UIC's Great Cities Institute Neighborhoods Initiative and the University of Illinois-Extension are working together on this project supported by a grant from Grand Victoria Foundation to reach communities across the State of Illinois

Live Free Webinar
August 12, 2010, 10:00 a.m. CST

Help meet EPA site inventory, public record and notice, and reporting requirements All site data available in your own password protected database Multiple entities may work together to create/use the database All information/data entered into BIT is password protected to prevent unauthorized use Data can easily be imported or exported for individual or multiple sites A mapping feature allows viewing of site or sample locations Instructions available on every page in BIT Contains additional brownfields-related resources

BIT Advantages

BIT WEBSITE: http://tab-bit.org

BIT Contact Information Blase Leven TAB Program at Kansas State University Phone: 785-532-0780 E-mail: baleven@ksu.edu

Hosted by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

Speakers include:

  • Blase Leven, Kansas State University
  • Ryan Ames, CMAP
  • Moderated by Deborah Orr, USEPA

The Brownfield Inventory Tool (BIT) is a Free, web-based, comprehensive brownfield program management tool. BIT was designed especially for users working under an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cooperative agreement requiring the submittal of a Property Profile Form, but any entity working on establishing a site inventory database will find BIT very helpful. Cities, regional coalitions, and Tribes can also use BIT to consolidate environmental and administrative information from sites in multiple programs.

Users may enter detailed site data, upload documents and data, and generate and export a variety of reports, including the Property Profile Form. BIT can also be used as a collaborative tool where specific inventory data can be accessed by multiple users IF permission by the primary user is granted. All information entered into BIT is username/password protected to ensure privacy.

BIT is very user friendly and instructions can be found on every page of the program.
BIT was developed by the TAB (Technical Assistance to Brownfields communities) program at Kansas State University with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Cooperative Agreement TR83389401.

A prototype of BIT was developed by EPA Region 8 in 2004 and BIT is the updated version of this prototype.

On August - 9 - 2010 Events

Illinois Communities Rising: Place-Based Pathways to Federal Resources 

The Conference on Thursday, September 16, 2010, UIC Forum, Chicago, IL, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m attracted representatives from nonprofits, municipalities, and state and federal agencies.

You can access all of the information, resources and materials disseminated and presented at this year’s conference on this page. 

View- 2010 IRN Statewide Conference Announcement  

View- 2010 IRN Conference Panelists, Presenters & Facilitators Biographies 

View- 2010 IRN Conference Agenda  

View- 2010 IRN Conference Details- (Payment, Check-in, Parking Options, Overnight Accommodations, Lunch)  

Conference Break-Out Sessions Descriptions

View- IRN 2010 Conference Break-out Sessions 

Case Study: Finding Funding in Floods: Working with Local Communities to Develop Hazard Mitigation Plans

Facilitator: Carrie McKillip, IRN Technical Assistance Provider 

Presenters: Jared Owen, IEMA Hazard Mitigation Planner; Rich Meyers, Gulfport Village Board President; Susan Meyers, Henderson County Treasurer;Coral Seitz, Henderson County Emergency Management Director 

Flood mitigating has increasingly become the responsibility of local decision makers who work with technical assistance providers to apply for federal funding.  IRN has worked consistently with local communities in Illinois after the 2008 floods on the importance of understanding why local communities need to adopt both structural and non-structural flood mitigation strategies. During the panel, particular attention will be paid to the role of organizational capacity within communities to address floods in addition to various local geophysical and socioeconomic characteristics. 

On August 19, 2010, Governor Quinn announced federal disaster assistance approved to help people and businesses affected by the July 2010  floods. The recent declaration only reaffirms the relevance and importance of the work being completed by IRN’s technical assistance providers in previously impacted flooded communities. 

View press release of Governor Quinn’s announcement >

Break-out Session Conference Audio 

View more webinars from Illinois ResourceNet.

 

Advantages in Place: Creating a continuous proposal stream

Presenter:  Al Zwilling, University of Illinois Extension Specialist Project Development and Sustainability and Illinois ResourceNet Extension Coordinator 

In this session participants will learn about new potential federal grant opportunities and the process of using one federal grant to lead to another in a process of continuous proposal development. Proposal success is cumulative, especially when carried out in collaborative networks where data can be shared, partnerships can be forged, learning can take place, different program areas can be linked, and diverse resources can be leveraged.  This session gives practical hands-on training on how to engage in a continuous proposal building process including utilizing the catalogue of federal assistance, grants.gov and planning documents to anticipate and prepare for potential opportunities. 

View more webinars from Illinois ResourceNet.

Break-out Session Hand-outs 

Advantages in Place 

IRN Place Based Grants Matrix Activity 

A memo for the heads of executive departments and agencies on Place-based policies was released by the Obama Administration signaling the shift to a place-based model for determining domestic and fiscal priorities. 

Read the memo here >

Developing a Proposal Building Team

Presenters: Deborah Minor-Harvey & James Pfluecke, IRN Technical Assistance Providers 

This workshop will identify best practices in federal grant proposal project management including developing a work plan and your work team. Participants will learn about the organizational capacity needed to successfully complete a federal grant proposal, how to assess and document your community’s needs,  and how to develop a time line for the successful completion of all aspects of the proposal. 

View more webinars from Illinois ResourceNet.

Break-out Session Hand-outs 

Developing a Proposal Building Team Handout 1 

Developing a Proposal Building Team Handout 2 

Developing a Proposal Building Team Handout 3 

Developing a Proposal Building Team Handout 4 

Request for Proposal Exercise Handout 

Data for Decision Maker: Using census data and visualization to tell a story

Presenter: Brian Deal, Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois and Director of the LEAM Modeling Systems Laboratory and Smart Energy Design Assistance Center 

Census data can provide a unique picture of local communities, by providing information on indicators such as household income levels, the age and education-level of a population, the race and ethnic makeup of a community and how a population has changed over time. This type of information is particularly useful when trying to write a grant proposal to demonstrate the need for resources within a community, or when trying to assess the needs and issues of a community. This session will explain how to access census information and use it to create maps and graphics to visualize the information being written about in proposal submissions.  

View more webinars from Illinois ResourceNet.

Break-out Session Hand-outs 

Data for Decision Maker Resources 

Planning to Layer Federal Funding: Applying sustainable practices to the federal grant process 

Presenter: Susan Kaplan, Outreach Activities Coordinator, UIC Institute for Environmental Science and Policy & IRN Technical Assistance Provider 

Featured Guest: Carol Kulek, representative from the IL Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) 

Detailed comprehensive plans and federal funding grants need some of the same elements to thrive. If a community identifies its needs as part of the planning process, it can, as part of a continuous proposal building process, pinpoint which grants will help meet those needs. Federal grants are available for communities with an integrated vision for connecting economic development, community development, and environmental protection to create greater livability. This session will explain why comprehensive community planning should be an integral part of the federal funding process to help facilitate the continuous development of proposals. 

Also featured in this breakout session, Carol Kulek will speak about grant opportunities available from the IL DCEO, and how a community can best be prepared to respond when an RFP is announced. 

View more webinars from Illinois ResourceNet.

Panel Discussions

Place-Based Funding in Illinois: Federal, State, and Regional Insights

    

This panel will engage four experts from different perspectives on steering federal funds into development strategies at the community and regional levels. 

Rachel Weber, Associate Director of the Great Cities Institute, and Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy at UIC, will facilitate a discussion among the participants about their experiences with the realities of blending federal funds into comprehensive, durable efforts to sustain and revitalize Illinois communities.  Subjects likely to emerge include how to get place-based funding efforts started, what state offices are already interested in helping, and what regional and local planning bodies, colleges, and nonprofit organizations can do to build partnerships that will convince federal agencies to send funding their way. 

Panelists

View Here- You can also view the Question & Answer Section of this panel discussion!

Why Place Matters for Grant Seekers?

This panel will invite three panelists to engage in a discussion about the advantages and challenges of comprehensive place-based development fromthe perspective of two active practitioners and a funder


Dennis Judd, Acting Director of the Great Cities Institute, and Department of Political Science will moderate the discussion among expert panelists about the elements a community needs in order to effectively carry out comprehensive, cross sector, integrated place-based development. The panelists will also provide examples of best practices that lead to place-based success and the capacity needed to make it work. 

Panelists 

View Here- You can also view the Question & Answer Section of this panel discussion!

On August - 6 - 2010 Conference Communities Rising Events