Bringing Economic Impact to Light
Part of the EDC’s mission is to strengthen the foundations for economic strength in the tri-County area. With so many benefits to living and working in central Illinois, we are never short of qualities to promote.
The challenge with economic development work, however, is that economic development organizations often find themselves promoting many of the same "unique features" also being promoted by every other economic development organization in the country.
Here in the tri-County area, we know we have an excellent quality of life, competitive cost of living, attractive business environment, top-notch educational institutions, and prime logistic accessibility. We experience all the benefits of big city assets with the advantages of a small town lifestyle. Our challenge is making everyone else aware of the benefits available to companies doing business here.
Advertisers have long known if they can send their message through the testimony of someone not involved in the company, they increase the chances of the message being seen as objective and, in turn, more believable. Fortunately for central Illinois, the EDC has no shortage of satisfied customers to call on.
With this in mind, the EDC has set out to tell the stories of some of these successful companies through our Economic Impact cards. These cards tell the stories of businesses that have expanded or relocated to the area, bringing with them business, clients, and economic strength.
With an emphasis on showing the advantages these companies have realized through working in the tri-County area, the first round of cards features companies from each of the counties served by the EDC: Woodford County’s McBride and Shoff, Tazewell County’s Brahler’s Truckers Supply, and Peoria County’s Famer Industrie.
McBride and Shoff recently became the first company in Illinois to receive PS2000 funding for value-based training. The EDC worked with the company, along with IMEC and Converse Marketing, to secure funding for this training, which will address the human side of the production process to increase efficiency and maximize the results of technical training.
Brahler’s Truckers Supply, headquartered in Jacksonville, opened the doors to its most recent expansion in Morton this past October. Brahler’s chose the location in Morton due to the presence of large trucking fleets and the demand for industrial tires for warehouse forklift use, along with the presence of many small and medium sized trucking fleets that exist here to support some of the larger companies operating out of the tri-County region.
Finally, France-based Famer Industrie located its first United States facility in Peoria to have greater proximity to one of its major clients, Caterpillar Inc. Famer’s Peoria facility operations manager said the company has never had a problem finding everything they’ve needed in Peoria since their location here.
These success stories paint a realistic image of how three separate companies found the tri-County area to be an optimal environment for business growth. The EDC works to communicate messages such as these when we work with companies interested in locating in the tri-County region.
In March, the EDC’s research specialist handled more than 40 requests for information about the tri-County region. Each company or individual requesting information was provided with a basic packet of information about the tri-County region, in addition to the requested information.
With the addition of the Economic Impact cards, this basic packet will better communicate the many advantages to doing business in central Illinois. IBI
The challenge with economic development work, however, is that economic development organizations often find themselves promoting many of the same "unique features" also being promoted by every other economic development organization in the country.
Here in the tri-County area, we know we have an excellent quality of life, competitive cost of living, attractive business environment, top-notch educational institutions, and prime logistic accessibility. We experience all the benefits of big city assets with the advantages of a small town lifestyle. Our challenge is making everyone else aware of the benefits available to companies doing business here.
Advertisers have long known if they can send their message through the testimony of someone not involved in the company, they increase the chances of the message being seen as objective and, in turn, more believable. Fortunately for central Illinois, the EDC has no shortage of satisfied customers to call on.
With this in mind, the EDC has set out to tell the stories of some of these successful companies through our Economic Impact cards. These cards tell the stories of businesses that have expanded or relocated to the area, bringing with them business, clients, and economic strength.
With an emphasis on showing the advantages these companies have realized through working in the tri-County area, the first round of cards features companies from each of the counties served by the EDC: Woodford County’s McBride and Shoff, Tazewell County’s Brahler’s Truckers Supply, and Peoria County’s Famer Industrie.
McBride and Shoff recently became the first company in Illinois to receive PS2000 funding for value-based training. The EDC worked with the company, along with IMEC and Converse Marketing, to secure funding for this training, which will address the human side of the production process to increase efficiency and maximize the results of technical training.
Brahler’s Truckers Supply, headquartered in Jacksonville, opened the doors to its most recent expansion in Morton this past October. Brahler’s chose the location in Morton due to the presence of large trucking fleets and the demand for industrial tires for warehouse forklift use, along with the presence of many small and medium sized trucking fleets that exist here to support some of the larger companies operating out of the tri-County region.
Finally, France-based Famer Industrie located its first United States facility in Peoria to have greater proximity to one of its major clients, Caterpillar Inc. Famer’s Peoria facility operations manager said the company has never had a problem finding everything they’ve needed in Peoria since their location here.
These success stories paint a realistic image of how three separate companies found the tri-County area to be an optimal environment for business growth. The EDC works to communicate messages such as these when we work with companies interested in locating in the tri-County region.
In March, the EDC’s research specialist handled more than 40 requests for information about the tri-County region. Each company or individual requesting information was provided with a basic packet of information about the tri-County region, in addition to the requested information.
With the addition of the Economic Impact cards, this basic packet will better communicate the many advantages to doing business in central Illinois. IBI