The Illinois House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution on Thursday that will launch a full performance audit of the College of DuPage (COD). State Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Dist. 42) sponsored the bill, HR55, which followed the decision by the COD Board of Trustees to give outgoing COD President Robert Breuder a $763,000 severance package to secure his early departure from the presidency.
A bill (SB 806) introduced by state Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Dist. 28), which would require community colleges to develop specific associate's degrees for students who plan to transfer to a four-year university, passed the Senate with bipartisan support on Thursday. The bill now heads to the House for a vote.
The DuPage Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) held its annual hospitality-industry event recently at Morton Arboretum. This year's gala was dubbed "Eat & Meet," a networking event featuring local culinary delights, with a guest appearance by Illinois Director of Tourism Cory Jobe.
U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Dist. 14) has co-sponsored the Municipal Bond Market Support Act of 2015. H.R. 2229 would expand the use of local bank-qualified bonds and allow local municipal governments and school districts to increase their use from $10 million to $30 million a year.
A regional economic marketing effort dubbed “One Call, 10 Stores, A Million Customers" kicked off on Monday, an effort by nine Chicago-area communities that were home to 10 former Dominick’s stores. “Dominick’s was an institution that had a long-term presence in each of our communities," Jason Zawila, a planner who coordinates economic-development efforts for the Village of Woodridge, said.
State Sen. Tom Cullerton (D-Dist. 23) is promoting legislation to market Illinois as more business-friendly by instituting intrastate crowd-funding exemptions. “Small businesses are the key to growing our economy and creating more jobs in Illinois. Intrastate crowd-funding gives businesses the resources to find funding without accumulating debt,” Cullerton said.
A public information meeting hosted by DuPage County Stormwater Management is scheduled for 6 p.m. May 19 to discuss the draft Spring Brook No. 1 Watershed Plan at the county's JTK Administration Building, Room 1-500B, 412 N. County Farm Road in Wheaton. Meeting attendees will learn more about the data that assisted in forming the draft document, as well as the proposed recommendations.
The City of Elmhurst will hold a Downtown Plan Public Workshop 7 p.m. Thursday, May 28, at City Hall. The city is currently looking for input from residents, the business community, developers and others who may have a vested interested in the future of Elmhurst. The downtown plan update is focused on input and recommendations from the community and will serve as the guide for land use and development in the downtown area over the next 10 years.
Illinois' Willowbrook/Burr Ridge Chamber of Commerce 17th Annual Business Expo is slated for Wednesday, June 3, at Ashton Place, located on 341 75th St.
The need for a reliable road and rail network in DuPage County is a top priority, but the discussion on how best to fund transportation is challenging amid the backdrop of Illinois’ budget crisis, said Rep. Jeanne Ives.