 Smiley last spoke to the council in April, and he reports that since
then the CEDS application for Lincoln and Logan County was submitted
to the Peoria Economic Development Council and has been approved.
In regard to new and revitalized business in the city and county, he
reported that he invested about five months in facilitating the
reopening of the Goody's store under new ownership, and he is happy
to see that they are now up and running once again and that RP
Lumber is set to open in September
Smiley added that he has visited all the other hardware and
lumber companies in the city and has offered his assistance in terms
of re-evaluating their own business plans.
Helitech, which Smiley announced earlier in the year was looking
to come into Lincoln, is currently working out an agreement with a
private developer in Logan County, and he expects to have more on
that in the near future.
Alderwoman Marty Neitzel asked for clarification regarding the
Helitech location -- Would they bring their business to the city or
to the county? -- and Smiley said that currently the location of
choice is in Logan County but borders the city of Lincoln.
In May, Smiley attended a conference called Windpower 2009, which
is the largest wind show in the United States. As a result of
contacts made there, he has recently offered tours of the county to
five different producers, two of which are the top producers of wind
energy in the country.
The partnership will soon be launching a Logan County SCORE
office in Lincoln, under the umbrella of the Springfield Regional
SCORE office.
SCORE is a national association of retired business executives
who volunteer their time to counsel small businesses and startup
businesses, especially in the area of establishing and following a
business plan, as well as a budget.
He said that two local volunteers are nearing completion of their
individualized SCORE training and will soon be ready to offer their
services through the new local SCORE office.
He added that SCORE is hoping to purchase billboard space in
Lincoln to promote their services.
Smiley recently accompanied Logan County Board members on a tour
and meeting at the Logan Correctional Center.
The development partnership continues to work with the chamber of
commerce in an effort to see what can be done to save jobs in the
county, and in those efforts they have been looking to other
communities around the country to see what actions they have taken
successfully in similar situations.
Included in these efforts are what Smiley referred to as "site
retention visits." These visits were started in August and will
continue through October, include calling on the top 40 employers in
the county.
Smiley said that this would be an annual event with a twofold
goal. First, the visits will help determine if there is any
indication that the employers are in trouble. "We want to help them
before it comes to a job-loss situation," Smiley said.
The second goal is make them aware of resources available through
the state, or even locally through the county, that might be of
benefit to their operations.
[to top of second column] |
The business incubator program is on track for startup in October.
The committee to establish the incubator has been working for the
past 16 months, and Smiley noted that Mayor Keith Snyder has been a
part of the group, along with several other community members and
leaders, including Alderman Nathan Turner.
The initial plan for the incubator was to establish one
centralized location for the program, and Smiley said that is still
a goal. However, in the meantime, the incubator has transformed into
a variety of locations around the county, based on available
resources and spaces.
The incubator process includes property owners leasing out their
spaces at a reduced rent for three years.
Applicants will have to go through the SCORE process, putting
together a business plan as well as a budget, and also agree to
ongoing participation in SCORE, where they will receive continual
business management training.
"The incubator will network the businesses together, and that
will give us the great strength that it will take for these
businesses to survive the initial three to five years when most
businesses fail," Smiley said. "By doing that, we think we have a
great formula to start new jobs, with targeted wages for those jobs
at $12 to $15 an hour."
The development partnership has also submitted a $2,500 grant
application to develop their Web site and is waiting on two major
grant applications, one for the business incubator and the other for
financing an "Economic Development Master Plan."
Smiley referred to the plan as a road map to success. The plan
will show the strengths of the community, indicate areas of
potential growth, the types of businesses that could be attracted to
the area and the incentives needed to facilitate growth in the
community.
Smiley said that to do this properly, a special consultant would
need to be hired at a cost of $50,000 to $60,000. The grant he is
applying for is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and
would help to finance that consultant fee.
Neitzel asked where he was focusing his attention for future
business development and growth: Was it on the west side of town or
the downtown area?
Smiley said that he was working for economic growth in all areas
of Lincoln, including the west side and downtown.
A special Economic Development Breakfast is currently being
planned for either late this year or early next spring. Smiley said
that he is waiting to hear about availability of one major speaker
he wants to invite, and once he does, he will set the date. He
encouraged all the city council members to attend that meeting.
[By NILA SMITH]
 |
