New DCEO head Lavin: Regional planning will be area of focus

• March 19, 2003

The message from the newly named head of the Illinois Department of Community Economic Opportunity (DCEO) couldn’t have been better for the large audience of business and public policy advocates. The underlying philosophy for DCEO will address four areas, he said, and one of them is regional planning.

Jack Lavin, newly appointed head of the Illinois Department of Community Economic Opportunity

On March 14, 2003, Jack Lavin spoke to more than 200 leaders at a presentation sponsored jointly by the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), World Business Chicago, enterpriz Cook County and Bank One. He said the other three areas his department (formerly the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs) would be focusing on: access to capital, workforce training and access to markets. At the beginning and again the end of his presentation, Lavin affirmed his support for the concept of technical assistance through direct funding and staff expertise. He also promised that the DCEO would “charge up” its attention to technical assistance, sending department staff out to help municipalities that may not have their own planning staffs.  Local technical assistance is a priority for the Metropolitan Planning Council and the Campaign for Sensible Growth. Both are advocating for $10 million in funding to implement the Local Planning Technical Assistance Act .

His new department will focus on workforce training, access to capital and access to markets, which pleased the business-oriented crowd. Lavin pointed to legislation to establish the Illinois Opportunity Fund — a campaign promise of Gov. Rod Blagojevich — and the establishment of the first two of 20 entrepreneurship centers. Overall, Lavin promised better service from the department, meeting demands of small business and manufacturing, and improving Illinois’ economy despite a tight fiscal situation.

Lavin pledged close consultation with local municipal officials. Both Mayor Richard M. Daley and Peter Fox, a former head of DCCA, had given him advice on how to succeed in his new job, Lavin said. “The most important things you can do is find the mayors and see what they need. They are on the front lines,” Lavin said.  He also promised to focus especially on geographic areas such as the southern suburbs that have “been left behind.”

Referring to Gov. Blagojevich’s State of the State speech, Lavin said, “now is the time for a new beginning.” He called a strategy for job creation the best long-term policy for growth. He also outlined DCEO’s plans to support small businesses. Legislation for the $200 million Illinois Opportunity Fund had been introduced in the General Assembly, Lavin said. Income from that privately raised fund will go toward opportunities for entrepreneurs who cannot find other financing. While the state leads the nation in research and development, Lavin said, it is losing companies that cannot find venture capital. He wants to create a "Silicon Prairie," keeping businesses in Illinois and encouraging new industries to locate here to create new jobs. Lavin made clear his vision does not ignore manufacturing, but will expand the state’s focus on technology, including nano- and bio-technology, areas where Illinois is already ahead.

A first step in the process is setting up entrepreneurship centers that provide management opportunities and financial and recruiting advice to those who are setting up businesses. Twenty centers are envisioned, with the first two already up and running at the University of Illinois-Chicago and University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. These centers will help entrepreneurs understand venture capital and “move their proposals from the bottom to the top of the pile,” Lavin said.

The Capital Access Program, which encourages banks to make loans to small business, will be revitalized, Lavin said. And the state’s operations dealing with international markets, now viewed as “stale,” will be reorganized. To find methods of getting loans to small businesses, Lavin suggested something similar to the “Small Business Means Big Business” program he oversaw in the state treasurer’s office.

Lavin promised more efficiency for the $800 million spent on 30 different workforce training programs. He also expects to expand industrial retaining programs. “Workforce training is one of my passions,” he admitted. He warned, however, that some money would have to be moved from other areas to workforce training. “We need to push the envelope with our federal money,” he added. “We don’t have the option of doing things as we’ve done before.’’

Lavin also plans to do better at holding companies responsible for promises they make in exchange for state assistance, which is “long overdue,” he said.

Specifically asked about what incentives will be available, Lavin pointed to EDGE tax credits, used to encourage businesses to stay in Illinois rather than move to Indiana or Wisconsin. Some programs will be cut, but Lavin did foresee new funding for municipal infrastructure development and industrial job training. In southern Illinois, a program to encourage clean coal will likely go forward.

Lavin repeatedly told the audience he wanted to hear from them: “we want to be more proactive, we need your ideas. You are the people on the front lines,” he said. Coming from the private sector as CFO overseeing 150 Panda Express and Papa John’s restaurants, Lavin joked that he knew what it meant to be on the front lines. He put in time, as is required of all employees regardless of rank, serving soda for a day. Lavin headed the state treasurer’s office when it received a Government Finance Officers Association award as one of the best in the country. He emphasized the need for public-private partnerships in the treasurer’s office and he wants to do the same now, he said.

The new DCEO head pleased the crowd with anecdotes about how state government will change. “I asked about who bids for grants,” he told them. “They said grants for recycling (and other state projects) were advertised in the ‘state paper.’ What is the state paper? The DuQuoin Register .” Insiders know about when to bid, but the general public had no access to that information. “We’ll expand advertising. I promise that.”

As for his next moves, Lavin said he and his staff would be out to meet people. He is aiming to improve the department’s response time. He wants to sift through programs and see what works and what doesn’t. DCEO will either make them work or find another way to complete the projects.

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