March 6, 2013 – (Above) Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer answers a question at Merchandise Mart Wednesday morning from Dr. Rob Rutenbar, head of the computer science department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne. Ballmer spoke to a crowd of information technology professionals at 1871, a 50,000 square foot facility for new tech companies located on the 12th floor of Merchandise Mart.

Ballmer was in Chicago to encourage entrepreneurship in general and discuss specifically how Microsoft computers can help.

“I think we are in the beginning of a next phase of a revolution in this business,” said Ballmer. “There couldn’t be a better time, I think, to start a company. And it certainly doesn’t seem like you could have a better place to get started than 1871. There are so many opportunities here.”

Before speaking for about 36 minutes, Ballmer was introduced by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who pointed out more jobs have been created in Chicago in the past 18 months than in any other U.S. city. “One of the major reasons is because of the digital economy and the energy that’s here, packed into this room.”

Ballmer was scheduled to speak Tuesday night at a dinner sponsored by The Economic Club of Chicago but the event was canceled due to bad weather.