One Voice, under the leadership of the EDC, is a pro-community campaign that has brought together leaders from the City of Bloomington, the Town of Normal, McLean County, labor, local educational institutions and local private businesses.
Each spring, the One Voice Task Force travels to Washington D.C. to meet with our congressional delegation to show them our community stands united in support of community issues involving projects, initiatives and infrastructure improvements. For those projects needing funding, we work to meet with the federal agencies that may have grants or funds available.
The main purpose of this year's visit was a "fact finding mission;" due to the change of presidential administrations, the group's primary focus was to determine what changes are coming to grant programs and funding policies under President Trump and how our efforts can be best adjusted.
The 2017 trip sought funding information for further mental health and jail initiatives in McLean County through the Department of Justice. We sought details from the Department of Education on Perkins loans, Pell grants, and international student well being due to international travel policy changes. We presented a project to the Department of Labor for a future exhibit at the McLean County History Museum and also discussed workforce development initiatives and connecting labor to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs. We also searched for funds to finish a south side transportation corridor in Bloomington and to kickstart development along the Main Street Corridor through assistance at the Department of Transportation.
The ultimate goal of One Voice is to engage our federal representatives and to obtain federal funding for our community. One Voice does not lobby for policy for regulatory change and is not affiliated with any political party, movement or policy organization.
2018 One Voice Trip
The 2018 trip will choose local projects to support in their quest for federal funding. Each project must meet three criteria:
- It must have an economic development impact in McLean County
- It must improve the quality of life in McLean County
- Federal funding must be formally requested for the project
2018 Annual Washington D.C. Fly-In Details
Date: Tuesday, March 6 – Thursday, March 8
Cost: $1600 per person. This includes hotel (2 nights), receptions, most cab fares and some meals.
Registration due by January 12th
For questions about the 2018 One Voice trip, contact Amy Denham at amy@bnbiz.org or (309) 452-8437
Richard Eikenberg Scholarship
The scholarship was created in 2008 to honor Richard Eikenberg, past EDC board chair. The scholarship allows one local college student (from an EDC investor school) to participate in the One Voice trip.
Read more about the 2018 Eickenberg Scholarship
2018 Scholarship Guidelines and Application
Applications are due Thursday, November 16, 2017
