University of Illinois Extension
Bureau County Unit
February 2006
Enriching Lives Through Education
Welcome
Community Leadership & Economic Development
- Formal requests were made to Extension for assistance in starting model after-school programs in Malden and Princeton. Information was provided to interested parents on the process and timeline for working through the Bureau County Youth Development Coalition and obtaining Extension's resource support.
- Bureau County Extension, as a part of a state-wide effort, conducted a survey regarding community and economic development in Bureau County. Interested individuals were encouraged to complete the on-line survey. Local results will be provided in late spring.
- Extension has been meeting with the Princeton Chamber of Commerce and it's Promotion Committee to plan a program series for this spring. Programs scheduled to date include:
- March 22, Retaining and Growing Business in Rural Communities
- April 19, Creative Marketing on Limited Budgets & Connecting Tourism to Retail
- A joint collaboration for the development of a high speed, distance video-conference facility is in progress. The collaborators include Extension, City of Princeton, and Becker Professional Suites (Daryl and Marsha Becker); the project will provide for the latest in technology which will allow people in the facility to communicate both through live audio and video TV. Connection to multiple distance sites will offer speakers, meetings, educational programs and more to be scheduled providing a savings to time and travel costs, while opening up new and expanded opportunities for local groups. The City of Princeton awarded $2,000.00 to Extension through the Community Betterment Grant in support of the project. Extension has submitted a Technology Challenge Grant to the State Extension Office for needed technology. The Technology Challenge Grant was approved in the amount of $16,500. and recently increased to $19,000. Purchase and installation are now underway.
- Extension staff have been involved on behalf of Bureau County Tourism and Princeton Tourism with developing the Illinois River Country Nature Tourism project. Plans are still continuing to be developed toward proposing a national scenic byway designation along the Illinois River that would include a spur from the northwest that would pass through Princeton and Eastern Bureau County.
- Extension is coordinating and hosting a Northwest Region Program focusing on rural recreation. The program is scheduled for May 4 at the Bureau County Metro Center. Watch for more details!
- A local government tele-net was provided on "Collective Bargaining" at the Extension Office on February 16. Local government officials have certain roles they play during collective bargaining and arbitration. Michael LeRoy of the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations at the University of Illinois discussed these roles, the collective bargaining process, and the Illinois laws governing collective bargaining.
- University of Illinois Extension - Bureau County has a new look to their website. Check the website to find many resources for youth, families, communities and agriculture! http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/bureau/
- Extension staff continues to work with a task force to prepare Youth Leadership "Best Practices" standards for use statewide with University of Illinois Extension programming and others interested in providing leadership opportunities. This team is exploring best practices for programs involving mentoring, teens as teachers, youth/adult partnership including youth working with governing bodies and leadership academies to help youth feel invested in their communities. Staff is also working on a team of 5 educators piloting special programming on local government in Illinois. More than 400 youth in Northwest Illinois are participating in the pilot of this project.
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