Livingston mayors group OKs new I-55 Growth Association

Thursday, October 25, 2007 4:24 PM CDT

By Tony Sapochetti
tsapochetti@pantagraph.com

DWIGHT — Economic development efforts in Livingston County soon will be in the hands of a 43-member organization.

The Livingston County Mayors Association voted unanimously Wednesday night to approve forming such a board, tentatively dubbed the I-55 Growth Association, by Dec. 1.

Representatives from the association, the Livingston County Board, the Pontiac Area Chamber of Commerce and others have been working for months toward creating an authority to coordinate economic development efforts. Founding this interim board is the next step.

“This way we will have one cohesive group, and we need one,” Livingston County Board Chairman Bill Flott said.

Several appointees will be from the private sector, but named by local units of government and chambers of commerce.

The mayors of Cornell, Cullom, Chatsworth, Emington, Flanagan, Forrest and Odell and the chambers of commerce from Dwight, Fairbury and Pontiac will have one appointee each. Two appointments each will come from the County Board and the mayors of Dwight, Fairbury and Pontiac.

Rounding out the list will be the municipal mayors, five County Board members and representatives from the Dwight, Fairbury and Pontiac chambers of commerce.

Saunemin Mayor Mike Stoecklin, president of the mayors association, and Flott will set a date in December for the 43 to select board officers.

The newly selected chairman will then appoint committees to handle funding and the finalization of the bylaws. These proposals are expected to be ready by March 1.

Prior to Wednesday’s meeting in Dwight, the mayors association and the Pontiac Area Chamber of Commerce both were researching and planning countywide economic development. The efforts were united at Wednesday night’s meeting.

“I thank you for inviting me and I have really enjoyed the way that all of you have communicated and worked together,” said Paula Corrigan of the Pontiac Area Chamber of Commerce.

Stoecklin stressed the effort will be for all of Livingston County and not just Pontiac, Dwight and Fairbury. He said any business going into any community could affect the whole county.

“I know that our little town is not going to get a whole lot just because that’s the way it is and I accept that,” Stoecklin said. “At the same time, I know if anybody else has any kind of success … then it’s an opportunity for any of my folks to benefit from that.

“I think the elected leaders know that what is good for one is good for all,” he said.