Pictured from the left are DCEO Deputy Director Julio Rodriguez; Illinois Department of Employment Security Deputy Director for Business Services Carrie Thomas; Tony Fuhrmann, Darlene Ladd and Brooke Andrews from Madison County Employment & Training; with Cynthia Layman and Bonnie Forkner from St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants Department.
By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE
Managing Editor, Illinois Business Journal
[email protected]
A view of the Excellence in Collaboration award.
A collaborative effort between southwestern Illinois workforce development agencies and the hospitality industry has earned statewide recognition while delivering what partners describe as a “Win-Win-Win” for employers, workers and students alike.
The region’s workforce ecosystem received the Excellence in Collaboration Award during the Illinois Workforce Summit on May 7. The award recognizes initiatives that demonstrate how coordinated partnerships across the workforce system produce measurable results for employers and job seekers.
This year’s honor went to a coalition of partners that includes the National Restaurant Association, Soulcial Kitchen, Southwestern Illinois College, the St. Clair County Intergovernmental Grants Department, Madison County Employment & Training Department, Madison County Career and Technical Education, St. Clair County Career and Technical Education, Collinsville Area Vocational Center and several Madison and St. Clair County high schools.
Partners said the collaboration has produced multiple workforce development gains for the region’s hospitality sector.
Now, as for those Wins…
- Win: To help address needs of the southwestern Illinois hospitality sector, the first food truck operator apprenticeship was created by Soulcial Kitchen in St. Clair County through a state Apprenticeship Expansion grant to help address workforce shortages in hospitality and food service. Officials said the program’s success prompted the National Restaurant Association to adopt the model and begin efforts to expand it nationally.
- Win: Through a state supplemental grant, Madison County Employment & Training used a state supplemental grant to train more than 450 individuals as Guest Service Gold Professionals in customer service. Participants included hospitality industry employees, chamber of commerce members and area high school students.
- Win: The collaboration also expanded workforce training capacity across the region. In November 2025, the National Restaurant Association conducted a “Train the Trainer” session for career and technical education directors, high school culinary instructors and staff from St. Clair County and SWIC. Nearly 20 participants completed the program, allowing them to provide customer service instruction to students, hospitality workers and future enrollees through SWIC noncredit courses.
In the official award notification letter, Aime’e Julian, Ph.D., director of the Illinois Center for Specialized Professional Support, said the recognition highlights the region’s “outstanding commitment to partnership, coordination, and collective impact in advancing Illinois’ workforce development system.”
“Your leadership and dedication exemplify the spirit of collaboration that drives meaningful outcomes for the communities we serve,” Julian further wrote.
Photos courtesy of Madison County Employment & Training.
