the October 2019 | Volume 32 | No. 10
PRESERVED FOR NEXT GENERATIONS
IMEC PROMOTES U.S.
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of the rockford business community
COVERING A GAMUT OF TOPICS AT THE
EDUCATION OUTLOOK Luncheon
“We want the audience to know there are opportunities not only to help their business, but also help our school district.” SUPERINTENDENT EHREN JARRETT
Rockford Public Schools Superintendent Ehren Jarrett covered a wide range of topics during his recent state of the school address hosted by the Rockford Chamber of Commerce. The annual event, held on Sept. 12 at Giovanni’s, highlighted some of the recent district activities including individual school score cards, the multiclassroom leader program, the STEAM Academy at Haskell, college and career readiness and educational pathways. “This remains an important topic for our members,” said Einar Forsman, chamber president and CEO. “Educational performance, workforce development, skills building, graduation rates are all things that employers are focused on right now.” There were 285 business and community leaders in the audience ranging from health care officials to nonprofit agencies. “We want the audience to know there are opportunities not only to help their business, but also help our school district. For example,
look at the pathways sponsorship and possibility of a pathways scholarship as two ways businesses can get involved,” said Jarrett. “Business professionals can volunteer in our schools, which also helps our high school students gain valuable knowledge and experience. That partnership can create deep, lasting relationships that can ultimately become the future workforce. We see it as a win-win, and we think it’s going to be a competitive advantage for our community.” It all starts with a School Scorecard to address the areas where the most work needs to be done. The scorecard focuses on goals for all public schools. “This is about each school knowing where they are in their own individual journey so they can focus on getting better,” said Jarrett. “Accountability really starts with that scorecard. I don’t know if you can improve if you don’t know where you are as a school.” “I appreciated the planned implementation of scorecards at each Continued on page 3
IWAT event offers insight on the local impact of global trade issues More events will explore economic, cultural topics By Catherine Forslund, P.D., and Don Manzullo, IWAT
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Rockford residents are hungry for insights into global issues and their impact on the stateline. That was made clear by the overwhelming turnout at “Troubled Waters in International Trade: Impact on Northern Illinois Community,” a community discussion that took place on Sept. 10 at the Nordlof Center in Rockford. The free event was hosted by the Institute of World Affairs and Trade at Rockford University (IWAT), a nonpartisan, public policy organization dedicated to thought-provoking and useful exploration of global issues and their impact on local, regional, national and international communities. The discussion featured Mark Tokola, former U.S. senior foreign service officer, minister counselor of political affairs to the U.S. Embassy in the U.K. and current vice president of the Korea Economic Institute of America, and Roxana Idu, Ph.D., associate professor of economics, Puri School of Business, Rockford University.
They shared their insights on how the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union (Brexit) and trade disputes between the United States and China and between Korea and Japan, could significantly impact local businesses, manufacturing, agriculture and investors and even ordinary consumers. For this event, the institute partnered with the Rockford Chamber of Commerce, Rockford Area Economic Development Council, Chartwell Agency, Clinkenbeard, The Morrissey Family Businesses, Ogle County Farm Bureau, Stephenson County Farm Bureau, Stillman Bank, SupplyCore, Voss Metals and Winnebago-Boone County Farm Bureau. The strong attendance demonstrates the importance of these types of conversations in the Rockford region and the need for such insights to help residents, businesspeople, farmers, investors and others understand the local impact of global affairs. Continued on page 8
RFD NAMED FASTEST-GROWING CARGO AIRPORT IN THE WORLD Airports Council International (ACI) named Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD) as the fastest-growing airport in the world in 2018 for airports that handled more than 250,000 metric tons of air cargo. ACI’s 646 members operate 1,960 airports in 176 countries. ACI noted in its recent ACI World Airport Traffic Report that RFD has positioned itself as an e-commerce freight hub for online retail giant Amazon, and that the airport’s traffic grew 56.6 percent in 2018. In 2018, more than 2.1 billion pounds of cargo moved through the airport, surpassing the recordbreaking 50 percent increase recorded in 2017 of nearly 1.4 billion pounds. In July, RFD ranked the 19th largest cargo airport in the nation. It noted that RFD was the only Illinois-based airport that grew its cargo operations. Nearby Chicago O’Hare Airport saw a decrease of cargo activity by more than 35 percent. RFD is home to the second largest UPS hub in North America, which continues to increase its daily cargo flights. It also serves ABX Air, ATI and Atlas Air. The airport expects to see 1,000 jobs added throughout 2020.
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The Heartbeat of Healthcare THURSDAY, OCT. 17 RADISSON For more information, see page 31 SPONSORED BY
TAX AMNESTY PROGRAM CREATED TO RECOVER OUTSTANDING TAXES The Illinois Department of Revenue announced a tax amnesty program for delinquent taxpayers. Beginning Oct. 1, individuals with unpaid tax liabilities from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2018 may be eligible for a one-time amnesty from penalties if they make full payments on their outstanding tax debt by Nov. 15, 2019.
