Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich wants businesses to succeed in his state and has the incentives and the programs in place to help them.
“Over the last five years, I have worked hard to offer programs and services to help everyday people get ahead, whether it’s through access to affordable healthcare, a quality education or providing good paying jobs that help them provide for their families. We will continue that commitment in 2008 by offering workforce development programs to help people obtain the skills they need to meet the challenges of the 21st century economy,” Blagojevich said.
“A number of programs that have been successful in the past that we look to continue include, the Employer Training Investment Program (ETIP), which has assisted 8,256 companies and helped 317,653employees upgrade their skills to remain competitive. This year, we also launched theCritical Skills Shortage Initiative (CSSI), now recognized as a national best practice model, making targeted investments in the state’s manufacturing, health care and transportation/logistics workforce—occupations identified throughout Illinois as experiencing significant employment shortages. In the weeks ahead we will be determining other priorities as we head into the 2008 legislative session,” he adds.
In fact, growth has been consistent in this 55,583-square-mile state over the years and is expected to continue in spite of some temporary economic hurdles, according to Jack Lavin, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DECO).
According to Lavin, “Since January 2004, the Illinois economy has created nearly 180,000 new jobs—the best job growth of any state in the Midwest. The Illinois tourism industry broke all records in 2006, generating $27 billion in economic impact—an 8.3% increase from 2005. Over the last five years, tourism has grown by $5.8 billion in Illinois, a 28% increase. In 2006, Illinois exports totaled more than $42 billion, a 17% increase over 2005. In the last five years, Illinois exports have grown by more than $16.4 billion, a 64% increase. Illinois is now the fifth largest exporting state in the country.
“Illinois’ unemployment rate in October 2007 was 5.3 percent, up from a year ago but still lower than the high of 6.9 percent during the national recession of 2003,” Lavin explains, adding, “the Illinois economy continues to perform better than other industrial states in its industrial peer group. For example, Michigan’s October unemployment rate was 7.7 percent and Ohio's was 5.9 percent. The medium-to-long term outlook remains favorable, as the economic forecasting firm Global Insight projects that Illinois' unemployment rates will be below five percent for the next few years, falling to 4.6 percent by 2010.”
Continuing, Lavin admits “there is a concern that Illinois may feel some effects of a possible national slowdown in the coming months. The Illinois state legislature’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability has cited ‘the bursting of the national housing bubble; the impact of the national credit crisis; weak employment reports last month; and some major retailers revising down their sales forecasts prior to the upcoming holiday season.’Global Insight indicates that these factors might lead to a national recession, but probably will not. It is more likely that the U.S. will experience sluggish growth for the next several quarters before picking up steam by next summer or fall. Global Insight projects that Illinois’ employment will grow 0.9 percent annually for the next five years, with professional and business services growing by 1.5 percent; education and health services growing 1.3 percent; and leisure and hospitality rising 1.3 percent. Overall, these factors indicate positive momentum for the Illinois economy as we head into 2008.”
“We also recognize success in the global economy will depend on having a strong and innovative workforce. We have made a number of investments in workforce development to ensure our workers have the skills and training necessary to succeed. One example is the CSSI, implemented by Gov. Blagojevich. CSSI aligns regional workforce programs to provide a reliable supply of qualified job seekers for critical skill shortage occupations that pay a good wage and provide benefits. The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) combines federally funded job training programs in Illinois into a workforce development system where individuals can find a job or train for a new career. The state also offers grant programs to assist low-wage, low-skilled workers to advance in their careers, and helps unemployed, disadvantaged people learn skills necessary to secure employment,” Lavin adds.
A key to economic growth, Blagojevich says, is a first-class workforce. “Illinois boasts a workforce that is both well-educated and the most productive in the country.” He continues that Illinois’ population in 2006 was approximately 12.6 million and has been growing at a rate of 3.3% since 2003.
“Businesses can’t run without quality employees to do the work. Fortunately, Illinois offers a diverse, well-trained workforce that ranks among the most productive in the country. In fact, nearly half of the state’s six million workers are professionals, skilled technicians, craftspeople or machine operators.”
To help Illinois maintain a competitive edge, there are several worker/training incentives for businesses. CSSI is among them. This program links federal job training dollars in a way that helps serve the Illinois economy, Blagojevich explains.
Illinois also has an Employee Training Investment Program. This program reimburses businesses for up to half of the costs of training their currently employed workers. There are also state-funded grants available to nearly 40 public community college districts to help keep the local workforce well trained and effective, he added.
