February 11, 2020
Greetings,
The past few weeks have been a period of robust activity for the Metro East, and we’re delighted to share with you all the positive news through this edition of Good NewsLink.
This month, the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois’ Labor Management Committee, Madison County and CTE Directors, and the SWIL Building and Trades Council partnered with several local unions to bring nearly 400 students from 13 area high schools to local unions to learn about the importance of what they do. Schools that participated included Belleville East HS, Belleville West HS, Cahokia HS, Civic Memorial HS, Collinsville HS, Dupo HS, Edwardsville HS, O’Fallon Township HS, Freeburg HS, Granite City HS, Triad HS, Highland HS and Madison HS.
We're also excited to see the reservations flowing in for our Salute to Southwestern Illinois Annual Awards Dinner, which will be held on Thursday, March 19, 2020 at the FourPoints by Sheraton in Fairview Heights. The annual awards program salutes those individuals and organizations that have displayed outstanding leadership as well as impacted our region positively. This year's event will celebrate innovation and resiliency in Southwestern Illinois, recognizing four military members from the Scott AFB wings, three communities: O’Fallon, Shiloh, and Edwardsville; two businesses: World Wide Technology Raceway and World Wide Technology; and one philanthropic group: AltonWorks. If you haven't already made your reservations, act fast as we're on track for another sold out event! For details and ticket information, please call (618) 692-9745.
In other news, the Metro East housing market remained strong during 2019, O'Fallon is gearing up for an expected growth spurt and SIUE just got $10.5 million to jump start planning for a new health Sciences building; and those are just a few of the recent stories highlighted below. Read on for more details and to catch up on all the good news happening throughout the Metro East. Have a great weekend!
Dr. Ronda Sauget
Ronda Sauget, D. Mgmt, MBA
Executive Director and CEO
Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois
104 Magnolia Drive, Ste B
Glen Carbon, IL 62034
618-692-974
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Apprenticeship Tours
February 4th and 6th
13 Local High Schools Visited Local Unions
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New Siteman Clinic Brings Clinical Trials to Metro East Cancer Patients
(St. Louis Public Radio, 1/16/2020)
Siteman Cancer Center’s newest location will bring access to new treatments and clinical trials to the Metro East.The cancer center's Shiloh, Illinois, location began accepting patients this week. As a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, Siteman’s facility will go beyond traditional treatment and allow patients to receive experimental procedures such as immunotherapy and genomics, Siteman Cancer Center Director Tim Eberlein said.
(Read More)
$10.5M will jumpstart planning for new SIUE health science building, Gov. Pritzker says
(Edwardsville Intelligencer, 1/23/2020)
More than $10.5 million in funding will go toward planning a health science building on the Southern Illinois Unversity Edwardsville (SIUE) campus, according to Gov. J.B. Pritzker during his college visit Thursday afternoon.
(Read More)
Metro East industrial building, with World Wide Technology as a tenant, attracts a buyer
(St. Louis Business Journal, 02/04/2020)
World Wide Technology's decision to renew one of its leases was likely the impetus behind an investor's major deal in the Metro East, real estate sources told the Business Journal.While the sales price was not disclosed, research from real estate data firm Reonomy shows Sealy & Co. likely acquired the 540,000-square-foot distribution warehouse at 3965 Lakeview Corporate Drive for $27.5 million from Duke Realty.
(Read More)
Riverbend Head Start and Family Services awarded $4.8 million grant
(Advantage News, 1/10/2020)
U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) announced $8,933,201 in federal funding to help children in Alton, Decatur, and Joliet access Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
(Read More)
Southern Illinois pursues trade opportunities with Peru partners
(Illinois Business Journal, 1/14/2020)
Southwestern Illinois has a new partner, and it’s a friendship that both sides hope will pay dividends across a vast distance.
(Read More)
Ameren Illinois unveils two-year electric grid upgrade in Jersey, Macoupin Counties
(Ameren Illinois, 1/22/2020)
As part of its plan to modernize the energy delivery system throughout central and southern Illinois, Ameren Illinois announced today a two-year electric grid project to enhance service reliability for customers in Jersey and Macoupin counties.
(Read More)
Godfrey getting $400,000 for Glazebrook Park expansion
(Illinois Business Journal, 1/17/2020)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday some $29.7 million in grants for 85 local projects that will help communities acquire open space and develop and improve recreational facilities throughout Illinois.
Waterloo Park District gets splash pad grant
(Republic-Times, 1/17/2020)
Gov. JB Pritzker announced the recipients of grants through the state’s Open Space Land Acquisition and Development Program on Friday, and one of those recipients was the Waterloo Park District.
(Read More)
Ameren awarded 2019 ReliabilityOne Most Improved Utility Award
(Illinois Business Journal, 12/20/2020)
Ameren Illinois was recognized by PA Consulting as a recipient of the 2019 ReliabilityOne Most Improved Utility Award during a recent ceremony in Austin, Texas.
(Read More)
US News ranks SIUE Nursing Online Master's among nation's Top 50
(Riverbender, 1/23/2020)
U.S. News and World Report has ranked the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing (SON) online master’s in nursing program 45th nationally. The SON program climbed eight spots from a year ago.
(Read More)
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As part of the
Building Workforce
2030
program, we have partnered with Dupo, IL High School to bring speakers into their Co-op class. These speakers introduce students to a variety of careers in industry and business.
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Record employment rates mean new opportunities to train up the Metro-East workforce
(Belleville News-Democrat, 1/24/2020)
After dropping out of school, Miranda Frisbie found she had to bounce from job to job to make ends meet.
But since becoming a licensed practical nurse through a state-funded training program, she’s held a well-paying and stable full-time job at Red Bud Regional Hospital. She’s currently enrolled at Southwestern Illinois College, studying to become a registered nurse.
(Read More)
Donco, LLC Launches new name and new brand
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1/16/2020)
After announcing a name change in October of last year, Edwardsville-based firm Donco, LLC has officially renamed and rebranded their company.
(Read More)
Expected growth spurt to boost O’Fallon’s economy this year
(Belleville News-Democrat, 1/27/2020)
The O’Fallon landscape will continue to change during the coming year, and the economic impact may be one of the most significant growth spurts in the city’s history. During a recent Town Hall meeting, O’Fallon Mayor Herb Roach updated some plans that have been in the works during the past year or two, with progress set for 2020.
(Read More)
Granite City Harbor is first Illinois Freight project completed
(Metro East Chronicle, 1/22/2020)
A million-dollar update of the Granite City Harbor has become the first project completed under an Illinois freight infrastructure development program. The America’s Central Port District’s Granite City Harbor Dock Improvements project was completed in November and the harbor is fully operational, according to Alex Burkart, the port district’s director of marketing.
(Read More)
Resolution to support growth in downtown Edwardsville advances
(Edwardsville Intelligencer, 1/31/2020)
EDWARDSVILLE — The city’s finance committee Tuesday unanimously agreed on a resolution that authorizes an agreement to encourage development between Edwardsville and Old News, LLC for 115 and 117 North Second Street.
(Read More)
Commissioners vote to reduce the tax levy at St. Louis Regional Airport
(Riverbender, 1/30/2020)
One tax is going down this year. Madison County residents in the St. Louis Regional Airport taxing district are going to be charged 4.9 percent less than last year for the airport levy as a result of modest revenue increases at the airport.
(Read More)
Madison County receives funding for homeless services
(Advantage News, 1/24/2020)
Madison County agencies will receive approximately $1.76 million in funding for homeless services.
(Read More)
State treasurer seeking grant applications from nonprofits
(Advantage News, 1/26/2020)
Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs is encouraging small nonprofit organizations to apply for Charitable Trust Stabilization Fund grants.
(Read More)
Scheffel Boyle employees send care packages to military personnel
(Advantage News, 1/9/2020)
Scheffel Boyle CPAs closed out 2019 by completing its annual service project for the firm’s Scheffel Boyle Shares program. The team announced 34 care packages have been shipped to deployed servicemen and women.
(Read More)
Metro East housing market closed 2019 strong
(Illinois Business Journal Online, 1/31/2020)
Almost every county in the Metro East had more housing units sold compared to December 2018.
St. Clair County had 18.8 more units sold with 253 units in the month of December. While, Madison County had 9.8 more units sold with 269 units.
(Read More)
Five-Star Rating: Jersey Community Hospital Rated Among The Best in The Country
(Riverbender, 1/31/2020)
Jersey Community Hospital (JCH) was awarded a Five-Star rating by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), as announced by Medicare.gov on Hospital Compare. The ratings, published by CMS are designed to help consumers compare hospitals, by evaluating safety, quality and patient experiences at more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide.
(Read More)
SIUE’s Eighth Annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day Feb. 15
(Riverbender, 2/1/2020)
EDWARDSVILLE – The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is hosting its eighth annual “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” from 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, in the SIUE School of Engineering building.
(Read More)
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Thank you to the Leadership Council's Program Sponsors:
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