The Southern Illinois Regional Chambers of Commerce held it bi annual luncheon in Carterville Tuesday.
Dozens of business owners, managers and workers attended to hear from a panel of large business employers.
Business and community leaders gathered in Carterville for the bi annual Southern Illinois Regional Chambers of Commerce luncheon.
Carbondale Chamber President Jennifer Olson helped organize the event and says using local resources like large employers could help small business owners better adapt to new laws or regulations
“It’s really nice to kind of get their feedback and see what their plans are and how they’re dealing with the things that they have no control over but they have to find methods to deal with.”
Attendees from all over Southern Illinois heard from a panel of administrators from large employers like SIU, SIH, National Railway Equipment and Pepsi Midamerica.
They’re here to share their views on doing business in Illinois and they’re all facing the same hurdle.
“The biggest challenge is filling open positions”
“Recruiting great people that are from Illinois is becoming a struggle.”
“Just getting enough talented people is our biggest challenge.”
On top of a shortage of qualified workers, administrators are facing the possibility of minimum wage increasing to $15 an hour.
SIH President Rex Budde says they’ve already looked to see what the increase will cost them.
“The $15 an hour will cost us about 14million dollars a year when fully implemented.”
National Railway Equipment has locations throughout the world.
Vice President of HR Angela Holmes says the wage increase will felt at all their locations.
“It definitely will affect the cost of payroll and it will definitely affect the cost of our products right away.”
