One Voice Task Force Prepares for Trip

NORMAL – The One Voice Task Force, led by the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council, will make their annual trip to Washington, D.C. from March 5th through 7th to meet with Illinois’ congressional delegation. The purpose of the project is to try to receive government funding for various local projects.

This year, they are focusing on developing four projects: the Connect Transit Transfer Center, an Uptown Normal Railroad Underpass, a Small Business Community Incubator, and the marketing of McLean County Route 66.

VP of Communications for the EDC, Zach Dietmeier, says that the task force has always done great work.

“We have been going for 13 years as our organization. What we’ve done is been able to bring in about 34 million dollars in funding for community projects that has really pushed some things over the hump.”

In the past, the task force has had a number of high profile achievements, most notably the grant that they received from the U.S. Department of Transportation in order to help build Uptown Station. The EDC is looking to bring that success to their projects this year.

The Uptown Normal Underpass specifically is an interesting idea that will drastically change the way that we get around Uptown.

“This focus is particularly on the discussion of how to get across the railroad tracks at Uptown Circle. They will be looking for either some grant funding or some assistance from the Federal Railroad Administration for direction on what the best approach is to secure funding for that project,” said Dietmeier.

Each of the projects that the task force is working on will positively affect the Bloomington-Normal area, and if their past has been any indication, they will be coming home from Washington with good news.

Zach Wilson contributed to this story.