2009 Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership Annual Report
The Lincoln and Logan County Development Partnership has just completed a very exciting year. In a very tough national economy, the Development Partnership helped to attract new retail as well as kick off several new programs.
New Programs:
The Lincoln and Logan County Development Partnership has launched a business incubator program called the Center of Success. This innovative program will fill empty commercial spaces throughout Logan County, while reducing start-up costs for new business owners. Businesses can stay in the business incubator for a three year period. The first year rent is reduced by 50%. The second year is reduced by 30% and the third year is reduced by 10%. Participants in the program will be required to go through a newly established Logan County SCORE program.
SCORE is a national program established by the Small Business Administration to council small business and business start-ups. SCORE helps businesses establish business plans and budgets. The Partnership facilitated the opening of Logan County’s first SCORE office in 2009.
To attract entrepreneurs to the business incubator, the Partnership will launch a business plan competition early in 2010.
The Partnership attended two national business incubator meetings geared at training for the business incubator launching.
The Partnership received a $50,000 grant from USDA to create an economic development master plan. This plan will guide the economic development activities of Logan County over the next five years. This will be Logan County’s first economic development master plan.
In January, USDA held an event at Lincoln College facilitated by the Partnership geared at introducing USDA funding programs to Logan County. Jim Vanetta from USDA met with over a dozen business leaders to discuss options.
Logan County is finalizing the process to join the Peoria Regional Economic Development District and become part of the regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). By becoming a member of the CEDS, Logan County will be eligible to attract federal funding through the United States Economic Development Authority. During Spring 2009, Bill Martin, Tom Akers and Joel Smiley facilitated a series of community meetings geared at identifying a series of projects for potential public funding through the stimulus program as well as long-term projects.
The Partnership participated on a panel hosted by the Illinois Wind Working Group. Two additional contacts were made at the event resulting in two additional wind site development tours.
The Partnership attended the Supply Chain Wind Expo at Western Illinois University.
The Partnership made a major effort to retain existing business. This fall the Partnership launched the first formal business retention program geared at meeting with the top 42 employers in Logan County. Among the initiatives to come out of the program is a manufacturer’s council that will launch during the first quarter of 2010.
Business Recruitment:
The Partnership also helped attract RP Lumber to Lincoln as RP Lumber redeveloped the former Kroger/CVS location for a new lumber and hardware store.
The Stage Company took over the former Goodies location and re-established a new Goodies store backed by Stage Stores’ 800 locations.
During 2009, the Partnership took an active role in the recruitment of wind developers and manufacturers. The Partnership took the lead in working with the Illinois Development Council in recruiting wind developers and manufacturers to Logan County. The Partnership co-chaired the Illinois Development Council Committee to have a statewide presence at WindPower 2009 which was the largest wind energy show in the world, which in May was held in Chicago. As a direct result of the show, five major wind developers toured Logan County and one of the five developers invested in a met tower to measure wind speeds in Logan County.
The Partnership also was invited to participate on a panel hosted by the Illinois Wind Working Group. Two additional contacts were made at the event resulting in two additional wind site development tours.
The Partnership attended the Supply Chain Wind Expo at Western Illinois University.
In 2009 the Partnership attended the Midwest Design and Manufacturing Show in Chicago to recruit manufacturers to Logan County.
Business Retention:
The Partnership made a major effort to retain existing business. This fall the Partnership launched the first formal business retention program geared at meeting with the top 42 employers in Logan County.
Among the initiatives to come out of the business retention program is a manufacturer’s council that will launch during the first quarter of 2010.
The Partnership worked with the Chamber of Commerce on efforts to save the prison job cuts at Logan County Correctional Facility. The Partnership also met with Lincoln Correctional Facility to offer assistance.
Community Programs
To assist the community in times of need, the Partnership coordinated a food drive through Lincoln Rotary which resulted in raising over $2,500 in cash and food for local food pantries.
The Partnership hosted a small business seminar in Elkhart to attract entrepreneurs to Elkhart and Logan County. The Partnership plans to have similar events in 2010.
In 2009 the Partnership conducted dozens of newspaper, radio and television interviews on economic development projects in Logan County.
Five Year Strategy
During 2009, the Partnership implemented the first year of the five-year economic strategy. The emphasis on the year was geared at business retention and business attraction. As the plan was geared at raising $1.5 million over 5 years, private sector investment increased over 100% and the Partnership launched several new programs including SCORE and the Center for Success.
[Text copied from file received from Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership]