Rockford-area planning council looks to land more economic development dollars for region
More federal economic development dollars and jobs are expected to flow into the greater Rockford area as the Region 1 Planning Council expands its role to become a federal Economic Development District.
The regional government planning organization known as R1, on Friday played host to U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, during a news conference at Collins Aerospace to announce it had won the U.S. Economic Development Administration designation representing a three-county region including Winnebago, Boone and McHenry counties.
"It’s a big deal, and it's a long time in coming," R1 Executive Director Mike Dunn Jr. said. "It's a very high bar, very high threshold to be federally designated. With it, comes operational dollars for R1 to run the programs the EDA wants us to run. It opens up a lot more grant and funding opportunities for all areas of the three counties."
The federal designation took 12 years to achieve and is expected to better position the region to bring home federal investment, Dunn said.
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As an Economic Development District, R1 will focus on infrastructure investment and job creation especially within the region’s three traditional industry clusters including aerospace, automotive production and food processing, Dunn said.
At the same time, it will work to grow the region's logistics and distribution industry cluster.
Duckworth said the designation should help the three-county region attract federal and private investment that grows the local economy and helps it compete for jobs. She said it is "just the beginning of a next phase of investing in and growing these communities.”
“As a hub of agriculture, manufacturing, technology and innovation, Illinois is uniquely prepared for greater investment, including with our international partners," Duckworth said. "It’s been one of my top priorities to help share on a global stage why Illinois is ready to help bring our world into the future."
R1 is a "special-purpose government agency" that since 1964 has focused its efforts on transportation and infrastructure planning as a federal Metropolitan Planning Organization for the U.S. Department of Transportation. The new and additional designation formalizes R1’s economic development role, allowing the agency to extend its planning expertise and investment activity by partnering with the Economic Development Administration, a news release said.
The Economic Development District designation is expected to expand R1 programming to support local government, said R1 Board Chairman and Loves Park Mayor Greg Jury.
“R1 has been a great partner to Loves Park as we grow industry and jobs in our community,” Jury said. “I have been proud to serve as R1’s chairman, building and leading a regional table of elected leaders from both political parties. This federal designation as an Economic Development District would not have happened without our strong track record of regional collaboration.”
Jeff Kolkey can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Tammy Duckworth: Illinois ready to lead 'world into the future'
