Event Spotlights Illinois Investment

 The Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois celebrated its 27th annual Salute to Southwestern Illinois Awards Dinner April 7/ The event spotlighted the continuing high levels of capital investment in Southwestern Illinois and honored those contributing to the success of the Metro East region.

A crowd of more than 300 gathered at the Four Points by Sheraton in Fairview Heights, Ill., for the festivities, which included the presentation of the 2011 Salute to Southwestern Illinois awards to Mr. Robert Wydra, former executive director of Tri-City Regional Port District, and Mr. Richard Sauget, Sr., founder and president of East County Enterprises, Inc. in recognition of their significant contributions to the economic vitality of the region.

Richard Sauget was honored for his economic investment, community leadership and relentless commitment to advancing our region over the past four decades. Following a career in professional baseball with both the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants, Sauget settled back in the Metro East to run his successful real estate management company that has been in business in "East County" for the past 35 years.
He played a key role in the development of Archview Economic Development Corporation, Sauget Business Park and the surrounding communities. Rich is the Chairman of the St. Clair County Building Commission and was instrumental in the development of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, which not only played a key role in retaining Scott Air Force base in our region but now is also attracting new investment from industry giants, such as Boeing, and making progress with its international air cargo initiative.
Rich also has been instrumental in developing and expanding healthcare services to low-income families in the Southwestern Illinois area through his leadership as Chairman of the Board of Touchette Regional Hospital and as a member of the board of directors for Kenneth Hall Regional Hospital.
In addition to his many years of service on the Leadership Council's executive committee, Rich is a member of the RCGA's board of directors, Regional Business Council, and Lambert Airport Board. He also continues to be involved in baseball as the Managing Partner of the Gateway Grizzlies.
From its humble beginnings on April 1, 1959, the Tri-City Regional Port District has grown into a $200 million economic engine for our region. Robert Wydra was a key factor in that growth, serving as executive director for 23 of the 52 two years the Port has operated, until his retirement last July. Working closely with the boards of commissioners and the Port's growing staff throughout the years, Wydra has helped the Port to become a leader in economic development in Southwestern Illinois.

After the U.S. Army's Charles Melvin Price Support Center closed in 2000, Wydra was instrumental in redeveloping the site into River's Edge - a thriving multi-purpose business and recreation complex that attracts new businesses every year. He is credited with bringing Abengoa Bioenergy's ethanol manufacturing plant to our region, an investment of almost $250 million. He also laid the groundwork for expanding our region's transportation assets with the planned South Harbor and the South Rail Loop projects. This new rail loop will provide almost 1,000 feet of new main line rail to connect the planned harbor to the existing rail infrastructure within the Port.

The Port currently has approximately $73 million in assets, 100 military families residing onsite and about 70 tenants or operating companies directly employing 750 employees. Under Wydra's strong and stable leadership, it clearly has become a critical asset for our region's transportation, warehousing and logistics sector, responsible for moving more than three million tons of products by barge, rail and truck annually.

The evening also featured a special photo presentation celebrating the visual signs of economic activity all across the Metro East region and previewing a host of exciting new developments that are still taking shape and will help to sustain the Metro East communities and keep local laborers at work in the coming year.

Prior to the presentation, Leadership Council President Gerry Schuetzenhofer took a few minutes to reflect on how things are going in Southwestern Illinois. He acknowledged the continuing challenges, both at the national and the local level, with our region currently facing a series of threats ranging from FEMA's plans to de-accredit our Metro East levees to the state's ongoing budget crisis and cutbacks in federal spending. Yet, despite these challenges, he pointed to the fact that investments continued to flow through the Metro East development pipeline during 2010, with non-residential projects totaling more than $6 billion under various stages of construction during the year and almost another $1 billion in additional capital investments coming to the Metro East in the next few years.

"What's our secret?" he asked the audience. "We believe it's you! Our leaders in business, industry, government, education and labor who have made the commitment to work together to tackle our region's challenges head on."
Looking to the future, he added, "For the positive developments to continue, we must demonstrate the same level of commitment and collaboration that has advanced our region in the past, guided us through our challenges and allowed us to take control of our economic fate. Our Vision 2020 initiative was based on that very principle and has given us a blueprint to guide our efforts over the next decade."

The Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois is a member-based, economic development corporation representing Madison and St. Clair counties. The Council works to attract/retain jobs and stimulate capital investment through its coalition of leaders in business, industry, labor, education and government. These effective partnerships serve as a driving force behind successful economic development efforts throughout the Metro East region.

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