Annual Meeting: We had a packed house at Distillery Labs this Tuesday, along with a few dozen more folks joining via Zoom, for our Annual Meeting. This is a great way to kick off a new year – a gathering of nearly all of my favorite people in the region celebrating the successes of 2024 and looking forward to the priorities of 2025. The event included a presentation from Laura Cullinan on the emerging work of the Greater Peoria Leadership Council followed by staff presentations on the year behind us and the one ahead. We also welcomed two new board members – Kimberly Richardson of the City of Peoria and Autum Jones of Woodford County – and reappointed another ten board members. Finally, a new set of board officers were installed: Songo Dede as Chair, Jim Foley as Vice Chair, Brian Ray as Treasurer, Jennifer Zammuto as Secretary and Jamel Santa Cruze Wright as Assistant Treasurer. We are blessed to have such great board leadership helping guide the organization.
Annual Report: Do you want to see a recap of the best of GPEDC from 2024? Check out our hot-off-the-presses 2024 Annual Report here. Want an even deeper look? You can read individual staff year-end reports here.
Lunch & Learn: GPEDC hosted a Lunch and Learn on Thursday with Junior Achievement (JA). Nearly 40 employers and higher education stakeholders from across the region learned how they can partner with Junior Achievement not only to expand their talent pipeline by supporting CareerSpark and the CareerSpark: You’re Hired Platform, but also how their engagement can make a big impact on the education and direction of studies for students. Peoria Regional Office of Education Superintendent Beth Crider provided opening remarks and highlighted the importance of the work Junior Achievement does in the classroom and before and after the CareerSpark engagements, as well as how the GPEDC and JA help schools across the region meet PaCE Framework requirements. This was a great event and there were lots of valuable connections made. We look forward to hosting Illinois Central College in March for our next Lunch & Learn session.
Happy 200th! Last week I mentioned the 100th birthday of Caterpillar. Well, January must be party month because this week Peoria County kicked off a celebration of their 200th anniversary. To mark the milestone, Peoria County businesses and institutions will display individually decorated bison statutes (“bison-tennial”). Learn more here.
AgTech Connect: We are gearing up for the first Greater Peoria AgTech Connect event of 2025! This quarterly gathering of innovators, farmers, and agricultural experts will take place on Tuesday, February 18, at 10:00 AM at the National Center for Agricultural Research Utilization in Peoria, IL. Hosted by the USDA, the agenda includes speakers from the Illinois Soy Innovation Center and highlights ongoing efforts to advance sustainable, bio-based products. Please register by clicking here.
Reminders:
- Don’t forget to RSVP to attend the Bank Tank Pitch Competition, hosted by Fortress Bank. The event will be held on Wednesday, February 19 from 5 pm – 8 pm at Distillery Labs. Be part of the live audience that listens along with the judges to the pitches of some of the coolest startups in Central Illinois. RSVP here
- Please spread the word about the new cohort of startups forming to go through gBETA, a free 7-week business accelerator sponsored by Distillery Labs. Registration can be found here.
Have a great weekend.
Chris