Partnership will grow the workforce and build the economy in Southeast Illinois
CENTRALIA– Continuing his efforts to enhance the state’s technological competitiveness, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today announced a state and local partnership to increase employment opportunities in the information technology sector in southeast Illinois.
Warren Ribley, director of operations for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), joined state, civic and educational officials today on behalf of the Governor at the Centralia Technology Center for the announcement.
“In order to maintain positive job growth in the state and build the economy, we must continue to invest in high growth sectors like technology. Through this new pilot, we’re helping advance the skills of our workforce, creating new opportunities for the state in the IT sector, and bringing more jobs to the Southeast Illinois region,” said Governor Blagojevich.
The first step in the project will be to conduct research on state and regional economic development efforts to capitalize on IT-related in-shoring for the region. Inshoring refers to situations in which businesses and government agencies outsource IT-related functions to businesses in regions within the United States that can provide high-quality but lower-cost services. In some cases, these situations involve the moving back of outsourced work from other countries.
Southern Illinois University will conduct the research and explore opportunities for domestic inshoring so the City of Centralia and other partners can evaluate and begin implementing appropriate strategies.
“The University remains a highly invested partner in advancing the regional economy of southern Illinois. These are challenging economic times, particularly in southern Illinois. By analyzing new ways to develop, train, and educate our workforce we hope to partner with others with the end result of creating jobs in the region,” stated Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard.
The project will then develop and pilot a plan to create IT-related jobs through these business opportunities.
“Through this partnership, we are building on our unique assets to help enhance the economy of Southeast Illinois. Companies will now have all of the resources they need to continue investing in the state, and our communities will benefit from good paying jobs and increased economic development in the region,” said Rep. Kurt Granberg (D-Mt. Vernon).
Project partners include the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the City of Centralia, TEC Services Consulting, Southern Illinois University, regional community colleges and other regional entities. TEC Services Consulting will manage the project for the City and will bring its experience in the IT industry and workforce development. The project will be based in the Centralia Technology Center.
“This is an opportunity for the City to utilize the technology center resource to create new jobs, stimulate economic development and be a model for the region,” stated City of Centralia Mayor Rebecca Ault.
“This pilot program is about growing a workforce that will help enhance the technology sector in Illinois, while maintaining good paying, quality jobs in the state. It’s also about providing companies with the right resources to help them be successful, which, we hope, will lead to their continued investment in the future, DCEO Director Jack Lavin said.
This project brings together two major state initiatives. The first is regional sector initiatives such as the Critical Skill Shortages Initiative which focuses on developing skilled workers for critical sectors of regional economies including healthcare, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and, in this case, information technology. The Illinois Workforce Investment Board (IWIB) recently formed an Information Technology Task Force making IT the fourth major sector targeted for workforce development in Illinois.
The second is the Social Enterprise pilot project which is exploring the use of social enterprises in expanding training and employment opportunities for Illinois workers in critical sectors. Social enterprises are enterprises that operate like a business and generate revenues that are used to provide training and transitional employment opportunities and become a source of skilled workers in a region. They work with education and workforce development organizations to provide the additional real-world training and work experiences that many times are necessary to build high level IT skills and get good jobs, especially for workers with limited work experience.