Councils & Committees

Each Council/Committee participant is required, either on a business or individual level, to have an active membership with Vermilion Advantage. This is a membership benefit and available for all types of businesses - large and small.

Agri-Business
The purpose of the Agri-Business Council is to support the agri-business activities in the county and promote public awareness of the industry’s overall impact of the Vermilion County economy. This Council meets on a regular basis to discuss issues affecting the agricultural community, including legislation, the markets, agricultural financing, education, and relative programs/seminars. Participants include government officials, accountants, farmers and bankers—those involved in agriculture production and supply and institutions of higher education meet on a quarterly basis or as needed to prepare for special Ag related events.  Contact Glenda Kietzmann for more information.
 

Intergovernmental Planning Council

The Intergovernmental Planning Council was form in 1997 to plan, coordinate and prioritize the major infrastructure components needed to propel our county forward.  The main objectives are:   (1) To annually coordinate and plan among the key public-sector bodies regarding capital improvement needs and plans for road and utility improvements; (2) To determine which projects require outside state or federal assistance to proceed; (3) To prioritize those projects needing additional capital and provide a signed, agreed upon cost and prioritized list to our state and federal legislators prior to the commencement of their budgeting processes; (4) To align capital improvement plans to prevent duplication of effort (e.g. a road being repaved or improved, only to be torn up months or a year later to install new water line, etc.).  The Council meets monthly on the 1^st Thursday of the month.  Contact Todd Lee for more information.

Intergovernmental Planning Council Members:  Please click here for further (password protected) information.

Mayors' Council

Created in the early 1990s, the purpose of this group is to facilitate the understanding of and participation in the economic development process among all city, village and municipal leaders within Vermilion County. The Mayors' Council meets on a quarterly basis.  Contact Todd Lee for more information.

Please click here for further information.

Personnel
In an effort to meet the needs of all business people in the personnel field, the Council has tailored their programs to meet the needs of both industrial and business personnel situations. The traditional forum for this Council includes roundtable discussions relating to human resource/personnel issues, sharing of forms and policies, colleague networking and bringing in speakers who make presentations on timely topics or topics of concern to the profession such as worker’s compensation, FMLA, employee benefits, workplace violence, drug testing policies, etc. The Council consists of two groups:

The Core or Industrial Group that is made up of plant managers and human resource directors who discuss the nuts and bolts of their business and the community—they will meet in February, April and October for 2008.

The entire group will meet the months of January, March, May, June, September, November and December for 2008.  Contact Machelle Dykes for more information.
 

Safety
The Safety Council strives to enhance the overall safety and health of the people who live and labor in our community by sharing and applying collective knowledge, skills and experiences for the purpose of promoting and facilitating continuous safety improvements.

Participants are comprised of safety, maintenance and human resource personnel who handle company/business/plant safety issues like OSHA requirements, ergonomics, environmental safety, and emergency disaster plans. For 2008, the participants will meet in January, February, May, June, August, September, October and December.  In the months of January, March and June, the Safety and Personnel Councils hold joint meetings on a topic relevant or of interest to both groups. Contact Machelle Dykes for more information.
 

Vermilion County CEO/Business Leaders Forum

The County’s largest employers meet regularly to benchmark against each other’s best practices and to implement strategies for broader community improvement.  Contact Vicki Haugen for more information.