8 Investments In Higher Education And Innovation

#8

Investments In Higher Education And Innovation

Recent economic analyses of Springfield and Sangamon County have noted that our occupational structure has not favored the kind of science and engineering professions that drive innovation in a knowledge-based economy. The Community Foundation, along with the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) and Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, have been committed to expanding efforts to create real economic opportunity for our community. Prioritizing an innovationbased economy is a priority of The Next 10.

Make The UIS Innovation Hub And District A Reality

Plans have recently been developed to utilize Innovate Springfield as the cornerstone in constructing the UIS Innovation Hub in Downtown Springfield. The Hub is expected to include: • Business incubation • Technology/research commercialization • Business acceleration • Social innovation

• Application of data science to public policy needs • Professional and post-secondary education to meet local employer needs The Hub will be the catalyst for establishing an Innovation District to fill the gap between Downtown Springfield and the Mid-Illinois Medical District with new businesses, creative arts endeavors, performance venues, restaurants and shops, and urban residential living options. Work to finalize resources and a site to the Hub are underway, but this project must be looked at as a bigger strategy to spark our economy, retain our youth and activate Downtown in new ways. As planning occurs, high priority will be given to assuring that this vision leaves no one out and, in particular, creates opportunity for Springfield’s Black community, which has not shared proportionately in the gains the economy has produced over time. Central Illinois is blessed with excellent institutions of higher education. Growing local postsecondary offerings and harnessing the intellectual capital inherent at colleges and universities is paramount for our communities’ economic and social growth.”

TIM BUTLER

Illinois State Representative

Bring A Law School To Springfield

As the state capital and seat of local government, Springfield provides the perfect setting to establish a law school. Significant government and legal internship opportunities could be a catalyst for student enrollment and support efforts in policymaking. The vibrant student community that would result from a law school would bring new economic opportunity for the community as well. The Next 10 supports efforts to realize the addition of a law school to the community.

Promising Ideas

» Establish Sangamon CEO Fellowship program » Stronger emphasis on STEM education and career and employment connections for young people » Better prepare our young people for post-secondary education and the workforce

DID YOU KNOW?

Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) is an economic engine for the local community, providing vital workforce training and transfer degree programs to nearly 13,000 individuals annually. LLCC offers students of all ages accessible, affordable education on its Springfield campus in online and hybrid formats, and at Outreach Centers in Jacksonville, Beardstown, Taylorville, Litchfield, Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport and HSHS St. John’s Hospital.

St. John’s College of Nursing has been cited as the oldest Catholic hospital-based school of nursing in the United States.

The Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine was founded in 1970 to relieve a chronic shortage of physicians in downstate Illinois. It was the only medical school in Illinois with its main campus outside of the Chicago area until 2018.

UIS was named the No. 1 public regional university in Illinois, and No. 4

in the Midwest in both 2020 and 2021 by U.S. News & World Report. The university brings in more than $7M in research funding annually.

Innovate Springfield, a business incubator in the heart of Downtown, was launched by the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln in 2014. In 2018, it joined UIS under an agreement aimed at expanding economic growth, entrepreneurship opportunities and social progress in the capital city. Innovate

Springfield is the first hub of the Illinois Innovation Network (IIN), which is focused on accelerating statewide job creation and economic development through groundbreaking research and innovation.