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Lincoln economic-development group lays out five priorities in three-year plan
Summary
Lincoln Economic Advancement and Development presented a three-year strategic plan Tuesday outlining five priorities — profile, workforce, infrastructure, capital access and business advancement — and previewed a community branding effort called the Lincoln Way.
Andrea Runge, CEO of Lincoln Economic Advancement and Development, presented the organization’s completed three-year strategic plan at the Lincoln City Council committee of the whole meeting on March 25.
Runge said the plan grew from a community survey and a November focus group whose participants represented small businesses, agricultural businesses, property owners and other residents. She told the council the process produced five strategies: elevating the city’s profile, supporting workforce development, strengthening infrastructure, enabling access to capital for small businesses, and advancing existing and new business.
The plan, Runge said, used feedback gathered from 45 survey respondents and 31 focus-group participants and was analyzed using an “eight community capitals” framework—natural, built, financial, political, cultural, social, human and intellectual. “Our first strategy is to elevate the profile,” Runge said, describing work to position Lincoln as a “community of choice.”
Runge outlined workforce activities that have already begun, including Logan County Career Spark, an eighth-grade career fair, and partnerships with Junior Achievement of Central Illinois for K–12 curriculum connections. She also urged the council to consider infrastructure broadly, including vacant buildings for downtown reuse, more work‑friendly public transportation and affordable childcare to retain employees.
On capital, Runge said community banks are “not risk takers” by nature and LEAD wants to help small businesses access and prepare for debt when appropriate. On business advancement, she said the group will both support existing employers and continue building an entrepreneurial ecosystem begun in LEAD’s first four years.
Runge described a community branding initiative called the Lincoln Way and credited local firms for the work; she played a short teaser video and offered to distribute the full five‑minute version to council members after the meeting. “Lincoln Way’s mission is to bring Lincoln’s appeal to the world through storytelling and brand,” the teaser said.
Mayor Tracy Walz and Alderman Parrott asked questions and thanked Runge; no formal council action was taken at the committee meeting. Runge said she will send the full video to council members for their review before public launch.
