Opportunities for everyone countywide was the message delivered at this week’s Rotary meeting by DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Melissa Amedeo.  Amedeo gave an overview of this past week’s “Makers on the Move” stop in Sycamore at the Suter Company to recognize their 100 year anniversary.  It was part of a bus tour that made 30 stops and was organized by the Illinois Manufacturer’s Association and Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center.  Amedeo said the DeKalb County stop also recognized the 180 Centennial and Sesquicentennial Farms in the County.  Students from Sycamore School District were on hand to demonstrate STEM learning projects highlighting where manufacturing is headed in the future.

 

Amedeo talked about job creation in the County and used the current hiring at the Amazon Fulfillment Center at the south edge of DeKalb along I-88 as an example.  The internet business is seeking 1,000 employees and their impact is being felt with hires from rural towns throughout the county as well as DeKalb and Sycamore.  Applications are being taken at www.amazon.com/flexiblejobs and hiring is taking place on site at the Amazon Center in DeKalb.  She also mentioned the DCEDC’s involvement with a Rural Vitality initiative that includes revitalization grants to towns through funding from the DeKalb County Community Foundation.

 

Amedeo shared information on the DCEDC’s collaboration with other trade and educational partners in the area.  An information seminar “ AI on the Farm & Beyond”  will be held October 29^th at the Syngenta Research Center in Malta.  Tickets are available at the DeKalb Area Agriculture Heritage Association website https://www.daaha.org/events.   A lunch and learn on best practices for engaging professional engineers on a project will be held at the DCEDC offices November 5^th sponsored by Larson Engineering.  The event is free but advance registration is required at www.dcedc.org/events.  A program to promote product innovation called “The Voucher University” will be held November 5^th in collaboration with Northern Illinois University (NIU) and the state.  Up to $75,000 is available for research and development initiatives. Registration is available at https://luma.com/ywuegpgp .  Amedeo also promoted the 2025 DCEDC Annual Breakfast meeting scheduled for December 2^nd.  Registration may be made at www.dcedc.org/events.

October 14, 1890 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, who becomes 34^th President of the United States and serves as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II, is born in Denison, Texas. 

 

October 15, 1924 – Corporate folk hero and automobile executive Lee Iacocca is born in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

 

October 16, 1758 – American teacher and compiler of the first American dictionary of the English language, Noah Webster, is born in West Hartford, Connecticut.

 

October 18, 1939 – Chicago football legend and Hall of Fame member “Iron Mike” Ditka is born in Carnegie, Pennsylvania.

October 13, 1884 – Greenwich was established as the universal time from which standard times throughout the world are calculated.

 

October 14, 1947 – U. S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier flying in a rocket-powered research aircraft.

 

October 15, 1860 – 11-year old Grace Bedell writes to Abraham Lincoln telling him to grow a beard, which he does. 

 

October 18, 1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis begins as President John F. Kennedy is shown photos confirming the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.