March 2010 News from Growth Dimensions

Chemtool donates $5,000 to Growth Dimension

Growth Dimensions Welcomes Chemtool as Gold Member

Growth Dimensions is pleased to announce Chemtool Incorporated's gold membership in the organization.

Growth Dimensions has been working with Chemtool since 2005 through the organization's AgTech Initiative. The Initiative has assisted Chemtool in analyzing and recognizing opportunities in the biobased industry.

Chemtool Incorporated is one of the largest manufacturers and custom formulators of lubricants and specialty products in the world. The privately held company was started by James Athans in 1963 and currently employs nearly 500 people. The headquarters and main facility of Chemtool is located in Crystal Lake with a research and development team with highly qualified chemists, biologists, and technical specialists. The company has also recently located a 450,000 square foot distribution facility and Corporate Technology Center in Rockton, IL.

"We're very happy to be a member of the organization and part of the board of directors,"stated Joel Day of Chemtool's Business Development." Chemtool Incorporated's philosophy is similar to that of Growth Dimensions. We believe in giving back to the community and we do what we can to make improvements and make this area a better place to live.

Mr. Day joined Chemtool incorporated in early 2010 and will be representing the company on Growth

Dimensions' Board of Directors. Growth Dimensions looks forward to Chemtool's leadership and participation in the organization throughout the years ahead.

Pictured Above: Chemtool Production Center- Rockton, IL

March 2010 News from Growth Dimensions

Manzullo Joins Illinois Colleagues in Urging IL Attorney General Madigan to Challenge New Health Care Mandate in

Will this ever end.

Manzullo Joins Illinois Colleagues in Urging IL Attorney General Madigan to Challenge New Health Care Mandate in Court

WASHINGTON –  Congressman Don Manzullo today joined several Illinois Congressional colleagues in urging Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to join 15 other state attorneys general in challenging whether the new federal health care mandate is constitutional.

The new legislation, signed into law by the President today, requires all Americans to purchase health insurance whether they want it or not and whether they can afford it or not. Those who do not comply with the new mandate face federal tax penalties and possible imprisonment for tax evasion. Up to 16,500 new IRS agents could be hired to monitor compliance with this new mandate and enforce penalties against taxpayers.

"This is the first time the federal government has required Americans to buy a product or face fines and possible imprisonment, and it's blatantly unconstitutional. I urge Attorney General Madigan to join the other states in challenging this mandate on behalf of the people of Illinois," Manzullo said. "At a time when Illinois schools are laying off thousands of teachers to deal with the state's $12 billion budget hole, this bill would add more than $1 billion in extra Medicaid costs to the state's obligations. It's a disaster for the people of Illinois, and it needs to be struck down in the courts so we can focus on real reform that makes health care more affordable and accessible to Americans."

The letter was also signed by U.S. Reps. Aaron Schock, Peter Roskam, Judy Biggert, John Shimkus and Tim Johnson, all of Illinois.

Manzullo Joins Illinois Colleagues in Urging IL Attorney General Madigan to Challenge New Health Care Mandate in Court - Inbox - Yahoo! Mail

U-2-spy-plane-evades-the-day-of-retirement

U-2’s  are in direct radio contact with the troops in Afghanistan. And instead of following a rote path, they are now shifted frequently in midflight to scout roads for convoys and aid soldiers in firefights.

even from 13 miles up its sensors can detect small disturbances in the dirt, providing a new way to find makeshift mines that kill many soldiers.

Click on the following for more details:  u-2-spy-plane-evades-the-day-of-retirement: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Winnebago-Boone County Boards to consider implementing economic development district

Here is something to be proud of—the area with the state’s highest unemployment rate is last to organize a federally aided economic development district.

. Under the partnership, Boone County’s annual share of the local match would be $8,625, and Winnebago County’s would be $48,375. The EDA [Economic Development Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce] would match the $57,000 local contribution, giving the EDD[bi-county economic development district] a $114,000 annual operating budget.

Winnebago-Boone metropolitan statistical area is the last large urban region in the state to pursue such a partnership with the EDA by establishing an EDD.

The payoff

“The Economic Development Administration is one of the smallest divisions of the federal government, and they run out of funding quite quickly,” Borich said, noting the federal government’s fiscal year begins in the fall.

[Applications in the works:]

application submitted to the EDA in November will yield a $12 million entrepreneurship grant this year.

730,000 economic adjustment grant aimed at restructuring the regional economy, creating a “seamless digital interface” for improved economic development coordination, and an implementation strategy.

$10 million, is related to creating the country’s first commercial and defense aerospace “incubator facility” in the City of Rockford…. EIGERlab.

Click on the following for more details:  County Board to consider implementing economic development district | The Rock River Times

Boone County Board of Health accepts resignation

Raymond W. Empereur will continue as Public Health Administrator on a temporary part-time basis while a search is initiated to replace Crawford.

William Hatfield and Lisa Gonzalez will serve as interim co-assistant public health administrators until a new public health administrator can be recruited to replace Empereur.

The position of Public Health Administrator will be posted and advertised in the coming weeks.

Click on the following for more details:  The Belvidere Daily Republican. - Boone County Board of Health accepts resignation

BeHealthySpringfield.com

 

Health insurers, for the first time, would be subject to rate oversight by the state's Department of Insurance, and insurers would have to expand the information they report to the state about their premiums.
McRaith said the insurance department will enforce national standards for the amount of revenue from premiums that must be used to pay health-care claims; insurers that fail to meet these minimum spending targets would have to provide rebates to policyholders.

Self-insured health plans, which cover 40 percent of Illinois' workforce and currently are exempt from Illinois insurance mandates, for the first time would be governed by certain "basic consumer protections," he said.
Self-insured plans also would be included in the requirement that parents be allowed to keep older children on their coverage up to age 26.

Click on the following to read all of The State Journal-Register article:  BeHealthySpringfield.com

Opponents take last stand against health care bill - Yahoo! News

Experts say none of it is likely to work, but it will keep the issue, and the outrage, alive until Election Day.

"I am surprised by the mobilization of the states. It does strike me as a kind of civil disobedience, a declaration that we're not going to follow the law of the land," said Mark Hall, a professor of law and public health at Wake Forest University.

Because the individual mandate does not take effect until 2014, the states challenging that have time to work on legislation.

Click on the following for more details:  Opponents take last stand against health care bill - Yahoo! News

DeKalb brothers indicted on eavesdropping charges | Daily Chronicle

Remember—If you are pulled over by the police—the police can record you but you cannot record the policeman (without permission).

Two DeKalb brothers were indicted Monday on felony and misdemeanor eavesdropping charges for reportedly recording police officers on a November traffic stop.

In Illinois, it is illegal to make a recording of an oral conversation without the consent of all parties. There are exceptions, including uniformed police officers using recording devices like squad car-mounted cameras in the course of their duties.

For the next seven days you can read the entire story free by clicking on the following:  DeKalb brothers indicted on eavesdropping charges | Daily Chronicle

Debate on the future of Fannie, Freddie heats

 

There would be no housing market today without the government.

Over the past 18 months, Washington has taken extraordinary steps to keep home loans available and affordable

price tag has been huge -- $126 billion and growing.

Now comes the hard part: figuring out what to do next.

Last year, they backed about 70 percent of all home loans, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, a trade publication

 

Debate on the future of Fannie, Freddie heats up - Yahoo! Finance