OGLESBY- At the Illinois Valley Community College board meeting Thursday they announced that area support has been strong for the proposed Central Illinois Manufacturing Academy. IVCC and three other community colleges have applied for a $7.5 million Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grant to establish the academy. They are expected to choose two academy sites by early spring so they can be underway in the fall.
“Illinois Central College President Sheila Quirk Bailey deserves tremendous recognition for her vision in pulling us all together,” said IVCC President Jerry Corcoran. “If funded, this will have a profound effect on the current and future workforce needs of central Illinois manufacturers.”
Corcoran credited 17 district manufacturers, nine mayors, five chambers of commerce, five community-based organizations, an economic development director, two legislators and 15 superintendents for writing support letters for the initiative.
