We Mean Business. Illinois Business.
 
 

Governor visits, promises funding for more than 50 area development projects
By KERRY L. SMITH

   GODFREY - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich delivered $160 million worth of economic development stimuli to Southwestern Illinois in mid December, $130 million of which is tied to improving the region's transportation infrastructure.

   The Opportunity Returns package represented the fifth in a series of 10 new major economic development plans to spur growth in this region and across the state.

   Illinois Transportation Sec. Tim Martin said 27 of the more than 50 separate projects announced for Southwestern Illinois - those tied to transportation improvements - would be funded out of existing General Fund revenues using bonding. The remaining dollars, Blagojevich said, would come from capital projects monies.

   Opportunity Returns transportation projects - the $130 million announced last month in Godfrey, are not part of the Illinois Department of Transportation's five-year plan, according to the governor's aides.

   As for funding the remaining $30 million in non-transportation initiatives, Blagojevich said, it will take some reallocation of resources.

   "As to the rest of the projects, we're refocusing and shifting the money," he said. "We're taking job training money and making sure it gets to the end user, taking it away from the intermediary."

   Blagojevich announced a total of $12 million in grants that are being made available directly to Southwestern Illinois businesses to help train and retrain their workers.

   One of the things about the Metro East that distinguishes it from other parts of Illinois is that this is an area of great growth, the governor said.

   When questioned as to how the state could afford to promise hundreds of millions of new funding commitments when Illinois continues to face a $5 billion deficit, Blagojevich said a long-term view is necessary.

   "Let me caution everyone," he said during a press conference directly following his Dec. 17 address at Lewis and Clark Community College. "In this budget year, and the next year and the next, Illinois is looking at structural deficits that are inherent in all states' budgets, due to lagging and decreasing Medicaid reimbursements. When this fiscal year shakes out, I don't anticipate there will be a deficit, but we need to be realistic about it over a several-year period."

   Some $23 million in new state funding to begin building the Jerseyville Bypass for U.S. 67 topped the governor's transportation allocation announcements. The 6.1-mile segment will further continuous expressway passage from Interstate 270 to Jerseyville. Jersey County Economic Development executive director Brent Thompson thanked his transportation committee for its efforts in heightening the project's importance.

   Another $22.5 million in improvements at the intersection of Interstates 55/70 in Troy (at Illinois Route 162) is also part of the governor's new package. $13.5 million in state monies to add a center turn lane to Governor's Parkway, a popular thoroughfare between I-55 and Illinois Route 157 in Edwardsville, was also promised during Blagojevich's local address last month.

   "It was a banner day for Edwardsville," said Mayor Gary Niebur. "I've been very confident that the governor recognizes the importance of this region to the state of Illinois. Clearly, State Sen. Bill Haine and State Rep. Jay Hoffman played a major role in this."

   Southwestern Illinois College got the news that $7.7 million of the new economic stimulus dollars for the region will go toward construction of a 40,000-square-foot classroom addition at the college's main campus in Belleville.

   "We're very pleased about that," said Elmer H. Kirchoff, PhD, college president. "This is part of our temporary building replacement funding. Our facilities are so over-booked that we weren't able to offer approximately 50 classes due to a surge in enrollment and a lack of space. It's a good type of problem for a college to have. As we all know, this funding is just step number one in the process…we're in the pipeline now, and we'll do all we can to get it through the Capital Development Board."

   Lewis and Clark Community College's Edwardsville campus, housed in the newly restored N.O. Nelson Complex, also got word of additional state funding - $2.8 million to begin the renovation and expansion of the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville science laboratory building. The state funding is also aimed toward construction of the campus' biotech and commercial research incubator. Niebur credited Lewis and Clark Community College president Dale Chapman, PhD, for the work he did to make N.O. Nelson a success.

   Village of Hartford Mayor Bill Moore is pleased that tourism was included in the governor's five-pronged stimulus package.

   The village is receiving an additional $280,000 to help in completion of the Lewis & Clark Memorial Tower at Camp River DuBois near Hartford.

   "This is an excellent move on the governor's part," the mayor said. "The money will benefit the whole River Bend area. We're hopeful that with this assistance, we may be able to see the tower completed by May."

   In addition to promoting tourism and heritage, the other major parts of Blagojevich's plan include: supporting and modernizing local businesses; expanding regional infrastructure; investing in education, job training and technology; and increasing the use of coal and renewable energy.