Belvedere USA Corporation announced that it is now a privately held company after completion of a purchase agreement between two senior company managers and parent company Proctor and Gamble. Horst Ackermann was president of Belvedere USA and Barry Sanders served as vice president of finance and administration for the company when it was a subsidiary of P&G. Their new titles are principal/chief operating officer and principal/president, respectively.

Belvedere is a leading North American manufacturer and marketer of salon and spa furnishings and equipment. The company dates from 1927 and has always been based in Belvidere, Ill.

"We're pleased to know that Belvedere USA's manufacturing operations will continue to be based here in Belvidere," stated Mark Williams, executive director of economic development organization, Growth Dimensions for Belvidere-Boone County. "The company has been a valuable corporate citizen, and we anticipate that the recent purchase will help better position Belvedere USA in the salon and spa industry."

The structure of the company will not change under the new ownership. Other senior Belvedere managers, including vice president of sales Larry Kane; vice president of sales, Eric Lewine; and director of marketing, Steve Wilcox, will remain with the company. The company operates manufacturing facilities in Belvidere, Ill., and Mexicali, Mexico. Belvedere design studios are located in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, Washington DC, Minneapolis, Boston, Florida and Belvidere. Belvedere USA employs 235 people.

"This marks a new day for Belvedere USA - its employees, its customers and its brand," said Ackermann. "We believe that Belvedere as a company is now better positioned to serve all segments of the professional hairstylist market and an 80-year tradition of a great American company will be upheld and improved upon."

Additionally, Ackermann said that under this new structure the company will look to expand its product offering to include the finest furnishings and equipment from European and global suppliers. Emphasis will be placed on innovation, design and increased functionality. These products will be available through Belvedere design centers and distributor locations.

"Our focus is on the customer and our goal is to meet the expectations of that customer quickly," said Sanders. "To reach that target, we will actively seek partnerships and alliances that were not feasible before. It's our intent to reinforce the important historical cornerstones of our products - quality, style and comfort - over the coming months."

In October 1998, Darmstadt, Germany-based Wella AG, a global leader in hair care products sold through salons, acquired all assets of Belvedere Company from the Smith Investment Company to form Belvedere USA Corporation. In addition to allowing both companies to operate as separate entities, this union provided Belvedere USA Corporation with new business opportunities through Wella divisions in other countries. In 2003, Wella Corporation was acquired by Proctor and Gamble. Wella has since become a brand under the P&G Professional Care umbrella.

Pictured Above Right: Belvedere USA Belvidere, IL Facility

*Information provided by Belvedere USA

The interchange at Illinois 173 and Interstate 90 project is complete and opened to traffic July 2nd. The completion of the long awaited project was kicked off with a ribbon cutting ceremony, which began with the presentation of colors from the Illinois Army National Guard, Machesney Park. Local leaders took the stand and expressed appreciation on the collaboration among the local, state and federal governments and the Illinois Department of Transpiration and Illinois State Highway Authority. All entities collectively worked together to successfully complete the interchange project.

Boone County Board chair, Cathy Ward said that the opening of the new interchange near Boone County's border will certainly make traveling to the northern part of our county easier for thousands of us who live in the area. Ward recognized that business development plans are already underway for this area.

"This could bring welcome additional tax revenue to our rapidly growing county. Industries, too, might consider this an excellent site with easy access to several areas throughout Wisconsin and Illinois," stated Ward. "The jobs created by these businesses will also be a plus."

Pictured Above Right: Elected Officials and agency representatives at July 2nd ribbon cutting ceremony.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced this week it will invest up to $375 million over five years in three new Bioenergy Research Centers to be located in Madison, Wisconsin; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and near Berkeley, California. The winning sites were selected through a competitive, peer-review process that began last year and included more than a dozen applicants from across the country.

Using multidisciplinary teams from several institutions, the centers' research will emphasize understanding how to re-engineer biological processes to develop new, more efficient methods for converting the cellulose in plant material into ethanol or other biofuels that serve as a substitute for gasoline. DOE believes this research is critical because future biofuels production will require the use of feedstocks more diverse than corn, including cellulosic material such as agricultural residues, grasses, poplar trees, inedible plants, and nonedible portions of crops.

Growth Dimensions for Belvidere and Boone County looks forward to nurturing opportunities and continued partnerships stemming from the recent announcement of one Wisconsin-based research center. The economic development agency's AgTech Initiative, which is an effort that fosters and accelerates the commercialization of new uses technologies for agricultural crops, new uses for agricultural crops, includes the University of Wisconsin- Madison and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation as collaborative partners in AgTech's commercialization efforts.

Growth Dimensions has also developed the Biomass Commercialization Award Program to provide qualified clients with funds on a cost share basis to commercialize biomass or agricultural based materials into alternative industrial products. The DOE is the source of funds for this award program.

Norb Ziemer, director of the New Uses Entrepreneurship Development Center, the core component of the AgTech Initiative, believes that the latest investment by the Department of Energy illustrates the strategic alignment being formed through DOE platform programs.

"This is a great opportunity both for our region and for the nation. The Department of Energy has demonstrated its commitment to invest in key research which will help propel new biomass process technologies. The anticipated breakthroughs will help facilitate substitute products to replace traditional petroleum-based products, and will make new feedstock options more viable and more commercially available," stated Ziemer. "The University of Wisconsin-Madison will work to develop and refine these emerging technologies from biomass, and the AgTech Initiative will support the entrepreneurial activity involved in helping these new technologies enter the market."

The centers will bring together diverse teams of researchers from 18 of the nation's leading universities, seven DOE national laboratories, at least one nonprofit organization, and a range of private companies. All three centers are located in geographically distinct areas and will use different plants both for laboratory research and for improving feedstock crops.

The three Bioenergy Research Centers involve the following partners:

• The DOE BioEnergy Science Center led by the DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge. Collaborators include Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta; DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.; University of Georgia in Athens, Ga.; Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.; and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
• The DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center will be led by the University of Wisconsin in Madison, in close collaboration with Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. Other collaborators include: DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash.; Lucigen Corporation in Middleton, Wisc.; University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla.; DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Illinois State University in Normal, Ill.; and Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
• The DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute will be led by DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and collaborators include: Sandia National Laboratories; DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; University of California - Berkeley; University of California - Davis; and Stanford University.

The mission of the Bioenergy Research Centers will lie between basic and applied science, focusing on bioenergy applications. The centers aim to identify practical solutions to producing renewable, carbon- neutral energy. At the same time, the centers will be grounded in basic research, pursuing alternative avenues and a range of high-risk, high-return approaches to finding solutions. To some degree, one key to the centers' success will be their ability to develop the more basic dimensions of their research to a point that can easily transition to applied research.

Subject to the finalization of contract terms and congressional appropriations, the centers are expected to begin work in 2008 and be fully operational by 2009.

"I'm not going to pay someone to show me how to rearrange my pencil drawer"

We've heard this before from area leaders who are skeptical about the benefits of front office efficiency. Truth is, improving order entry, quoting, scheduling, design and engineering, purchasing, and accounting can provide an eye-opening opportunity to eliminate waste, and increase profit margins. In fact, it's not uncommon to discover that more than 95% of calculated lead time in fulfilling an order is found in inefficient office functions, not in manufacturing.

In partnership with the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, Int. (FMA) and the Tooling and Manufacturing Association (TMA), IMEC is hosting a three-day certificate program to help key employees to apply lean principles to your business processes. See the attached brochure and register for:

Lean Above the Shop Floor Certificate Program

August 21 - 23
NIU - Rockford
7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

*Information Provided by IMEC

The Belvidere Main Street center is holding the 4th annual awards luncheon and walking tour on Wednesday, July 25th. The event begins at 11:00 a.m. with the luncheon at the Community Building Complex of Boone County, 111 W. First Street in Belvidere, followed by the walking tour from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m.

The tour will include several buildings downtown and present, "Why Grow out, Grow Up."

If you are interested in attending, please RSVP by July 23rd to the Belvidere Main Street Center, 815-547- 3202.

The cost is $7.50 per person. Lunch will be provided by various downtown merchants.

Pictured Above Right: South State Street Downtown Belvidere Businesses