Opinions: Students reflect on North Quad experience.
Sports: Kyler Murry enters the NFL draft.
Sports: Leathernecks to take on first place Fort Wayne.
Friday, January 18, 2019 - Vol. 119 Issue 46
Jimmy person/Production Manager
By Steven Barnum news editor
New economic opportunities may soon be available for residents in the Macomb region. When the plan becomes a reality, the Illinois Innovation Network could offer Illinois residents the chance to create a more diverse and skilled local economy. The network will be a system of connected hubs in cities all across the state. On paper,
the institution will seek to prepare workers in Illinois for an evolving, modern-day economy. That preparation would span from education to training to groom college students for the workforce with internships. Ben Taylor, the assistant director of communications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, says leaders of the group have approached towns with universities in the initial stages of development. He sees mo-
mentum in a possible hub location in Macomb. “We’ve engaged every public institution in the state,” Taylor says, “and all of those discussions have been encouraging,” Taylor said. “Western is one of them.” As of now, plans are underway to put hubs in Chicago, Champaign and Springfield, all of which include U of I campuses. Places near fouryear institutions are the priority, but Taylor says that the network will act as a vehicle
for everyone, even business owners, to grow the local economy. One of the purposes of the program is to retrain workers in a transitioning workforce. Taylor recalls when a General-Motors plant shut down in Danville, Ill., which left hundreds of people out of work. “There wasn’t a big enough manufacturing sector to absorb that, so in that instance, this network could have retrained workers so that they could find a new job
and didn’t have to leave the area,” Taylor said. The Illinois Innovation Network could benefit the economy of a state in desperate need. Illinois is in the midst of a population decline, where more residents have been fleeing the state in the previous five years than any other state in the country.
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365 Nutrition Macomb is open for business By Marc Ramirez edge editor
devon greene/ editor-in-chief
Western graduate Kristin Talley celebrates the opening of his first business 365 Nutrition Macomb.
Kristin Talley a Western Illinois University graduate and her business 365 Nutrition Macomb, were welcomed with open arms by the community after opening on Dec. 10. 365 Nutrition Macomb is located on 1061 W. Jackson St. Suite 101, Macomb, Ill. Talley graduated in 2018 with her bachelor's degree in kinesiology with a minor in nutrition. Since then, she’s used her degree to help better the lives of people within the Western community by providing nutritious drinks and encouraging people to reach their health goals. “Since opening, business has been booming,” Talley said. “We’ve made way more in sales than I ever expected, but even better, the more people we get in here the
more lives and healths we are affecting. When entering the store, all the empty canisters and boxes along the wall symbolize all the help that has gone into helping the Leatherneck community reach their health goals. Talley said that there were even more on display, but they just didn’t make the aesthetic cut. The store opened during finals week, four days before the University closed for break. The company was still able to thrive during a time when students were away from campus. “We were able to survive break with the support received through the Macomb community,” Talley said. “Most companies see a huge dip in their numbers over breaks, we didn’t really see a lot of that which is great.” The store has a variety of
drinks for sale, all of which help fuel the body in a delicious guilt-free way. Aloe shots, teas, boosted teas and shakes are available in a wide-variety of flavors. People can also purchase a full service, a combination of all drinks for new customers to have the full experience. “Something I would tell people who have yet to come in would be to come in and try,” Talley said. “I would strongly recommend trying our full service if it’s your first time coming in.” 365 Nutrition Macomb also introduced a play area for infants and toddlers to play in while their parents stop in for a drink to kick-start their workout.
365 Nutrition page 2