McLean County government and business leaders are headed to Washington on a fact-finding mission to explore the in-and-outs of smart cities planning.
Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council CEO Patrick Hoban is leading the One Voice delegation March 3-5.
“The biggest obstacle right now is just knowing what we need to install,” Hoban explained. “We don’t want to be so far ahead of the curve that we install infrastructure that’s out there and then later on the Department of Transportation comes out with standards and we are either below the standards and have to upgrade everything again. We don’t have to have to pay for it twice.”
Hoban said the emergence of autonomous vehicles will play a large role in how communities will need to build its IT infrastructure.
“If you don’t have the connectivity, it would be similar to not having roads back in the day, so for us to be ready for the next generation of business, we have to make sure the infrastructure is in place,” Hoban said.
Hoban added the EDC is planning follow-up visits to Washington late this year with specific funding requests.
Hoban said workforce development will be another focus of the trip. The delegation plans to meet with representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor for guidance on how regional employers can better attract and retain younger workers to help fill a skills gap.
“As you are looking at those 25- to 45-year-olds, they are starting to relocate toward the major metros,” Hoban said. “We want to make sure we have the tools in place to either retain them as they are coming out of college or even pull in new (workers) and upscale the ones we have.”
The One Voice delegation will also be seeking $8 million for a bus transfer center. Connect Transit has already secured $6 million and plans to seek additional state money. The Illinois Department of Transportation funded a site location study that’s already underway.
The City of Bloomington is also seeking funding for the Hamilton Road extension in Bloomington.
The EDC reports its One Voice trips have secured $47 million in the 13 years since the annual trips began.
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