Greater Peoria Economic Development Council benefits to Logan County

 

[October 17, 2018] 

LINCOLN 

At the Logan County Board Workshop on Thursday, October 11, CEO of the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council (GPEDC) Chris Setti gave a brief presentation. In February, Setti spoke at a joint meeting between the Board and the Lincoln City Council.

Setti said the GPEDC is a public/private entity providing economic development over five counties including Logan, Mason, Woodford, Tazewell, and Peoria counties. He said they are an economic development district, which is a designee of the Federal Government made by the Economic Development Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Setti said Logan County was not part of the Economic Development District in the beginning of the GPEDC, but they petitioned to be annexed into the district around five years ago.

At the GPEDC, they are doing business development work, business attraction, and workforce development.
Setti said it has been difficult to attract companies to the state of Illinois due to business uncertainty. He will be in Charlotte next week to meet with site selectors, so they are aware of assets in the area.

Setti said business development is the core of what they do to work with both companies that have just started up and companies that are well established to make sure they are able to grow and put them in touch with the resources they need.

Setti said the other part of what they do is workforce development. He said the best incentive for an employer to come to your community and the things that keep employers from growing in a community is the quality of the workforce. After a company asks about sites, the next question is not about financial incentives, taxes, or electricity, it is about the quality of the workforce, so the GPEDC works to improve that.

Setti said he has met with people from Inland Tool in Mount Pulaski and helped them find a connection to Brandt, a brand-new manufacturer opening in Normal. He said through their network, the GPEDC was able to find the right contact at Brandt since Inland is a supplier. Inland has also joined the Greater Peoria Manufacturing Network, which is a group of 18 different manufacturer and suppliers who work together to market themselves as a unit that provides all service needs. Setti said the GPEDC is always working to connect businesses with other resources.

Setti said on the workforce side, one of the things coming up is Career Spark. They try to link the people currently unemployed with the jobs available and build a pipeline so that youth now in school will be prepared for the jobs available.

Setti said that work starts early, so every eighth grader in their region is invited to Career Spark, a hands-on career exploration fair held over two days at the Peoria Civic Center. He said students from Hartsburg Emden and West Lincoln Broadwell schools will be attending. He expects 4,000 will be attending Career Spark this year.

Setti said eight different industry sectors that include manufacturing, health care, and law will be there.

Setti said for the upcoming year, they are working on an Opportunity Zone in Lincoln. The Opportunity Zone is a new incentive that is part of the GOP tax bill passed earlier this year. He said one of the census tracks in Lincoln was named an Opportunity Zone by Governor Rauner and it provides some additional tax incentives for investment as a way of investing capital gains.

Setti said they are working with the city to try to identify projects to market to these funds that will be out there. He said a trillion dollars in capital gains is realized in this country each year and a pretty steep tax is paid on the gains, so the federal incentive is a way to drive some of the money into low income areas. Lincoln, Havana, Pekin, and Peoria were able to receive these incentives.

Setti said the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Committee, which board member Dave Blankenship is a member of, will be working with the county to help craft an economic development strategy for the region.

Board member David Hepler asked about the data on our workforce.

Setti said statistics will show for an economy to really be growing, 60 percent of the workforce must have a credential past a high school diploma like an Associate’s Degree or certificate in welding or nursing. He said in this region, it is about 40 percent.

Setti said there are many without a marketable degree and getting young people to understand where the jobs are is important. More people are needed to get the kinds of qualifications that companies need.

Atlanta resident Melanie Blankenship asked about results on the strategy they have created.

Setti said putting together the manufacturing network has identified a lot of small manufacturing companies that don’t have the time to do their own marketing, so the GPEDC has helped with marketing and connecting companies.

Setti said we are seeing a rebound in the local and national economy and Logan County had 4.5 percent unemployment rate as of August 2018.

Setti said economic development is a team sport and everyone must pull together.

[Angela Reiners]