Employment and housing issues hampering McLean County growth

Posted on April 24, 2024
Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council President and CEO Patrick Hoban visited WJBC’s Afternoon Show. (Photo courtesy: BNEDC/Facebook)

By Blake Haas

MCLEAN COUNTY – Despite a thriving local economy, McLean County faces workforce and housing issues.

Those issues have led businesses like Samsung to pursue other states for business even after naming McLean County a finalist.

“It’s all hands on deck right now,” Patrick Hoban, the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council Chief Executive Officer, said on WJBC’s Afternoon Show. “We got a call from a couple of state agencies, and they said, ‘Hey, this is a major issue for economic development.’ We were losing some deals. We were some finalists for some deals, and we lost them to other states.”

Last year, Samsung announced plans to build a $2.5 billion electric vehicle battery factory in Kokomo, Indiana, over McLean County.

“I know the kiss of death. The kiss of death is when they say, ‘Hey, love the area, love the location, can we talk to your other major employers about hiring?”… I give them contacts to ADM, State Farm, Caterpillar, just everyone in the reason.

And as soon as I do that – how’s hiring going? Hiring is tough; it’s hard to get people. We’re all competing over the same labor shed, that 45-mile radius between Peoria and Champaign.”

On the housing front, Hoban said McLean County has plans to build out 3,000 new housing units.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].

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