Germans in Peoria: It’s been a great year of showing off Greater Peoria to international friends. To date we’ve hosted two groups from Brazil; the consul generals of Mexico, Canada and Australia; and a Taiwanese company. Next up? German startups specializing in smart city and sustainable mobility technologies. A few weeks ago we were contacted by the German American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago. They were hosting this delegation of eight startups and wanted to visit Peoria and Distillery Labs as part of their short trip to Illinois. We organized an opportunity for the startups to “pitch” to a room full of potential customers: local government staff, civil engineers, transportation experts and other interested parties. It was a whirlwind trip for them – three hours down, three hours here, three hours back – but they were so appreciative of our hospitality and very impressed with our region’s startup ecosystem. Hosting people who otherwise would not have even ever heard of Peoria is one of the best parts of my job.
Commercial Kitchens: Kathie traveled to University of Illinois to receive a midterm report from GIES College of Business Action Learning Team. Students have been working to support the Greater Peoria Commissary Kitchen Project, directed by Distillery Labs. The student’s research supports our broader goals towards enhancing the agricultural landscape of Greater Peoria. The project aims to improve the local food system by developing a robust infrastructure for food-based business development with an emphasis on local foods. Commissary kitchens, like the one at Distillery Labs, will provide much needed infrastructure to enhance processing, aggregation, distribution, and storage of local and regional food products produced by underserved and socially disadvantaged farm businesses. Be on the lookout for the final report soon.
Childcare is Economic Development: Jeffrey had an opportunity to share his thoughts and some insights on the importance of childcare for our region’s economic health during a press conference announcing the expansion of Childcare Business Programs with the Womens’ Business Development Center. This is an issue that is close to Jeffrey’s heart, as he was at one point a full-time single father who had to navigate the childcare system while he was a full-time student working two part-time jobs. Since that point, he has always been mindful of the barriers that limited access to childcare causes to the workforce, especially women, and is constantly seeking the right connections to get organizations aligned to make progress on tackling this issue for Greater Peoria. Some great media coverage, including some thoughts from Jefffrey, here.
Future Focus: Jeffrey and Sara represented the GPEDC at Pekin High School’s Future Focus day, a job fair for students to explore local organizations and learn about different fields of work. While it’s challenging in general to explain what economic development “is”, Sara was very keen to find ways to make the work exciting and get some future economic and workforce developers interested in the work we do!
ICC Survey: The General Education Committee at ICC is seeking input from regional employers. Please take less than five minutes to take this survey to provide your feedback so that ICC can use that information to continuously improve their offerings to meet the regional needs. Responses are strictly confidential. Supply Chain Webinar: A reminder of an upcoming, no-cost webinar titled “Vetting Asian Suppliers: Mitigating Risk by Sourcing Outside of China” on Thursday, November 21, 2024, from 9-10 am. This event explores strategic approaches to sourcing from emerging markets in South and Southeast Asia—viable alternatives amid rising costs and trade tensions with China. Register here.
Chris.