SwedishAmerican Hospital has been granted approval by the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board to acquire Northwest Suburban Community Hospital in Belvidere. The action was taken on December 4 at the Board's meeting in Chicago. Officials at SwedishAmerican said they expect to close on the transaction within the next few weeks.

"We are pleased to complete this important step in the process and we look forward to providing expanded medical services to this growing part of our region," said Dr. Bill Gorski, President and CEO of SwedishAmerican.

During the next year, SwedishAmerican will completely renovate the Emergency Department and Outpatient areas of the Hospital, which will be named SwedishAmerican Medical Center/Belvidere once the renovations are complete. Board certified doctors will staff the Emergency Department 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The exterior will also see new separate entrances for ambulances, emergency walk- ins, and outpatient testing. It is expected to take up to 12 months to complete the renovation.

"It has been a real pleasure to work with Dr. Gorski, Tom Meyers, and Don Daniels, and watch the transfer of ownership take place from beginning to end," stated Belvidere Mayor Fred Brereton. "SwedishAmerican's announcement of the purchase of Northwest Suburban Community Hospital fulfills one of the community's highest goals: filling the need for a 24- hour emergency care facility."

SwedishAmerican updated its plans for health services in the greater Belvidere community after analyzing information from a University of Illinois College of Medicine-Rockford community health study that was conducted in 2006. In January, 2007, Northwest Suburban announced it would be closing its bariatric surgical program at the facility and SwedishAmerican entered into negotiations and completed due diligence to acquire the hospital.

*Information provided by SwedishAmerican Hospital

Representatives of area business organizations and economic development agencies are launching an effort to help companies in this area recruit and train new employees. A press conference was held on December 5th to announce the regional efforts.

"We've heard for a long time that there are many companies having a difficult time finding skilled workers for available job openings," according to Tom McDunn of Rockford Area Ventures and the Rockford Chamber of Commerce Manufacturing Council. "We've come together in an effort to help both employers and potential employees."

The collaboration includes representatives from the Workforce Connection and Boone and Winnebago Counties Workforce Investment Board, the Rockford and Belvidere Chambers of Commerce, Growth Dimensions of Belvidere and Boone County, the Rockford Area Economic Development Council, Winnebago County, Abilities Center/TECHWORKS and Rock Valley College.

"There are companies looking for skilled employees, workers looking for jobs and money available for training," said Darcy Bucholz, Executive Director of the Boone and Winnebago Workforce Investment Board. "It appears there is a great opportunity here for something very positive to happen."

Employers in the Rockford and Belvidere region are being asked to complete a Workforce Needs Survey of their hiring and training requirements. The survey will be available on several websites, including the Belvidere Area Chamber of Commerce site and the Growth Dimensions site. You can also click here to take the survey now.

The results of the survey will help workforce development agencies put together training programs that can be customized to fit the needs of different companies.

"The Workforce Connection has developed a unique training program that is helping provide much-needed machine operators for a local manufacturer, " added Bucholz, "and the program can be customized to meet the specific needs of other employers."

Under the program, newly hired employees work part- time for the company while completing several weeks of training. Federal funds can cover 50% of the cost of the training and 50% of the cost of part-time employment during the training period.

The program gives workers an immediate opportunity to apply what they are learning in the classroom. Training can be arranged through the Abilities Center/TECHWORKS, Rock Valley College or other entities.

There is also funding available to upgrade the skills of already existing employees.

"The elasticity of our region's economy to economic adjustments in employment is highly dependent on how well we collaborate as a region to connect displaced workers to new employment opportunities," said Mark Williams, Executive Director of Growth Dimensions. "A strong Workforce Connection program is critical to sustaining at least a stable economy; from here we become competitive."

To help make the connection between employers and potential workers, the business collaboration has announced plans for a Job and Career Fair, to be held January 23rd, 2008 at the Community Building in Belvidere, located at 111 W. First Street. Area companies with employment opportunities will be invited to participate. Agencies providing job skills training and other career assistance are also expected to take part.

Take the WORKFORCE SURVEY

The group's spokesperson, John Strandin, will serve as the Chairperson and point of contact. John can be reached at 815-395-6688 or JSTRANDIN@THEWORKFORCECONNECTION.ORG.

Pictures above right: Mark Williams presenting at the December 5th Workfroce Connection Press Conference

The Workforce Connection, a partnership of agencies providing services to both jobseekers and employers, has moved its Belvidere office.

The agency is now located in the Logan Square Building at 998 Belvidere Road, just south of Logan Avenue. The phone number for the office remains (815) 547-9616.

The office was formerly located at 1208 Logan Avenue, not far from the new location.

A formal ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration is planned for early January.

The Workforce Connection offices in Belvidere and Rockford provide one contact for employers to find workers and for jobseekers to receive training, education and employment services.

Growth Dimensions 2008 membership campaign is underway. New to 2008, the economic development organization has restructured their membership levels, which includes adding a Platinum level membership. The new level investors will now receive all available event sponsorship opportunities throughout the year, along with inclusion in the Executive Advisory Council, to name a few of the available benefits.

Please click here for a breakdown of the investment levels and for further information on the benefits included.

Please contact Kelly Galluzzo or Donna McDaniel at 815-547-4252 or info@growthdimensions.org if you are interested in investing in the Growth Dimensions organization.

Castle Bank is now a Platinum member of the Belvidere-Boone County economic development organization.

Castle Bank has been in the banking business for over 150 years. They are headquartered in DeKalb with other locations in Belvidere, DeKalb, Harvard, Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Marengo, Oswego, Plano, Sandwich, Sugar Grove, Sycamore and Yorkville.

Growth Dimensions thanks Castle Bank for their support and looks forward to their partnership in the organization.

Chrysler's 8-acre trailer staging development in Townhall Industrial Park is complete and ready for operation.

The 350-stall storage and dispatch yard is located on Townhall Road just north of the Belvidere Assembly Plant. The site is complete with security fencing, landscaping, lighting and a guard shack. The project will assist with Chrysler's just-in- time shipments and product storage.

Belvidere Township held a ribbon cutting ceremony on November 15th to celebrate the grand opening of the East Riverside Bridge, located in the 1900 block of Riverside Road. Construction began on the bridge in July of this year.

Partners in the project include Belvidere Township, along with Carroll Engineering, Rockford Blacktop and Schlichting & Sons. Belvidere Township would like to extend a special thank you to all of those involved that helped make the bridge project a success.

BioVantage Fuels, LLC , a five million gallon per year biodiesel facility locating in Belvidere was recently recognized on Chicago's WGN-720. BioVantage co-founder, Chris Kelson was interviewed by agricultural broadcaster, Orion Samuelson on the November 3rd morning show broadcast. The discussion included details on when and how the operation was founded, the productivity capacity of the facility and future expansion opportunities. Due to the increasing attention on the bioenergy market, BioVantage and its partners were pleased with the media coverage, which gave them the opportunity to share their biodiesel project to a broad Chicagoland area audience.

BioVantage Fuels broke ground on their biodiesel facility at the end of September. The building will be located in Crosslink Business Park in Belvidere and the company plans to begin operations in Spring of 2008. Chris Kelson mentioned that future expansion may include co-locating a soy crushing facility. The facility would be sized to accommodate the amount of local farmer crops we could attract, hopefully producing enough soy oil to support the biodiesel plant.

BioVantage Fuels is a start-up company with a goal of developing cost-effective renewable fuels. Founded by Brian Coker and Christopher Kelson the company seeks to leverage partnerships with the Growth Dimensions' AgTech Initiative, the city of Belvidere, the local farming community, 'green' investors, and universities to create sustainable, environmentally- friendly energy solutions.