Career Spark: The 9th Annual Career Spark is in the books! Between Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m. and Thursday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., approximately 4,000 students from 62 different schools walked through dozens of career experiences at the Peoria Civic Center. Career Spark is always a really great event, and it’s a bit like a big family reunion. It is truly a volunteer-driven event – over 700 volunteers do everything from greeting kids as they arrive to helping create and staff the individual experiences. The expo continues to grow and evolve every year. My favorite new addition this year was the flight simulator organized by the Peoria International Airport. They also had a cool station where kids learned about baggage handling and why “weight and balance” matters to the pilot. So many cool experiences: an etiquette and hospitality simulation; a laparoscopic surgery lesson on a pumpkin; a robot dog that gave kids a high five; hands-on CPR training; and even a simulation for conducting maintenance on high-tension electrical wires. My thanks to everyone who made this possible, especially Sara and Carolyn at GPEDC and the great team at Junior Achievement of Central Illinois. Well done all around. Some media coverage here.
David Citizenship: Over the years, we’ve had the chance to celebrate quite a few cool things related to GPEDC. Today might be one of the best, though. About four and a half years ago, David Aduama joined the team at GPEDC as our Communications Manager, moving here from Las Vegas. But as you may know, David is an immigrant from Ghana. While he quickly became fully immersed in Greater Peoria and is one of our greatest ambassadors, gaining citizenship in the United States has been a more lengthy road. But on Wednesday of this week David crossed a stage at Parkland College and became a US citizen. For most of us, citizenship isn’t really a choice — it’s a blessing we received at birth. But it’s special to see someone choose to participate fully in the life of our country. And David is a pretty special guy. Congratulations to David for taking this important step and making a commitment to our national community.
RISE Summit: Sara (Workforce Solutions Partner) recently attended the RISE Summit, a leadership and professional development event organized by the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce that is designed to inspire growth and community impact. During a keynote panel session, attendees were encouraged to embrace leadership as a journey rooted in courage, visibility, and continuous learning—underscoring that leadership is not defined by a title, but by an ongoing educational mindset. In addition, breakout sessions provided practical insights, including strategies for becoming one’s own personal hero in order to create meaningful community change, exploring artificial intelligence as a supportive partner rather than a barrier, and fostering confidence within a multigenerational workplace. These takeaways will inform and strengthen our team’s approach to leadership, innovation, and workforce development in the Greater Peoria region.
Upcoming Events: Mark your calendars and RSVP for some great opportunities:
- Trade Tariffs in 30 Minutes Webinar (October 16, 2 pm, virtual): Tariffs, tariffs and more international tariffs! If you are getting confused, don’t worry. The Illinois SBDC International Trade Center at The Turner Center for Entrepreneurship is pleased to host a 30-minute webinar covering the basics of international trade tariffs, how to find the tariffs, and what you can do to lower your tariffs. They will review both U.S. import tariffs and tariffs applied by other countries to U.S. exports. The session is presented by GPEDC board member and international trade expert, Jim Foley, and co-sponsored by GPEDC, Foreign-Trade Zone #114 and the Turner Center. Register here.
- Elevate Together (October 16, 8 am – 4 pm, ICC North Peoria): Illinois Central College’s Corporate Education and Training program is hosting a free, one day summit on leadership called “Elevate Together: Empowering Leadership at All Levels.” Leadership is no longer reserved for the top—it lives in how we communicate, make decisions, and build momentum at every level. Participants will explore the four core leadership styles—Visionary, Operator, Processor, and Synergist (VOPS)—and how each contributes to results and team culture. Register here.
- River Cities and Towns Annual Meeting: The Illinois River Cities & Towns Initiative (IRCTI) unites over 15 Mayor-led communities along the Illinois River. Their mission is to advocate for the region’s economic, infrastructure, and environmental interests at both state and national levels. IRCTI is hosting their first annual meeting of member communities and stakeholders on November 5-6 in downtown Peoria. Watch a welcome video here and RSVP here.
Have a great weekend.
Chris