In March, Pando Daily writer Trevor Gilbert touched off a city-wide conversation about Chicago’s ability to attract tech startups and retain giants like Groupon. Last month, 1871, a cooperative tech innovation hub, opened with more than 25 businesses in Merchandise Mart. On Friday, Eight Forty-Eight explores whether Chicagoland and the greater Midwest are heating up as tech hotspots, or whether they continue to lag behind the coasts.

Are you trying to start a tech company, or did you bring yours here from out of state? Do you know someone who left the Midwest for greener high-tech pastures? Call 855.848.5551 and tell us your story.