The Heartland Partnership and Leadership in Central Illinois

The Heartland Partnership and its family of companies are devoted to increasing and sustaining the prosperity of central Illinois, and it is harnessing its position of leadership to accomplish this task. Whether through endeavors that facilitate collaboration or individual action, the Heartland Partnership, as a leader in our region, is dedicated to improving our business climate, regional image and community vibrancy.

As a regional leader, the Heartland Partnership (H-P) works to develop an environment of open collaboration in its goal of bettering central Illinois. The H-P consists of several member companies, including the Economic Development Council for Central Illinois (EDC), the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, Peoria NEXT and TransPORT. Collaboration among these firms and their employees allows the H-P to work as a cohesive unit for the development of the Illinois Heartland. With a common goal, these companies can focus on their individual objectives and still be certain that they are an important cog in the development process with its sister companies. For instance, the EDC can focus on recruiting and retaining individual businesses and trust that the Peoria Area Chamber is working to develop a business climate that leads to success for firms both large and small.

In a larger sense, the Heartland Partnership works to facilitate collaboration among the community as a whole. As a public-private consortium, it brings together representatives from government, all sectors of private business, education, nonprofits, and even the arts. Through its myriad companies and dozens of initiatives, the Heartland Partnership gathers community leaders together and encourages the sharing of ideas. In this way, the H-P acts a bit like open-source software— through its efforts, it intends to gather the best of the best to improve a constantly changing product.

One example of such collaborative leadership is the CEO Roundtable. By assembling area business leaders, this endeavor garners top ideas from top minds in the region, which dramatically benefits the business community and the region as a whole. The CEO Roundtable has recently focused its efforts on the Build the Block campaign, giving the downtown initiative a great deal of momentum through media coverage and increased funding. Through the facilitation of collaborative leadership, the Heartland Partnership is supporting a project that will augment business strength and enrich the community.

The strategy groups of the Economic Development Council are additional examples of leadership through collaboration. The 11 strategy groups each focus on a unique comparative advantage of central Illinois, and each industry displays a great deal of promise based on prevailing projected economic trends. Specifically, these industries are technology commercialization, intermodal logistics, healthcare services, energy, agri-business and agri-science, the visitor-based economy, retail, specialized manufacturing, professional and technical services, and global trade. Additionally, there is a strategy group for Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS).

Each group is comprised of volunteer members who represent a wide variety of interests in their field, including managers, lawyers, bankers, educators and public figures. By gathering such diverse individuals with common interests, the Heartland Partnership is leading an effort to improve the business environment. Through the strategy groups, ideas are exchanged freely and common goals are established, reducing costs through the sharing of resources and information and improving business through mutually beneficial initiatives.