Business Assistance, Retention & Expansion

BizBAM advertisements are now running on Pantagraph.com. The exposure is leading up to the unveiling of BizBAM (our business retention program) at our local media event Thursday, August 30th, 1 p.m. at the Bank of Illinois Community Room. Also watch for BizBAM on the cover of the Pantagraph’s B2B September issue. A new hero will emerge!

BizBAM meetings are generating referrals to partner organizations and, most importantly, Bloomington-Normal businesses are being linked to the resources they need. We have had some very candid and informative meetings with early participants. For more information on BizBAM and other business assistance issues, contact Chad Carson at (309) 452-8437 or chad@bnbiz.org.

The C7 application deadline has been extended and we are still looking for protégés, so spread the word! Interviews are being scheduled for applicants for the last week of August. It’s not too late to participate. For program materials and applications, visit our Web site.

New Business Recruitment & Development

The EDC is involved with a program to support development along the I-39 corridor. This program is similar to the marketing program in which we participate called the Central Illinois Development Partnership (CIDP). The I-39 Logistics Corridor Association, much like the CIDP, is focused on the attraction of commerce and industry to a specific geographic region. The I-39 group is larger and has an added advantage of having many Chicago area developers and brokers providing dues and funding to its effort. We are excited to be part of the effort and see many opportunities to promote McLean County.

The I-39 Logistics Corridor encompasses 10,000 square miles and spans 165 miles from Janesville, Wis., on the north to Bloomington-Normal on the south, and 65 miles from Sycamore on the east to Sterling on the west. It covers two states and 14 counties, including Rock County in Wisconsin, and all or portions of the following Illinois counties: Winnebago, Boone, Stephenson, Whiteside, Ogle, Lee, DeKalb, LaSalle, Bureau, Marshall, Livingston, Woodford and McLean. One can see the I-39 corridor Web site at: www.i39logistics.com.

Community Improvement

• The EDC has received confirmation that two more of the “One Voice” projects have received earmark requests in the FY08 budget. Congressman Jerry Weller has requested $175,000 for the Bloomington Cultural District and Congressman Tim Johnson and Congressman Weller have requested $250,000 for the Normal Multi-Modal Transportation Center. While approved by the House, the appropriations still must pass the Senate and joint conference committees. Last month, the EDC learned that Senator Dick Durbin’s request of $250,000 for the McLean County Business Incubator passed the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

• The One Voice Task Force met on July 31st to discuss potential priority projects for the FY09 budget. The featured speaker of the meeting was Mayor John Mohr of Lexington who spoke to the Task Force about the Lexington sewer project. The City of Lexington is hoping to receive $1.5 million in federal funds to assist them in implementing the new system. Staff members representing Senator Dick Durbin, Senator Barack Obama and Congressman Tim Johnson updated the group on the delegation’s FY08 earmark requests. Senator Bill Brady also called into the meeting from Springfield regarding the latest news concerning the state budget. The next One Voice Task Force meeting will be held on September 12th. The featured speaker will be Illinois Wesleyan President Richard Wilson.

• Christina, Chad and Ken recently met and toured Downs with Mayor Jeff Schwartz. The mayor discussed current and future development in the area. The group will next be meeting with Jeff Clawson, city manager of LeRoy, and Danver’s mayor, Ron Roth, within the next two weeks. In addition, Marty has held follow-up meetings with the mayors of Gridley and Chenoa to discuss new jobs and capital investments in those areas. 

For more information relating to the One Voice Task Force, community outreach or government relations program, please contact Brooke Weishaupt at (309) 452-8437 or brooke@bnbiz.org.

Program Oversight & Investor Relations

Last month we talked about our Key Performance Indicator (KPI) report and told you how it provides up-to-date information on our progress. Another initiative we promised was the McLean County Index of Economic Activity sponsored by the Pantagraph and Busey Bank. The Index was originally introduced at the Economic Development Almanac Breakfast in April and was produced by the Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development at Illinois State University along with the department of Economics.

Neither the federal government nor the state government really measures local economies. The closest they come is the unemployment rate, and that measure can be misleading for a variety of reasons. The McLean County Index provides a historical look at the McLean County economy since 1990. Following the approach used by the Conference Board for the U.S. economy, the Index of Economic Activity measures the county’s business cycle fluctuations. The index includes the overall employment, employment by major sectors, passenger traffic at the Central Illinois Regional Airport and a measure of manufacturing performance in the Midwest and U.S. economic activity.

The index begins in January 1990 with a base of 100 and is continually updated as data become available. The most recent value of the index for March 2007 stands at 170.46. For the most recent year covering April 2006-March 2007, the index grew at a moderate rate of 1.85 percent. For the most recent quarter covering January 2007-March 2007, the index contracted at a rate of -0.33 percent. The quarterly growth rate for McLean County employment was -2.33 percent; airport traffic was 10.96 percent; employment in the trade, transportation and utilities sector for Bloomington-Normal was -4.11 percent, employment in the remaining sectors in Bloomington-Normal (manufacturing, education, health and professional business services) was relatively flat. Click here for the news release issued by the EDC.

Area Promotion

The EDC, while certainly not the only agency interested in the promotion of McLean County, does promote the area whenever possible.  The EDC gives McLean County a presence in several trade and development organizations that span the immediate region and beyond.  The EDC participates in the I-39 Logistics Corridor Association, the Central Illinois Development Partnership, the Illinois Development Council, CORENet Global, the International Economic Development Council and many others.  Each year, the EDC attends numerous trade shows and networking events through our participation in these groups.  At each event, we present a common message – McLean County is a great place to do business.

Heartland Community College

On August 1st, Heartland Community College held its official groundbreaking ceremony for the much anticipated Workforce Development Center (WDC). The WDC will provide a broad range of educational programs, training and technical assistance tailored to the needs of business and industry and will provide an improved environment for its vocational-technical students. 

Programs housed in the new Workforce Development Center include computer science, machine tool technology, computer aided design, electronics and controls, manufacturing technology and maintenance technology. The Workforce Development Center will integrate technical and occupational education, provide customized training for local businesses and industries and offer employees and employers opportunities to improve and update workforce skills.

In addition, the WDC (100,000 gross square feet) will be the first state-funded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building in Illinois. By fulfilling the requisites to meet the Green Building Initiative standards for environmentally conscious construction and operation, the facility offers a unique opportunity to serve as a statewide and national resource for sustainable design and construction.

Learn more about Heartland Community College's Workforce Development Center.

Robert Lakin

This month’s featured board member is Robert Lakin. Lakin has been very active in the EDC, co-chairing the EDC’s Navigating a New Direction capital campaign. He is the president of Commerce Bank, Illinois and represents the private sector on the EDC board of directors.

Lakin received a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in business administration from Illinois State University. Along with serving on the EDC board, he is a past Rotarian, board member of the Community Foundation and has been involved with the YMCA, Salvation Army, Boy Scouts and OSF Foundation. Lakin is also a member of the Robert Morris Association and Banking Credit Manager Association. In his free time, he enjoys golf, gardening and reading.

Lakin has served on other economic development boards in the communities he has worked in. He said he discovered how important a strong and viable EDC is for the community, and his goal is to assist in any manner possible to strengthen Bloomington-Normal’s.

He said the EDC’s biggest challenge is to overcome is the State of Illinois’ business climate issues and the massive competition for new jobs and growth.

“The first task the EDC must accomplish is to make sure our local employers are satisfied with the local climate in Bloomington-Normal, as they are the ones who can grow and produce more jobs and dollars in the easiest and quickest fashion. Plus, since they are here today, they have earned the right to be satisfied and assisted in a reasonable manner,” Lakin said. “Secondly, we must be able to present the ‘Bloomington-Normal Story’ to those companies who are looking to expand and develop new facilities and investments in the Midwest. We are one of the very, very best places to live and work, and we need to tell this story to the countless number of potential new prospects.”

The Crossroads Center is currently accepting new tenants for retail, office and flex-space condo units. Built alongside and visible from I-55/I-74, the Crossroads Center has units ranging from 1,200 to 16,000 square feet with prices starting as low as $40 psf. If your business is looking to expand or relocate, the Crossroads Center can offer a highly-visible unit to meet your needs. Contact Chad Jones at (309) 452-7888.

Learn more about our building and sites locator.

Illinois Dept. of Commerce & Economic Opportunity

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is the State of Illinois’ economic development arm.  Under Gov. Blagojevich’s Opportunity Returns program, the state was divided into 10 economic development regions. McLean County falls under the North Central region, along with Stark, Marshall, Peoria, Fulton, Mason, Tazewell, Woodford, Livingston and DeWitt counties.

In past years, DCEO was centralized in Chicago and Springfield. Most contacts were through mail, trade shows, etc., with limited contact with a DCEO representative. Now, according to John Whalen, North Central Region manager, there are better outreach opportunities with local contacts. These local representatives, he said, are more accessible and hold a personal stake in the region since they live and work there.

Whalen said a challenge he has faced has been learning the different ways communities handle economic development. Some communities have a very sophisticated and formal approach, while others have a less formal process. By learning how they approach economic development, he gains a better understanding of how he can be of assistance.

The North Central Region has partnered with several local organizations on events. In 2005, the EDC hosted a reverse trade mission with several foreign trade consulates out of Chicago. The EDC also co-sponsored a financial forum for local companies to learn the different finance programs offered through state and local organizations. The main purpose of these partnerships is to increase awareness and education for state programs.

In the future, Whalen said he would like to grow more relationships with organizations and municipalities. He said economic development doesn’t happen quickly – you need to put a process in place and then think long-range. He said he would like to see training programs expand and more financing opportunities and access to capital options.

Click here to learn more about DCEO.

EDC develops Workforce Development Fund with Partners in Nursing program

The EDC has joined the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation (IPCF), the Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University and a number of other regional education and health care organizations to combine forces and strengthen Central Illinois' nursing workforce. The Partners in Nursing of Central Illinois (PIN of CI) project focuses on improving nurse retention through enhanced education, faculty development and an emphasis on long-term care.

A 2004 study by the Illinois governor's office identified the "leakage" of nursing graduates to the metropolitan Chicago and St. Louis areas as a major concern for Central Illinois. An accelerated program at Mennonite College of Nursing has begun to address this. The collaborative doctoral program at MCN will target the need for nursing faculty, another major need cited by the study. The PIN of CI brings together regional nursing schools, health care facilities, financial institutions and economic development organizations to focus on retaining registered nurses in the region, increasing the number of faculty members at regional nursing schools, promoting long-term care nursing as an attractive career path and fostering futher partnerships to support nursing education.

Increasing the number of regional students who graduate from MCN's accelerated nursing degree program and making more feasible for students to pursue doctoral degrees in nursing are two of the project's educational goals. To that end, the IPCF, MCN and EDC have developed the Workforce Development Fund, which will provide banks with loan guarantees at 80 percent of the loan value. The EDC has committed $50,000 to the fund. The students in the accelerated program are non-traditional students (they must already have a bachelor's degree in another subject) and are therefore not eligible for traditional financial aid. The fund will provide more collateral for the students to obtain loans. They have a high success rate in the program as non-traditional students, being older than traditional students and having already obtained a bachelor's degree.

This is a unique program, unlike any other in the nation. It was of key interest to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans. The fund will eventually be administered by the Community Development Corporation being established by the EDC. It will also be available to other industries with a workforce shortage.

CIRA offering Las Vegas flights

The Bloomington-Normal Airport Authority has announced that AirTran Airways has begun new, non-stop jet service to Las Vegas from the Central Illinois Regional Airport as of August 15th.

The Las Vegas flights are offered four days per week, with departures from CIRA on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and return flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. AirTran Airways is offering this service onboard their fleet of new Boeing 737-700 aircraft which seats 137 passengers and provides free XM satellite radio at every seat, oversized overhead compartments and affordable business class seating.

CIRA is located two miles east of Veterans Parkway on Route 9 in Bloomington and features five airlines, five car rentals and several retail shops. In addition, a business center open to the general public, conference rooms and a VIP lounge cater to the region's air travelers. Wireless Internet access is available throughout the building.

EDC board member promoted

Bernard "Bernie" Anderson has been named senior regional community relations director with Nicor Gas. In the position as senior director, Anderson's main focus is the continued fostering of relationships between Nicor Gas and local governments. In addition, he will oversee areas of local media, economic development, corporate giving and emergency readiness for first-responders.

Anderson joined Nicor Gas in 1980 and has served in a number of positions over his 27-year career. He is a graduate of Illinois State University with a B.S. in business administration. He has been in community relations for the past 11 years and covers a 15-county region along and south of Interstate 80.

The regional-based Anderson will continue to be the main contact for municipal and area officials and looks to continue the growth of strong relationships throughout the region.

Midwest High Speed Rail Association and Amtrak launch new campaign

The Midwest High Speed Rail Association, in conjunction with Amtrak Illinois with funding from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, has launched "Catch an Illinois Train."

According to the program, Amtrak improves Illinois by reducing our oil addiction, protecting our environment and connecting our region's economy. Because each individual rider strengthens the passenger rail network, people can improve Illinois by helping someone new catch an Illlinois train.

The program will be launched September 10th at a press conference at the Amtrak station in Normal. For more information, visit the Midwest High Speed Rail Association's Web site at www.midwesthsr.org or Amtrak's Web site at www.amtrak.com.