Peoria Meets Brazil: If you flashback about 5 months, you might remember that we hosted a delegation of 33 Brazilians (a mix of startups, business leaders, and institutional partners) for two-and-a-half-day visit to Peoria. That visit itself was the outcome of a year-plus initiative to improve connections between Greater Peoria and Brazil. Last week, we took the next step: Doug Cruitt (Executive Director of Distillery Labs) and I visited Brazil in what can only be described as a “barnstorming” trip. Over the course of five full working days – plus travel days on either side – Doug and I reconnected with many of this summer’s visitors and made new connections. We visited four different cities last week: Florianopolis, Porto Alegre, Cuiaba and Sao Paolo. We met with partners like Caldiera in Porto Alegre and ACATE in Florianopolis, both centers of entrepreneurship and innovation in their communities. We talked to over a dozen startups interested in expanding to the US, both hearing their pitches and giving our own pitch for Peoria. It’s possibly the fullest week of work – and maybe the most rewarding – in my nearly 20 years in this field. There are many opportunities to make these connections even more fulfilling, and Doug and I have found a real interest in continuing the relationships. My follow-up to-do list is incredible, and I think I’m still recovering from a week that had us travel 15,331 miles via airplane. But it was absolutely worth it. We were joined on our journey by our friend Alex D’Angelo, an internationalization specialist who volunteered his time to be our guide and sometimes interpreter. Alex put together a great video recap of the trip here.
A Decade of Service: Being the humble person she is, our Office Manager Melissa would never have mentioned to me that November marks her ten year anniversary with GPEDC. But LinkedIn isn’t so humble and spilled the beans. Anyone who has run a business or organization realizes the importance of the people “behind the scenes.” GPEDC is no exception. Melissa is the glue that holds us together, and I often joke that I don’t need to be good at the nuts and bolts stuff because I have Melissa. Thank you for your service to GPEDC and Greater Peoria!
SkillsUSA Lunch: GPEDC and Distillery Labs were happy to co-host a “Lunch and Learn with SkillsUSA” on Wednesday for employers across a wide variety of skills, talents, and trades. Over twenty guests joined SkillsUSA to discover how they can become involved with the upcoming workforce ages 16 to 24. Introductory conversations about first steps of choosing the right skilled apprenticeship program led to employers beginning to ask how soon programs could begin. One employer with a machining background directly asked about beginning a skilled robotics apprenticeship, and SkillsUSA confirmed that they are already working on it. The hope is to continue the conversation with the employer to form a future pilot program.
Logan County CareerSpark: Jeffrey attended the inaugural Logan County CareerSpark Expo for 8th grade students put together by Junior Achievement (JA) and Lincoln Economic Advancement & Development (LEAD) in Lincoln. The event was just as impactful for the students as the Greater Peoria CareerSpark Expo, which we partner with JA to bring to the civic center annually. Their expo was hosted at Lincoln Junior High School and brought 8th graders from the area to the gym to explore eight career clusters and over thirty activities in order to learn about some great jobs that can be found around Lincoln. Jeffery’s favorite activity was brought in by the Green Prairie Animal Hospitals and simulated surgery using “Squishmallows.” It’s awesome to see the model built in Peoria expand to surrounding communities and see Springfield and Lincoln working with Junior Achievement of Central Illinois to spark career interests and make incredible things happen for their students, too.
AgTech Connect: Don’t forget to register for our next AgTech Connect networking event. This quarterly gathering of innovators, farmers and agricultural experts will meet on Tuesday, November 19, starting at 10 am at Distillery Labs. The agenda includes presentations by Serra Ventures and the Agricultural Learning Center of the Children’s Discovery Museum, followed by introductions to nine different AgTech startups and resource providers. Please register by clicking here.
Have a great weekend!
Chris