QUINCY (WGEM) -The Adams County Board Tuesday evening and among other agenda items board members approved the GROW Housing Program Committee nominations.

This county housing program aims to create additional affordable housing throughout the county.

The GROW Housing Program Committee nominees were submitted by GREDF and do not include anyone on the county board or city council.

Finance chair for the Adams County Board, Bret Austin said although the number of nominees is higher than anticipated, the committee includes of variety of perspectives.

“I think we had originally had talked about five but, it looks like a pretty good group of people that they have in different, you know, city, county areas. You know, builder groups, things like that,” Austin said.

The seven committee members who were approved will begin in the coming weeks. Austin says the committee will oversee the developer application format and finalization. They will also develop scoring mechanisms to vet applicants. From there, committee members will submit vetted developers to the board for approval.

Copyright 2024 WGEM. All rights reserved. | Updated: Mar. 12, 2024 | https://www.wgem.com/2024/03/13/adams-county-board-approves-gredfs-nominees-grow-housing-program-committee/?tbref=hp

QUINCY (WGEM) – Local economic officials say there is a need for housing in the Adams County Area.

The Adams County Board has approved the GROW program, which provides financial compensation to developers to build affordable housing in Adams County

The plan would have landowners redevelop either vacant lots or uninhabited structures into affordable housing units.

Finance Chairman Bret Austin said they are investing $1 million of the American Rescue Plan Act funds into the program and offer a $20,000 non-repayment loan per unit to developers. He said the program focuses on developers either taking abandoned houses or empty lots and turning them into affordable housing family units.

“Those have infrastructure already there. The sewer, the water, the gas, electrics already nearby. So, unlike adding a subdivision on the edge of a town or out in the county where everything’s got to be created. Infill housing has a lot of advantages,” Austin said.

They have partnered with GREDF to help screen the proposals. President Kyle Moore said they will form a committee and come up with guidelines for the proposals. He said the point of the proposals is to bring affordable housing units to the area, which are based on the Adams County Housing Study they put out last year.

He said they have over 600 jobs that pay more than $35,000 open in the area, and only 100 houses on the market. He said the lack of housing hinders economic growth if it isn’t addressed.

“We need single-family houses. We need more affordable houses versus those that may cost $500,000 or $600,000. So those projects which address affordable housing would be ranked higher than something that would be an expensive house,” Moore said.

He said other factors they would consider include the timeline and funding needed. He said programs like these help compensate developers for their building materials, while at the same time meeting the housing needs. He said with rising costs of construction materials this can help a lot.

Moore said they will have the proposals written up and the board will vote on them at their next meeting in March, then it’ll be open to developers to apply.

Austin said after that, they will open the application process, and in June will start awarding projects. He said they want to get started in time for the June construction season.

If you would like to learn more about the GROW program you can call GREDF at 217-223-4313.

Copyright 2024 WGEM. All rights reserved. https://www.wgem.com/2024/02/16/new-adams-co-program-takes-action-address-need-affordable-housing/

QUINCY (WGEM) – John Wood Community College, The Great River Economic Development Foundation and five regional manufacturing companies launched the Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) today at John Wood’s Workforce Development Center.

This is Illinois’ first FAME chapter. JWCC’s President Bryan Renfro said the work-study program is intended to recruit, educate and train individuals into the manufacturing profession.

The FAME program at JWCC is intended to boost advanced manufacturing training in the area.

Students will attend JWCC two days a week and will work three days a week at one of the sponsored manufacturing companies.

“The unique thing about this program is students are employees while they go to college,” said Renfro.

Before working with an employer, the students will get several different manufacturing training.

“Using different types of training simulators ranging from ranging from electrical, mechanical, hydraulics, pneumatics even HVAC,” Renfro said.

Once they get done with the simulators, students will be sponsored by a manufacturing company and will get to use what they have learned in real life.

“They’re going to come here and learn how to work on the equipment learn how to do things that need to be done and they’re going to be working with tradesmen at the facility,” said Knapheide Maintenance and Facility Manager Chuck Makins.

When students are finished they can get right into the workforce with the company they trained with.

“It’s going to run around five semesters for the students, and I believe it’s about 80 hours worth of time at school,” Makins said.

All of the skills they learn in the program will help them advance quickly in their careers.

“Gives them the skills that they need to be promoted rather rapidly through the workforce environment,” Renfro said.

Dot Foods, General Mills, Titan Wheel, Gardner Denver (Ingersoll Rand), and Knapheide are the companies that will sponsor students for the program.

Renfro said they’re expecting to recruit between 15 to 18 students.

He said the college will spend the next few months reviewing applicants.

They expect students to start working with one of the sponsored companies in June or July and students will start classes for the program in August.

To apply or read more information on the program, click here.

Copyright 2023 WGEM. All rights reserved. https://www.wgem.com/2024/01/12/jwcc-gredf-regional-manufacturing-companies-create-illinois-first-fame-chapter/

QUINCY (WGEM) – The Great River Economic Development Foundation says 77 new businesses opened their doors in 2023, a trend they say they want to see continue in 2024 and beyond.

One of those new businesses was Platt Daddy BBQ which opened in April 2023. Owner Jeremy Platt said getting to that point wasn’t easy.

He said they had purchased the building in 2022 and had to remodel the inside. He said construction costs went over budget, and inflation didn’t help. He said startup costs were also high with their fryer’s hood vent costing around $20,000. He said taxes as well tend to take a lot of money from them. He said he was lucky he had some friends to help him get his business started.

“My sister in law who is a finance director for Chaddock, she’s really good with numbers so she made sure I was overly prepared for when it came to that business plan,” Platt said.

He said the downtown community in general is very helpful. He said while he didn’t utilize any community resources, having resources like that available to a business like his is helpful.

With the 77 new businesses, including major ones like Target and Planet Fitness, economic officials at the Great River Economic Development Foundation want to keep the momentum going.

Madison Badgley, the Director of Business Development, said their business start up guide and concierge program have helped many new businesses navigate red tape and state and federal regulations. She said it’s also helped them create plans and know where to go to get help, such as resources and grants. She said they want to continue to find ways to support current businesses, and attract new ones.

“One of the biggest things is we’re always looking for ways to expand upon the Business Concierge program,” Badgley said. “Businesses often are dealt with new changing of employment laws or different laws coming down from the state and federal level and so we are always looking for ways to help them navigate that and continue to thrive,”

She said if they can help current businesses thrive, it makes the area a more business friendly. She said they try to make sure there are resources and help available to help businesses thrive in the area, that way future entrepreneurs know they will have assistance.

the new businesses that opened in Adams County in 2023 are the following:

8te Open

A New Creation Salon

All Puckered Up

Bard Optical

Benson Financial Group

Bin to Bin Mobile Cleaning

Bricktown Inn

CC’s Coffee Bar

CR’s Bakery

Crazy Acres Entertainment

Creative Co. Balloon Design

Enchanted Books

Extra Mile Auto Care

Flawless

Franks

Funky Finds

Games N Grains

Geek E -Services

Golden Collective

Grains & Grounds Brewing Company

Greenhaus Cafe

High Caliber Custom Coatings

High Pressure Power Washing

Home Instead

Hooligans Tavern

ImmunoTek IV

Wellness Studio

Jeni’s Odd Pets

JoJo’s Grooming Pawlor

Karlie’s Bakeshop

Kick it to Kay

Lakeview Wedding Venue

Limitless Medical

Live Well Studio

Luxe Stogie Co.

Maverick’s Landing Zone Lounge & Venue

Modern Social: Media Management Co

Nichols Heating and Cooling

Organize Plus

Perk Coffee Co.

Peters Lawn Care

Planet Fitness

Platt Daddy BBQ Pryor

Homewash Plus

Q-town Kicks

Q-Town Lawncare

Revival Coffee

Rooted Yoga

Roscos Chuck Wagon

Salon Bestie

LLC Severs Orthodontics

Shake Shack

Shandi’s Coffee & Creams

LLC Shear Approval Landscaping

Shelby Job Agency

Strandz Hair Salon

Strategic Management Consulting

Sweet Lady Jane’s Bakery

T-John Lawn Service

Tannie Kakes

Target

The Engraved Hive

The Farm Stand

The Hangout

The Q

The Rodeo

The WearHouse

Tiny Trends Baby Boutique

ToneCraft Media

Trudy’s Trendy Boutique

United Alloy

Verizon

Vessel Fitness

Wahlburgers

Waylon Rhoads Jewelry

Yoga Bee

Your Mamas Food Truck

Copyright 2023 WGEM. All rights reserved. https://www.wgem.com/2024/01/05/economic-development-leader-looks-continue-adams-county-business-growth/

QUINCY (WGEM) – A new Illinois law requiring mandatory paid time off has been enacted.

It allows people working a minimum of 40 hours a week to earn one hour of PTO for every week they work 40 hours.

Kyle Moore, the President of the Great River Economic Development Foundation, said there’s still a hiring shortage throughout the Tri-States. He said at any given time in Adams County alone, there can be up to 650 open jobs.

He said companies have taken steps to attract workers by increasing pay and benefits, and even offering tuition reimbursement. He said they’ve even seen small businesses like restaurants and retail shops offer paid time off, something they usually don’t do. However, with the new law making it mandatory for all businesses, he said they’ve heard concerns from area businesses.

“What we’re hearing really are concerns about first, how do they keep their books, how do they make sure that as an employee accrues paid time off, how are they making sure that they’re accurately reflecting what the employee has earned,” Moore said.

Moore said businesses are concerned about keeping track of an employee’s PTO and how to record them so they can follow state guidelines. He said there are also concerns for budgeting PTO as well. He said this could harm economic development due to the added cost.

Moore said there is some potential that workers in Iowa and Missouri wanting extra PTO might come over the river to work in Illinois.

Jon Meckler, the Regional Director for Chick’s Restaurants, said this could be a great opportunity for restaurants.

Meckler said restaurants are known for their turnover rates, and he thinks the new mandatory PTO law might help reduce that turnover rate. He said Chick’s offers PTO for higher-level employees, but with this, for all employees who work a minimum of 40 hours a week, it would be great for them. He said it can provide an incentive for employees to stay, but also be a good recruiting tool as well.

“Getting more quality applicants that know they can be taken care of better and have better benefits because restaurants are kind of known for not having the benefits of vacation time, sick, pay leave and all that and this could help bridge that gap a little bit,” Meckler said.

Meckler said this could attract more full-time workers to restaurants as well. He said if there are more full-time workers they could give workers more responsibility, such as ordering supplies or working more around the food. He said something like this could also help boost morale in the restaurant industry.

Moore said for businesses wanting information on how to keep track of their employees’ PTO or assistance navigating the law, he encourages them to call the Great River Economic Development Foundation at 217-223-4313.

Copyright 2023 WGEM. All rights reserved. https://www.wgem.com/2024/01/03/mandatory-pto-required-illinois-businesses/

Published: Dec. 20, 2023 at 4:27 AM CST

QUINCY (WGEM) – If you’ve searched for local child care and come up short, you are not alone.

It’s something economic development leaders said they want to tackle as 2023 turns into 2024.

Administrators at Quincy’s 10th Street Children’s Academy said they usually have the capacity to take up to 150 children, but right now they can only care for 100 because of the state’s staff to child ratio policies.

Child Care Director Alison Berhorst said the demand for infant and toddler care is the highest as those demands make up most of their waiting list, which is at almost 200 kids. She said currently they have 25 staff members. She said when they attempt to recruit staff, they often face challenges from college students who have concerns about entering the childcare field.

“Looking at the medium wage for early childhood teachers, it’s substantially less than other careers that may have the same level of education so definitely pay is an important one,” Alison Berhorst said

She said their starting pay is $15 an hour while other places pay minimum wage. Berhorst said benefits are another challenge. Limited funds mean they can’t provide certain things like health care, but they can offer PTO, sick days, and retirement benefits to help their workers.

Berhorst said one way they’ve managed to help with staffing is by partnering with local colleges like John Wood Community College to provide students with internship opportunities at their facility. She said it not only gives them classroom experience, but also has helped recruit future workers

Great River Economic Development Foundation Kyle Moore said the lack of staff impacts just how many children facilities are able to take care of, and it has effects on the workforce and economy. He said for parents, a lack of childcare slots means they have to decide who works and who stays at home. He said for employers, it hinders their ability to recruit people. State regulations require a certain staff to child ratio, and when facilities are short staffed, it means less children at their facility.

He said they continue to discuss strategies with facilities and employers to help fix the childcare shortage.

“We really want to work to get more people into childcare and to get them to understand that it’s a wonderful life fulfilling career,” Moore said. “One of the things that we want to do is work with our partners across our institutions of learning to reduce the cost to obtain a career in education and childcare.”

He said they also want to focus on staffing and supporting existing facilities locally. He said building new centers would only take away workers from current struggling centers.

He said support can take the form of grants or partnerships, and working with existing facilities to help them navigate red tape and other regulations.

Moore said a common problem childcare facilities face is how long background checks on people take. He said when facilities hire someone, the background check can take one to two months, and by the time it gets back, the person might have found another job.

Copyright 2023 WGEM. All rights reserved.

https://www.wgem.com/2023/12/20/leader-look-address-quincy-child-care-shortage/