Last week I was scrolling YouTube, and I came across a Citizens Club event with a presentation from Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance called "It's Not Magic, It's Economic Development." posted on the Cities page. I had heard the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance (SSGA) mentioned around town a decent bit, but honestly... I couldn't tell you what they actually do but as a Springfield business owner, I'm interested in any conversation about local economic development. So when I saw the title and that SSGA was involved, I was in. 

Turns out it's valuable information for all of you who live here too. So along with the council recap, I'm giving you my thoughts on that event and what I learned.

QUESTION:

What makes this 877 sq mi chunk of land called Sangamon County attractive to new business?

Let's start with the Growth Alliance. They don’t make us more attractive per se but they do help show off our assets. For starters, what even is the SSGA? Well, they are not a unit of local government. Instead they operate as a public-private partnership, with funding and support coming from entities like the City of Springfield, the Sangamon County Board, the Airport Authority, and SMTD, said President and CEO Ryan McCrady. The purpose of the group is to foster economic prosperity for everyone in Sangamon County and the City of Springfield. They aim to do this by creating a business climate that provides new career opportunities, helping existing businesses grow, and attracting new talent and investment into the area. Their ultimate goal is to see measurable improvements in the community's economic indicators, like lower poverty rates, higher median incomes, population growth, and rising property values.

There's an awful lot here, so I'm going to skip a lot and just hit what I found to be the most important pieces of the talk. If you want to listen for yourself (which I highly encourage) you can do so here.

First things first: Because of studies, community input, and government planning, SSGA knows what the local community wants to see. Whether it's industry A or industry B, they're up to speed on which projects are wanted in the area. And what's the driving factor behind the project? Is it to diversify the workforce and the employment base? Whatever it is, they market those types of projects so we can essentially get what we want in town.

After it gets marketed, a local property owner can see the marketing materials and say "I wouldn't mind selling or renting my property to that sort of industry," and they contact SSGA (I’d imagine SSGA does a lot of reaching out to property owners to market in the reverse as well). Once that happens the property goes on some sort of list, and when a developer or end user starts asking about property available in our area, that's where SSGA starts to shine.

How is Springfield “Graded”?

Here's what outside companies grade Springfield on when deciding if we're attractive:

Once we kind of tick all the boxes, SSGA helps companies move through this process:

So you have this relationship where a developer considers Springfield for their own reasons. This is based on their needs (or their end user's needs), and then they get in touch with SSGA. From there, SSGA is working to meet the developer's needs, and the developer is working to meet the needs of their customer, the end user.  SSGA is involved in the process with the developer, and likely the property owner at first, but once the developer chooses a site, SSGA hands them off to the site owner and the deal gets done privately after that.

SSGA isn't a licensed broker or agent, and they get no kickback for helping the deal along. They're strictly in it for the betterment of the local economy…those are my words, not theirs. Mr. McCrady was also very clear about site selection and know that it has nothing to do with favoritism. If you want to hear the full breakdown it happens at the end around the 1:02:00 minute mark.

Once a site gets chosen and the deal closes privately, that's when local government gets involved: helping with zoning, giving access to infrastructure, and lastly providing incentives if needed. I'd imagine the zoning can start once things get serious, but it sounded like it may not happen until after the property gets sold.

Take this 226,800 sq ft warehouse project as an example. It's due to employ 150-200 full-time employees and cost anywhere from $30m-$51m. When they chose their spot in Sangamon County, they needed zoning relief from a building height requirement to keep the opportunity alive. That happens at City Council (or maybe even the Sangamon County Board), and once it gets approved, development moves forward.

All of this is facilitated early on by SSGA and supported by us and our local elected officials. That means when we show up and make our voices heard in a constructive and coherent way, elected officials take note. Then when a new opportunity pops up, SSGA and/or the governing body can say "I think the community would welcome this based on what we've heard," and things move forward. SSGA does its matchmaking between the property owner and the developer, then gets out of the way. After that the sale happens, then local officials take over for the zoning, etc.

Then BOOM! We have a new XYZ company in town driving economic growth.

That's how it's done... according to the 63 min video I watched lol. For a better understanding, go check it out because there are lots of gems in there.

Oh, I almost forgot. There were threads throughout where McCrady was very complimentary of our elected officials. Yes, he has incentive to do that, but I tend to believe that him giving them their props, not once but several times, says more than if he'd said nothing at all (which was also an option). At one point he even said: "encourage leaders, don't criticize them for having a vision for what can make our area successful."

Unrelated, but one last little point: the CyrusOne data center is expected to break ground 2 weeks from September 25th.

The meeting opened with a moment of silence for Officer Steven Baker, who passed away on September 22nd at the age of 29 at Springfield Memorial Hospital. At the time of writing this, no official cause of death has been publicly released.

I'm not going to go into the citizen comments because there were a lot, and I wouldn’t feel good about myself if I deprived you of your weekly opportunity to get some participation points…I always loved those. 

Go ahead and watch for yourself:

Springfield Committee of The Whole Meeting, Tuesday, September 29, 2026

That said, the landlord registry is going to be on our ballot come Nov 3rd, so you really need to know what it means. It'll be a yes/no option. Do your homework & stay informed. I'll do my best to help you do that too.

One that note, one way I'm helping out is the Sangamon County Ballot Directory.

All the candidates on the November ballot in one spot. Super Busy? Don’t worry. 15 mins spent with it in the parking lot before you vote will give you all the info you need to vote responsibly.

👉 Checkout the directory

There's a lot there as it pertains to the landlord registry. From the mouth of Alderman Williams to a public commenter:

"...It's going to happen regardless, so you might as well participate..." "It's not going to be us against them, it's going to be inclusive and you're willing (I think he meant able) to participate and I hope you will. Thank you."

So keep an eye out for what will be public events where the registry will be discussed. These conversations sound like they’re facilitated by the executive director of the Faith Coalition for the Common Good. 

What happened? This ordinance lets the city spend up to $800k of money it's already collected from its local cannabis sales tax on redevelopment grants for small businesses. From what I can tell, that looks like roughly 8 grants of up to $100k each (my math, not the ordinance's). And it's NOT coming out of the general fund, which is basically the city's everyday checking account.

You'll also see a second number in the title of the ordinance: a $750k "supplemental appropriation" from the restricted cannabis fund balance. Don't let that trip you up. $800k is the cap on the whole program. The $750k is a "supplemental appropriation," which essentially is the city adding money to the budget that wasn't there before. It's coming out of the cannabis fund, which the city started setting aside back in 2021 for specific uses (mainly helping east side small businesses and homeowners). My guess is the other $50k was already in the budget, but that's speculation on my part.

Why it matters? A grant like this can help a business stay open, fix up its building, expand, or hire. When a business grows, the block around it tends to look better and the tax base gets a little stronger. In plain terms: the city is taking some cannabis tax money and reinvesting it in local businesses instead of spending it on day-to-day operations.

Additional context. If you're familiar with TIFs, this seems to work similarly. The difference being where the money comes from. A TIF (Tax Increment Financing ) uses the growth in property taxes inside a specific district. This here uses cannabis tax revenue. And that pot of money exists because once Illinois legalized adult-use cannabis, Springfield decided to add its own local cannabis sales tax on top.

Is this you? If you own a small business and you've been thinking about fixing up or expanding, keep an eye on this. Heads up though... The ordinance itself (in this particular COTW meeting) didn’t really spell out who's eligible, how businesses get picked, or what strings are attached, if any. Those details should come from the Office of Planning and Economic Development, so watch for info on:

The city has done cannabis-funded business grants of up to $100k before, but I couldn't confirm whether those same rules apply to this new $800k round.

Alderman Gregory made a point of thanking Ms. Amy Rasing, Director of the Springfield Office of Planning and Economic Development, and her office for the work they put into it.