It is the Chamber's intention over time to seek and sustain changes in legislation, taxation, and regulation that create competitive advantage in the state of Illinois generally, and the Rockford area in particular, in order to provide guidance for advocacy on future issues and to focus our efforts.

Competitive Advantage: Education

Education changes lives and transforms communities. The education of our citizens, from birth to the end of their high school education, through technical education and/or the completion of a college degree, and the fostering of lifelong learning opportunities for all is a key area for which we seek Competitive Advantage.

We Believe... that teacher shortages in our public school system are a threat to the educational attainment of our students.

We Believe... that state certification procedures should be altered to allow members of the business community to enter the teaching profession in a timely manner.

We Believe... that members of the business community with a genuine desire to educate students, and interest in making a career change, should consider these alternate pathways to a new career.

We Believe... that local institutions of higher education have done an outstanding job of educating our youth, especially in terms of completion of Associates Degrees.

We Believe... that there is an unmet need for publicly funded, bachelor's degree completion programs in the Rockford Area.

We Believe... in fostering full community involvement in local efforts to improve the education of our citizens.

We Believe... the dialogue between community volunteers and the local School District has created constructive, innovative solutions to local school issues.

We Believe... all efforts should be encouraged to continue this dialogue and to take the dialogue to implementation.

We Believe... that businesses have a vested interest in continuous improvement in education and therefore must be constructively involved in the direction of education, both public and private.

We Believe... that Business Education Partnerships will result in better business and better education and should be aggressively encouraged within the Chamber.

Competitive Advantage: Marketplace

Government involvement in the marketplace of commerce can be positive or negative. It is positive when it promotes open competition in contexts that provide consumer choice. It is negative when choice is eroded or when levels of taxation and/or regulation impede the capacity of businesses to grow, thrive, return positively on investments made. Businesses need freedom to compete effectively and to deploy their resources in their best long term interest.

We Believe... government, especially at the State and Federal levels, must take into account the impact of tax policy in reducing the capacity for business to reinvest profits in economic growth and job creation.

We Believe... business should be proactive in its approach to influencing Tax Policy by opening organized channels to Government and offering alternative programs and funding solutions when possible.

We Believe... Tax Policy encompasses all the fees imposed by Government on a business whether direct or indirect, mandatory or fee-for-service.

We Believe... Tax Policy should reflect legitimate needs to raise revenue and follow diligent reviews of cost effectiveness.

We Believe... State and Federal Regulations should be evaluated against the impact on a firm's ability to compete in an interstate, international economy.

We Believe... efforts by government to apply private sector solutions to public sector problems will increasingly contribute to fiscal responsibility and better government service.

We Believe... new mandates imposed on local governments should include a plan for full state funding.

We Believe... mandated employer benefits generally restrict an employer's ability to compete and generally restrict job creation.

We Believe... that solutions to the soaring cost of health care and health insurance must be based upon consumerism, and that restructuring "pools" will only further segregate the market into groups of healthy and unhealthy individuals.

We Believe... underpayment of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to health care providers and the resulting cost-shifting by those providers is in reality another tax on business, insurance companies, and private payers who must absorb increased costs to make up for losses from Government programs.

We Believe... that Tort Reform demands attention by the General Assembly and a reasonable dialogue between the legal, medical, insurance, labor, and general business communities.

We Believe... the fear of and cost of litigation in Illinois is a serious problem impeding the ability to compete for many firms.

We Believe... reform in our State's product liability laws is necessary to determine a rational and balanced method of compensation for injured parties while protecting the economic strength of business.

We Believe... that manufacturing is a primary element in our region's economic base and that maintaining strength in manufacturing is critical to sustaining our economy.

We Believe... that federal, state and local governments must acknowledge the importance of manufacturing and craft policy that creates the best possible environment for manufacturing to flourish.

We Believe... tourism is a vital component of the region's economy, and must be supported at the local, state, and federal levels.

Competitive Advantage: Community

Business does not operate in a vacuum. As entities within a regional community we have Public Policy concerns affecting our quality of life and economic viability.

We Believe... our community must include the entire 5 county region of Winnebago, Boone, Ogle, Stephenson, and Rock and that public-private and intergovernmental cooperation is crucial to growth.

We Believe... community solutions to complex problems can best be formed through private-public cooperative partnerships.

We Believe... in an open dialogue and constructive involvement between local government and business.

We Believe... business must proactively meet it's responsibility to share in the protection of the public health, safety and welfare of the entire community.

We Believe... Crime Prevention is a shared responsibility of all citizens.

We Believe... a rising crime rate will restrict our community's economic growth and will increase the direct costs of operating a business.

We Believe... Crime Prevention demands a comprehensive solution, which includes education, enforcement, rehabilitation and community involvement.

We Believe... the business community must continue its leadership in economic development and growth in our community.

We Believe... this leadership should be open to diverse opinion and receptive to evaluating all opportunities for community growth.

We Believe... in matters of economic development and growth our Legislative Delegation should set aside party differences to work together for the region and should be so held accountable.

We Believe... all members of our community should have access to economic opportunity and that market players should be encouraged to invest in all areas of our community.

We Believe... the availability of reliable and economical transportation options is critical to the continued economic development of the Rockford area.

We Believe... the Chicago/Rockford International Airport can be a viable resource for the transportation of both passengers and cargo.

We Believe... that the Foreign Trade Zone #176 at the Chicago/Rockford International Airport should be expanded to include the Rochelle Inter-modal hub in order to capitalize on those two important assets.

We Believe... high-speed rail and other transportation alternatives must be studied as a component of growth in the region.

We Believe... the Rockford-Winnebago county area has been under-served in terms of state support for maintenance and construction of State Highways.

We Believe... at a minimum, the Rockford-Winnebago County region should receive state support in the form of highway dollars equal to those committed to similar cities/regions with in the state of Illinois.

We Believe... that so long as tolls remain on roadways through the Boone-Winnebago County area, we should have representation on the Illinois-Tollway Authority.

We Believe... that modern cost competitive telecommunications infrastructure is critical to the present and future well being of the Rockford area.

We Believe... that state and federal legislation should be updated to reflect current technology shifts toward high speed data communications, and based on technological capabilities, not LATA boundaries.