The Economic Development Council for Central Illinois is has received a $99,900 matching grant from the federal government. The US Department of Commerce has awarded this matching grant to the EDC to develop a detailed market analysis and labor force study to identify innovative opportunities to attract growth oriented businesses. The targeted market analysis will include the following components:

· A profile of the regional workforce (employment characteristics, occupation and industry overviews…)

· A quality of labor survey (quality, availability and cost of the region’s labor market…)

· An overall look at the regional workforce availability (desired wages, education level…)

EDC COO, Vickie Clark, says “This is a matching grant, so we have several partners from both the public and private sectors that have joined in support of this project. This funding will assist with the creation and update of critical business development tools needed for EDC’s business recruitment and retention programs.”