News RoomArchive for the ‘’ Category

Champaign County EDC Business Attraction: Choices Inc. to Open Office in Urbana, IL

The Champaign County Economic Development Corporation is pleased to announce that Choices, Inc. has chosen Champaign County as its new East Central Illinois service base. Choices signed with County Plaza in downtown Urbana after months of working with the EDC on choosing a new site to locate. The company will occupy roughly 6,500 square feet of office space and create 30 jobs in its first year.

“Choices is honored to have the opportunity to serve youth and families in East Central Illinois. Locating in Urbana provides great connectivity with bus routes and interstate access. The downtown commercial district will provide an excellent base for our employees; award-winning BBQ across the street is an added bonus. Thanks to the EDC for helping us understand the market and find a location.” — Todd Schroll, Executive Director, Illinois Choices LLC

“Choices has a strong, national reputation for working with youth and families involved in the child welfare system. We welcome Choices to downtown Urbana, and we think their staff will appreciate easy access to all the new restaurants and shops in our downtown.” — Mayor Laurel Prussing, Mayor of the City of Urbana

“This is a good addition to downtown Urbana as the City has focused its efforts to promote occupancy of underutilized space. We are happy to assist the EDC and the property owner in bringing Choices to Urbana and the broader community.” — Tom Carrino, Economic Development Manager, City of Urbana

“We live in a wonderful community and County Plaza is excited to bring a new business from out of town to downtown Urbana. I look forward to seeing Choices grow and succeed.” — Joe Petry, Owner of County Plaza

“We are fortunate that Choices Inc. has chosen Champaign County and Urbana as their base to serve the East Central Illinois region. The job density will bring disposable income to the area. It is a well-timed project of business growth in pursuit of the Champaign County EDC mission.” — Erik Kotewa, Deputy Director, Champaign County EDC

About Choices Inc.:

Choices Inc. coordinates care for youth involved in multiple social service systems. Choices goal is to keep youth in their homes and communities and to prevent further system involvement. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Choices serves more than 1,500 youth a day in five states, including Illinois. For more information about Choices, please contact Courtney Kasinger, Communication Director, at 317-205-8268 or ckasinger@ChoicesTeam.org.

Contact:
Carly McCrory, Communications Director
Champaign County Economic Development Corporation
(217) 359-6261
carly@champaigncountyedc.org

Press:

Agency gearing up to help area youths, The News-Gazette

Yahoo Breaks Ground for New Facility in Champaign

Article Source: University of Illinois Research Park

Champaign, IL – Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) broke ground on a new state-of-the-art facility that will serve as an important expansion of its Champaign, IL technology hub. Leaders from Yahoo, State of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and City of Champaign announced plans for the new building and expanded workforce.

Champaign is the home of several Yahoo engineering teams working on critical technologies for the company. Yahoo currently occupies 24,000 sq.ft. of office space and is the largest full-time employer in the University of Illinois Research Park. The new 40,000 sq. ft. building will be solely constructed for Yahoo. Plans include recruitment of engineers over the next 12-24 months.

Yahoo’s SVP of Advertising Technology, Scott Burke, attended the groundbreaking and said, “I’m thrilled to announce our expansion in Champaign. Yahoo has benefited from the world-class engineering talent at Research Park that contributes to our advertising and data systems. We look forward to growing our team and continuing to be a valued member of the local community.”

Champaign-Urbana is the home of the University of Illinois and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). The top-ranked engineering college is a hallmark of Illinois. Chancellor Phyllis Wise said, “Yahoo is an important presence in our Research Park and in our local community. Our students and our faculty have seen great new opportunities through our relationship with Yahoo, and this expansion will open even more of them for all of us.”

“The presence of Yahoo at the U of I is an incredible resource for the technology industry in Illinois,” Governor Pat Quinn said. “Illinois is a technology leader and we are actively working to grow our economy, create jobs and keep our state a center for innovation worldwide. Places like Research Park at the University of Illinois are essential in making Illinois even more competitive.”

“On behalf of the City of Champaign, we are pleased that performance-based employment incentives were able to contribute the positive decision by Yahoo to expand in our community. Yahoo’s growth is a strong example of the thriving high-technology sector in Champaign,” said Mayor Don Gerard.

About Yahoo

Yahoo is focused on making the world’s daily habits inspiring and entertaining. By creating highly personalized experiences, we keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. In turn, we create value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses. Yahoo is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has offices located throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.net) or the Company’s blog (yahoo.tumblr.com).

About the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Since its founding in 1867, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has earned a reputation as a world-class leader in research, teaching, and public engagement. Located on campus, the Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a technology hub for startup companies and corporate research and development operations. Within the Research Park there are more than 90 companies employing students and full-time technology professionals. For more visit www.illinois.edu and www.researchpark.illinois.edu.

Contact at Yahoo: Cathy Singer, Senior Director, cats@yahoo-inc.com
Contact at the University of Illinois: Laura Frerichs, Research Park Director, (217) 333-8323

More press coverage:

Yahoo to add 80 jobs at Research Park site, The News-Gazette

Yahoo expansion to come to University’s Research Park, The Daily Illini

Unit 4 and Champaign County EDC to Host Twitter Chat on New Central Site

Champaign County EDC is partnering with Champaign Unit 4 School District to host another #AskUnit4 Twitter chat to share information and answer community questions about the newly selected site for Central High School.

The #AskUnit4 chat will take place on Tuesday, February 11th from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Twitter. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions of District administrators and Board members about the new high school site and the factors that impacted the site selection.

“Over the last year, we have partnered with the Champaign County EDC for a series of Twitter chats on the topics that matter most to our community stakeholders,” said Stephanie Stuart, Community Relations Coordinator for Champaign Unit 4. “Parents, students, and community members all have a stake in the future of our District and we want to be able to facilitate a meaningful discussion on why the new site for Central High School was selected and what it means for our District and community.”

Stuart and Carly McCrory, Communications Director for the Champaign County EDC, will both moderate the chat and various representatives from the Unit 4 School District will be on hand to answer questions.

All community members are invited to participate in the chat. To participate, log in to Twitter and search for hashtag #AskUnit4. To be included in the chat, the hashtag must be included in your tweets.

Follow Unit 4 (@Unit4Schools) and the Champaign County EDC (@CHCEDC) on Twitter.

If you have questions about the Twitter chat and/or would like more information, please contact:

Stephanie Stuart at stuartst@champaignschools.org, 217-531-0252
Carly McCrory at carly@champaigncountyedc.org, 217-359-6261

For more information on the new high school site selection, please visit the following link: http://www.champaignschools.org/pages/board/new-central-high-school-site-information

Contact:
Carly McCrory, Communications Director
Champaign County Economic Development Corporation
(217) 359-6261
carly@champaigncountyedc.org

Chat transcript: #AskUnit4 – New Central HS Site

2014 Innovation Celebration Finalists Announced

Io

The Champaign County Economic Development Corporation is pleased to announce finalists for the Ninth 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 the 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 University of Illinois, Parkland College and the community.

The winner of each award category will be announced at Innovation Celebration 2014, held at NCSA (1205 W. Clark, Urbana) on Thursday, February 27, 2014 from 5-8 pm. To RSVP and learn more about the event, visit www.innovationcelebration.com.

Award Finalists

Innovation Transfer Award – University of Illinois
Dr. Stephen Boppart
Dr. Stephen Sligar
Dr. Scott White

Innovation in Engagement Award – Parkland College
Winner will be announced at the event.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Social Venture Award
[co] [lab]
Pilot
Dr. Fouad Abd-El-Khalick & the EnLIST Team – University of Illinois

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Student Startup Award
KantWait
Servabo
Miss Possible

Entrepreneurial Excellence: New Venture Award
Phi Optics
Veriflow
Electroninks

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Advocacy Award
Ray Price – iFoundry
Jed Taylor – U of I Technology Entrepreneur Center
Dennis Beard – Serra Ventures

Innovation: Economic Development Impact Award
Fox Atkins
Carlos Nieto – Nieto Enterprises
Walter Lohmann

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Management Award
Dan Cermak – Volition
Mike Folk – HDF Group
Bill Cope – Common Ground Publishing

Innovation: Longevity Award
Acoustic MedSystems
Prominic.NET
Pavlov Media

The EDC is pleased to work with the following sponsors of Innovation Celebration 2014: the University of Illinois’ Technology Entrepreneur Center, Research Park, Office of Corporate Relations, and Office of Technology Management, along with NCSA, Parkland College, Singleton Law Firm, Serra Ventures, Hanson Financial, Ramshaw Real Estate, Pixo, Pavlov Media, Meyer Capel, Busey, Carle, Martin Hood Friese & Associates, IllinoisVENTURES, Fox Atkins Development, the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Champaign County EDC, and the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District.

Contact:
Carly McCrory, Communications Director
Champaign County Economic Development Corporation
(217) 359-6261
carly@champaigncountyedc.org

Champaign County EDC Reveals New Strategic Plan & Highlights Products Made in Champaign County at Annual Meeting

More than 150 people gathered at the Hawthorn Suites in Champaign, IL for the 2013 Champaign County EDC Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 21, 2013. The meeting highlighted the organization’s FY13 activities, showcased products and innovation Made in Champaign County (#MadeInCC), and revealed the organization’s new Strategic Plan.

Products were on display from the following Champaign County companies: Advanced Filtration Systems, Inc. (AFSI), Bump Nonprofit Design Studio, Columbia Street Roastery, Conair Corporation, Dart Container Corporation, Data Comm for Business, Inc., Eagle Wings Industries, Easton-Bell Sports, Flex-N-Gate, Herff Jones, IntelliWheels, Litania Sports Group, Oso Technologies, Ragle Dental Laboratory, Silgan White Cap Americas, Taylor Studios, Triptych Brewing, and Volition. Some of the products on display included bumpers from Flex-N-Gate, oil filers from AFSI, a bicycle helmet from Easton-Bell Sports, video games from Volition, and a dinosaur made by Taylor Studios.

The Champaign County Economic Development Corporation acts through public-private partnerships to continually grow the local economy by supporting local business and driving expansion and attraction.

The Champaign County EDC has set the following two-year goals (as revealed in their new Strategic Plan): provide support to create 3,000 new jobs, attract $225 million in new private investment, assist companies to grow payroll by $132 million (this will ultimately increase per capita pay to $26,000), and increase private sector influence in EDC by doubling the number of private investors.

To read the full plan, download a copy below.

EDC 2013-2015 Strategic Plan

To view photos from the event, please visit the Champaign County EDC’s Facebook album.

Buzz about the event:

Group’s aim: Per capita pay hike for county, The News-Gazette

Economic Development Corporation showcases locally-made products, The Daily Illini

Tweets (#MadeInCC)

Contact:

Carly McCrory, Communications Director
Champaign County EDC
217-359-6261
carly@champaigncountyedc.org

 

1 … 24 25 26 27 28 … 31