Employers looking to tap the 'labor reserve' for new workers may need to be willing to meet them halfway on their needs
Dr. Adee Athiyaman reports that about 26,000 rural Illinoisans are classified as part of the "labor reserve," or nonparticipants in the workforce who would join under more favorable conditions. But enticing them to apply for a job may require some accommodation of their needs.
Some Empirical Aspects of Manufacturing Sector During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Did Covid-19 shutter proportionally more small businesses (including manufacturing businesses) in the metro or the nonmetro? How do rural manufacturers in Illinois adapt to and cope with the threats of Covid-19? Is variability in adapting to Covid-19 workplace health and safety measures correlated with the characteristics of the business and the sociodemographic of the business location? This paper addresses these and other similar questions using a combination of primary and secondary data. Read the entire report...
Rural Doctors Are Using Influence To Get Their Patients To Take The COVID-19 Vaccine
Many county health departments are under-resourced, facing significant staffing shortages or don’t have the expertise to create messaging about the vaccine, according to Adee Athiyaman, a researcher at the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs. Read the full story...
Grocery store closing is part of a bigger issue
The current situation in Nokomis is what some researchers, including Western Illinois University’s Sean Park, call a 'food swamp.' Park said, “...the food that you have access to is at the local gas station or the dollar store...What you're getting isn't healthy, fresh foods; it's usually beef jerky or chips or soda." Read the full story here...
WIU professor provides a new tool for communities in containment of COVID-19
Tim Shelley recently discussed the "shift method" of analyzing COVID-19 data with Adee Athiyaman, a professor of public policy and economic development with WIU's Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs. In his paper, Athiyaman provides a new method for economic development specialists, as a tool to better compare and contrast a community's progress in containing COVID-19. Click below to listen.
Athiyaman also provides another paper on the economic impacts of COVID-19
The Small Business Owner’s Guide to the CARES Act
Documentation for the The Small Business Owners Guide to the CARES Act
Understanding the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act Workshop
Participants will be presented with a thorough explanation of each step required in the process Pre-Award Process. The workshop will held on November 20th and 21st in Macomb. For more details or to register go here...