UrbanaArchive for the ‘’ Category

Flightstar Celebrates Grand Opening of Hangar 10

Congrats to Flightstar on the grand opening of Hangar 10! This 31,000 SF facility was recently completed along with the refurbishment of the adjoined Hangar 3, creating a 52,000 SF complex.

Founded in 1978, Flightstar is an aviation service organization located at Willard Airport (Fly Champaign-Urbana) in Savoy, Illinois. With over 112,000 SF of hangar space, the company offers a range of services including a full-service fixed base operation, airline and general aviation maintenance, repair operations, avionics sales with installation and repair, and world-wide executive jet charter with full aircraft management services. Flightstar proudly serves as a Bombardier Authorized Service Facility and as a Honeywell Authorized Service Center. With over 120 team members, Flightstar prides itself on providing world-class aviation services delivered with a Midwestern work ethic and highly personalized customer service.

View photos from the grand opening here.

Press:

Flightstar Opens Newest Facility at Willard Airport, Fox Illinois 55/27

NCSA’S Blue Waters Project Provides $1.08 Billion Direct Return to Illinois’ Economy

From the press release: 

Champaign, IL – May 10, 2017 – The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign released a study Wednesday detailing the current and projected economic impact of its Blue Waters project on Illinois’ economy. The project manages the nation’s most powerful sustained-performance supercomputer for open-science and its related workforce development and education program. The study finds that the Blue Waters project—which is a joint investment between the State of Illinois, the University of Illinois, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and related activities funded by the university, NSF and other federal agencies—has a projected $1.08 billion direct economic impact on Illinois’ economy and will have created 5,772 full-time equivalent employment over the project’s lifespan (October 2007 – June 2019).

Conducted by Dr. Sandy Dall’erba, Director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory and Associate Professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACES) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the study calculated in 2015 values the project’s impact on the creation of economic output (production), employment (Full Time Equivalent, FTE), labor income, local and state tax revenues, and federal tax revenues. The $1.08 billion in economic impact includes $487,143,813 in labor income from 5,772 FTEs, $56,477,093 in state and local taxes, $122,813,903 in federal taxes, and a $227,300,00 impact resulting from research grants awarded from granting agencies to Illinois researchers, faculty, and students because they had access to conduct research on Blue Waters. The study does not include additional economic and societal benefits coming from the significant amount of computer time provided to Illinois researchers, strategic projects, and industry, nor does it account for the workforce development activities of the Blue Waters project—as they are a magnet for recruiting expert talent to Illinois—or the impacts of the science, engineering and research results that can only be accomplished on the Blue Waters.

Another way to express these results is through a multiplier, a measure of the “bang for the buck.” Over the project’s lifespan (October 2007 – June 2019), Blue Waters’ output multiplier is 1.864 (every $1 spent for BW-related activities leads to an additional $0.864 of production in the state economy) and its employment multiplier is 2.044 (every job created by BW-related activities leads to one additional job created in the state economy).

“My sincerest gratitude goes to the University of Illinois, the State of Illinois, and the National Science Foundation for supporting this critical project which is enabling us to better understand our world, improve quality of life, and develop the nation’s advanced digital workforce,” said Dr. William “Bill” Gropp, NCSA interim director and co-principal investigator for the Blue Waters project. “State and federal support for advanced high-performance computing provides immediate economic impact for our communities and positions the United States to lead the world during a critical era for cyberinfrastructure and at the same time provide unique future contributions from the results Blue Waters enables.”

Illinois was awarded the $360 million Blue Waters project through an NSF Request for Proposal process in 2007. The construction of the National Petascale Computing Facility (NPCF), a state-of-the-art computing and data center housing the system, was made possible by investments of $60 million by the State of Illinois and $87 million by the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus. The construction of the NPCF alone (July 2008-June 2012) generated about $131.7 million in total impact on Illinois’ economy, which includes the creation of 701 direct and indirect jobs, ranging from construction, to technical, to administration. The construction generated $4.3 million in local and state taxes and $9.6 million in federal taxes.

“Illinois is proud to have partnered with the National Science Foundation to support this bold endeavor to create leadership-class resources for researchers in Illinois and around the nation,” said Robert J. Jones, chancellor of the University of Illinois’ Urbana campus. “NCSA has once again proven its ability to excel at stewarding major infrastructure investments and scientific innovations. We intend to continue leading the nation in high-performance computing.”

The Blue Waters project, which has just completed its fourth full year of full service operations, is a key resource for recruiting and retaining world-class researchers and academic professionals. Since the project went online in April of 2013 until the study began in June 2016, it has supported 1,892 direct and indirect jobs and $177.9 million in labor income throughout the State of Illinois. The presence of Blue Waters during this period created a total of $20.9 million in local and state taxes and $41.8 million in federal taxes. The full operation and maintenance has generated a total impact of nearly $380.4 million, $227.3 million of which is due to research grants awarded to faculty with Blue Waters computing allocations.

The resulting overall direct economic impact sums to $1.08B for Illinois along with all the other benefits to the state, the university and nation the Blue Waters project brings.

“I applaud NCSA for its successfully stewardship of Illinois’ financial support that has enabled this best-in-class education program and resources for Illinois students and researchers,” said Rep. Kelly Burke (D-36), chair of the Illinois House of Representatives Higher Education Appropriations Committee.

The report’s executive summary, including methodology, is publicly available for download.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR SUPERCOMPUTING APPLICATIONS

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provides supercomputing and advanced digital resources for the nation’s science enterprise. At NCSA, University of Illinois faculty, staff, students, and collaborators from around the globe use advanced digital resources to address research grand challenges for the benefit of science and society. NCSA has been advancing one third of the Fortune 50 for more than 30 years by bringing industry, researchers, and students together to solve grand challenges at rapid speed and scale.

ABOUT NCSA’S BLUE WATERS PROJECT

The Blue Waters petascale supercomputer is one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, and is the fastest supercomputer on a university campus. Blue Waters uses hundreds of thousands of computational cores to achieve peak performance of more than 13 quadrillion calculations per second. Blue Waters has more memory and faster data storage than any other open system in the world. Scientists and engineers across the country use the computing and data power of Blue Waters to tackle a wide range of challenges. Recent advances that were not possible without these resources include computationally designing the first set of antibody prototypes to detect the Ebola virus, simulating the HIV capsid, visualizing the formation of the first galaxies and exploding stars, and understanding how the layout of a city can impact supercell thunderstorms.

The Blue Waters sustained-petascale computing project which is supported by the National Science Foundation (awards OCI-0725070 and ACI-1238993) and the state of Illinois. Blue Waters is a joint effort of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and its National Center for Supercomputing Applications.

Press:

UIUC’s Supercomputer Has a Projected $1B Impact On Illinois’ Economy, ChicagoInno

Busey Presents 65th Champaign County Economic Seminar

From the press release:

CHAMPAIGN, IL – May 4, 2017 – From agricultural output and payrolls of major employers to new home construction and retail sales, Ed Scharlau, Vice Chairman of Busey Bank, outlined the local economy during the 65th Champaign County Economic Seminar at the I Hotel & Conference Center in Champaign. Robert Jones, Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Van Dukeman, President & Chief Executive Officer of First Busey Corporation, presented their views. This year’s theme was Shaping the Future—reflecting on the life-changing innovation from the University of Illinois as we celebrate its sesquicentennial.

“From improving the way we search the internet and discovering a domain of life to paving the way for wheelchair accessibility, the University of Illinois has shaped the future of our community and the globe,” says Ed Scharlau, Vice Chairman of Busey Bank. “We congratulate the University on its exceptional achievements, history-making milestones and positive economic impact throughout its 150 years in Champaign County.”

The University of Illinois is the number one employer in Champaign County, but its payroll could stall, warns Scharlau, if lawmakers don’t resolve the state budget issues. Payroll on the Urbana-Champaign campus is expected to decrease by $14 million in 2017 to $986 million. More students are choosing to study at the U of I. Enrollment on the Urbana-Champaign campus is expected to increase from 44,800 last fall—making Illinois the seventh largest public campus in the country.

“As we celebrate the University’s sesquicentennial, we also congratulate Parkland College in Champaign on its 50th anniversary in 2016,” says Scharlau. Throughout its half-century of service to our community, more than 300,000 individuals have enrolled in courses at the college. Parkland College is the third largest community college in Illinois.

Healthcare employs more than 8,000 people and is the second largest employer in Champaign County along with Presence Covenant Medical Center, Christie Clinic, Carle Hospital and Carle Physicians Group. “A major game changer in our community is the Carle Illinois College of Medicine,” says Scharlau. “It’s the first medical school in the nation focused on the intersection of engineering and medicine.” Class gets underway August 2018.

Moving to retail sales, they were $2.765 billion last year, according to sales tax data, compared to $2.737 billion the year before. $2.819 billion is anticipated in 2017. Automobile sales are strong—up 3.1% in December 2016. Scharlau says “13% of every dollar spent in Champaign County is for vehicles and gasoline.”

Looking at the housing market, “Home sales are up 11% from 2015—the best in a decade,” says Scharlau. According to the Champaign County Association of REALTORS® , 438 homes were sold in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 416 homes the same time last year. Scharlau says new home construction is holding steady, citing data from Illinois American Water. If the projection is right, 275 new homes will be built in 2017 in Champaign, Urbana and Savoy.

Champaign County’s agricultural output totaled $382 million in 2016—exceeding expectations of Busey Ag Services. “Our ag team credits higher yields in both soybeans and corn,” says Scharlau, “with the average yield for corn at 210 bushels per acre in 2016.” The yield is expected to decrease slightly to 183 bushels per acre this year, but it is still higher than the trend line—according to experts. Busey Ag Services anticipates $337 million in agricultural output in 2017. Meanwhile, values for the most productive farmland—“Class A,” as defined by soil productivity research at the University of Illinois—is now at $10,500 to $11,500 an acre.

Moving to population, Champaign County has grown by 7,338 people from 2010 to 2016 with a population of 208,419. To provide a size comparison, the populations of surrounding counties include: Sangamon County at 198,997, Mclean County at 174,061, Macon County at 108,350 and Vermilion County at 79,728.

Looking at unemployment, Champaign County is at 4.4% for March 2017 compared to 4.7% for Illinois. “Although our community has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state, we need to remember people are unemployed and looking for jobs,” says Scharlau. For comparison, unemployment in surrounding counties for the same time period include: Vermillion County at 6.4%, Peoria County at 6.3%, Macon County at 5.7%, Sangamon County at 4.5% and McLean County at 4.3%.

Guests appear optimistic about the economy this year. Here are the results taken at the seminar:

  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average will be 23,517.
  • The rate of inflation will be at 2.5 percent.
  • Retail Sales in Champaign County will increase by 2.8% this year.
  • The number of new single-family homes in Champaign, Urbana and Savoy will be 279.

To watch the Economic Seminar in its entirety, tune in to Urbana Public Television in May. For the broadcast schedule, visit urbanapublictelevision.yolasite.com. The program will also be available on Busey’s YouTube Channel. Busey is honored to be an advocate for education—proudly presenting the annual Champaign County Economic Seminar, Economic Outlook for McLean County, Economic Outlook for the Peoria Area and Economic & Financial Market Outlook in Southwest Florida. To discover Busey’s impact in the communities we serve, read the Community Engagement Report—a proud partner for purpose and progress.

Press:

Busey Executive Sees Continued Strong Economy In Champaign County, WILL 

Busey vice chairman: County’s financial forecast still strong, The News-Gazette

New Videos: Why Champaign-Urbana

Residents of Champaign-Urbana (& the surrounding area) share what it is they love about living, working, and running a business/organization in C-U.

Part 1 Testimonials:

– Al Fleener – President & Creative Director, Surface 51
– Laura Bleill – Mom-in-Chief, chambanamoms.com + Associate Director, UI Research Park
– Bill Giannetti – President, Flightstar Corporation
– Mike Guth – General Manager, SuperValu
– Kathryn Faith – Senior Multimedia Design Specialist, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
– Douglas Nelson – President, BodyWork Associates
– Beth Ladd – Site Director, Caterpillar Data Innovation Lab

Part 2 Testimonials:

– Ashley Moy – Co-Founder and CEO, Cast21
– Mary-Lynn Foster – Vice President, BIGG Success
– Ryan Shelton – Co-Founder and CEO, PhotoniCare, Inc.
– Arielle Rausin – Founder and CEO, Ingenium
– Jed Taylor – Director of Operations, Technology Entrepreneur Center
– Laura Bleill – Mom-in-Chief, chambanamoms.com + Associate Director, UI Research Park

Videos created by Five Foot Productions.

2017 Innovation Celebration Winners Announced

CHAMPAIGN, IL, March 6, 2017 – Over 350 people gathered at Parkland College for the 12th Annual Innovation Celebration on the evening of Friday, March 3rd to recognize those individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions, taken risks, and provided leadership to ensure the continuing economic success of Champaign County, the ongoing success of the University’s economic development mission, and the growth of entrepreneurial talent and energy in our community.

Innovation Celebration is not merely an award for accomplishment, but a benchmark of success for those outstanding individuals, organizations and corporations who are nominated and selected to receive this prestigious award.

Innovation Celebration is hosted by the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation in partnership with the University of Illinois, Parkland College, and community sponsors. For more information, visit www.innovationcelebration.com.

Award Winners

Innovation Transfer Award—University of Illinois
Recognizes an individual or group from the University of Illinois whose research has resulted in either a discovery or a work with the potential for significant societal impact.

 Dr. Frederic Kolb

Alexis Wernsing Innovation Award—University of Illinois
Recognizes an individual or team from the University of Illinois that has channeled their experience living with a disability into positive change through the creation of new products, environments, or protocols that enhance quality of life.

Arielle Rausin

Innovation in Engagement Award—Parkland College
Recognizes an individual or group at Parkland College who has shown support of the college’s community engagement mission.

Jenni Fridgen

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Social Venture Award
Serve as change agents by creating and implementing sustainable solutions to reshape society, benefit humanity, and address social concerns.

 Young Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) – Champaign Unit 4 Schools

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Student Startup Award
Formed by students in the last three years and demonstrates a commitment to continuing success through entrepreneurial talent, creativity and energy.

 Cast21

Entrepreneurial Excellence: New Venture Award
Formed in the last three years, and demonstrates a commitment to continuing success through entrepreneurial talent, creativity and energy.

PhotoniCare, Inc.

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Paul Magelli Advocacy Award
Actively engage, encourage, coach and mentor entrepreneurs in the community, and provide extensive support to help them achieve success.

 Jed Taylor

Innovation: Economic Development Impact Award
Has successfully commercialized innovations while demonstrating a commitment to positive, local, economic impact.

 II-VI EpiWorks

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Management Award
Demonstrates expertise in assembling resources, creating an organization, and working to build and implement effective action plans.

 Laura Bleill – chambanamoms.com & University of Illinois Research Park

Innovation: Longevity Award
Recognizes those enterprises whose sustained success is the direct result of continued innovation over many years.

Litania Sports Group

The EDC was pleased to work with the following sponsors of Innovation Celebration 2017: the University of Illinois’ Technology Entrepreneur Center, Research Park, Office of Corporate Relations, and Office of Technology Management, along with Parkland College, Singleton Law Firm, Serra Ventures, City of Champaign, Village of Rantoul, Bridge – Champaign County’s Virtual Incubator, Martin Hood Friese & Associates, Fox Development Corporation, Ramshaw Real Estate, Illinois Small Business Development Center at Champaign County EDC, Hanson Financial, AARP, Surface 51, Guth & Associates, Pixo, Carle, IllinoisVENTURES, Huawei, II-VI EpiWorks, Adjacency, and Frasca International, Inc.

A special thanks to Five Foot Productions for producing the videos.

 

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Event recap video, created by ADJACENCY.

Click here to view event photos, courtesy of Darrell Hoemann.

Download the event program here.

View opening & closing remarks from the event. Award acceptance speeches can be viewed at the links below.

– Dr. Frederic Kolb
– Arielle Rausin
– Jenni Fridgen
– Young Entrepreneurship Program (YEP)
– Cast21
– PhotoniCare, Inc. 
– Jed Taylor
– II-VI EpiWorks
– Laura Bleill
– Litania Sports Group

Press:

Entrepreneurs recognized at Innovation Celebration, The News-Gazette

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