Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center

The Capital Development Board is the construction management arm of Illinois’ state government. CDB oversees the design and construction of new elementary and high schools, college and university facilities, public safety centers, museums and historic sites, state recreation areas, health centers, office buildings and prisons. In addition, CDB is responsible for annual repair and renovation programs at more than 8,400 state-owned properties, as well as the removal of environmental hazards and the upgrading of facilities to meet accessibility standards.

The Illinois Century network is a statewide educational intranet providing constituents with network consulting, assists participating institutions with the provisioning of networking hardware and connectivity, monitors constituent connections and works with local telecommunications providers to promptly resolve outages.

The Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center are the experts in small and mid-sized manufacturing. IMEC delivers hands-on technical assistance and strategic advisement to help manufacturers to be more productive and globally competitive. Since 1996, IMEC has helped more than 2,500 Illinois manufacturing companies to achieve more than $1.5 billion in productivity, profit, and cost savings improvements.

Federal, state and local governments spend more than $800 billion annually and many of these opportunities are available for small businesses.  Regulations and red tape stop many businesses from applying, but the Illinois Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at SIU helps businesses identify opportunities and become more competitive in selling their goods and services to the government.

The Illinois Small Business Development Center provides small business owners and entrepreneurs with the tools, guidance and support necessary to start, manage and grow successful and sustainable businesses. Direct and personalized business assistance is provided to entrepreneurs through one-on-one professional consulting, training/workshops, assisting business owners to increase their sales, obtain loans, streamline operations, utilize new technologies, expand into new markets, and position themselves for long-term growth. 

Jackson CEO: Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities is a year-long course designed to utilize partnerships that provide an overview of business development and processes. Our local business community partners with area schools to create project-based experiences for students by providing funding, expertise, meeting space, business tours, and one-on-one mentoring.

The Mission of the Jackson Growth Alliance is to encourage economic and community development for all of Jackson County, Illinois and the greater southern Illinois region. The Jackson Growth Alliance unites the efforts of the Jackson County government, City of Carbondale, City of Murphysboro, Southern Illinois University, Southern Illinois Airport Authority and the Jackson County business community for the achievement of economic development goals.

The Office of Innovation and Economic Development (OIED) at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is your regional gateway to a myriad of resources. The collective knowledge and resources herein are ready to assist businesses and start-up entrepreneurs with everything from creating a business plan to attracting equity investments. Many of the technical assistance programs in OIED are a part of the statewide Illinois Entrepreneurship Network.

The mission of the Small Business Incubator Program is to accelerate the start-up and expansion of small businesses in southern Illinois. The program is here to provide the guidance and consulting necessary to make sure those start-up and expanding firms have the tools necessary to succeed.

The SIU Research Park developed from the successful foundation of the business incubator program, which opened its first facility in 1990. The Research Park is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, university-related organization. The SIURP Board of Directors is comprised of SIU representatives, entrepreneurs and business leaders, and local government officials. The primary markets served by the Research Park include University spin-outs and emerging/expanding technology-based organizations. The SIURP mission is “to establish and support an environment to foster innovation, commercialize University discoveries, and advance entrepreneurship and economic development within SIU and throughout the region.”

The Mobile Team Unit (MTU#15) provides delivery of in-service law enforcement training to 152 law enforcement agencies, which include 1,600 officers, covering the 27 southern Illinois counties.  MTU#15 delivers approximately 180 classes each year throughout the region using over 50 different training sites.