Southwestern Illinois:
The Center of Transportation and Innovation
A region… United for Growth.
Southwestern Illinois (SWIL) is a Midwest landmark known for its focus on transportation, workforce, and innovation. SWIL is strategically located in middle of the United States in the heart of the Midwest in downstate Illinois across the Mississippi River from the world-famous St. Louis Gateway Arch and within a robust metropolitan regional economic powerhouse. This location has more than 50% of the U.S. buying power accessible in a single day’s drive of this U.S. centric location.
Consisting of nine Illinois counties, which includes Madison, St. Clair, Macoupin, Clinton, Monroe, Jersey, Bond, Washington and Calhoun, the Mississippi Industrial corridor is an economic engine with over 700,000 residents and is Illinois second largest population center with a higher standard of living than 94% of similar MSAs in the country. SWIL is united to meet the economic changes and demands of today’s industries.
It is a supply-chain distribution hub for warehouse and logistics operations as it sits at the crossroads of Interstates 40, 55, 64, and 70. Over $19B dollars in prominent industry clusters ranging from advanced & light manufacturing to long existing heavy industry with strong agriculture, food processing, biomedical healthcare, data centers, finance and insurance, aviation, metal fabrication, e-commerce, green energy, energy production, chemical and medical processing, multi-modal transportation networks, cybersecurity and geospatial Intelligence innovation sectors that make up this industrial, manufacturing, and technology powerhouse!
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About the Leadership Council
The Leadership Council is a not-for-profit 501(c)6 member-based economic development corporation representing Southwestern Illinois. The Leadership Council works to unite the region for economic growth through its coalition of over 250+ board members who are top leaders in business, industry, labor, education, and government. These effective partnerships serve as a driving force behind successful economic development efforts throughout Southwestern Illinois. The Leadership Council fosters relationships and partnerships on both sides of the river, recognizing that our efforts have an impact on not just Southwestern Illinois, but also the entire St. Louis Region.
The Leadership Council is steered by a 17-member executive committee. The organization’s work is supported by three full-time employees – an Executive Director & CEO, Executive Coordinator, and Administrative Assistant. In addition, the Leadership Council SWIL has hundreds of Board of Director’s Members, member company participants, strategic regional partners, community leaders, elected officials, and volunteers who are instrumental in carrying out the important regional work. This synergistic collaboration is critical accomplishing the mission of the Leadership Council SWIL!
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Our Mission
The mission of the Leadership Council is to unite business, industry, government, education and labor for economic growth in Southwestern Illinois, which is the second largest population area in Illinois and represents ¼ of the St. Louis MSA.
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104 Magnolia Drive,
Suite B
Glen Carbon, IL 62034
(618) 692-9745