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Gov. Blagojevich brings Opportunity Returns
to north central Illinois
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Unprecedented economic development plan to
create jobs and spur economic growth will help entrepreneurs thrive, upgrade
local transportation, and improve education and job training to attract new
businesses throughout the region
[DEC. 4, 2003]
PEORIA -- Speaking before a crowd of business, labor and
civic leaders as well as local legislators at the Gateway Building
on Peoria's waterfront, Gov. Rod Blagojevich unveiled the fourth of
10 new major economic initiatives to spur growth in the region and
across the state. The governor's plan, Opportunity Returns,
is the most aggressive, comprehensive approach to creating jobs to
date in Illinois. This grassroots plan is a product of significant
outreach over the past several months with business, civic and labor
leaders and government officials throughout the region.
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"The plan is neither
a big-government promise to fix everything nor is it a tiny band-aid
for a seriously wounded economy. Instead, these initiatives are
targeted investments, surgical strikes to connect entrepreneurs with
investors, to connect great ideas with skilled workers and to
connect the North Central region's supply of economic assets with
demand around the world," Blagojevich said (since the region is more
than just Peoria) "Our plan is to get the region's economy moving
again and is designed to be flexible and effective; it is tailored
to deliver real results that local businesses will see, feel and,
hopefully, profit from."
The governor's
Opportunity Returns plan for north central Illinois consists of five
primary goals to address the economic and work force development
needs of the region: investing in entrepreneurship and innovation,
improving transportation infrastructure, strengthening education and
job training, investing in renewable energy and the environment, and
encouraging investment and opening markets.
The North Central
Illinois region includes DeWitt, Fulton, Livingston, Marshall,
Mason, McLean, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell and Woodford counties.
The governor
announced several major initiatives and grants to counter job loss
and spur economic development in the region:
--To help promote
innovation in the region, $4.5 million has been committed to
launch the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center. The $12 million,
50,000-square-foot facility will be a business incubator taking the
ideas generated from the more than $1 billion in research
spent each year at Caterpillar, the University of Illinois College
of Medicine at Peoria, Bradley University, the USDA Agriculture Lab
and other research institutions and turning them into startup
businesses.
--Funding an
Entrepreneurship Center at the new business incubator, staffed by
Bradley University. The center will serve as a unique
commercialization center connecting researchers and entrepreneurs to
business assistance and funding sources to create proven products
for the global marketplace. These two projects could create
thousands of jobs.
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--Over $25 million
to fund the completion of Interstate 55 in Bloomington. This
investment will expand Bloomington's major thoroughfare from four to
six lanes, completing a 25-year-long project and providing the
infrastructure necessary to support the growing commerce in this
region.
--Linking all forms
of ground transportation together in downtown Normal with the new
Multimodal Transportation Center, which will join rail, bus and
local transportation in a single location. This new hub will be
ready for high-speed rail service and complements an ambitious
downtown redevelopment plan.
--Conduct a Port
District Planning Study, with an Illinois Tomorrow grant, to explore
infrastructure needs, import and export opportunities, land use
impacts, and the capacity of existing transportation resources to
guide future growth and development decisions. This study will help
to understand the needs of companies in the Heart of Illinois Port
District, situated along the Illinois River, and to develop
infrastructure improvements that will connect goods moving by barge
to facilities served by trucks, trains and airplanes.
--Heartland Community
College is receiving $13.5 million to construct an
80,000-square-foot work force development center at its new campus
complex in Normal. The center will upgrade its equipment and
facilities so that it can train an additional 400 students a year in
95 new classrooms, labs and offices.
--Develop the "21st
Century Jobs" Training Initiative by offering grants to help local
businesses upgrade their work forces.
--Promoting tourism
and economic development while preserving the environment with the
restoration of both Pekin and Peoria Lake.
"Like the constant, steady, calming flow
of the Illinois River, we will work methodically and unrelentingly
to build a better future. We will work day and night to put people
back to work, to create opportunity and economic security. And when
we do, we will make the great dream of building a better life as
real and vibrant and alive as it was meant to be," Blagojevich
concluded.
[News release from the
governor's office] |
