The Office shall convene quarterly meetings of representatives who are
designated by the Department to represent the units and programs listed in
items (A) through (K).
(2) To gather information concerning any State or federal
program that
is designed to revitalize or assist depressed urban areas in the State and
to provide this information to public and private entities upon request.
(3) To promote and assist in developing urban inner city
industrial parks.
(4) To promote economic parity and the autonomy of citizens of
this State
through promoting and assisting the development of urban inner city
small business development centers, urban youth unemployment projects, small
business
incubators, family resource centers, urban developments banks, self
managed
urban businesses, and plans for urban infrastructure projects over the next
25 years.
(5) To recommend to the General Assembly and the Governor
economic policies for urban areas and planning models
that will result in the reconstruction of the economy of urban areas,
especially those urban areas where economically and socially disadvantaged
people live.
(6) To make recommendations to the General Assembly and the
Governor on
the establishment of urban economic
policy in the areas of (i) housing, (ii) scientific
research, (iii) urban
youth unemployment, (iv) business incubators and family resource
centers in
urban inner cities, and (v) alternative energy resource
development, and the
need
thereof, in urban areas as part of the department's 5-year
plan for
economic development.
(7) To make any rules and regulations necessary to carry out its
responsibilities under the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois.
(8) To encourage new industrial enterprises to locate in urban
areas (i) through
educational promotions that point out the opportunities of any
such area as a
commercial and industrial field of opportunity and (ii) by the
solicitation of
industrial enterprises; and to do other acts that, in
the judgment
of the Office, are necessary and proper in fostering and promoting
the
industrial development and economic welfare of any urban area.
The
Office, however, shall have no power to require reports from or to regulate
any business.
(9) To accept grants, loans, or appropriations from the
federal
government or the State, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, to be
used for the operating expenses of the Office or for any purposes of the
Office, including the making of direct loans or grants of those
funds for
public, private, experimental, or cooperative housing, scientific research,
urban inner city industrial parks, urban youth employment projects,
business incubators, urban infrastructure development, alternative energy
resource development, food deserts and community food plots, community facilities needed in urban areas, and
any other purpose related to the revitalization of urban areas.
(Source: P.A. 96-37, eff. 7-13-09.)
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