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Miami Herald
27-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Clean energy workforce training hub a ‘gamechanger' in this struggling factor town
Decatur, Illinois, has been losing factory jobs for years. A training program at a local community college promises renewal and provides training for students from disenfranchised communities This story is part of a collaboration between the Institute for Nonprofit News' Rural News Network and Canary Media, South Dakota News Watch, Cardinal News, The Mendocino Voice and The Maine Monitor, with support from Ascendium Education Group. It is reprinted with permission. DECATUR, IL. - A fistfight at a high school football game nearly defined Shawn Honorable's life. It was 1999 when he and a group of teen boys were expelled and faced criminal charges over the incident. The story of the "Decatur Seven" drew national headlines and protests led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who framed their harsh treatment as blatant racism. The governor eventually intervened, and the students were allowed to attend alternative schools. Honorable, now 41, was encouraged by support "from around the world," but he said the incident was traumatizing and he continued to struggle academically and socially. Over the years, he dabbled in illegal activity and was incarcerated, most recently after a 2017 conviction for accepting a large amount of marijuana sent through the mail. Today, Honorable is ready to start a new chapter, having graduated with honors last week from a clean energy workforce training program at Richland Community College, located in the Central Illinois city of Decatur. He would eventually like to own or manage a solar company, but he has more immediate plans to start a solar-powered mobile hot dog stand. He's already chosen the name: Buns on the Run. "By me going back to school and doing this, it shows my nephews and my little cousins and nieces that it is good to have education," Honorable said. "I know this is going to be the new way of life with solar panels. So I'll have a step up on everyone. When it comes, I will already be aware of what's going on with this clean energy thing." After decades of layoffs and factory closings, the community of Decatur is also looking to clean energy as a potential springboard. Located amid soybean fields a three-hour drive from Chicago, the city was long known for its Caterpillar, Firestone Tire, and massive corn-syrup factories. Industrial jobs have been in decline for decades, though, and high rates of gun violence, child poverty, unemployment, and incarceration were among the reasons the city was named a clean energy workforce hub funded under Illinois' 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). Decatur's hub, based at Richland Community College, is arguably the most developed and successful of the dozen or so established statewide. That's thanks in part to TCCI Manufacturing, a local, family-owned factory that makes electric vehicle compressors. TCCI is expanding its operations with a state-of-the-art testing facility and an on-site campus where Richland students will take classes adjacent to the manufacturing floor. The electric truck company Rivian also has a factory 50 miles away. "The pieces are all coming together," Kara Demirjian, senior vice president of TCCI Manufacturing, said by email. "What makes this region unique is that it's not just about one company or one product line. It's about building an entire clean energy ecosystem. The future of EV manufacturing leadership won't just be on the coasts - it's being built right here in the Midwest." Related: Want to read more about how climate change is shaping education? Subscribe to our free newsletter. The Decatur CEJA program has also flourished because it was grafted onto a preexisting initiative, EnRich, that helps formerly incarcerated or otherwise disenfranchised people gain new skills and employment. The program is overseen by the Rev. Courtney Carson, a childhood friend of Honorable and another member of the Decatur Seven. "So many of us suffer significantly from our unmet needs, our unhealed traumas," said Carson, who was jailed as a young man for gun possession and later drag racing. With the help of mentors including Rev. Jackson and a college basketball coach, he parlayed his past into leadership, becoming associate pastor at a renowned church, leading a highway construction class at Richland, and in 2017 being elected to the same school board that had expelled him. Carson, now vice president of external relations at the community college, tapped his own experience to shape EnRich as a trauma-informed approach, with wraparound services to help students overcome barriers - from lack of childcare to PTSD to a criminal record. Carson has faith that students can overcome such challenges to build more promising futures, like Decatur itself has done. "We have all these new opportunities coming in, and there's a lot of excitement in the city," Carson said. "That's magnificent. So what has to happen is these individuals who suffered from closures, they have to be reminded that there is hope." Richland Community College's clean energy jobs training starts with an eight-week life skills course that has long been central to the larger EnRich program. The course uses a Circle of Courage practice inspired by Indigenous communities and helps students prepare to handle stressful workplace situations like being disrespected or even called a racial slur. "Being called the N-word, couldn't that make you want to fight somebody? But now you lose your job," said Carson. "We really dive deep into what's motivating their attitude and those traumas that have significantly impacted their body to make them respond to situations either the right way or the wrong way." The training addresses other dynamics that might be unfamiliar to some students - for example, some male students might not be prepared to be supervised by a woman, Carson noted, or others might not be comfortable with LGBTQ+ coworkers. James said that at first, he showed up late to every class. But soon the lessons sank in, and he was never late again. He always paid attention when people talked, and he gained new confidence. "As long as I put my mind to it, I can do it," said James, who would like to work as a home energy auditor. Richland partners with the energy utility Ameren to place trainees in such positions. "I like being out in the field, learning new stuff, dealing with homes, helping people," James said, noting he made energy-efficiency improvements to his own home after the course. Related: To fill 'education deserts,' more states want community colleges to offer bachelor's degrees Illinois' 2017 Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) launched the state's clean energy transition, baking in equity goals that prioritize opportunities for people who benefited least and were harmed most by the fossil fuel economy. It created programs to deploy solar arrays and provide job training in marginalized and environmental justice communities. FEJA's rollout was rocky. Funding for equity-focused solar installations went unspent while workforce programs struggled to recruit trainees and connect them with jobs. The pandemic didn't help. The follow-up legislation, CEJA, expanded workforce training programs and remedied snafus in the original law. Melissa Gombar is principal director of workforce development programs for Elevate, a Chicago-based national nonprofit organization that oversaw FEJA job training and subcontracts for a Chicago-area CEJA hub. Gombar said many community organizations tasked with running FEJA training programs were relatively small and grassroots, so they had to scramble to build new financial and human resources infrastructure. "They have to have certain policies in place for hiring and procurement. The influx of grant money might have doubled their budget," Gombar said. Meanwhile, the state employees tasked with helping the groups "are really talented and skilled, trying their best, but they're overburdened because of the large lift." CEJA, by contrast, tapped community colleges like Richland, which already had robust infrastructure and staffing. CEJA also funds community organizations to serve as "navigators," using the trust and credibility they've developed in communities to recruit trainees. Richland Community College received $2.6 million from April 2024 through June 2025, and the Community Foundation of Macon County, the hub's navigator, received $440,000 for the same time period. The other hubs similarly received between $1 million and $3.3 million for the past year, and state officials have said the same level of funding will be allocated for each of the next two years, according to the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition. CEJA hubs also include social service providers that connect trainees with wraparound support; businesses like TCCI that offer jobs; and affiliated entrepreneur incubators that help people start their own clean energy businesses. CEJA also funded apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs with labor unions, which are often a prerequisite for employment in utility-scale solar and wind. "The sum of the parts is greater than the whole," said Drew Keiser, TCCI vice president of global human resources. "The navigator is saying, 'Hey, I've connected with this portion of the population that's been overlooked or underserved.' OK, once you get them trained, send their resumes to me, and I'll get them interviewed. We're seeing a real pipeline into careers." The hub partners go to great lengths to aid students - for example, coordinating and often paying for transportation, childcare, or even car repairs. "If you need some help, they always there for you," James said. Related: Losing faith: Rural, religious colleges are among the most endangered In 1984, TCCI began making vehicle compressors in a Decatur plant formerly used to build Sherman tanks during World War II. A few decades later, the company began producing compressors for electric vehicles, which are much more elaborate and sensitive than those for internal combustion engines. In August 2023, Gov. JB Pritzker joined TCCI President Richard Demirjian, the Decatur mayor, and college officials for the groundbreaking of an Electric Vehicle Innovation Hub, which will include a climatic research facility - basically a high-tech wind tunnel where companies and researchers from across the world can send EV chargers, batteries, compressors, and other components for testing in extreme temperatures, rain, and wind. A $21.3 million capital grant and a $2.2 million electric vehicle incentive from the state are funding the wind tunnel and the new facilities where Richland classes will be held. In 2022, Pritzker announced these investments as furthering the state goal of 1 million EVs on the road by 2030. Far from the gritty industrial environs that likely characterized Decatur workplaces of the past, the classrooms at TCCI feature colorful decor, comfortable armchairs, and bright, airy spaces adjacent to pristine high-tech manufacturing floors lined with machines. "This hub is a game changer," said Keiser, noting the need for trained tradespeople. "As a country, we place a lot of emphasis on kids going to college, and maybe we've kind of overlooked getting tangible skills in the hands of folks." A marketing firm founded by Kara Demirjian – Richard Demirjian's sister – and located on-site with TCCI also received clean energy hub funds to promote the training program. This has been crucial to the hub's success, according to Ariana Bennick, account executive at the firm, DCC Marketing. Its team has developed, tested, and deployed digital billboards, mailers, ads, Facebook events, and other approaches to attract trainees and business partners. "Being a part of something here in Decatur that's really leading the nation in this clean energy initiative is exciting," Bennick said. "It can be done here in the middle of the cornfields. We want to show people a framework that they can take and scale in other places." With graduation behind him, Honorable is planning the types of hot dogs and sausages he'll sell at Buns on the Run. He said Tamika Thomas, director of the CEJA program at Richland, has also encouraged him to consider teaching so he can share the clean energy skills he's learned with others. The world seems wide open with possibilities. "A little at a time - I'm going to focus on the tasks in front of me that I'm passionate about, and then see what's next," Honorable said. He invoked a favorite scene from the cartoon TV series "The Flintstones," in which the characters' leg power, rather than wheels and batteries, propelled vehicles: "Like Fred and Barney, I'll be up and running." The post Clean energy workforce training hub a 'gamechanger' in this struggling factor town appeared first on The Hechinger Report.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
From EVs to HVAC, clean energy means jobs in Central Illinois
Powering Rural Futures: Clean energy is creating new jobs in rural America, generating opportunities for people who install solar panels, build wind turbines, weatherize homes, and more. This five-part series from the Rural News Network explores how industry, state governments, and education systems are training this growing workforce. DECATUR, ILLINOIS — A fistfight at a high school football game nearly defined Shawn Honorable's life. It was 1999 when he and a group of teen boys were expelled and faced criminal charges over the incident. The story of the 'Decatur Seven' drew national headlines and protests led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who framed their harsh treatment as blatant racism. The governor eventually intervened, and the students were allowed to attend alternative schools. Honorable, now 41, was encouraged by support 'from around the world,' but he said the incident was traumatizing and he continued to struggle academically and socially. Over the years, he dabbled in illegal activity and was incarcerated, most recently after a 2017 conviction for accepting a large amount of marijuana sent through the mail. Today, Honorable is ready to start a new chapter, having graduated with honors last week from a clean energy workforce training program at Richland Community College, located in the Central Illinois city of Decatur. He would eventually like to own or manage a solar company, but he has more immediate plans to start a solar-powered mobile hot dog stand. He's already chosen the name: Buns on the Run. 'By me going back to school and doing this, it shows my nephews and my little cousins and nieces that it is good to have education,' Honorable said. 'I know this is going to be the new way of life with solar panels. So I'll have a step up on everyone. When it comes, I will already be aware of what's going on with this clean energy thing.' After decades of layoffs and factory closings, the community of Decatur is also looking to clean energy as a potential springboard. Located amid soybean fields a three-hour drive from Chicago, the city was long known for its Caterpillar, Firestone Tire, and massive corn-syrup factories. Industrial jobs have been in decline for decades, though, and high rates of gun violence, child poverty, unemployment, and incarceration were among the reasons the city was named a clean energy workforce hub funded under Illinois' 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). Decatur's hub, based at Richland Community College, is arguably the most developed and successful of the dozen or so established statewide. That's thanks in part to TCCI Manufacturing, a local, family-owned factory that makes electric vehicle compressors. TCCI is expanding its operations with a state-of-the-art testing facility and an on-site campus where Richland students will take classes adjacent to the manufacturing floor. The electric truck company Rivian also has a factory 50 miles away. 'The pieces are all coming together,' Kara Demirjian, senior vice president of TCCI Manufacturing, said by email. 'What makes this region unique is that it's not just about one company or one product line. It's about building an entire clean energy ecosystem. The future of EV manufacturing leadership won't just be on the coasts — it's being built right here in the Midwest.' The Decatur CEJA program has also flourished because it was grafted onto a preexisting initiative, EnRich, that helps formerly incarcerated or otherwise disenfranchised people gain new skills and employment. The program is overseen by the Rev. Courtney Carson, a childhood friend of Honorable and another member of the Decatur Seven. 'So many of us suffer significantly from our unmet needs, our unhealed traumas,' said Carson, who was jailed as a young man for gun possession and later drag racing. With the help of mentors including Rev. Jackson and a college basketball coach, he parlayed his past into leadership, becoming associate pastor at a renowned church, leading a highway construction class at Richland, and in 2017 being elected to the same school board that had expelled him. Carson, now vice president of external relations at the community college, tapped his own experience to shape EnRich as a trauma-informed approach, with wraparound services to help students overcome barriers — from lack of childcare to PTSD to a criminal record. Carson has faith that students can overcome such challenges to build more promising futures, like Decatur itself has done. 'We have all these new opportunities coming in, and there's a lot of excitement in the city,' Carson said. 'That's magnificent. So what has to happen is these individuals who suffered from closures, they have to be reminded that there is hope.' Richland Community College's clean energy jobs training starts with an eight-week life skills course that has long been central to the larger EnRich program. The course uses a Circle of Courage practice inspired by Indigenous communities and helps students prepare to handle stressful workplace situations like being disrespected or even called a racial slur. 'Being called the N-word, couldn't that make you want to fight somebody? But now you lose your job,' said Carson. 'We really dive deep into what's motivating their attitude and those traumas that have significantly impacted their body to make them respond to situations either the right way or the wrong way.' The training addresses other dynamics that might be unfamiliar to some students — for example, some male students might not be prepared to be supervised by a woman, Carson noted, or others might not be comfortable with LGBTQ+ coworkers. Life skills are followed by a construction math course crucial to many clean energy and other trades jobs. During a recent class, 24-year-old Brylan Hodges joked with the teacher while converting fractions to decimals and percentages on the whiteboard. He explained that he moved from St. Louis to Decatur in search of opportunity, and he hopes to become a property manager overseeing solar panel installation and energy-efficiency upgrades on buildings. Students take an eight-hour primer in clean energy fields including electric vehicles, solar, HVAC, and home energy auditing. Then they choose a clean energy track to pursue, leading to professional certifications as well as a chance to continue at Richland for an associate degree. Under the state-funded program, students are paid for their time attending classes. Marcus James was part of the first cohort to start the program last October, just days after his release from prison. He was an 18-year-old living in Memphis, Tennessee, when someone shot at him, as he describes it, and he fired back, with fatal consequences. He was convicted of murder and spent 12 years behind bars. After his release he made his way to Decatur, looking for a safer place to raise his kids. Adjusting to life on the outside wasn't easy, and he ended up back in prison for a year and a half on DUI and drug possession charges. Following his release, he was determined to turn his life around. 'After I brought my kids up here, I end up going back to prison. But at that moment, I realized, man, I had to change,' James told a crowd at an event celebrating the clean jobs program in March. James said that at first, he showed up late to every class. But soon the lessons sank in, and he was never late again. He always paid attention when people talked, and he gained new confidence. 'As long as I put my mind to it, I can do it,' said James, who would like to work as a home energy auditor. Richland partners with the energy utility Ameren to place trainees in such positions. 'I like being out in the field, learning new stuff, dealing with homes, helping people,' James said, noting he made energy-efficiency improvements to his own home after the course. Illinois' 2017 Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA) launched the state's clean energy transition, baking in equity goals that prioritize opportunities for people who benefited least and were harmed most by the fossil fuel economy. It created programs to deploy solar arrays and provide job training in marginalized and environmental justice communities. FEJA's rollout was rocky. Funding for equity-focused solar installations went unspent while workforce programs struggled to recruit trainees and connect them with jobs. The pandemic didn't help. The follow-up legislation, CEJA, expanded workforce training programs and remedied snafus in the original law. Melissa Gombar is principal director of workforce development programs for Elevate, a Chicago-based national nonprofit organization that oversaw FEJA job training and subcontracts for a Chicago-area CEJA hub. Gombar said many community organizations tasked with running FEJA training programs were relatively small and grassroots, so they had to scramble to build new financial and human resources infrastructure. 'They have to have certain policies in place for hiring and procurement. The influx of grant money might have doubled their budget,' Gombar said. Meanwhile, the state employees tasked with helping the groups 'are really talented and skilled, trying their best, but they're overburdened because of the large lift.' CEJA, by contrast, tapped community colleges like Richland, which already had robust infrastructure and staffing. CEJA also funds community organizations to serve as 'navigators,' using the trust and credibility they've developed in communities to recruit trainees. Richland Community College received $2.6 million from April 2024 through June 2025, and the Community Foundation of Macon County, the hub's navigator, received $440,000 for the same time period. The other hubs similarly received between $1 million and $3.3 million for the past year, and state officials have said the same level of funding will be allocated for each of the next two years, according to the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition. CEJA hubs also include social service providers that connect trainees with wraparound support; businesses like TCCI that offer jobs; and affiliated entrepreneur incubators that help people start their own clean energy businesses. CEJA also funded apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs with labor unions, which are often a prerequisite for employment in utility-scale solar and wind. 'The sum of the parts is greater than the whole,' said Drew Keiser, TCCI vice president of global human resources. 'The navigator is saying, 'Hey, I've connected with this portion of the population that's been overlooked or underserved.' OK, once you get them trained, send their resumes to me, and I'll get them interviewed. We're seeing a real pipeline into careers.' The hub partners go to great lengths to aid students — for example, coordinating and often paying for transportation, childcare, or even car repairs. 'If you need some help, they always there for you,' James said. In 1984, TCCI began making vehicle compressors in a Decatur plant formerly used to build Sherman tanks during World War II. A few decades later, the company began producing compressors for electric vehicles, which are much more elaborate and sensitive than those for internal combustion engines. In August 2023, Gov. JB Pritzker joined TCCI President Richard Demirjian, the Decatur mayor, and college officials for the groundbreaking of an Electric Vehicle Innovation Hub, which will include a climatic research facility — basically a high-tech wind tunnel where companies and researchers from across the world can send EV chargers, batteries, compressors, and other components for testing in extreme temperatures, rain, and wind. A $21.3 million capital grant and a $2.2 million electric vehicle incentive from the state are funding the wind tunnel and the new facilities where Richland classes will be held. In 2022, Pritzker announced these investments as furthering the state goal of 1 million EVs on the road by 2030. Far from the gritty industrial environs that likely characterized Decatur workplaces of the past, the classrooms at TCCI feature colorful decor, comfortable armchairs, and bright, airy spaces adjacent to pristine high-tech manufacturing floors lined with machines. 'This hub is a game changer,' said Keiser, noting the need for trained tradespeople. 'As a country, we place a lot of emphasis on kids going to college, and maybe we've kind of overlooked getting tangible skills in the hands of folks.' A marketing firm founded by Kara Demirjian — Richard Demirjian's sister — and located on-site with TCCI also received clean energy hub funds to promote the training program. This has been crucial to the hub's success, according to Ariana Bennick, account executive at the firm, DCC Marketing. Its team has developed, tested, and deployed digital billboards, mailers, ads, Facebook events, and other approaches to attract trainees and business partners. 'Being a part of something here in Decatur that's really leading the nation in this clean energy initiative is exciting,' Bennick said. 'It can be done here in the middle of the cornfields. We want to show people a framework that they can take and scale in other places.' With graduation behind him, Honorable is planning the types of hot dogs and sausages he'll sell at Buns on the Run. He said Tamika Thomas, director of the CEJA program at Richland, has also encouraged him to consider teaching so he can share the clean energy skills he's learned with others. The world seems wide open with possibilities. 'A little at a time — I'm going to focus on the tasks in front of me that I'm passionate about, and then see what's next,' Honorable said. He invoked a favorite scene from the cartoon TV series 'The Flintstones,' in which the characters' leg power, rather than wheels and batteries, propelled vehicles: 'Like Fred and Barney, I'll be up and running.' This reporting is part of a collaboration between the Institute for Nonprofit News' Rural News Network and Canary Media, South Dakota News Watch, Cardinal News, The Mendocino Voice, and The Maine Monitor. Support from Ascendium Education Group made the project possible.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Yahoo
‘We must create a level of unity': Decatur officials react after 3 shot in 3 days
DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — Three people have been shot in three days in Decatur. Now, activists, business owners and police officers aren't only reacting, but brainstorming ways to put a stop to violence like this. Last weekend, a 34-year-old man was killed near Church and Leafland. A few days later, on April 18, a teenager was shot in broad daylight. On Sunday, a 21-year-old was hurt just steps away from Millikin University after police reported he was shot in the legs and neck. A few hours later, a 32-year-old man was shot in the leg. At this point in the investigation, police don't believe the incidents are related. They are being investigated as separate incidents and no arrests have been made. That doesn't change the fact that people are hurting, especially one community leader who's connected to the 21-year-old victim. 'It's a sad tragedy when you see a young person trying to do better, change his life, and success is at the end of that road,' Courtney Carson, a vice president at Richland Community College and community activist, said. PHOTOS: Decatur Fire Dept. investigating after 'heavy' fire destroys home The victim is enrolled in Carson's EnRich program at Richland Community, classes intended to transform lives and help people find careers they're passionate about. Now, his hard work is put on pause after Sunday's shooting. 'His life is hanging in the balance,' Carson said. He's not the only shooting victim recovering in the hospital. A 32-year-old is as well, after police said he was shot in the leg on Sunday afternoon. Decatur Police are investigating both crimes, as well as Friday's shooting when a 16-year-old was hurt. 'Any act of gun violence is concerning. The time of day goes to show you that there's a possibility people are going to do these things at any time,' Brad Allen, Decatur's Deputy Chief, said. Three shootings in three days isn't a trend police want the community getting used to. Decatur Police chief reflects on new mental health law, welcomes 5 new officers 'This isn't acceptable, and this isn't how we're going to be in Decatur,' Allen added. The department's goal is to keep everyone safe, and he encourages anyone to speak up if they know something that could help solve a case. Carson understands the importance of speaking up and wants to teach adults the right way to connect with kids who may be heading down the wrong path. 'Talk to the young people whom you know are carrying the guns. That you know is practicing criminal activity. Because essentially, that blood is on your hands,' Carson said. He believes connecting with the right generation can make a long-term change, a change that both he and the police are ready to see in the city they call home. 'Hopefully, the community understands that it's our goal to combat this, and we'll work on it together,' Allen added. On Saturday from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., the Community of Neighborhood Organizations (CONO) will host a public safety panel at the Decatur Public Library. The sheriff, the state's attorney and two police officers will be there to answer questions about neighborhood safety. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Richland clean energy workforce program welcomes third class
DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — Richland Community College welcomed its third round of students for the new clean energy workforce training program. 'To see us go from a simple 18 student cohort to having over 82 students in classes right now is absolutely amazing,' Tamika Thomas, one of the program directors said. Decatur Police looking for suspect of vehicle robbery In 2021, the state passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. The policy set clear guidelines for when the state would reach net zero carbon emissions, and it included loads of new investments in different clean energy sectors. However, there is a critical workforce shortage in these sectors as well. Richland is one of several schools in the state trying to address that with the help of state investments. 'It gives us opportunities to to fulfill those workforce needs because every company is still in need of good workers and workers that are reliant on will stay,' Dr. Cristobal Valdez, President of Richland Community College said. The program is still in its infancy, but there are already a handful of students learning the ins and outs of clean energy HVAC systems and electric vehicles. 'The difference in technology, everything is super engineered,' Jacob Pennington, a student in the program said. 'There's hardly no moving parts, so a lot less wear, a lot less maintenance involved.' Macon Co. election judge prep honing in on double voters Students are trained both in clean energy infrastructure and mechanics, as well as the current technology people are relying on as well, including gas powered cars. The college is partnering with local manufacturer TCCI to find job opportunities and open up new resources. 'That's extremely important because we know even though the future is green energy, there's still a lot of homes, a lot of businesses that are using current technology and they won't changeover,' Dr. Valdez said. 'So our students need to be able to be conversant in both technology today and technology in the future.' The Richland program is one of 14 across the state of Illinois. The programs are helped by state investments. Newly-elected State Representative Regan Deering joined the tour on Monday. She said she wanted to see how the taxpayer dollars are being spent. 'No matter where I go on the trail, workforce is the number one issue, right? From a variety of employers.' Deering (R-Decatur) said. 'As a fiscal conservative, my concern is always what those dollars are being put towards.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Surgery staff push for certification requirement with Illinois bill
Springfield, Ill. (WCIA) – Surgeons and surgery room staff came to the Capitol Thursday to push for a bill that could change requirements for surgical technologists. Surgery technologists are healthcare professionals who help surgeons during surgical procedures. They make sure the surgery room is clean, sterile, and the surgical team has the proper tools to do their job efficiently. Surgeons and certified surgical technologists filed a bill with Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D-Aurora) called the Operating Room Patient Safety Act. This bill will require all new surgical technologists to complete an accredited education program and obtain a national certification after completing their certification first. Manufacturers would stop selling Styrofoam containers under Illinois bill Professor of Surgical Technology at Richland Community College, Brooke Oliver, said that having education and certification helps minimize errors. 'We anticipate the surgeons' every step,' Oliver said. 'We are trained to manipulate body tissue and organs. We prepare and pass instrumentation. And above all, we are your loved one's voice when they are anesthetized to ensure patient safety. The importance of our work cannot be overstated as we directly affect patient outcomes and the overall success of surgical procedures.' Several hospitals and associations oppose the bill. The Illinois Health and Hospital Association Senior Vice-President of Government Relations, Dave Gross, said by making certification and education a requirement, this will cause delays in care because it could limit the number of qualified surgical technologists available. 'The legislation, by requiring a college degree, closes off a path that has been used for years by many qualified individuals who, through life circumstances, may not have had the time or resources to pursue a college degree,' Gross said. 'This paper ceiling requirement will create a supply shortage in this position, which will in turn delay patient access to surgical services. This very situation has already occurred in two states that enacted identical legislation.' Advocates attributed COVID-19's impact to healthcare staff shortages, leading people to go online to acquire a diploma to work in a surgical room. One surgical technology program director at Midwestern Career College said this is about ensuring patient care and better patient outcomes after citing studies. 'Studies have shown that a 55% drop in these errors can occur if we have a certified surgical technologist in the operating room,' Brittany Burgess said. 'We can reduce the time that the patient is under anesthesia by working efficiently because of the skilled knowledge that we have.' Bill in Illinois Capitol would add human traffickers to sex offender registry An IHA spokesperson said the proponents for the bill are not providing strong, evidence-based support for their claims. 'There is no peer-reviewed evidence that one certification path leads to higher quality outcomes,' Gross said. 'And if this bill were truly about quality and patient safety, the exemptions in the bill that affect millions of patients in underserved rural and urban areas would not be present.' The study pointed out by advocates refers specifically to foreign retained objects, not all types of errors, according to data from a Minnesota independent analysis. The bill to make certification a requirement has gained momentum in the House on both sides of the aisle. If signed into law, the bill would take effect in 2027. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
