Local and state officials joined together on Aug. 13 to celebrate the Residents' and Children's Learning Garden at Evergreen Terrace in Joliet.

     At today’s meeting of the Will County Board, Will County Executive Larry Walsh presented his annual State of the County speech and touched on the many advances on critical capital improvement projects.   He also outlined his plan to address future infrastructure needs across the county.

     “Will County’s sustained economic growth and increased diversity of our population broadens our appeal as a very desirable place to live, work, and raise our families,” Walsh said. “Working cooperatively to solve our challenges has always been key to success and we must continue on this path.”

Will County and the Illinois Department of Transportation on Wednesday reached an agreement about the jurisdiction of several roads in Will County, with the most significant transfer being Arsenal Road.

     “We negotiated with IDOT to take over Arsenal Road and in exchange the county will assume ownership of three other roadways within the county,” said Will County Executive Larry Walsh. “This is an important agreement regarding the safety of this region. This will benefit the county, our residents, the intermodals, and the many truckers who use this road daily.”

The Mobile Workforce Center’s August schedule has been announced by the Workforce Services Division of Will County.

The mobile unit travels throughout Will County to help residents with resume development, cover letters and job applications. The workforce center contains 11 computer stations, internet access, and offers keyboarding lessons, as well as resume and job search assistance using online listings including jobs4people.org and Illinois workNet.

Workforce Services Division of Will County has scheduled its August workshops for job seekers.

Standout Resumes will be offered at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5. Attendees will learn the basics of creating a competitive resume and may then schedule one-on-one resume reviews with WSD staff.

Will County recently hosted “interpreter training” for some of its bilingual employees. The five-week training was conducted by Dr. Hector Lopez, President of Best Solutions, Inc. of Downers Grove, IL.

         “With the diversity in the population of Will County, we are proud to have these bilingual employees trained to handle any need for interpretation,” said County Executive Larry Walsh. 

They met in church, school, on a blind date and at work.

In all, 21 couples are represented at Sunny Hill Nursing Home of Will County, said Activity Director Danette Krieger. For two of the couples, both husband and wife live at the County-owned facility 

The Mobile Workforce Center’s July schedule has been announced by the Workforce Services Division of Will County.

The mobile unit travels throughout Will County to help residents with resume development, cover letters and job applications. The workforce center contains 11 computer stations, internet access, and offers keyboarding lessons, as well as resume and job search assistance using online listings including jobs4people.org and Illinois workNet.

Workforce Services Division of Will County has scheduled its July workshops for job seekers.

Participants will learn interviewing techniques at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 1, in Successful Interviewing. Learn how to prepare for a job interview, be confident and make a positive impression. Attendees may schedule an individual, digitally recorded mock interview after completing the workshop. 

About 69,000 books went home with new readers from the “busiest” Will County Reuse and Recycle Book Event to date.

Tim Anderson of the Will County Land Use Department’s Resource Recovery and Energy Division said the event at the Pilcher Park Nature Center June 5-7 “was the busiest in both number of people who attended and books.” Anderson has spearheaded the event, which began in 1999, the last four years. The event is co-sponsored by the Joliet Park District.

The Will County Division of Transportation has added an additional meeting to the spring open house schedule so that residents in the Romeoville, Bolingbrook and northern Will County area have an opportunity to learn more and help shape the development of the County’s 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan.  The additional open house will be held from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m., Mon., June 8 at the Romeoville Village Hall, 1050 West Romeo Road, Romeoville.

The employment outlook in Will County continues to improve with the latest unemployment rate listed at 6.1 percent, which is down from 6.8 percent in March 2015 and one and a half percent lower than April of 2014. Will County Executive Larry Walsh said this decrease is a positive reflection of the business climate in the county.

     “Together with our county board, our municipal and business leaders, we work very hard to keep Will County a business friendly county,” Walsh said.

Nearly 700 students and staff members from 24 Will County schools attended the Earth Flag Awards ceremony at Rialto Square Theater in Joliet.

Another 24 schools also won the award after working with the Joan O’Keefe, the Environmental Educator with the Resource Recovery and Energy Division of the Will County Land Use Department, but were unable to attend.