Economic development partners report Savencia expansion, grants to local businesses and workforce programs
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Summary
County economic-development staff reported a Savencia Colmena expansion tied to a Costco agreement, ongoing employer recruitment (NICOR due diligence), and three small businesses awarded state infrastructure grants. Officials also previewed entrepreneurship programs and a new membership director.
Speakers for the county economic development partnership told the Plan Development Committee that local business activity is progressing, including a major production increase at a processing facility and state-funded grants for small businesses.
Speaker 4 reported that November produced 915 unique job postings in Stephenson County, down from just over 1,100 in October, and that roughly 289 employers were posting positions with a median annual salary near $53,000. She listed frequent local employers as FHN, GPAC, Pro Pavilion, Walmart, Highland and LK Water Solutions, and said the top occupations remained registered nurses, heavy truck drivers, production workers, maintenance/repair, and retail sales.
Speaker 4 described expansion work by Verner on milk intake to support a new product line and said Savencia Colmena's construction is substantially complete; following a contract with Costco, production targets the company expected by 2027 have effectively quadrupled, and she said that the expansion ties to a roughly $7,000,000 capital-improvement project and will require further waste-stream planning.
The partnership worked with five businesses on a state small-business capital infrastructure grant; three — Pierce Athletics, Fitness Lifestyles and Stew Town Revival LLC — were awarded grants, each receiving more than a quarter of $1,000,000 to spend over two to three years. Staff said they will provide grant-administration support as needed and are applying for a small-business technical support grant with an application due Jan. 8.
Other items included ongoing site work with NICOR (in due diligence on an Adams Road site), a state site-readiness capital grant opportunity for water/sewer extension at the county airport, a Basecamp entrepreneur program launching Jan. 20 and the Midland CEO entrepreneurship program set to begin in 2026 after reaching a minimum investor commitment. Speaker 4 also announced Mercedes Joyner has joined as membership director.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about site locations and enterprise zone mapping; staff said they are coordinating with municipalities and mapping resources.
Next steps include continued coordination on NICOR due diligence, grant applications, enterprise-zone board activity and staff support for newly awarded business grants.