Greater Wabash Regional Planning Commission
Serving Crawford, Edwards, Lawrence, Richland, Wabash, Wayne, and White County in Southeastern Illinois
Assistance to Firefighters Grants Opened February 3rd
The Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) application period opened on Monday, February 3rd and will end on Friday March 13th.

If you are interested in applying please reach out to Heather Neuman, our Community Development Coordinator, at [email protected] . She can assist with the application and answer any questions you may have.

If you like to look at the AFG application guidance materials, click here .
FEMA will be holding a series of live application walk-throughs to assist applicant navigate through the new FEMA GO online grant application. If you are interested in the webinar schedule, click here .
2020 CEDS meetings
There will be CEDS Meetings held in each county in March. The purpose of the meetings will be to discuss any possible project ideas in the county. Once a year, GWRPC holds a meeting inn each county to update the region's Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. Any possible project ideas need to be discussed at the meeting including but not limited to: transportation, economic development, roads, water, sewer, parks, firefighter, police, emergency services, housing, etc.

County Meeting dates and times
Crawford  - Wednesday, March 11th at Robinson City Hall at 9:00 a.m.
Edwards  - Thursday, March 19th at GWRPC at 9:00 a.m.
Lawrence  - Wednesday, March 11th at Lawrenceville City Hall at 1:00 p.m.
Richland  - Wednesday, March 18th Olney City Hall at 9:00 a.m.
Wabash  - Wednesday, March 4th at WVC Main Hall Room 101 at 1:00 p.m.
Wayne  - Thursday, March 19th at FCC Bob Boyles Hall at 1:00 p.m.
White  - Thursday, March 4th at Carmi City Hall Council Chambers at 9:00 a.m.
Marketing 101 for Small Businesses Workshop
The Small Business Development Center is hosting a Marketing 101 for Small Businesses workshop. The workshop will be February 18th at 3:00 p.m. at Southeastern Illinois College in the Robert I. Gregg building, room G120.

This event is a no-cost workshop provided by the Small Business Development Center and AlterEgo Marketing to help small businesses maximize a small marketing budget. Learn more about how to start marketing your business, when and how to hire a marketing firm, how to utilize different resources and more.

To RSVP email [email protected] or call (618) 252-5400 ext. 2312.
Ameren Illinois Energy Efficiency Program
Ameren Illinois Energy Efficiency Program is available to businesses and public-sector entities to apply for cash incentives to help pay for part of your next electric or natural gas energy efficiency project. If you or someone you know is interested go to https://amerenillinoissavings.com/ to discover ways to reduce energy costs.
Some of the cash incentives that are available for a variety of government projects are:
  • no-cost/low-cost energy efficiency improvement
  • lighting upgrades
  • heating and cooling system improvements
  • ENERGY STAR certified equipment upgrades
  • motor upgrades
  • steam system improvements
  • custom projects
Some of the current incentives are:
  • lighting
  • municipality-owned street lighting
  • instant incentives
  • HVAC & water heaters
  • variable frequency drives (VFD)
  • steam traps
  • leak survey and repair
  • retro commissioning
  • custom
Regional Collaboration Strategies
Regional collaboration on water and wastewater services is difficult to achieve. Challenges that come with water and wastewater can present themselves more strongly while working with another community. Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) Magazine shared a good article discussing different strategies to collaborate. If you are interested in reading more, click here for the full article.