|
|
|
HARRISBURG —
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Chancellor Rita Cheng visited Saline County Wednesday to learn about the region and its issues.
While much of what she learned was gloomy, the various agency representatives at a lunch meeting at Morello's portrayed ours as a resilient area, accustomed to enduring and progressing despite economic hardship.
Cheng believes groups combining efforts helps the region as a whole rather than each agency taking the challenges alone.
"How can we do better with the economic issues in the area?" Cheng said.
Egyptian Public and Mental Health CEO Angie Hampton said state grant-funded programs have been hit hard at the department. Some grants have seen 30 percent cuts and other grants are late in arriving.
However, the department anticipated funding problems early, did some shifting of personnel, have applied for and received two significant federal grants and have not resorted to layoffs of staff.
One grant was a children's mental health grant for programs to help families with unique stressors and children with mental health issues. The grant funds salaries for new positions in the three-county region the department serves.
"We'll be able to have staff shift to those positions if we reach the point where grants are reduced or exhausted. We've found we can branch out to get as many federal grants as we can," Hampton said.
Hampton said she worries about students who graduate planning on a career in social services finding no opportunities for employment.
"How do they have opportunities unless they move from the state which nobody wants?" she said.
Dr. Chuck Seten, medical doctor at Harrisburg Medical Center and chairman of the Southeastern Illinois College Foundation Board, said about 67 to 70 percent of the income for the hospital and clinic is funded through Medicare or Medicaid.
The state is far behind in those payments, he said.
Seten said the nursing program at SIC receives backing from the Foundation through stipends to nursing instructors. Prior to that the program suffered from lack of willing teachers.
Trina Irwin, President of the Saline County Chamber of Commerce and owner of the gym Curves, said the local small business atmosphere is weak.
"I see it going down, down, down. I would like to see some economic growth," Irwin said.
She said the Chamber is losing businesses desperate to save money and membership at her gym is down 25 members in the past month, both signs of a poor economy, she said.
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Chancellor Rita Cheng visited Saline County Wednesday to learn about the region and its issues.
While much of what she learned was gloomy, the various agency representatives at a lunch meeting at Morello's portrayed ours as a resilient area, accustomed to enduring and progressing despite economic hardship.
Cheng believes groups combining efforts helps the region as a whole rather than each agency taking the challenges alone.
"How can we do better with the economic issues in the area?" Cheng said.
Egyptian Public and Mental Health CEO Angie Hampton said state grant-funded programs have been hit hard at the department. Some grants have seen 30 percent cuts and other grants are late in arriving.
However, the department anticipated funding problems early, did some shifting of personnel, have applied for and received two significant federal grants and have not resorted to layoffs of staff.
One grant was a children's mental health grant for programs to help families with unique stressors and children with mental health issues. The grant funds salaries for new positions in the three-county region the department serves.
"We'll be able to have staff shift to those positions if we reach the point where grants are reduced or exhausted. We've found we can branch out to get as many federal grants as we can," Hampton said.
Hampton said she worries about students who graduate planning on a career in social services finding no opportunities for employment.
"How do they have opportunities unless they move from the state which nobody wants?" she said.
Dr. Chuck Seten, medical doctor at Harrisburg Medical Center and chairman of the Southeastern Illinois College Foundation Board, said about 67 to 70 percent of the income for the hospital and clinic is funded through Medicare or Medicaid.
The state is far behind in those payments, he said.
Seten said the nursing program at SIC receives backing from the Foundation through stipends to nursing instructors. Prior to that the program suffered from lack of willing teachers.
Trina Irwin, President of the Saline County Chamber of Commerce and owner of the gym Curves, said the local small business atmosphere is weak.
"I see it going down, down, down. I would like to see some economic growth," Irwin said.
She said the Chamber is losing businesses desperate to save money and membership at her gym is down 25 members in the past month, both signs of a poor economy, she said.
"It's so hard for small business owners in this area to make ends meet. (The Chamber) is working hard trying to pull businesses into that, but as a business owner I see how hard it is," Irwin said.
Cox, also executive director of the Saline County Chamber of Commerce, said she believes local businesses could benefit from the passage of Star Bonds to develop a "tourism destination development" in Williamson County.
Cox believes the draw of a Williamson County tourism destination -- speculated to include an indoor water park -- along with the proximity to the Shawnee National Forest could be the boost tourism supporters have been looking for. A tourism industry depends on people staying in the region overnight spending money. She envisions a Southern Illinois vacation package.
Karen Weiss, dean of Career and Technical Education at SIC, said a recent partnership between the college and Bobby Simpson's trucking company can provide immediate employment to students who receive a commercial driver's license.
Once they achieve the CDL they enter an externship with the company and can be hired to haul coal for the local coal mines.
Weiss said the college been successful with the program training miners to join the coal miners fire brigade. The program includes curriculum in the classroom and hand-on training with the mine training tunnel.
"It simulates going into a coal mine and putting out a fire," Weiss said.
JoAnna Lane, guidance counselor of Eldorado High School, told Cheng of the problem of homeless children in the school system.
Lane said the homeless have at least one advantage in life -- automatic Pell Grants for attending college.
"If they are classified as homeless they get an automatic Pell Grant," she said.
Hampton and Seten discussed the career of child psychiatry, physical therapy, occupational therapy, registered nursing and medical records director as careers in demand nationwide.
Seten said an increasing problem locally and elsewhere is hiring nurses with good pay, but without benefits.
"It's another one of those I-don't-know-what-you-do-with-it things," Seten said.
Cheng's husband, Tom Cheng, suggested college foundations filling gaps between ideas for small businesses and opening small businesses.
Cheng believes people will trust a college foundation to manage donated money for the improvement of the community. The foundation may own a part of the business initially or share in profits of the business and later sell its share of the company. Banks may not initially be willing to offer a business start up loan, but are likely to loan money once the business proves itself profitable.
- DeNeal receives e-mail at mailto:bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.
