Posted On 08/14/2017 By admin

Branding and promoting the major cities in central Illinois as the Central Illinois High Tech Trian- gle could help boost its economy. None of the cities are far from each other. Combined they have a population of more than one million and resemble a highly dispersed city since their suburban reaches extend substantial distances. Commuters often travel between the Triangle’s biggest cities for their jobs.

Much of Central Illinois hasn’t fully recovered from the Great Recession of 2008. The state has lost population, many sectors of the economy are stagnant, state and local public finances are in shambles, and employment opportunities are limited for those without specialized skills. Many young educated people leave the region to pursue careers. The headquarters of the Caterpillar and ADM corporations were relocated from the region to the Chicago area.

One of the most positive economic development attributes in Central Illinois is the combination of various degrees of innovation, research, development and high tech industry in the region, ranging from startups to some of the largest manufacturers. The University of Illinois Research Park in Champaign is particularly noteworthy for its size and variety of entrepreneurs, but small- er research centers are scattered around the area. Also, Central Illinois has outstanding high- way and rail networks, great airports, Midwest Inland Port, a number of excellent universities, international ports of entry, foreign trade zones, medical facilities, advanced agribusiness and other business resources strategically located in the Heartland of the U.S.

To try to bring this all together Lothar Soliwon of ZG Worldwide Consultants initiated contacts with chambers of commerce, innovation organizations, economic development offices and uni- versities to see if there was a way to move forward with this concept. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) was very positive and said they identified the Peoria – Springfield – Champaign Triangle as a defined geographic region with tremendous strengths and potential that could be better organized to utilize the resources to their fullest ex- tent. DCEO offered their assistance to any organizations interested in better developing this area. For lack of anything better at this point and to include a number of smaller cities, it has been named the Central Illinois High Tech Triangle. No current organization represents the Tri- angle. The Economic Development Council for Central Illinois serves only the Peoria area.

Ideally, there needs to be an organizational and promotional umbrella for the Central Illinois High Tech Triangle. This could be a university, economic development group, chamber of com- merce or company. Because staff and money are needed to operate such an entity, it may not happen. Informally, interested parties can meet and try to find common ground to promote the Triangle the best they can with any available resources. One group in Springfield has unofficially agreed to host a meeting to discuss this the end of September 2017.

For more information or to share your views contact Lothar Soliwon at lothar@zgworldwide.com or call +1 217 691 0554.