News RoomArchive for the ‘’ Category

Illinois Added 3,400 Tech Jobs Last Year

Article Source: Crain’s Chicago Business

Illinois outpaced the nation in tech-job growth last year, but several of our neighboring states grew faster.

Illinois added 3,400 tech jobs last year, an increase of 1.6 percent, outpacing the U.S. gain of 1.1 percent, according to the Cyberstates report from the TechAmerica Foundation, a tech trade association.

But Michigan and Missouri increased tech jobs 3.8 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively, the second- and third-highest gains nationally, in percentage terms. Michigan had the nation’s fourth-best growth in total jobs at 6,200.

Illinois remains the largest source of jobs at technology companies in the Midwest with 209,776. That’s up from 201,400 in 2010, when the state was still losing tech jobs. Michigan is the second-biggest in the Midwest with 170,525. (The report doesn’t capture technology jobs at non-tech companies).

California is the largest source of tech jobs at 968,800, nearly twice as big as the nearest competitor, Texas, which has 485,600 jobs.

Illinois is the nation’s eighth-largest source of tech jobs, a ranking unchanged from previous years. It has the nation’s ninth-highest tech payroll at $18.3 billion. But it’s just 16th in terms of the average tech wage at $87,200. The biggest source of employment is computer-systems design at 65,200.

Illinois ranked fourth in total number of tech companies, with 20,900, edging out New York. California is the leader at 41,900, followed by Texas at 29,400.

But Illinois’ tech reputation remains closely tied to its manufacturing roots. Illinois is in the top five states when it comes to making consumer electronics, communications equipment, electronic components and instruments for measurement and control. Overall, tech manufacturing continued to contract in the U.S., dropping 9,500 jobs even as overall tech employment rose 67,400. Virtually all of the gain came from software services.

Champaign Gets ‘Bronze’ Bike-Friendly Status

Article Source: The News-Gazette

CHAMPAIGN — The city can now boast its “bicycle friendly community” status after it was one of 17 new cities listed by the League of American Bicyclists on Monday.

Champaign entered the ranking as a bronze-level bicycle-friendly community. Five other Illinois cities are ranked — including Urbana, which achieved its bronze level status in 2010.

Assistant Planning Director Rob Kowalski said he believes it was Champaign’s nearly 8 miles of bicycle lanes and its educational efforts that attracted the league’s praise.

The League of American Bicyclists has named 259 cities in 47 states as “bicycle friendly communities” since launching the program in 1996. It ranks those cities as bronze, silver, gold, platinum or diamond based on increasingly stringent criteria including physical infrastructure, education, encouragement and ongoing efforts of each city to revise its bicycling plans.

Champaign will have about 10 miles of bike lanes by this time next year, Kowalski said. Projects this summer include extending lanes on State Street from where they currently end to Fox Drive. City officials also plan to stripe bike lanes on segments of John Street and North Market Street — the latter project is part of an overall rehabilitation of that road.

Greg Gonda Receives Accredited Business Planning Advisor (ABPA) Designation

Greg Gonda

CHAMPAIGN, IL – Gregory J. Gonda, the Illinois Small Business Development Center Director has successfully attained the professional Accredited Business Planning Advisor designation (ABPA).

Mr. Gonda attended Accredited – Certified Business Planning Advisor training in New Orleans this past September at the National Association of Small Business Development Center’s 2012 Annual Meeting.

This advanced training program is offered nationally by The Apogee Center for business consultants, financial advisors and economic development professionals. Gregory was part of the second national class of professional advisors trained by The Apogee Center to assist rural and at-risk urban business owners and their communities with the coming wave of business owner retirements.

Apogee President, Odee Ingersoll said, “We are thrilled to have Gregory as part of our second national graduating class of professional advisors. Gregory’s participation demonstrates his long-term commitment to business owners and economic development in Champaign County and the surrounding region.”

Nationally, up to 70% of existing business owners are expected to leave their business over the next 10 years or less; as many as 52% by 2017. ABPA and CBPA advisors provide comprehensive exit and succession planning services to small business owners who have been unable to afford these advanced services until now, in an effort to support communities and their economies. The ABPA / CBPA program is the only nationwide program of its kind to direct services to the small business owner and to the community they do business in.

“The numbers are almost too large to comprehend. Think about 50% to 70% of the businesses in your community right now. Now consider what your community looks like if half of those were to close in the next few years. That’s the magnitude of what communities are facing as early as 2017. Combined with much tighter lending requirements, less available financing and a lagging economy, it’s clear small business owners need help like never before,” Ingersoll said. “If this wave is not addressed aggressively in each community, it can start a downward spiral that will ripple outward and affect entire regions. But it can also be a great opportunity for owners and for younger entrepreneurs – with planning and action now, it can be a win-win situation. That’s why it’s so important to have someone like Gregory available locally.”

Gonda says “The program’s goal is not only to ensure the owner has the greatest number of opportunities to successfully sell or leave their business at maximum value, it also introduces the concept of NxGen Entrepreneurship© – using the purchase of an existing business as an alternative path to entrepreneurship for many would-be business owners. Developing a local buyer or successor keeps the existing businesses in place, contributing to their communities. It also provides an opportunity for new local wealth creation. This is an opportunity that many prospective entrepreneurs would never have had available outside of this program of service.”

Mr. Gonda is one of over 100 professionals from over 22 U.S. states and provinces including the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico to train to assist business owners with increasing their business’s value and preparing for a successful exit or family succession event.

The ABPA and CBPA training program is available nationwide to professionals from Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and to financial consultants including Accountants, Financial Planners and Attorneys. It’s also available to college or university entrepreneurship programs, community staff, utility representatives and economic development professionals.

The Illinois Small Business Development Center provides professional guidance to small, medium and start-up businesses in Champaign County and East Central Illinois resulting in job creation and economic expansion. The counseling services are free and include topics such as finance, marketing, human resources, cash flow issues, and accounting.

The Illinois Small Business Development Center is located at the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation at 1817 S. Neil Street, Suite 100, Champaign, IL 61820. For more information, visit www.champaigncountyedc.org or call 217-359-6261.

BACKGROUND:

The ABPA is the first level of accomplishment for the professional. Each advisor will continue to work toward their Certified Business Planning Advisor designation (CBPA) as they begin to bring their experience and services to owners who need to plan a successful business exit or succession.

The program is especially important to rural and at-risk urban communities where developing or attracting new businesses is already difficult; where lost businesses and the employment and impact they create may not be successfully replaced.

Published research shows that approximately one-third of existing business owners plan to sell their business to someone – but 80% of existing businesses are not ready for such a sales attempt. Another one-third wants to transition their business to a family member; 65% of these family succession events fail. The final one-third plan to sell down their inventory and close their doors.

ABPA – CBPA local services include community and owner education, business valuation and planning tools, premium marketing and industry research, value enhancement recommendations, a comprehensive business exit or succession plan, and up to nine opportunities for a successful business exit for any owner. The advisor can also demonstrate how owners can increase the final value of their sale or exit by 70% or more, and help their community create new wealth and entrepreneurship opportunities for the next generation.

Contact:

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

Millennial Entrepreneurs Event to be Held May 1st

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

CHAMPAIGN, IL – Enterprising youth and their impact on economic development will be the topic of discussion at two events to be held on May 1, 2013 starting at 3 pm at the Thelma Keller Convention Center in Effingham, IL.

The Millennial Entrepreneurs presentation, by Jack Schultz from Agracel, Inc./Boomtown Institute and local educator Craig Lindvahl, will show how communities are making connections between young people and economic development in rural communities.

lindvahl

Craig Lindvahl developed and has taught the Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (CEO) special high school course on entrepreneurism. As a result of his work with the innovative CEO class, he was recently named the Illinois “teacher-preneur” of the year. Effingham County has over 20 new businesses started as a direct result of this course, and more importantly, it has transformed the lives of the young people who have taken this accredited course. The presentation will focus not only on CEO and other approaches from around the country, but will also include:

  • Towns transformed by entrepreneurs
  • Current research on Entrepreneurism in America
  • Examples of supercharged Millennials
  • How to stay connected with our youth

Jack-Schultz-199x300

Jack Schultz is an entrepreneur and author whose research has been published in USA Today, Forbes, Business Week, and other publications. Jack is a past recipient of the Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award and also of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Medallion for Entrepreneurship for his many accomplishments, fueled by his passion for rural America. In 2007 his book Boomtown USA: The 7 ½ Keys to Big Success in Small Towns was added to Forbes magazine’s list of Books to Get Rich By.

Sponsors for this event include: East Central Illinois Development Corporation (ECIDC), Champaign County Economic Development Corporation, East Central Illinois Economic Development District, Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship, Agracel, Business Solutions Center at Eastern Illinois University, and the Thelma Keller Convention Center of Effingham.

Registration is only $10, which includes hors d’oeuvres. Please RSVP by Friday, April 19th to Jean Anne Grunloh at 217-540-3517 or via email to jgrunloh@lakeland.cc.il.us. Please provide your name, address, title and organization. Cash or check, payable to ECIDC, will be accepted at the door or can be mailed to ECIDC, 1204 Network Center, Effingham, IL 62401.

The second event is the Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (CEO) Trade Show, to be held at 5 pm at the Effingham Performance Center. Students in the current CEO class at Effingham High School will highlight new start-up businesses they have created over the last year.

For questions or more information, contact Jean Ann Grunloh, Executive Director of the East Central Illinois Development Corporation at 217-540-3517 or via email at info@ecidc.com.

Local plant to expand for storage

Article Source: The News-Gazette

CHAMPAIGN — A $2.4 million addition to the Silgan White Cap facility in Champaign will enable the container-lid manufacturer to store more materials in-house, the plant manager said.

Sam Finch said the plant in Interstate Research Park will add 71,620 square feet to the west side of its building this year, bringing the total size to 254,616 square feet.

“We hope to be done by the end of August,” depending on the weather, he said Thursday. A building permit was recently issued, and work on the addition is expected to begin in April.

The plant at 3209 Farber Drive, C, currently outsources storage to warehouses, and bringing the storage in-house should result in savings, Finch said.

Silgan White Cap employs 140 to 145 people in Champaign, and the new addition isn’t expected to result in many new jobs, he said. It’s possible the company will add one or two materials handlers.

The Champaign facility produces an average of 300 million lids a month, Finch said.

That includes plastic closures for sports drink bottles, as well as vacuum-seal lids for applesauce, salsa and juice containers, he said.

Silgan White Cap is based in Downers Grove and has plants in Champaign; Richmond, Ind.; Evansville, Ind.; Hazleton, Pa.; and Athens, Ga. The business is a worldwide supplier of metal, composite and plastic vacuum closures for food and beverage products.

Silgan White Cap’s parent company, Silgan Holdings, has 82 manufacturing plants in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, including a metal containers plant in Hoopeston.

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