EDWARDSVILLE — Madison County received recognition for its public service efforts last week during the East-West Gateway Council of Governments 52nd annual meeting.
Madison County Planning and Development and Madison-Bond Workforce Innovation Board (WIOB)Employment were honored Friday during a luncheon in downtown St. Louis with Outstanding Local Government Achievement Awards. The awards recognized area governments and officials for their achievements in public service, leadership and productive collaboration.
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Matt Brandmeyer, director of Planning and Development, accepted the Leadership in Planning and Design Innovation award for the county’s forward-thinking planning and design efforts for public spaces and community development that challenges the way people thinking.
Brandmeyer said the county received the award for its Upper Silver Creek Watershed Plan.
“We are honored because this is the third year we received this award,” Brandmeyer said. “We also partnered with Heartlands Conservancy on this watershed project.”
He said the watershed plan documents existing conditions along the Upper Silver Creek Watershed and provides strategies for best practices to improve water quality and to reduce flooding as well as present a roadmap for communities, agencies, and landowners for future improvements.
Click Here for more information on the Silver Creek Watershed Plan.
The Exemplary Public/Private/Non-Profit Collaboration award was presented to members of the WIOB, which included Anthony Fuhrmann, administrator of Employment and Training. The board was honored for its venture between local government jurisdictions/agencies and private/non-profit organizations that exemplify high impact, positive change.
Fuhrmann said the WIOB was recognized for its “Manufacture the Future/Craft Your Future” campaign. The campaigns aims to educate high school students, parents, guidance counselors, principals and other influencers about the high-paying jobs that will be available in both sectors, the skills needed for the positions opening up and the path to follow in order to land one.
The campaign was conceived by the two workforce investment boards and the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois’ Manufacturing Steering Committee, whose members include the heads of the two workforce investment boards and representatives of local manufacturers and employers such as Phillips66, SunCoke Energy, U.S. Steel, Olin Corporation, Dynegy, Progressive Recovery, Inc., Metro East Industries, Affton Chemical, the ROHO Group, America’s Central Port and Wertz Welding. Key leaders at the Southwestern Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council, Southwestern Illinois College and Lewis and Clark Community College also serve on the committee, along with the Superintendents of Schools for both Madison and St. Clair counties.
The Outstanding Achievement in Local Government awards, known by their acronym as the OLGAs, are presented yearly by East-West Gateway to the local governments or individuals who have demonstrated a special commitment to their community and the region. East-West Gateway is the area’s federally designated metropolitan planning organization. East-West Gateway’s 22-member board of county executives, mayors and urban leaders meets monthly to approve federal funding for transportation and other projects that have regional impact.
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