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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives wish | ||||||
| 3 | to congratulate Joe Franco of Kankakee on the occasion of | ||||||
| 4 | receiving the IMPACT Award from the Economic Alliance of | ||||||
| 5 | Kankakee County for his commitment to the growth of | ||||||
| 6 | sustainable development in the region; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, Joe Franco was born and raised in DePue; he | ||||||
| 8 | attended Illinois Valley Community College in LaSalle-Peru and | ||||||
| 9 | St. Joseph School of Medical Technology in Bloomington; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Joe Franco came to Kankakee at the age of 23 to | ||||||
| 11 | work in the medical lab at St. Mary's Hospital; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, Over the course of decades, Joe Franco built his | ||||||
| 13 | own medical labs in Bourbonnais, Clifton, Kankakee, Manteno, | ||||||
| 14 | Peotone, and Momence; he also took the lead on more than 30 | ||||||
| 15 | projects in Kankakee County and across the region, including | ||||||
| 16 | the Bourbonnais Medical Center, the Heritage Medical Center, | ||||||
| 17 | the administration building for Olivet Nazarene University's | ||||||
| 18 | graduate programs, and the Executive Centre in Kankakee, which | ||||||
| 19 | houses the Kankakee Public Library; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, Joe Franco was the trailblazer who renovated the | ||||||
| 21 | David Bradley building on North Street in Bradley, converting | ||||||
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| 1 | it into a business incubator where several successful | ||||||
| 2 | manufacturers operate today; and
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| 3 | WHEREAS, Regionally, Joe Franco's developments include the | ||||||
| 4 | John Deere building in the Quad Cities, the "Super Block" in | ||||||
| 5 | East Moline, and additional developments in Moline, East | ||||||
| 6 | Moline, and Chicago Heights; his work includes 22 glass | ||||||
| 7 | elevators in these buildings as well as the bridge that spans | ||||||
| 8 | Court Street in downtown Kankakee, connecting what is now | ||||||
| 9 | Ascension Saint Mary to Medical Center West; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Joe Franco was instrumental in forming the | ||||||
| 11 | unified Kankakee County Chamber of Commerce and the Economic | ||||||
| 12 | Alliance of Kankakee County as a central point of contact for | ||||||
| 13 | businesses and developers in the area; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, The Economic Alliance of Kankakee County is a | ||||||
| 15 | public-private partnership that works to expand the economic | ||||||
| 16 | base in Kankakee County by improving the local business | ||||||
| 17 | climate and employs a collaborative approach to support | ||||||
| 18 | development in the strategic areas of business retention, | ||||||
| 19 | expansion and attraction, and workforce and community | ||||||
| 20 | development; therefore, be it
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| 21 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 22 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
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| 1 | we congratulate Joe Franco on receiving the IMPACT Award from | ||||||
| 2 | the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County and recognize him for | ||||||
| 3 | his accomplishments throughout his career; and be it further
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| 4 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 5 | presented to Joe Franco as an expression of our esteem and | ||||||
| 6 | respect.
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