PEORIA MAGAZINE January 2023

that the Peoria Area World Affairs Council is being ... recognized for its dedication to bringing the world to central Il l inois," said PAWAC Executive Director Angela Weck . The award was presented in November at WACA's National Conference in Washington, D.C. The McLean County Chamber of Commerce honored the best in 2022 McLean County agriculture with six awards at the 2022 McLean County Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Awards Dinner. The Outstanding Conservationist Award went to Eric and Jenny Mennenga , owners and operators of Dolly Farms; Outstanding Young Farmer Award went to Jason Kieser , McLean County Farm Bureau; McLean County Farmer of the Year Award went to Carl Neubauer , owner and operator of Carl Neubauer Farms; Outstanding Service to Agriculture Award went to Jim Spradlin , retired, former CEOof Growmark; Outstanding Person in Agribusiness Award was presented to Mark Heil , Prairie Central Coop; the Emerging Leader in Agriculture Award was presented to Jenny Webb , Illinois Farm Bureau. award recognizes his outstanding performance at an emergency inci dent in April 2022. Swartz started his volunteer fire service with Sherrard Fire Department at the age of 14 in Sherrard's Fire Cadet program. AND THE PRIZE GOES TO … State Representative Jehan Gordon Booth helped the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce secure a $500,000 grant from the State of Illinois to attract more talent to the region. Goodwill of Central Illinois has received a $15,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Central Illinois via the latter’s Community Sherrard Volunteer Fight er/EMR Donovan Swartz has been presented the Illinois FOP Back the Blue Award by the Valley Fra ternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 427 . The

across the United States, Mexico, Canada and Panama by Caterpillar Inc. employees and retirees, and the Caterpillar Foundation as part of its 2022–23 campaign. This record amount is a $1 million increase from 2021. NEWS YOU CAN USE The Foster College of Business at Bradley University is accepting applications for the Senior Consulting Project Program for the Spring 2023 semester. These faculty-led, semester long projects give students a real world experience while providing their clients with detailed analyses, specific recommendations and implementation suggestions. There is no cost to the participating cl ient . Appl ication deadline is Jan. 4, 2023. The Peoria County Board’s Advisory Committee for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development has launched StartABusinessGP.org , a free, online dashboard for entrepreneurs who are looking to start a business or are in the early stages of development. MARK YOUR CALENDAR WTVP’s 11th Annual Virtual Golf Outing will be held Feb. 9 and 10, 2023 , at Quail Meadows Indoor Golf Center, Washington. The fundraising event includes indoor golf, food, beverages, raffles, prizes andmore. Contact Angie Spears at 309-495-0561 or email angie. spears@wtvp.org for details.

Impact Fund. Goodwi l l says the funds will be used to provide client specific assistance to unemployed, underemployed and dislocatedworkers, specifically for transportation costs, interview clothing, work clothing, uniforms and tools. Crossroads Cultural Connections , a nonprofit dedicated to bringing the power of music and the arts to Hen ry County, is one of 27 organizations across the state to receive a $10,000 Foreground Rural Initiative grant from Illinois Humanities . The first-of-its kind program is dedicated to support ing the arts and humanities in rural and small towns in Illinois. The Center for Prevention of Abuse (CFPA) has been awarded a $53,400 Safe Housing grant from RedRover to create a program designated to safely care for the pets of domestic violence survivors. CFPA is the only grant recipient in Illinois. With this grant CFPA created the Pet Peace program to help clients residing in its domestic violence shelters with the boarding, feeding, medical care and vaccination of their dogs and cats. PAYING IT FORWARD Mark Linder Walk for the Mind has donated $115,000 to the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria to support brain tumor and brain cancer research. The donation includes proceeds from the group’s 20th annual walk on Peoria’s Riverfront as well as other fundraisers throughout the year. More than $13.8 million has been pledged to United Way chapters

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

ELMCompanies , a family of companies that includes ELM Utility Services in Peor ia, has announced the construction of a new 125,000 square foot headquarters and manufacturing facility for its Microgrid and Solar Divisions in The Colony, Texas.

JANUARY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE 95