Illinois Business Journal Illinois Business Journal
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Area home sales remaining strong despite statewide decrease
By LAURA REED

   Favorable interest rates, low unemployment and an overall good local economy are said to be the cause of a steady home sales market in Southwestern Illinois as compared to other parts of the state.
   Comparing numbers from homes sales in 2006 to those of the record year 2005, the Illinois Association of Realtors recently reported that total home sales throughout the state were down 8.9 percent for 2006.
   In Southwestern Illinois, however, real estate professionals see sustained growth and indicators that the real estate market will remain strong for years to come.
   According to Al Suguitan, president

 . The home sales market in Southwestern Illinois remains strong despite a slight decrease of .04 percent in the number of units sold in 2006 as compared to 2005, according to the Greater Gateway Association of Realtors. The region fared better than Illinois as a whole and also better than the nation.
and chief executive officer of the Greater Gateway Association of Realtors, there has been a very slight decrease of .04 percent units sold in 2006 as compared to 2005 - but he says that decrease isn't a reason for concern. The Greater Gateway Association represents realtors in the counties of Madison, Calhoun, Jersey, Bond and the southern [continue]

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Growing demand for ethanol refinery workers has led the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to develop a training program to introduce workers to refinery operations.		 .

Displaced Michigan auto workers visit Edwardsville for biorefinery training
By ALAN J. ORTBALS

   In February a busload of mid-Michigan residents, mostly laid-off former auto workers, set off on a journey of more than 460 miles to learn about the booming ethanol refining industry.
   The destination was the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville that had launched a new training program to give people an introduction to the workings of a biorefinery.

  The class included 23 individuals and was organized by Michigan State University and the Prima Civitas Foundation, a nonprofit economic development organization that is affiliated with MSU. The training program was funded through a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The grant was awarded in February 2006.
   Paul Hunt, associate vice president for research and graduate studies at MSU, said the U.S. Department of Labor ran a competition in January 2006 for the Workforce [continue]

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Edwardsville School District ready to take on Wood River in court over TIF
By ALAN J. ORTBALS

   Edwardsville Community Unit School District 7 will file suit against the city of Wood River if the city moves forward with its plans to create a new tax increment finance district on the eastern edge of the city, according to Jack Humes Jr., attorney for the district.
   The suit would seek to block the city from creating the district.
   District 7 will use any and all legal and equitable remedies to fight it, Humes says. The challenge will be made on two bases: one, District 7 does not believe that the proposed area qualifies for a TIF district; and two, it claims that it will be [continue]