Lake County Gazette

State Rep. Tom Weber (R-FoxLake) is encouraging Illinois residents to apply for a new IMEC opportunity that offers small and mid-sized manufacturing companies up to $10,000 to build their operations.

"Existing small and mid-sized Illinois manufacturers with less than 500 employees are encouraged to apply for IMEC's Grow Your Future projects,” Weber said in a post to Facebook. “These fully funded projects are designed to help manufacturers drive growth within their business."

An Illinois affiliate of the U.S. E-commerce NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) National Network, IMEC launched the Grow Your Initiative as a vehicle to provide small and mid-sized manufacturers across the state the with tools, training and assistance to drive growth within their business.

"Illinois Manufacturers are ready to move forward from the disruptions of the last 2 years and emerge more competitive,” IMEC President David Boulay said. “Projects that focus on finding new customers, new markets and new innovations in the way they produce will lead the way for manufacturers across the globe"

Fully funded, the Grow Your Future Projects emphasize growth needs ranging from website design, search engine optimization, lead generation campaigns, sales pitch training, social media implementation and E-commerce setup. Manufacturers with up to 500 employees are encouraged to apply and selected projects – limited to one per company – must be completed in the state by June 2022.

IMEC describes itself as a team of improvement specialists “dedicated to changing lives and creating a positive impact on Illinois' workforce and economy.” The company lists its mission as “to drive growth through enterprise excellence, help organizations become more effective and efficient by identifying issues, developing and implementing solutions and providing the necessary support that will allow them to excel in areas of leadership, strategy, customer engagement, operations, workforce, and measurement and results.”

In 2021, the company aided more than 1,600 businesses and helped retain upwards of 5,579 jobs, resulting in over $450 million aggregate impact to the Illinois economy.

Across the state, the manufacturing industry accounts for more than 12% of the state's total gross output, with the state exporting some $56.17 billion worth of manufactured goods in 2019.

Despite being home to the nation's third largest metropolitan area and a highly skilled workforce, doing business in Illinois can be a challenge as the state’s credit rating and $3 billion deficit raise red flags.

There are more than 1.2 million small businesses in operation across the state, equating to at least 45.1% of the state’s workforce and 20% of the entire population with some 2.5 million employees. In addition, small businesses account for 99.6% of the state’s private enterprise, making them a critical part of Illinois' economy.

In 2018, the state economy grew at a rate of just 2.1%, significantly lower than the national growth rate of 3.4%. Since 2015, the state's population has declined by roughly 150,000 people.

Illinois has developed the reputation as a state with financial troubles.  

"The state of Illinois faces a gargantuan pension liability of more than $200 billion," said Jim Collins, co-founder and president of Datamation. "This lack of fiscal management breeds concern among small business, and it is likely that the state will need to cut key functions and services."

Across the state, IMEC has seven offices and 48 full-time industry improvement specialists. For more information, visit www.imec.org.