The Advancing Grundy Plan and the corresponding reports are a result of a U.S. Economic Development Administration grant, received by the Grundy Economic Development Council (GEDC) and the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce. The project, completed over an almost 4-year period, stemmed from a close-call the Grundy County community had in 2020.

At that time Dresden Generating station was under the threat of closure and the community responded through grassroot efforts led by the GEDC and Chamber. Dresden has long been an anchor that shaped Grundy County’s population growth, identity, and economy. The threat of closure causes significant concern as the plant’s loss would have severely impacted the County’s economy. Due to this grassroots advocacy and legislative support, the closure was averted. Through these efforts we learned our community needed to safeguard our local economy from a potential closure in the future and to diversify its economy.

We applied for and received a specific grant that helps nuclear host communities plan for and build more diverse, resilient economies. The grant was matched 20% by Grundy County giving our community a total of $600,000.

During this year’s long Resilient Grundy Project came the Comprehensive Economic Overview, Advancing Grundy plan, a Grundy Broadband study, and a decommissioning plan – all of which can be found on this page.

The Advancing Grundy plan strategically outlines 10 action topics: Target Industry & Business Recruitment, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Support, Land Use Updates & Zoning, Place-Based Investments, Attainable Housing, JJC Campus Expansion, Morris Airport Development & Expansion, Morris Hospital Visibility, Childcare Partnerships and Broadband Expansion.

Each topic has a designated committee to follow through with the plan’s recommendations and next steps.

The GEDC and Chamber’s missions revolve around maintaining and growing Grundy’s business economy. Advancing Grundy is a resource and tool for our organizations and the entire county to ensure its successful future.