Illinois partnership helps first responders do lifesaving work

WHEELING— A new partnership between Illinois and FirstNet will ensure that the lifesaving advantages of enhanced wireless broadband technology are available to public safety personnel statewide, Gov. Bruce Rauner announced today.

“Communication is a life or death proposition in emergencies. Opting in to FirstNet’s dedicated network means first responders — fire, EMS, police — always have an open channel when it comes to doing their lifesaving work,” Rauner said against a backdrop of officials from numerous first responder agencies who gathered at the MABAS Readiness Center in Wheeling.

Illinois joins dozens of states opting in to the national First Responder Network, a communications network that is being built, operated and maintained at no cost to participating states through a public-private partnership between FirstNet and AT&T.

FirstNet participation will:

• Provide first responders with prioritized network access;
• Connect subscribing first responders with critical information needed in a highly secure manner, whether for day-to-day operations or large-scale emergencies;
• Create an efficient communications experience for public safety personnel in jurisdictions across the state when responding to natural disasters;
• Enhance network coverage across the state’s diverse landscape, particularly benefitting those in rural areas;
• Drive infrastructure investments and create jobs across Illinois; and,
• Usher in new lifesaving tools, including apps, specialized devices and technologies, with the potential for future integration with NextGen 911 networks and Smart Cities’ infrastructure.

Joe Galvin, statewide interoperability coordinator for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, said today’s opt-in letter signing culminates a years-long effort to ensure broad-based participation.

“Illinois has assembled a 100-member multidiscipline, multijurisdictional stakeholder group that has provided input on what emergency responders will require in a broadband network,” Galvin said. “All the information gathered has been provided to the First Responder Network Authority and has been incorporated in to the offering provided to Illinois.”

“FirstNet is a major step forward for law enforcement — and for all first responders,” added Illinois State Police Director Leo Schmitz. “Whether we’re heading toward the aftermath of a tornado or an incident involving an active shooter, public-safety workers need their communications devices to work, oftentimes in adverse conditions. This will give them the best possible chance to save lives and provide aid to the injured.”

FirstNet, short for First Responder Network Authority, is an independent authority established within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. It grew from a key 9/11 Commission finding that clogged communication lines made it impossible to warn firefighters that the Twin Towers were collapsing, and generally hindered effective response.

“The ability to exchange data between public safety agencies and various other disciplines will be greatly enhanced with the development of the FirstNet network,” said Chief Jeff Macko, president of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. “Voice communications on FirstNet will be a significant supportive adjunct to the current land mobile radio systems.”

Alsip Fire Department Deputy Chief Robert Ricker agreed that FirstNet will be a blessing.

“This will provide enhanced communication capabilities for first responders from all levels of government, whether operating at a small local event or a larger regional disaster,” he said. “With FirstNet, we will have additional tools at our disposal to help with decision-making.”

Joseph Klinger, acting director for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, also welcomed today’s announcement.

“This decision is a culmination of a four-and-a-half-year effort leveraging input from first responders across all of Illinois,” he said. “It is essential for lifesaving activities that public safety has the ability to make cellular phone calls, access critical information and transmit video during an incident.”

And Kirk Lonbom, the acting secretary of the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT), said the action demonstrates the governor’s vision to modernize state government.

“The decision to opt in to FirstNet will enable DoIT to provide enhanced services and innovative solutions in support of public safety and emergency management,” he said.

“Governor Rauner’s decision to join FirstNet demonstrates his strong support and dedication to public safety throughout the state,” added First Responder Network Authority CEO Mike Poth. “We are honored to serve Illinois’ first responders and deliver to them a reliable, broadband communications network that will help them save lives and protect communities.”

KANKAKEE — Kankakee High School will not have a valedictorian or salutatorian in the spring of 2021 or every year after that.

Oil spill equipment, baseball bat makers show Rauner their operations

FAIRFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner stopped by two southern Illinois manufacturing facilities yesterday, noting the singular achievements of an oil spill equipment maker in Fairfield and a group of Ridgway artisans crafting baseball bats swung by major-leaguers.

“Yours is a great story,” Rauner said before his tour of Elastec, which employs roughly 20 people at a 46,000-square-foot facility on Market Street in Fairfield, and 110 companywide. “Thank you for your products, your expertise and your help in keeping our waterways clean.”

Elastec has its main offices in Carmi, a second manufacturing site in Florida, and has been in business for more than 25 years. Its team of welders and fabricators build oil skimmers, dispersant application systems, portable incinerators, vacuum systems, pumps, power packs, specialized vehicles and work boats. They also produce floating booms and barriers, debris containment systems and aquatic weed control devices. The company has gained an international reputation for its aquatic environmental products, now sold in more than 155 countries.

“We owe it to companies like yours that are bringing manufacturing in Illinois into the modern era to step up the business-friendliness of Illinois,” Rauner said. “This state has so many desirable assets in transportation, distribution, technology — and a tremendous workforce. But we must roll back the Madigan tax, bring property taxes down and do more to reduce regulatory burdens on our manufacturing sector.”

“It’s obvious and apparent that the governor is doing his best to try to strengthen the state, especially in the jobs area,” said Jeff Bohleber, who is Elastec’s chief financial officer and a board member. “We’re local people who started a business in the community where we were raised. We obviously want to grow and stay in our area and allow our children and their children to have a future here.”

Governor Bruce Rauner touring Dinger Bats in Ridgway. The Gallatin County company produces bats for several MLB players (governor.illinois.gov photo)

At Dinger Bats in Ridgway this afternoon, the governor could not help but smile at the stacks of baseball bats lining walls, stacked in tubes and piled on pallets in various stages of production.

“This place is every boy’s dream,” he said. “How could you not love working here?”

An Illinois artisan stop on the Illinois Makers/Enjoy Illinois tourism promotion, Dinger Bats makes hand-crafted bats for sluggers ranging from college players to MLB World Series winners.

“You guys made the bat Kyle Schwarber used in the Chicago Cubs’ World Series-winning season,” Rauner said. “It doesn’t get much cooler than that.”

The company employs 16 and was founded by Kyle Drone and his father, Randy. Rauner was joined by state Sen. Dale Fowler, R-Harrisburg, at the Ridgway stop.

“It’s an honor to have Governor Rauner and Senator Fowler visit the factory and really take the time to listen to the needs of small businesses in all parts of the state,” Kyle Drone said.

“Dinger Bats is an incredible small business success story from southern Illinois where a company took a passion for creating a quality product and worked hard to grow into a nationally recognized manufacturing company that produces bats used in the major leagues,” Fowler said. “I’m happy to see a southern-based manufacturer receive some well-deserved attention for their growth, contributions and success.”

Rauner said it’s his game plan to help the company hit even more home runs.

“You’ve managed to remain a family-owned business manufacturing high-quality, American-made maple baseball bats that are now sold in Mexico, Europe, Korea, Taiwan and Australia,” the governor said. “By cutting taxes and getting government out of the way, Dinger Bats and companies all over Illinois can grow faster and create more good, high-paying jobs.”