May 24, 2018 –  Beginning on April 27, 2018, ALL entities renewing or updating their registration at www.SAM.gov will be required to submit an original, signed notarized letter confirming the authorized Entity Administrator associated with the DUNS number before the registration is activated.

As a reminder, the Federal Government will not make an award to an entity until the entity has complied with the requirements to provide a valid DUNS number and maintain an active SAM registration with current information. If the applicant is noncompliant with this requirement at the time of award offer, then Federal Government will determine the applicant is not qualified to receive an award.

April 16, 2018 – Bi-State Regional Commission is holding a free Complete Streets Worshop on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Rock Island Public Library, 401 19th Street, Rock Island.

This short, half-day event is going to be packed with great speakers and ideas to take back to your community. Highlights include:

• Keynote speaker Michael Divita from South Bend, Indiana, a town of 101,168 whose streetscape improvements were recently named one of the Best Complete Streets Initiatives of 2017 by Smart Growth America.  Learn about project implementation, key takeaways, and demonstration projects that helped South Bend gain the support of local residents and business owners.
• Presentations from Scott County Public Health, Healthy Hometown, and the Illinois DOT about opportunities to get free, expert assessments of your pedestrian amenities, followed by a short demonstration “walking audit” to give you a feel for the process.
• A guided brainstorming session with Heather Schady from the Active Transportation Alliance following a presentation on low-cost pop-up projects (involving such simple materials as chalk and duct tape) that have been used in other communities to explore the benefits of Complete Streets initiatives.

Parking is at the library.  Wear walking shoes for the walking audit demonstration over lunch.
Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-bi-state-complete-streets-workshop-tickets-45040020915.

April 26, 2018 – The U.S. Department of Transportation has launched its new Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD)
Transportation Discretionary Grants program.

BUILD Transportation grants replace the pre-existing Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program.  The new grant program is for investments in surface transportation infrastructure and will be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. 

ELIGIBLE PROJECTS - BUILD funding can support roads, bridges, transit, passenger or freight rail, ports or intermodal transportation.  Rural broadband is eligible as part of a transportation project.

April 25, 2018 – Nicole Carkner, Executive Director of Quad City Health Initiative(QCHI), reported that QCHI has provided the planning and communications backbone to enable cross sector community health improvement in the Quad Cities for nearly 20 years.  With the financial support of its founding sponsors Genesis Health System and UnityPoint Health-Trinity, and other partners, QCHI has built an infrastructure that currently harnesses the collective work of more than 120 volunteers from 60 organizations and reaches thousands of community members.

April 25, 2018 – Commissioners approved a resolution to adopt the Bi-State Region Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) 2018 Progress Report, which was then submitted to the Economic Development Administration.  The draft of the document was distributed at the March 28, 2018 meeting to Commissioners for review and provided to the public on the Bi-State website.  Minor comments were received through the 30-day review regarding economic development related projects as noted in the projects list.

March 28, 2018 – Lindsay Whitson, Senior Planner at Bi-State Regional Commission, presented a draft of the 2018 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Progress Report, highlighting a few economic trends seen in the Quad Cities.  She also provided a list of the strengths, challenges, opportunities, and threats and emphasized the importance of each community’s economic-related projects.

The CEDS is the result of a locally-based, regionally-driven planning process designed to enhance the economic growth of the Bi-State Region.  Components of the CEDS Progress Report include a detailed overview of the people, economy, and sense of place of the Bi-State Region; a description of the strengths, challenges, opportunities, and threats; and a list of performance measures to access the progress toward the region’s goals.

March 28, 2018 – Human trafficking, or modern-day slavery, is the exploitation of human beings through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of commercial sex or forced labor.  Human trafficking generates $9.5 billion per year as reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and there are approximately 40 million slaves around the world, according to Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT).

Sergeant Neil Suckow with the Iowa Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Enforcement (MVE) reported that the MVE has teamed up with Truckers Against Trafficking to bring awareness to this problem.  Together, they seek to educate, equip, empower, and mobilize members of the trucking industry to spot and report suspected cases of human trafficking.

March 28, 2018 – Annually, the Quad Cities and Region 9 FY2019 Transportation Planning Work Programs (TPWPs) reflect Bi-State staff transportation work activities and budget funding to accomplish that work for July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019.  Gena McCullough, Planning Director, described the tasks and activities to be undertaken by the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and Region 9 for FY2019.  She identified four work categories in the TPWPs and highlighted these areas: program support and administration, general development and comprehensive planning, long-range transportation planning, and short-range transportation planning.  Key issues include improving river crossing capacity, reducing congestion, integrating safety and security into processes, coordinating modes and connectivity, and helping local jurisdictions implement planned projects.

March 8, 2018 – Bi-State data services staff hosted a free workshop on Thursday, March 8, 2018 for local governmental entities who’ve registered to participate in the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program.  Twelve staff from various cities in the Bi-State region learned about the decennial Census, why the LUCA is important, how to develop a strategy for reviewing addresses in their community, and preparing and submitting their LUCA response.  The workshop was conducted by a Census Bureau geographer.  Digital and paper response methods were covered. 

February 20, 2018 – Local governmental entities who’ve registered to participate in the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program can learn how to prepare your response at a free workshop Thursday, March 8, 2018 at the Rock Island Public Library Community Room, 401 19th Street, Rock Island, IL.  Times are 9:15 a.m. – Noon (digital response participants) and 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. (paper response participants).  Due to limited space, we encourage you to pre-register for the workshop.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-person-luca-training-rock-island-il-tickets-43443562866  For questions, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at (309) 793-6302, ext 133 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at (309) 793-6302, ext 131.