[share] Adams County is tied for the second lowest unemployment in the State of Illinois for the month of February at 7.1%. That is 0.3% lower than January of this year. Adams County tied with Du Page County, coming in second only to Brown County out of the 102 counties in the state.

The City of Quincy’s unemployment sits at 7.4% which is also 0.3% lower than January 2012.

For a complete list of unemployment figures across the state, visit the IDES Local Area Unemployment Statistics website.

From earth moving equipment to automobiles; medical devices to consumer products, Illinois is home to 20,000 manufacturers employing more than 600,000 people. These companies generate more than 13.5 percent of the GDP in Illinois.

In Adams County, about 100 manufacturers account for 16.89 percent of employment – much higher than the manufacturing employment share of 11 percent nationally.

IMEC, along with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and other friends of manufacturing, have launched an on-line resource to showcase the diversity of products made in Illinois and celebrate the companies that manufacture them.

Illinois manufacturers can register for a free profile page to feature their products and services, share company news, and display pictures and videos. In addition to increasing their visibility to website visitors at no cost, IMEC will promote the manufacturers to external audiences through social media and other direct marketing tactics, and link participating manufacturers to sourcing and buying opportunities.

Benefits include:

• Connecting with other Illinois Manufacturers
• Generating search engine visibility for your products and services
• Telling the story of Illinois: a Center for Manufacturing Excellence

For more information or to add your company to the list of Illinois manufacturers, please visit http://www.imec.org/Made-In-Illinois.cfm.

[share] The Great River Economic Development Foundation in partnership with The Workforce Investment Board of Western Illinois has retained Growth Services, Inc., a workforce consultant, to conduct a survey of area employers. The goal of the survey is to evaluate the area’s workforce from the businesses’ perspective. The results will be used to identify and address workforce issues within the region and take steps to assure that the needs of area employers are being met, both now and in the future.

Local employers will be asked to provide information about their employee base, including the quality of the workforce, their experiences when hiring new workers, education, skill levels, wages, salaries, benefits, and commuting distances. The results will be used to generate an aggregate report and individual responses will remain confidential.

The report will also be used as an economic development tool to help both existing and prospective new businesses assess the area’s workforce.

The survey will be sent to employers electronically, and it is designed to be user friendly and take approximately 30 minutes to complete. “We encourage all those receiving surveys to participate; higher participation rates will enable us to better identify and address issues that are of importance to our employers,” says, Jim Mentesti, GREDF president.