Guest Commentary:  Community Partner

This is one of an ongoing series of stories on ComEd’s collaborative efforts with community organizations, highlighting the work they do to make a difference in the communities we serve – and in which our employees work, live and play. The Powering Lives Network welcomes the submission of stories by community organizations about programs or efforts that help ComEd customers. To submit a story for consideration, please send it to stories@comed.com and we will respond to your email.

 “Team Illinois” Encourages Business Development in Illinois

By Mark Peterson, president and chief executive officer of Intersect Illinois

Mark Peterson, president and CEO, Intersect Illinois

On a recent Illinois business recruitment job development trip to New York City, Sheila Owens, ComEd’s vice president of Economic and Business Development, joined Governor Bruce Rauner, myself, and regional economic development partners to meet with various site selectors, facility managers, and contacts in Midtown Manhattan. Our goal for these meetings was to market and promote Illinois as a place for business expansion. We met with these decision makers as a united front – Team Illinois – advocating for businesses to find their next opportunity in our state. By joining us and the governor in this mission, ComEd continues to prove how they are a vital advocate for Team Illinois and the state’s prosperity.

Economic development is a fundamental aspect of government. ComEd and other energy companies play a critical role in the success of a region or state.  Intersect Illinois was born out of the need to align state government, regional economic development organizations, investors, innovators and business partners to what matters most to businesses.

As a privately funded non-profit, Intersect Illinois’ mission is to bring new jobs, new investment and economic prosperity to Illinois through dynamic partnerships and collaborations with companies, universities, not-for-profit organizations and government to deliver a unified approach to economic development. But we cannot do it alone.

It is only through the support and guidance of our partners that we can identify, cultivate, attract and grow the Illinois business community. We are grateful for ComEd’s support in this endeavor. ComEd has been with us since our inception, but its support has gone far beyond that of partner and investor. ComEd has taken a very personal interest in our success as well, actively engaging with us as we pursue new opportunities.

Our goal is to seek out new projects in manufacturing, agriculture, technology, food processing and others, bringing new jobs and industries to Illinois. Many of these companies will need a large amount of energy to succeed and grow their business. With ComEd by our side, we are able to leverage that relationship and its ranking as one of the top 10 most energy-efficient utilities in the nation by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Competitive energy costs and strong reliability performance are also important factors in these decisions and we are lucky to have an energy partner such as ComEd in this endeavor.

In addition to being a founding partner of our organization, ComEd takes a larger role in many of our initiatives and outreach. ComEd joined Intersect Illinois as a founding member of the CORE (Creating Opportunities for Retention & Expansion) management team. This strategic partnership of economic development organizations has a goal to create a unified, coordinated, statewide process to address the growth and development needs of existing businesses in Illinois through a proactive outreach and visitation initiative. ComEd helped us to lead this initiative and was vital in helping to conduct 600 visits with area companies in 55 counties. This information will help to ensure that our organization is on the right path to help Illinois’ economy grow.

We are grateful to ComEd for not just powering the lives of its customers, but also for helping to power Illinois’ economic future. ComEd understands how growing the economy, helps to grow jobs and make Illinois a better place to live for the people of Illinois and their families.