Five-year development pitch: Pledge $7.5M to bring in $2.8B
Economic development leaders see 10,000 new jobs, 12,000 new people and $2.8 billion in new wealth in Winnebago County over the next five years.
But to make money, the saying goes, you have to spend money.
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<td>How to get involved</td>
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<td>The Rockford Area Economic Development Council is seeking five-year pledges from investors for its "Rockforward!" campaign. The investment levels are:
Rockforward! investors: $2,000 to $9,999 a year
Leadership Council investors: $10,000 or more a year
President's Circle investors: $25,000 or more a year
For more information, contact Tonya Lamia at 815-987-8118.</td>
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Development Council is asking public and private investors to pledge $7.5 million over the next five years, a 63 percent jump in its budget.
The "Rockforward!" campaign kicks off today, with the goal of "funding the future we want today."
"When a community's in a positive wealth growth mode, it's just a lot more fun place to be," said Janyce Fadden, the development council's executive director. "If we bring jobs that have more value, people have more money in their pocket. It's about creating disposable income."
With a bigger budget, the group would spend more time recruiting new businesses, helping existing ones grow, developing the local work force, encouraging infrastructure improvements and providing seed money for projects.
"I think of it as product improvement. We can get jobs that we're qualified for, just like you have to be qualified for a job," Fadden said. "We could be being eliminated from a search right now and we'll never know."
Rockforward! includes a detailed five-year set of benchmarks for economic growth in the community.
One goal is to attract 5,000 "primary" jobs [--] those in engineering, medical, transportation, technology and other fields that bring customers and wealth into the community from other places. Those jobs would pay an average of $38,000 a year.
About 3,500 would come from existing businesses expanding and 1,500 from new businesses.
The other 5,000 jobs would be "secondary" in retail, service and other industries that would cater mostly to people in the community. They would pay $28,000 a year.
Those new jobs would provide $934 million in employee income over five years. That money would filter into the community through retail purchases, restaurants, service providers, housing payments and other expenditures. Fadden said it's that increased spending that could draw higher-end businesses that don't yet have Rockford on their radar.
The council would also be able to do more work with Next Rockford and other local groups on implementing consultant Rebecca Ryan's recommendations for attracting young talent to the area.
The overall goal of these efforts is to jump-start the area's gross metro product, which is lagging behind the rest of the country, Fadden said. Under the Rockforward! plan, the GMP would grow twice as fast as it would have otherwise and faster than the national average, she said.
The fundraising campaign follows a national trend of economic development groups asking for multiyear commitments and setting long-term goals. Campaigns in similar-sized areas have sought $1.3 million to $2 million a year, according to information provided by the council.
"Because of global competition increasing from around the world, our economic development organizations in this country have had to ramp up their games, get more competitive, get sharper, do the job smarter," said Susan Blansett, principal of R&M Resource Development, the Colorado-based consultant helping with the Rockforward! campaign.
The council is trying to attract a wider range of investors [--] small and medium-sized business owners, minorities, women, union representatives and others that haven't always played a big part in the organization.
It has written commitments from 20 new investors and verbal commitments from more. About 100 investors already are signed up in total, pledging 60 percent of the goal.
Staff writer Thomas V. Bona may be contacted at 815-987-1343 or tbona@rrstar.com. Investors committed for 'Rockforward!' campaign
As of Tuesday, 94 organizations have formally pledged five-year commitments to the Rockford Area Economic Development Council's "Rockforward!" campaign:
President's Circle ($25,000 or more a year): Alpine Bank, AMCORE Bank, city of Rockford, ComEd, Greater Rockford Airport Authority, IBEW/NECA, Ironworkers Local Union 498, OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, Rockford Area Association of Realtors, Rockford Health System, Rockford Register Star, SwedishAmerican Health System, village of Machesney Park, Winnebago County, Woodward and WREX-13-TV.
Leadership Council ($10,000 or more a year): Anderson Packaging, Associated Bank, Cisco Systems, city of Loves Park, Cliffbreakers Riverside Resort, Eclipse, First Northern Credit Union, GE Aviation, Hamilton Sundstrand, Ingenium Technologies, International Distribution Alliance, Joseph Behr & Sons, JP Morgan Chase, Larson & Darby Group, Norstar Heating and Cooling, Oliver Emerson Development, Plumbers & Pipefitters UA Local 23, Rockford Chamber of Commerce, Rockford Park District, RSM McGladrey, Schlichting & Sons Excavating, Sjostrom & Sons, Stenstrom Cos., SupplyCore, Thermo Fisher Scientific/Pierce Biotechnology, United Way of Rock River Valley, village of Rockton, village of Roscoe, Waldom Electronics and Workplace.
Rockforward! investors ($2,000 to $9,999 a year): Auxxi & Associates, Ballard Properties, Bergner's, Blackhawk Bank, CherryVale Mall/CBL & Associates Properties, Clinkenbeard & Associates, Gambino Realtors, Gary W. Anderson & Associates, Giovanni's Restaurant & Convention Center, Goellner Inc., GrahamSpencer Advertising/Design, Greenlee - A Textron Company, Gypsum Supply, Haldex Hydraulics Corp., Holmstrom & Kennedy, Laborers' Local 32, Leading Edge Hydraulics, Lobdell & Hall, Lowe's Cos., McGreevy Williams, Members Alliance Credit Union, Metropolitan Janitorial Services, Midwest Community Bank, Morrissey Family Businesses, Noll Kaney & Associates, Nordic Investments, Northwestern Illinois Building & Construction Trades Council, Orput Cos., Rapid Granulator, Rasmussen College, Riverside Community Bank, Rock River Valley Blood Center, Rockford Anesthesiologists Associated, Rockford College, Rockford Orthopedic Associates, Rockford Transport, Schmeling Construction, Sheet Metal Workers Local 219 SMACNA, Stillman Bank, Testing Service Corp., Tote Cart Co., U of I College of Medicine, U.S. Bank, Whitehead Inc. Realtors, William Charles, Williams-Manny, Workforce Investment Board and WQRF-39/WTVO-17.
Source: Rockford Area Economic Development Council