How Can Prepare and Connect
Add Value to Your Business?
By partnering with your local educators you can help them understand what qualifications are required in the various positions in your business and help them create curricula that develops these qualifications, and provide a continuous qualified pool of candidates for you to consider.
By partnering with educators, they can serve as free publicity for the good of your business by
using you as examples for what they are teaching, promoting your connection to the community, and allowing students to see the opportunities you provide. The students then share this information with parents, and it spreads from there!
50% of your property taxes*, 26% of the total State of Illinois budget+, and 2% of your federal taxes^go towards education. By working together with educators, you can have a say in developing a return on your investment of tax money to benefit your business.
* Taxpayers Federation of Illinois, July, 2020
+ Capitol News Illinois, April 19, 2022
^ AfterSchool Alliance March 10, 2017
This is why it is important to keep young people in our community, or have them return after their post secondary education. Being born here means they already have a sense of
ownership in the community. What takes many of them away is the idea that the "grass is greener on the other side," and there are more
opportunities to do what they want with their lives elsewhere. When educators are exposed to what is available, they can share that with
students by creating real to life lessons and connecting them to what is being done locally.
Then, when students find they have an aptitude and do well on these lessons, they know where those skills can be applied successfully, and
choose to remain, and care for the communities they already have much history with.
Even if your participation does not lead to direct hires for your business, insuring your local community is successful is a sure way to make sure there are talented and capable businesses to support you, and your employees needs, as well as having a society that can afford and demand your products and services.