meeting special economic needs arising from the removal or termination of substantial industrial or commercial operations and the waste of human and economic resources which often results from such removal. Such programs may include assistance in identifying opportunities for the replacement of the lost operations, in determining the economic feasibility of the various opportunities available, and in the development of new products or services suitable for production in the particular facility made available by the relocation. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity may assist the universities by providing, with the assistance of the Board, a system for referring particular economic problems to the most appropriate research and service program.