From one capital plan, many jobs

By Thomas V. Bona

BusinessRockford.com

Hundreds of millions of dollars from the state’s new capital plan could bring billions in economic benefits to the Rock River Valley.

An expected $400 million in road work, building and maintenance projects could employ as many as 4,000 construction workers each year over the next five years, who will spend their wages at local stores and service providers, sustaining even more jobs.

That infusion would be a nice bridge until the recession ends and economic growth resumes.

“We’ve been struggling the past 10 years with no capital plan, just the hodgepodge of monies the state, county and cities could scrape together,” said Tom Dal Santo, business manager for Laborers Local 32 in Rockford, which represents many of the construction crews that will work on those projects. “One job doesn’t make it. Many jobs is what does it.”

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

By fixing up major roads and helping area colleges and universities and other institutions, the long-awaited capital plan could be a long-term economic catalyst.

“It is directly affecting our biggest jewel, which is our infrastructure,” said Glen Turpoff, executive director of the Northern Illinois Building Contractors Association. “We’re shining up what needs to be shining the most.”

Winnebago County is getting $234 million in major work along Illinois 2, Illinois 173 and Interstate 90 in the next few years.

Not only will the work help retailers and offices along those roads, it’ll also help industrial parks nearby that send trucks up and down the corridors. Turpoff said it will strengthen Rockford’s reputation as a logistics hub and an alternative to Chicago for warehouses and transportation firms.

Steve Nailor, chairman of the Rockford-Winnebago County Better Roads Association, has been a key proponent of these projects. He said they’ll have an immediate effect on engineers and planners who have had less to do without a capital plan, but he also sees the long-term benefits.

“The better infrastructure you have, the better chances you have to attract economic development,” he said.

Janyce Fadden, president of the Rockford Area Economic Development Council, said better roads — especially at the city’s entranceways — will make a better first impression on site selectors. That could lead to more companies moving here.

“If their first look is a state highway that’s in disrepair, they just wonder why they want to be here in our community,” she said. “It’s going to help us sell Rockford.”

Moreover, Rock Valley College is getting $27 million and the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford is getting $15 million for key building projects. Fadden said state support of institutions of higher learning will help make the undereducated work force more competitive.

She said President Barack Obama’s focus on community colleges as an economic driver ties in well to the RVC upgrades: The school will get a new arts instructional center, a new science lab and a reconstructed Stenstrom Center.

Meanwhile, the med school’s National Rural Health Center will include a pharmacy school that eventually will bring a few hundred students.

With that center, Fadden said, “we can be a key contributor to not just our region, not just to Illinois, but to our country.”

Contact staff writer Thomas V. Bona at 815-987-1343 or tbona@rrstar.com.

MORE COVERAGE
State funds to make wider 173 a reality
Capital funds to fix both ends of Main Street
July 13, 2009: Capital plan finally signed into law

ON THE WEB
What projects are covered by the capital plan?
Capital plan's grants for Boone, Winnebago counties
Track county, state, national unemployment rates

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