oday, Rep. Bill Foster (IL-14) announced that Northern Illinois University will receive a grant worth $99,500 to spur job creation in Whiteside County. This funding is made possible by the stimulus, which Foster voted for.
"I am pleased to announce that NIU will receive nearly $100,000 to help spur the economies of our rural communities," said Foster. "Of all the counties in the 14th District, Whiteside County has one of the highest unemployment rates. With this grant, NIU and community partners will be able to create the jobs that are so desperately needed."
NIU Outreach's Center for Governmental Studies (CGS) is working with business and government leaders in rural Whiteside County to help create jobs for local residents. Partners in the project include the Morrison Area Community and Economic Development Office, the Whiteside County Enterprise Zone and Economic Development Office, and the Prophetstown Main Street Program. Many local businesses also have agreed to help with this important project.
"NIU is proud to work with community leaders throughout the region we serve," said Anne Kaplan, NIU's Vice President for Administration and University Outreach. "Rural areas and small towns have been hit hard by changes in the global economy, just like many other parts of our region. We at the university see first-hand how interconnected we all are in northern Illinois and our surrounding states."
The partners will work with entrepreneurs in the area to assist them with building new businesses. They will also work together to market the area to businesses who can benefit from the area's available sites, workforce, and access along the Interstate 88 corridor. This project will help implement the strategic plan to revitalize the local economy created by the MAPPING the Future of Your Community program in the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs. CGS will provide a wide range of technical assistance to the partners over the next two years including identification of potential growth opportunities, educational programming for entrepreneurs, upgrading web sites and marketing practices, and project coordination.
Bob Gleeson, Director of CGS, added, "Projects like this are opportunities to strengthen our relationships with local communities and help leaders in our region find new paths back to prosperity for our small towns and rural areas by leveraging the positive side of the global changes we all cope with on a daily basis."
Funding for the project has been awarded by the stimulus through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Business Enterprise Grant program, which helps finance new and existing businesses as well as employment-related adult education programs. Senior Research Scholar Norman Walzer and Research Associate Melissa Henriksen will coordinate the project on behalf of CGS.