News & Events

As solar developments emerge across Kankakee County and the state, small businesses and residents now have the opportunity to contract with approved vendors of the Illinois Shines program to offset their electric costs and support the State of Illinois’ ambitious renewable energy goals. With a Community Solar subscription, qualified users are able to participate in renewable energy generation and energy cost savings, even if they are unable to have an on‐site system at their home or business.

Kankakee Community College has added a free interactive tool to its website that helps students and prospective students find careers that match their interests. The software, called Emsi Career Coach, tailors career options for users based on questions about themselves. The personalized results include career titles, labor market data and academic programs that could lead to those demand occupations. The software can also be used to build resumes and connect to job openings locally and regionally. Career Coach is free and is available for anyone to use.

The Kankakee and Iroquois Counties COVID-19 Community Response Fund announced today it has distributed an additional $320,000 to 17 organizations serving Kankakee and Iroquois counties. The fund established by the United Way of Kankakee and Iroquois Counties and the Community Foundation of Kankakee River Valley also announced it has raised more than $650,000 since its launch in late March, including a $200,000 grant from the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund in late May. With this most recent round of funding, the Kankakee and Iroquois Counties Response Fund has made grants of $570,000 to 30 unique organizations.

Governor JB Pritzker today released industry-specific guidelines that allow for the safe re-opening of businesses as the state progresses into the next phase of the Restore Illinois plan. All four regions of the state are on track to advance to Phase 3 of the plan in the coming days, allowing thousands of residents to return to work, and the reopening of businesses in the following industries: retail, offices, manufacturing, barbershops and salons, summer programs, various outdoor recreation activities and bars and restaurants for outdoor dining.

If you think back to your days as an employee, you may recall that one of the best cases for a raise, a title change or even a promotion was to just learn new skills. For your business, the path to operational improvements, margin increases and new revenue streams is identical.

Kankakee Community College is preparing to distribute a little more than $633,000 in federal aid to students affected by the disruption which occurred when courses were moved online in March 2020.

If you and your employer have already experimented with a distributed team, you know that many of the major concerns around remote work — compromised productivity, camaraderie and accountability — were grossly overstated and easily checked. But the question of how to maintain a happy remote team — that takes a lot of care and intentionality.

SBA’s EIDL portal reopened May 4 and is accepting new EIDL applications on a limited basis only to provide relief to U.S. agricultural businesses.

For 1099 workers who have lost work due to COVID-19, a new application portal will open on May 11 via the Illinois Department of Employment Security website. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) provides 100% federally funded unemployment benefits for those who are not eligible for the state’s regular unemployment insurance program, the extended benefit program or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), including independent contractors and sole-proprietors.

Those who are laid off or out of work–whether or not due to the COVID-19 pandemic—are invited to explore different career avenues with the help of Kankakee Workforce Services, a local American Job Center.