Regional Food Council: Last Friday, Kathie worked with the Regional Food Council to host nutrition education programming at Distillery Labs. The program was designed by Erin Meyer of Basil Harvest and Michelle Compton, Child & Family Health Program with Peoria City/County Public Health as part of the Regional Food Council’s quarterly convening. The Regional Food Council of Central Illinois is a collective effort to make healthy food available and accessible while embracing a stronger food economy. The event created a great opportunity for collaboration among growers, schools, public health, business, and community organizations improving our regional collaboration and inspired healthy eating. Distillery Labs Commissary Kitchen is planning to host even more opportunities for growing our local foods and healthy eating network through programming.
Success Network: On Monday GPEDC hosted the Regional Success Network meeting at Distillery Labs. Educational districts from across Central Illinois convened to discuss the Illinois Education and Career Success Network Dashboard and strategies for navigating the evolving landscape shaped by current government leaders. The groups collaborated within their districts to establish goals for 2025. Key objectives included enhancing communication between educators and students, boosting participation in Career & Technical Education (CTE) courses, and developing dual credit programs with improved transfer success rates to other institutions.
Welcome to Bradley: It was great to join so many alumni and friends at the welcoming ceremony for Judge Jim Shadid, the newly installed President of Bradley University. Bradley is an important part of Greater Peoria in many ways: It graduates hundreds of students into local jobs each year, recruits students from across the country and globe to spend their college years in Peoria, is a major regional employer, and helps drive our visitor economy through sports, arts and other programming. President Shadid talked about the importance of a strong Peoria to Bradley’s future, and it’s also clear that Greater Peoria needs a strong Bradley. Congratulations to President Shadid and our thanks to the Bradley Board of Trustees and former interim President Jon Michael for their leadership.
Big Idea Competition: Speaking of Bradley, this year’s Big Idea Competition finals will take place on April 22 from 5 – 7 pm at the Hayden-Clark Alumni Center at Bradley. Four student startups will compete for the grand prize:
- Tiny Footprint – A company that rents baby apparels and clothing with a monthly subscription service
- Dormly – A platform that aims to replace the several systems the student needs to use in their daily life on campus
- Kelley Vaux – A marketing agency specializing in guerrilla marketing
- The Hunter System – An interactive game that uses augmented reality technology to provide real life interaction with their heroes.
Big Idea isn’t just a pitch competition for student projects, but has become a great launching pad for innovators and entrepreneurs. Come see tomorrow’s successes before they become famous.
Have a great weekend.
Chris