About Us
The Economic Alliance of Kankakee County is a 501c6 public/private partnership tasked with encouraging and facilitating new investment in the Greater Chicago community of Kankakee County, Illinois. We approach our mission in the spirit of collaboration in order to move the needle in sustainable and equitable ways across the interconnected realms of business, workforce and community development.
Businesses located in our community – from Fortune 500/Global 500 corporations to startups – enjoy a low cost of doing business, responsive educational institutions and workforce training programs, robust utility infrastructure, a 45-minute labor force of 2.8 million, cooperative and aligned leadership with a renewed livability focus, and an outstanding transportation network – including direct Interstate 57 access, three Class I rail lines and the Chicago Southland’s largest regional airport.
Major primary business sectors within Kankakee County include life sciences, food processing, health care, business services, metals and machining, renewable energy, hospitality, and transportation and logistics.
(Access our COVID-19 Response & Recovery Portal here.)
To support new investment, commercial, industrial and residential investors can access a suite of financial incentives. The Alliance also leverages a number of business intelligence tools, providing current property availabilities, market data and other information on demand.
The Economic Alliance holds regular meetings of its board of directors, generally on the second Thursdays of the scheduled months at 7:30 a.m. Meeting locations vary, and are open to the public.
Confirmed 2022 BoD meeting dates are:
- February 10
- April 14
- June 9
- September 8
- November 10
Click to access recent Alliance BoD reports:
2021
- Q1 2021 EAKC BoD Report
- Q2 2021 EAKC BoD Report
- Guest report featuring the Tyjuan Hagler Foundation.
- June 2021 EAKC BoD Report
- Q3 2021 EAKC BoD Report
- Guest report by Nicholas Crite, Economic Development Manager with Nicor Gas.
- Q4 2021 EAKC BoD Report
- Guest report by Olivet Nazarene University president Dr. Gregg Chenoweth
Click to access the Alliance’s 2021 State of the County Report delivered on 10-20-2021.
Click to access the Alliance’s “2021 Kankakee County Board Report” delivered on 1-12-21
DOWNLOAD the International Economic Development Council’s “What is Economic Development” document
Contact:
Tim Nugent, President / CEO, tnugent@kankakeecountyed.org
Angela Morrey, Director of Marketing and Business Attraction, amorrey@kankakeecountyed.org
Ben Wilson, Special Projects, bwilson@kankakeecountyed.org