Damera Group: Washington, DC was a pretty cool place for a big announcement. Governor Pritzker was on hand to share the great news that Damera Corporation had selected Greater Peoria as the location for their first US manufacturing operation. Damera is a Canadian bus distributor and partner in the manufacturing of the eJest, an all-electric, 19-passenger public transit bus. For the next year or so Damera will be operating out of a warehouse in East Peoria while they obtain final federal approval to do final assembly, testing and some parts manufacturing in the region. Over the next few years Damera is committed to investing over $30 million and hiring at least 90 people. GPEDC was proud to be a part of a great team to help secure this opportunity for Illinois and Greater Peoria. You can read a bit more about this here.
Select USA: If you are wondering why this announcement would be made in Washington, DC, I have the answer. This week, about 5,000 people descended on our nation’s capitol for Select USA, the largest conference targeting foreign companies looking to do business in the United States. It was actually the 2024 version of Select USA where the team from Illinois first met the team from Damera, so it was truly a fitting backdrop for the announcement. It was a pretty insane few days. Someone used the term “shooting fish in a barrel” because everyone who isn’t an American is someone you probably want to talk to. Our partners at Intersect Illinois put together a really great booth that became quite the gathering point. During the “State and Local Night” reception the booth had long lines for people to indulge in deep dish pizza and get their picture taken with an 8’ tall Abe Lincoln impersonator. In a particularly nice marketing touch, Intersect had about a dozen of the taxis serving the convention center wrapped in blue and white and emblazoned with the “Be In Illinois” tag. I had a number of productive meetings but it’ll take me a bit to follow up with all the business cards I collected.
Startup Showcase: To celebrate Economic Development Week, and to draw some attention to a part of the work we and our partners do, we organized a “Startup Showcase” on Tuesday at Distillery Labs. Five of our local startups gave their pitches to the audience: Bear’s Bites, HuMod, AgDefense Systems, dotbox and enterN. The pitches were followed by a discussion about the stresses of entrepreneurship and the great resources available in our region. Nice coverage of the event here.
Big Table: We had the official kickoff of the Big Table 2025 with a press conference on Thursday. We used the opportunity to share details about the event (October 17-18 at the Four Points Sheraton), call for volunteers to serve as table facilitators, and to announce our keynote speaker. This year we’ve invited Victor Hwang, entrepreneur, author and founder of Right to Start. Pekin Mayor Burress talked about the importance of the Big Table as a reflection of our regional strengths and Leigh Ann Brown of Renewal by Anderson discussed why the business community should get behind this effort. As in previous years, the Big Table will feature intimate discussions and collective input on four topic areas: Build a Talent Pipeline; Foster and Accelerate Startups; Ensure and Accentuate Livability; and Expand Access to Opportunity. Media coverage here and here. You can learn more about the Big Table here.
Tom@tomfairchildphotography.com
Workforce Summit: There is even a story leftover from last week. Sara (Workforce Solutions) and Cynthia (Business Engagement) attended the Illinois Workforce Summit WIOA, where the focus centered on strengthening workforce pipelines through on-the-job training and apprenticeship models. They learned about the effectiveness of earn-and-learn programs in meeting employer needs while providing job seekers with meaningful career entry points. Lake County and the Gateway Apprenticeship Hub shared best practices around grant-funded programs, emphasizing the importance of employer alignment and consistent outcome tracking. Hearing directly from apprentice graduates provided honest insight—while most praised the experience and mentorship, areas for improvement included clearer communication and long-term pathways. The event also underscored how successful workforce development hinges on strong cross-sector partnerships. Collaboration between educational institutions, economic developers, and employers was cited as essential to leveraging funding and creating scalable models.
Well, that’s probably enough for one update. Not sure how we top this week, but we will try again on Monday. Have a great weekend.
Chris