CommunityArchive for the ‘’ Category

Champaign County Freight Study: Stakeholder Survey

We invite you to participate in a short survey to help the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission develop a freight plan for Champaign County.

The freight plan aims to identify and address the challenges of freight movement on the transportation network in Champaign County. To help ensure the needs and priorities of the business community are represented, they would appreciate your input on the following topics:

  • Challenges that your company faces when moving freight in Champaign County
  • Needed improvements to the freight infrastructure
  • Possible future changes to your supply chain decisions and freight activities

Link to survey: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/4315651/FreightStudy

Your responses will help shape the policies and projects that will make the freight system in Champaign County more reliable, efficient, and resilient.

The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Please submit your responses by Friday May 11, 2018.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to:

Shuake Wuzhati
Transportation Planner
swuzhati@ccrpc.org
217-819-4072

2018 Innovation Celebration Winners Announced

CHAMPAIGN, IL, March 30, 2018 – Over 300 people gathered at Parkland College for the 13th Annual Innovation Celebration on the evening of Thursday, March 29th to recognize those individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions, taken risks, and provided leadership to ensure the continuing economic success of Champaign County, the ongoing success of the University’s economic development mission, and the growth of entrepreneurial talent and energy in our community.

Innovation Celebration is not merely an award for accomplishment, but a benchmark of success for those outstanding individuals, organizations and corporations who are nominated and selected to receive this prestigious award.

Innovation Celebration is hosted by the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation in partnership with the University of Illinois, Parkland College, and community sponsors. For more information, visit www.innovationcelebration.com.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Social Venture Award
Serve as change agents by creating and implementing sustainable solutions to reshape society, benefit humanity, and address social concerns.

Salt & Light

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Student Startup Award
Formed by students in the last three years and demonstrates a commitment to continuing success through entrepreneurial talent, creativity and energy.

Mesh++

Entrepreneurial Excellence: New Venture Award
Formed in the last three years, and demonstrates a commitment to continuing success through entrepreneurial talent, creativity and energy.

SNOOZ

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Paul Magelli Advocacy Award
Actively engage, encourage, coach and mentor entrepreneurs in the community, and provide extensive support to help them achieve success.

Stephanie Larson
Carly McCrory

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Management Award
Demonstrates expertise in assembling resources, creating an organization, and working to build and implement effective action plans.

Cindy Somers – Spherion Staffing

Innovation: Economic Development Impact Award
Has made a significant economic development impact in the community and continues to demonstrate their commitment to Champaign County.

Busey

2018 Innovation Transfer Award—University of Illinois
Recognizes an individual or group from the University of Illinois whose research has resulted in either a discovery or a work with the potential for significant societal impact.

Dr. Donna Cox – Advanced Visualization Lab at National Center for Supercomputing Applications

2018 Alexis Wernsing Innovation Award—University of Illinois
Recognizes an individual or team from the University of Illinois that has channeled their experience living with a disability into positive change through the creation of new products, environments, or protocols that enhance quality of life.

Mark McCarthy – Access Illinois

2018 Innovation in Engagement Award—Parkland College
Recognizes an individual or group at Parkland College who has shown support of the college’s community engagement mission.

Adam Porter – Perimeter Road Sound Recordings

The EDC was pleased to work with the following sponsors of our 13th annual Innovation Celebration: the University of Illinois’ Technology Entrepreneur Center, Research Park, Office of Corporate Relations, and Office of Technology Management, along with Parkland College, Lodgic Everyday Community, Carle, Serra Ventures, Surface 51, Singleton Law Firm, City of Champaign, Ramshaw Real Estate, Litania Sports Group, Pixo, Hatch Ag Group, IllinoisVENTURES, Huawei R&D USA, Aqueous Solutions LLC, Personify, AARP, Hanson Financial, Community Solutions Incubator at the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois, II-VI EpiWorks, Illinois Small Business Development Center at Champaign County EDC, and Busey.

A special thanks to Five Foot Productions for producing the videos.

 

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Press:

Businesses, individuals feted at 13th annual Innovation Celebration – The News-Gazette

13th Annual Innovation Celebration held in Champaign – FOX 55/27 Illinois

Here’s who won awards at this year’s Innovation Celebration – Smile Politely

View award acceptance speeches:

Salt & Light

Mesh++

SNOOZ

Stephanie Larson & Carly McCrory

Cindy Somers – Spherion Staffing

Busey

Dr. Donna Cox – Advanced Visualization Lab at National Center for Supercomputing Applications

Mark McCarthy – Access Illinois

Adam Porter – Perimeter Road Sound Recordings

2018 Innovation Celebration Finalists Announced

CHAMPAIGN, IL, February 23, 2018 – The Champaign County Economic Development Corporation is pleased to announce finalists for the 13th Annual Innovation Celebration in recognition of those individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions, taken risks, and provided leadership to ensure the continuing economic success of Champaign County, the ongoing success of the University’s economic development mission, and the growth of entrepreneurial talent and energy in our community.

Innovation Celebration is not merely an award for accomplishment, but a benchmark of success for those outstanding individuals, organizations and corporations who are nominated and selected to receive this prestigious award. Additionally, Innovation Celebration serves as a tangible collaboration between the Champaign County EDC, University of Illinois, Parkland College, and the community.

The winner of each award category will be announced at Innovation Celebration 2018, held at Parkland College on Thursday, March 29, 2018 from 5:30 – 8:30 pm. To RSVP and learn more about the event, visit www.innovationcelebration.com.

Award Finalists

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Social Venture Award
Serve as change agents by creating and implementing sustainable solutions to reshape society, benefit humanity, and address social concerns.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Student Startup Award
Formed by students in the last three years and demonstrates a commitment to continuing success through entrepreneurial talent, creativity and energy.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: New Venture Award
Formed in the last three years, and demonstrates a commitment to continuing success through entrepreneurial talent, creativity and energy.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Advocacy Award
Actively engage, encourage, coach and mentor entrepreneurs in the community, and provide extensive support to help them achieve success.

  • Ken Taylor
  • Stephanie Larson
  • Kathie Cravens

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Management Award
Demonstrates expertise in assembling resources, creating an organization, and working to build and implement effective action plans.

Innovation: Economic Development Impact Award
Has made a significant economic development impact in the community and continues to demonstrate their commitment to Champaign County.

2018 Innovation Transfer Award—University of Illinois
Recognizes an individual or group from the University of Illinois whose research has resulted in either a discovery or a work with the potential for significant societal impact.

 2018 Alexis Wernsing Innovation Award—University of Illinois
Recognizes an individual or team from the University of Illinois that has channeled their experience living with a disability into positive change through the creation of new products, environments, or protocols that enhance quality of life.

2018 Innovation in Engagement Award—Parkland College
Recognizes an individual or group at Parkland College who has shown support of the college’s community engagement mission.

The EDC is pleased to work with the following sponsors of our 13th Annual Innovation Celebration: the University of Illinois’ Technology Entrepreneur Center, Research Park, Office of Corporate Relations, and Office of Technology Management, along with Parkland College, Lodgic, Carle, Serra Ventures, Surface 51, Singleton Law Firm, City of Champaign, Ramshaw Real Estate, Litania Sports Group, Pixo, Hatch Ag Group, IllinoisVENTURES, Huawei R&D USA, Aqueous Solutions LLC, Personify, AARP, Hanson Financial, Community Solutions Incubator at the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois, II-VI EpiWorks, Illinois Small Business Development Center at Champaign County EDC, and Busey.

 

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Press:

2018 Innovation Celebration Award finalists announced, Smile Politely

 

13th Annual Innovation Celebration: Save the Date + Nominations Open

We are pleased to announce the 13th Annual Innovation Celebration in recognition of those individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions, taken risks, and provided leadership to ensure the continuing economic success of Champaign County, the ongoing success of the University’s economic development mission, and the growth of entrepreneurial talent and energy in our community.

Thursday, March 29, 2018
5:30 – 8:30 pm

Parkland College – Student Union
2400 West Bradley Avenue
Champaign, IL 61821

#INNCEL

The awards have been established to recognize the various ways in which individuals and organizations have utilized innovation, creativity, and leadership for entrepreneurial endeavors and economic development in the community. Please nominate as many people/organizations as you would like.

Nominations are open to the public and will be accepted through 5 PM on January 24, 2018. Submit your nomination(s) here

Nominations will be viewed and judged by a panel of past winners, sponsors and community & university leaders. Finalists will be announced in early February 2018.

Innovation Celebration is hosted by the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation in partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Parkland College, and community sponsors.

For sponsorship information, please contact Carly McCrory via email or 217-359-6261.

To learn more about the event, view past award winners, watch our videos, and RSVP, visit our event website.


Awards & Descriptions

Innovation Transfer Award-University of Illinois
Recognizes an individual or group from the University of Illinois whose research has resulted in either a discovery or a work with the potential for significant societal impact.

Alexis Wernsing Innovation Award-University of Illinois
Recognizes an individual or team from the University of Illinois that has channeled their experience living with a disability into positive change through the creation of new products, environments, or protocols that enhance quality of life.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Social Venture Award
Serve as change agents by creating and implementing sustainable solutions to reshape society, benefit humanity, and address social concerns.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Student Startup Award
Formed by students in the last three years and demonstrates a commitment to continuing success through entrepreneurial talent, creativity and energy.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: New Venture Award
Formed in the last three years, and demonstrates a commitment to continuing success through entrepreneurial talent, creativity and energy.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Advocacy Award
Actively engage, encourage, coach and mentor entrepreneurs in the community, and provide extensive support to help them achieve success.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Management Award
Demonstrates expertise in assembling resources, creating an organization, and working to build and implement effective action plans.

Innovation: Economic Development Impact Award
Has made a significant economic development impact in the community and continues to demonstrate their commitment to Champaign County.

NCSA’S Blue Waters Project Provides $1.08 Billion Direct Return to Illinois’ Economy

From the press release

Champaign, IL – May 10, 2017 – The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign released a study Wednesday detailing the current and projected economic impact of its Blue Waters project on Illinois’ economy. The project manages the nation’s most powerful sustained-performance supercomputer for open-science and its related workforce development and education program. The study finds that the Blue Waters project—which is a joint investment between the State of Illinois, the University of Illinois, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and related activities funded by the university, NSF and other federal agencies—has a projected $1.08 billion direct economic impact on Illinois’ economy and will have created 5,772 full-time equivalent employment over the project’s lifespan (October 2007 – June 2019).

Conducted by Dr. Sandy Dall’erba, Director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory and Associate Professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACES) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the study calculated in 2015 values the project’s impact on the creation of economic output (production), employment (Full Time Equivalent, FTE), labor income, local and state tax revenues, and federal tax revenues. The $1.08 billion in economic impact includes $487,143,813 in labor income from 5,772 FTEs, $56,477,093 in state and local taxes, $122,813,903 in federal taxes, and a $227,300,00 impact resulting from research grants awarded from granting agencies to Illinois researchers, faculty, and students because they had access to conduct research on Blue Waters. The study does not include additional economic and societal benefits coming from the significant amount of computer time provided to Illinois researchers, strategic projects, and industry, nor does it account for the workforce development activities of the Blue Waters project—as they are a magnet for recruiting expert talent to Illinois—or the impacts of the science, engineering and research results that can only be accomplished on the Blue Waters.

Another way to express these results is through a multiplier, a measure of the “bang for the buck.” Over the project’s lifespan (October 2007 – June 2019), Blue Waters’ output multiplier is 1.864 (every $1 spent for BW-related activities leads to an additional $0.864 of production in the state economy) and its employment multiplier is 2.044 (every job created by BW-related activities leads to one additional job created in the state economy).

“My sincerest gratitude goes to the University of Illinois, the State of Illinois, and the National Science Foundation for supporting this critical project which is enabling us to better understand our world, improve quality of life, and develop the nation’s advanced digital workforce,” said Dr. William “Bill” Gropp, NCSA interim director and co-principal investigator for the Blue Waters project. “State and federal support for advanced high-performance computing provides immediate economic impact for our communities and positions the United States to lead the world during a critical era for cyberinfrastructure and at the same time provide unique future contributions from the results Blue Waters enables.”

Illinois was awarded the $360 million Blue Waters project through an NSF Request for Proposal process in 2007. The construction of the National Petascale Computing Facility (NPCF), a state-of-the-art computing and data center housing the system, was made possible by investments of $60 million by the State of Illinois and $87 million by the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus. The construction of the NPCF alone (July 2008-June 2012) generated about $131.7 million in total impact on Illinois’ economy, which includes the creation of 701 direct and indirect jobs, ranging from construction, to technical, to administration. The construction generated $4.3 million in local and state taxes and $9.6 million in federal taxes.

“Illinois is proud to have partnered with the National Science Foundation to support this bold endeavor to create leadership-class resources for researchers in Illinois and around the nation,” said Robert J. Jones, chancellor of the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus. “NCSA has once again proven its ability to excel at stewarding major infrastructure investments and scientific innovations. We intend to continue leading the nation in high-performance computing.”

The Blue Waters project, which has just completed its fourth full year of full service operations, is a key resource for recruiting and retaining world-class researchers and academic professionals. Since the project went online in April of 2013 until the study began in June 2016, it has supported 1,892 direct and indirect jobs and $177.9 million in labor income throughout the State of Illinois. The presence of Blue Waters during this period created a total of $20.9 million in local and state taxes and $41.8 million in federal taxes. The full operation and maintenance has generated a total impact of nearly $380.4 million, $227.3 million of which is due to research grants awarded to faculty with Blue Waters computing allocations.

The resulting overall direct economic impact sums to $1.08B for Illinois along with all the other benefits to the state, the university and nation the Blue Waters project brings.

“I applaud NCSA for its successfully stewardship of Illinois’ financial support that has enabled this best-in-class education program and resources for Illinois students and researchers,” said Rep. Kelly Burke (D-36), chair of the Illinois House of Representatives Higher Education Appropriations Committee.

The report’s executive summary, including methodology, is publicly available for download.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR SUPERCOMPUTING APPLICATIONS

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provides supercomputing and advanced digital resources for the nation’s science enterprise. At NCSA, University of Illinois faculty, staff, students, and collaborators from around the globe use advanced digital resources to address research grand challenges for the benefit of science and society. NCSA has been advancing one third of the Fortune 50 for more than 30 years by bringing industry, researchers, and students together to solve grand challenges at rapid speed and scale.

ABOUT NCSA’S BLUE WATERS PROJECT

The Blue Waters petascale supercomputer is one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and is the fastest supercomputer on a university campus. Blue Waters uses hundreds of thousands of computational cores to achieve peak performance of more than 13 quadrillion calculations per second. Blue Waters has more memory and faster data storage than any other open system in the world. Scientists and engineers across the country use the computing and data power of Blue Waters to tackle a wide range of challenges. Recent advances that were not possible without these resources include computationally designing the first set of antibody prototypes to detect the Ebola virus, simulating the HIV capsid, visualizing the formation of the first galaxies and exploding stars, and understanding how the layout of a city can impact supercell thunderstorms.

The Blue Waters sustained-petascale computing project which is supported by the National Science Foundation (awards OCI-0725070 and ACI-1238993) and the state of Illinois. Blue Waters is a joint effort of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and its National Center for Supercomputing Applications.

Press:

UIUC’s Supercomputer Has a Projected $1B Impact On Illinois’ Economy, ChicagoInno

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