As our communities and businesses endure the impact of COVID-19, we are excited to bring you positive news occurring in SWIL. The DCEO Office of Broadband recently announced the first recipients of the Illinois Connected Communities grant program, created to assist some of the most under-served areas of the state with building broadband capacity. This new program will direct $150,000 in state-funded small grants paired with $150,000 in philanthropic matching funds for 12 community and local government partners - including Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois - to lead the development of strategic plans to ensure access, adoption and utilization of high-speed broadband in SWIL communities.

There's also news of a local investment by TriStar Companies for a 200-acre industrial development, called Mid America Commerce Center, located in O'Fallon, Illinois, at Interstate 64 and Rieder Road. This new commercial and industrial development is designed to accommodate build-to-suit buildings ranging from 25,000 square feet to 710,000 square feet of warehouse/distribution space. We are excited to see this new economic development investment. Among those is a $4.7 million investment by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), which will expand the Illinois Apprenticeship Program to serve an additional 568 residents in training programs over the course of the next two years. To help more Illinoisans take part in apprenticeship training programs aligned with high-demand career fields, the administration is awarding grants to 25 organizations across the state to expand training programs and employer partnerships, with an emphasis on growth in under-served communities.

In addition, Madison County’s Community Services Block Grant program offers vocational training, adult basic education, scholarship program, nutrition, home repairs, senior meals, youth education programs, summer camp, family self-sufficiency, and meal assistance. These programs have been established to help those who do not have as much and to encourage self-sufficiency. If you or someone you know would be interested in learning more, please click here for the brochure.

We also want to call your attention to the new website and new regional video recently launched by Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois with the goal of attracting a site selector audience to the area. The enhanced website features information on the region’s trained and retainable workforce, robust transportation system (interstates, freight, air, and port), affordable, available land and housing options, utilities, protection the American Bottoms Levee System provides and more. Check it all out at the link below or at www.leadershipcouncilswil.com.

618-692-9745 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker joined the Illinois Department of Transportation to announce the release of a $21.3 billion plan to improve Illinois roads and bridges over the next six years.The critical investment in communities throughout the state is made possible by the governor’s historic and bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan, the first in nearly a decade. (Read More)

The development marks a possible rebound of confidence in commercial real estate following months of stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19. (Read More)

Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity this month announced a $4.7 million investment that will expand the Illinois Apprenticeship Program to serve an additional 568 residents in training programs over the next two years. (Read More)

CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Office of Broadband today announced the first recipients of the Illinois Connected Communities grant program, created to assist some of the most underserved areas of the state with building broadband capacity. (Read More)

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Occurring virtually October 5-8, 2020, the National Defense Transportation Association-U.S. Transportation Command Fall Meeting offers a comprehensive agenda for participating U.S. military, government, and industry logisticians that consists of 80 interactive courses, three roundtable discussions, and five keynote presentations focused on the present and future of defense logistics. (Read More)

ST. LOUIS REGION – World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, today announced yet another significant change to its August 29-30 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Weekend following schedule alterations for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. (Read More)

The first industrial warehouse at Northpoint Development’s Gateway Tradeport in Pontoon Beach, Illinois is complete. Contegra Construction Co. built the 544,000-square-foot warehouse which is designed with flexibility to serve the region’s distribution market. Gateway Tradeport was launched in 2019. It is a 600-acre master planned industrial park with space to host more than 7.5 million square feet of distribution space. (Read More)

The city’s public works department launched multiple sewer upgrade projects last year and this year. City Engineer Ryan Zwijack provided the public services committee with an update on these projects and on some future plans Tuesday. (Read More)

Because things have changed in the past 14 years, O’Fallon needs to update its overall Comprehensive Plan, which was adopted in 2006, for a clearer direction on future development.

To help produce a Strategic Plan, which would be a three to five-year outlook, and a Master Plan, a 20-year outlook, the O’Fallon City Council approved a professional service agreement with Shockey Consulting Services for $120,000 at its meeting Monday. (Read More)

Existing-home sales rebounded at a record pace in June, showing strong signs of a market turnaround after three straight months of sales declines caused by the ongoing pandemic, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Read More)

(Illinois Business Journal, 07/22/2020) 

Entrepreneurs and new business startups are invited to compete in the 2020 Metro East Start-Up Challenge, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s 7th annual regional business plan competition.

The MESC is organized by the Illinois Small Business Development Center for the Metro East at SIUE. The purpose of the MESC is to identify, encourage and support entrepreneurs and business startups across the SBDC’s service area, including Calhoun, Jersey, Madison, Bond, Clinton, St. Clair, Washington, Monroe and Randolph counties. (Read More)

The St. Clair County Transit District Board of Trustees has approved a contract with Gonzalez Companies, LLC, for the design and construction oversight of the $96 million, 5.5-mile light rail expansion project from the Shiloh-Scott MetroLink Station to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport. (Read More)

O’Fallon Mayor Herb Roach likes to point out that the Gateway Commerce Center has evolved over 25 years, continuing to bring dividends to its host communities in Edwardsville and Pontoon Beach. (Read More)

America’s Central Port based in Granite City has been awarded a $1.26 million grant for container-on-barge and intermodal equipment. (Read More)

A nationally recognized warehouse/distribution developer is beginning phase one of St. Clair County’s first industrial park. TriStar Companies, known for its development of the 2,300-acre Gateway Commerce Center in Madison County (Edwardsville and Pontoon Beach), is embarking on a development in O’Fallon. (Read More)

The recently designated Monroe-Randolph County Enterprise Zone produced its first two success stories, Administrator Edie Koch says. DeRossett Investments LLC broke ground this month on a three-story, 35,000-square-foot building that will consolidate and relocate its medical canvassing companies to a site on Old Bluff Road in Monroe County, creating more than 130 full-time permanent jobs. (Read More)

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority announced Monday it will make $7.1 million in funding available to organizations providing support services and resources to communities hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Read More)