The North Central Illinois Council of Governments administers the Marshall County Enterprise Zone. Covering parts of the communities of Henry, Lacon, Sparland, Toluca, Wenona and Marshall County. The enterprise zone targets growing industries by providing assistance along with state and local incentives. The district is expandable to include growing companies wishing to participate in this successful incentive program. 

For more information E-mail to mcez@ncicg.org 

Available Assistance 

Targeted Financial Assistance: The State of Illinois offers a variety of loan financing with competitive interest rates (as low as 3%) to qualifying firms 

Site Selection: We can assist you in quickly identifying sites most suited to your needs. Depending on your project, the enterprise zone can be expanded to include a site if it is not within the current boundaries. 

Employee Selection and Training: Through the local training assistance agency and the area community college, we can assist your firm in selecting and training employees at a substantially reduced cost to your firm. 

Small Business Assistance: The Small Business Development Center at the local community college offers a wealth of information and technical assistance to small and medium sized firms. The Center has established a wide network of information to help you with your needs. 

Local and State Incentives 

In addition to the above assistance, the zone itself offers a wide array of local and state incentives including a 100 percent, property tax abatement for the first 5 years and a 50 percent tax abatement for the following 5 years on industrial/commercial real property improvements, a 6 to 6 1/4% local and state sales tax deduction on locally purchased building materials. 

Location 

The Marshall County Enterprise Zone is strategically located to serve the nation's market and is at the heart of the nation's transportation network including: 

• Interstate 80 - The major U.S. east-west interstate transportation route (within 30 miles north of the zone) 
• The Illinois River - An important link in the Chicago to New Orleans river transportation network ( 
• Interstate 180 - Links Interstate 80 to 4,500 acres of one of the top industrial sites in the nation 
• Interstate 39 - Recently completed in 1992, it offers a major north-south route from Rockford to Bloomington
• Interstate 55 - (Within 30 miles of the zone) The major U.S. north-south interstate transportation route 
• Airports - Three regional and many local airport facilities (Peoria, Bloomington and Lacon) 
• Railroads - Major U.S. market rail services including Chicago and North Western Transportation, CSX Transportation, Burlington Northern, and Amtrak 
• Major Markets - Located within 2 1/2 hours of Chicago, the Quad Cities, and Rockford, and 40 minutes to Peoria; within 4 hours of the St. Louis area market 

View the Enterprise Zone Brochure on your Computer 

The Marshall County Enterprise Zone Brochure is available to view, save, and print from this site using Adobe Acrobat Reader software (a .pdf viewer). The brochure, from which the information on this page is taken, can be viewed in a grayscale version of the original color brochure. In order to view this brochure, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. This software is distributed free of charge, is compatible with any computer system, and is available at the following link:

Click here to get Adobe Acrobat Reader

For further information or questions about the Marshall County Enterpise Zone contact Ben Wilson at 815/433-5830 or at mcez@ncicg.org .