FedEx Ground Plans to Build New Distribution Facility in Grayslake

~Village, County, school districts, fire district, and Partners Collaborate ~

FedEx Ground announced it will build a 214,000 square-foot facility on Rt. 83 (Ivanhoe Road) north of Peterson Road in Grayslake which will employ more than 200 full-time and part-time employees initially. The facility is expected to open in late 2011, and when operating at full capacity, the workforce is projected to grow to almost 500 people.

The new facility will feature the latest automated material handling technology for sorting packages and will dispatch up to 130 vans per day to make deliveries in the area. The new FedEx Ground distribution center is part of a nationwide network expansion and transit time acceleration plan to boost daily package volume capacity and further enhance the speed and service capabilities of its network. FedEx Grounddelivers more than 50% of packages in two days or less and more than 80% of packages in three days or less.  Additionally, average daily package volume has increased by more than 50% from 2.1 million in 2003 to more than 3.3 million today.

University Center Adds New Programs & Members

Eastern Illinois University (EIU) and Olivet Nazarene University (ONU) became members of the University Center of Lake County in action taken at the University Center's June Governing Board meeting.  EIU will bring its Bachelor of Arts in General Studies program and ONU will bring its Bachelor of Science in Nursing for RNs and Master of Science in Nursing programs.  Recruiting for these new programs is already underway.

"We're very pleased to welcome Eastern and Olivet Nazarene into the University Center," said Executive Director and Dean G. Gary Grace.  "Our goal is to offer the region access to a flexible array of programs and these three new programs help us do so.  'Perpetual students' who tried out a lot of majors but never finished a degree will want to look carefully at Eastern's program.   It provides a structure for aggregating their credit and finishing a degree with a minimal number of EIU courses.  The Olivet programs are designed for nurses who want to advance their careers by earning a BSN or MSN at an accelerated pace through a combination of classroom learning and online interaction."

The BA in General Studies program is designed specifically for adults who work and may have completed credits at more than one college or university.  It addresses the challenge faced by adults who pursued more than one major without completing a bachelor's degree or who completed an Associate of Applied Science degree and find it difficult to transfer all of their credits.  Instead of pursuing a major, students work with an academic advisor to develop an individualized program plan.  All credits previously earned at a regionally-accredited institution are applied toward degree requirements.  Only 20 semester hours must be earned from EIU.

The ONU nursing programs follow an accelerated calendar that allows completion in fewer than 24 months.  As soon as enough students are identified, the programs can begin; they are not tied to traditional academic calendars.   The RN to BSN program combines face-to-face coursework one night per week with additional online instruction.  The MSN program is online except for a Weekend Plenary Session-like a conference-that will happen on Olivet's campus.  MSN students select one of three specialty tracks:  nursing education, management and leadership, or emergency preparedness and disaster readiness.

Representatives from these programs and the others offered through the Center will participate in a "University Center Night" college fair on July 15, from 6 to 8 pm at the University Center facility at 1200 University Center Drive in Grayslake.  For more information, contact Tonia Baxter, Recruitment Specialist/Advisor.  She may be reached at tbaxter@ucenter.org or 847/665-4014.