The Rockford Area Economic Development Council (RAEDC) is proud to support the latest partnership between the City of Rockford, Rockford Promise, Rockford Public Schools District 205 (RPS205), and Northern Illinois University (NIU).
This partnership will allow qualifying students the opportunity to attend NIU with the tuition and general fees paid by Rockford Promise and NIU. To be eligible, a student must live inside the city limits of the City of Rockford, attend RPS 205 all four years of high school and graduate with a cumulative 3.0 grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale. Students currently enrolled in an RPS 205 high school at any grade level are eligible for the program without the four-year attendance requirement.
“This fantastic announcement and partnership from Mayor McNamara, Rockford Promise, NIU, Rockford Public Schools, and the City of Rockford provides the opportunity for students to broaden their horizons and career choices without the concern of starting adult life with piles of student loan debt. Over the recent years, in many different forms with many unique partners, and as a community, we’re demonstrating our commitment to creating customized education-to-workforce pipelines to ensure our local businesses have a skilled workforce that they can count on to deliver a return to our community. This latest addition is another example of how we can all work together as leaders for the greater good and keep adding clubs to our golf bag as we work to grow our region,” states outgoing RAEDC Board Chair Mike Paterson.
The RAEDC has long supported the work of the community’s development of customized education to workforce pipelines and this partnership is the latest example of our region making a commitment to our future workforce, businesses located here, and businesses that are considering our region for expansion or relocation.
“Our region’s dedication to consistently create opportunities for a stronger, diverse, and more skilled workforce is the reason we are your opportunity region. The collaboration between education, employers, and municipalities will continue to pave the way for growth, innovation, and a great place for businesses and people. The RAEDC looks forward to supporting this initiative and others as our region continues to demonstrate a commitment to developing our workforce,” says Eric Cunningham, incoming RAEDC Board Chair.
Creating connections is the daily work of economic development and is what will make the difference in achieving Top 25 status as a community. We will continue to cultivate opportunities to attract and retain primary jobs that are good today, tomorrow, and the future to increase the economic well-being of our region.
