BN Advantage aims to boost Bloomington-Normal’s attractiveness to investors

Posted on August 25, 2015

Members of BN Advantage meet with media at a luncheon Tuesday. (Joe Ragusa/WJBC)

By Joe Ragusa

BLOOMINGTON – Several organizations are partnering to lead an economic development initiative called BN Advantage.

The group includes the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council, the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the McLean County Regional Planning Commission and Central Illinois Regional Airport.

They hired Dr. Ioanna Morfessis as a consultant. She said her consulting firm, IO Inc., has conducted countless surveys and focus groups throughout the community.

“Having all of that data and analysis pointed us into the direction that there are five principle opportunities from an economic development standpoint, where we could develop the economy of the region,” Morfessis said.

Morfessis said those sectors include entrepreneurship, information and communication technologies and even agribusiness, one of McLean County’s strengths.

“For McLean County, you have the wine industry emerging. That’s big,” Morfessis said. “It’s big in Sedona, California and it’s big in small town U.S.A.”

More information about the group can be found at BNAdvantage.com.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].

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