 Below are just some of this month's happenings. Most were discussed
at the Logan County Board meetings this month.Workforce Expo
to help teach job application skills
Anyone wanting to get into the work force will have an
opportunity to learn the skills necessary in today's market to get a
job. This Saturday, April 25, free classes will be offered at the
Lincoln Recreation Center from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Vic Martinic, a Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce
representative, announced that the Workforce Readiness Expo would be
extremely beneficial to anyone who is re-entering the work force,
just been laid off or is entering the job market for the first time.
It is for anyone looking for work. Participants will be able to
choose from four workshops that cover resume and cover letter
writing, navigating and completing online applications, interview
skills, and self-marketing.
The chamber will also provide refreshments and child care,
Martinic said.
See article for more details:
Chamber hosts Workforce Readiness Expo free to community
Economic developments
CEDS progress
The city of Lincoln held its Comprehensive Economic Development
Strategy focus group on April 15. Bill Martin, a member of the
county board, regional planning commission and development
partnership, attended the first session. "I thought it went
extremely well," he said. "We allowed two hours and were done in an
hour and a half. We got a lot of projects listed and prioritized,
and then grouped them." He said that the results would be made
public at a later date.
Once the information from these gatherings is available and other
processes are completed, the CEDS will be submitted to the
Peoria-based Economic Development Partnership of Central Illinois
and become part of the regional CEDS.
Martin said he is thrilled to be at this point in the process
"because we've been working on this a long time. But, we're almost
there."
Tom Akers from Heartland College is leading the focus group
process.
Further CEDS focus group meetings:
-
Logan County:
Monday, April 27, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the Logan County Courthouse
-
Atlanta
(representing communities in the northern half of Logan County):
Tuesday, April 28, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the Olympia South
Elementary School, 103 NE Fifth St.
-
Mount Pulaski (representing communities
in the southern half of Logan County): Wednesday, May 20,
6:30-8:30 p.m., location to be announced
Other development projects in process:
Joel Smiley, executive director of Lincoln & Logan County
Development Partnership, said that Aug. 31 is the target date to
have the business incubator up and running, and July 31 is the goal
to get the SCORE program up and running. Smiley said that two
business startup applications have been formally submitted and two
more are in process. He expects to have meetings with SCORE
volunteers in May to get that program going in part sooner than the
end of July.
How to start a small business in Elkhart
Smiley said he would be doing a business seminar in Elkhart on
May 2. The focus would be how to start a small business in Elkhart.
He said he would duplicate the program to take to other
communities in Logan County. "I think it is good because it will
focus in on what we're trying to do to generate jobs here in Logan
County," he said.
Smiley said that he would be attending the
National
Business Incubator Conference in Kansas City and bring back the
latest concepts to apply to our program.
Another of his areas of emphasis now is
Windpower 2009, a May
4-7 conference and exhibition in Chicago. The focus will be on both
manufacturers and end users, he said.
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Public transportation
Pat O'Neill, county liaison to Community Action, said that the
next public transportation meeting will be on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.
at the Mason City Public Library.
At this meeting, communities will be asked to rate public
transportation needs from most urgent to least. Some of the choices
for Logan County to prioritize are participation in a shuttle
between counties; transportation for Lincoln Christian College and
Lincoln College students around town; and transportation to the
hospital or other community services and shopping in Lincoln.
The following meeting has been set for May 12.
County meets state
This week the county board chairman, Terry Carlton, continued his
efforts to make Logan County needs known to state lawmakers. He
attended the United Counties Council of Illinois Legislative Day in
Springfield on Wednesday. His plans included meeting with other
county board representatives and legislators in small groups to
discuss some of the challenges that counties face. He planned to
meet with 44th District Sen. Bill Brady.
United Counties Council of Illinois assists counties with
legislation and lobbying. The Legislative Day was established "to
acquaint county board members with the legislative process and to
lobby their representatives on priority bills for counties." Often
counties are financially squeezed when the state issues costly
unfunded mandates. This event provides a focused opportunity to
explain legislation impacts and needs.
Carlton planned to express support of pending legislation that
could take the county out from under property tax extension
limitation. "That would be a good thing for us," he said.
Carlton has established connections and regular communications
with all of the state representatives for Logan County: Sens. Larry
Bomke and Bill Brady and Reps. Bill Mitchell and Rich Brauer.
Carlton said that he would also be gathering information from the
Springfield Airport Authority.
Carlton said that one of his primary interests while meeting with
the state legislators at this time would be "keeping up with
stimulus funds and what is happening in the economy."
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST]
Contacts, information and Web sites:
Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of
Commerce
Executive Director Andi Hake
1555 Fifth St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
chamber@lincolnillinois.com
http://www.lincolnillinois.com/
217-735-2385
Community Action Partnership of
Central Illinois
Executive Director Angela Stoltzenburg
1800 Fifth St.
Lincoln, Illinois 62656
info@capcil.org
http://www.capcil.org/
Phone 217-732-2159
Fax 217-735-1753
Lincoln & Logan County Development
Partnership, NFP
Executive Director Joel Smiley
1555 Fifth St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
217-732-8739
EconDev@LincolnLogan.com
http://www.lincolnlogan.com/
Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of
Logan County
Executive Director Geoff Ladd
1555 Fifth St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
217-732-8687
info@abe66.com
http://www.logancountytourism.org/
Addresses of state legislators:
http://www.lincolndailynews.com/
Features/legislators.shtml
United Counties Council of Illinois:
http://www.unitedcounties.com/about.asp
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