the
NEW LAWS FOR 2023 PAGE 6
TOO MUCH SCREEN TIME? PAGE 8
December 2022 | Volume 35 | No. 12
of the rockford business community
Housing and the workforce
ROCKFORD RESCUE MISSION IN URGENT NEED
Rockford’s residential struggles
By Andrew Wright, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Rockford Chamber of Commerce Gary Anderson held a microphone in one hand and gripped the rail of the bus with the other as his guided tour took a turn onto Rockford’s Seventh Street. “Ahead, you’ll see the landmark clock tower of the National Lock Building, built so that the workforce who lived in the neighborhood knew when to come to work,” he said. As the bus, filled with professionals in the Leadership Rockford program, rolled through the neighborhoods in Rockford’s southeast manufacturing corridor, it passed boulevards and streets with rows of houses built for the workforce in the early 1900s,
some still well-kept and occupied and others showing years of neglect. Anderson, founder and principal architect of the Rockford architectural firm Studio GWA, is a diligent student of Rockford’s history and can see how that past will intersect with the future. “In the 60s and 70s and a little bit in the 80s, we started seeing our neighborhoods segregating by income levels. Prior to that, Rockford had mixed income neighborhoods where the middle class lived closer to people with higher income,” Anderson said. This mixture of income levels often brought with it better schools, more parks and better living conditions. “But that period [the 1960s through the 1980s] is when we started seeing more subdivisions with built-in exclusivity. These discriminatory practices, that really was the undoing of a sense of community. That’s part of Rockford’s DNA, unfortunately,” he said. This separation by class of Rockford’s housing markets between exclusive subdivisions and older, decaying
neighborhoods has complicated an already complex modern problem—workforce housing for first-time homebuyers.
Searching for a habitat In 2022, Rockford’s Habitat for Humanity built a record number of new houses for applicants with seven completed homes. Its aim for 2023, given enough volunteers and resources to meet their challenge, is to build 10 houses for home buyers who have met the requirements to be eligible for a new Habitat home. According to Monique Brown, volunteer manager for Habitat for Humanity Rockford Habitat opened its application process to the community in August 2022 and received 279 applications. To put this housing crisis in perspective, applicants nationwide must show proof of a minimum income threshold and commit to hours of involvement in the construction of their new home to be selected. Even though Illinois has a higher minimum wage than neighboring states, and with the 2023 state minimum wage (continued on page 4)
MEET THIS YEAR’S AWARD WINNERS
Women in Business awards 2022 Woman Business Owner of the Year Tracey Fults
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Association, Mosaic, ALS Assocication, Rock House Kids and many other nonprofits. One of her nominators described Tracey Fults is the owner of Medicare her as “an incredible leader that utilizes 411, a Rockford business created to the power of connection to be a change help seniors navigate their Medicare maker in the community.” enrollment. Since opening her business in 2017, Fults has served nearly 4,000 2022 Excellence in clients and grown her team to 13 Leadership Honoree employees, 10 of which are women. Dr. Maureen Richards, PhD Fults was nominated for the award Dr. Maureen Richards is the because of her commitment to coaching assistant dean of medical education and and mentoring, her ability to inspire and evaluation and the clinical associate support her team and her dedication professor of health science education to making Rockford a better place for at the University of Illinois College of its aging population and the nonprofit Medicine, Rockford. community. During the COVID pandemic, Dr. In addition to being a successful Richards had the monumental task business owner, Fults is a supporter of of transitioning the in-person clinical CASA, Northern Illinois Food Bank, (continued on page 3) Rockford Rescue Mission, Alzheimer’s
Rockford Rescue Mission finds itself in a urgent need and is asking the community for help. One year ago, the Mission served an average of 345 meals each day. In early November, the mission served more than 500 meals a day. One year ago, the Mission provided lodging for an average of 109 people each night. During early November, they provided overnight lodging to nearly 150 people on site and an additional 60 off site, in partnership with the City of Rockford. As a result, the Mission is running low on basic supplies— travel size shampoo, travel size soap, laundry detergent and more. There are many reasons why crisis centers are overflowing with people in need: inflation has hit hard, COVID benefits have ended, affordable housing is in short supply, and the onset of winter weather. “We are truly at a moment of crisis in our community,” said Mission CEO Sherry Pitney. “We are asking for your help in any way you can… it all helps immensely as we meet these daily needs with help and hope.” www.rockfordrescuemission.org.
SAVE THE DATE!
THE FUTURE OF ROCKFORD
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 10 AM Livestream panel featuring Michael Dunn, Jr., John Groh and Therese Thill PRESENTED BY
CHECK OUT THE CHAMBER'S JOB BOARD Looking for great talent to join your team? Post your open position to our job board. It’s free to members, with lowcost upgrade options available. Jobs uploaded to our website will be shared instantly on our Facebook page. Companies can collect resumes and applications through our site or redirect back to their own application process. The system is user-friendly and only requires a username and password to get started. Forgot your membership username and password? Call 815-9878100 or email Joan at jsundvall@ rockfordchamber.com for help. You can upload your board member requirements and nomination process to our job board. Under “Industry Types”, choose “Board Positions” to list your open board seats.