Coles Together
Coles Together is a non-profit economic development organization for Coles County, Illinois. It was founded in 1988 by a partnership between the public and private sectors to provide full-time economic development support for new and existing industry in Coles County. Coles Together is the united voice of Coles County’s business community. It is our mission to promote the competitive advantages of Coles County so that we might grow a diverse and innovative economy. Doing so enhances the tax base, creates demand for physical space and new employees, and supports a high quality of life for  people living throughout Coles County. Coles Together staff is trained to assist new and existing firms as they evaluate and embark on new endeavors through an active business retention program, marketing and recruitment of new businesses and industry, and initiatives showing strong results in workforce skills development. Coles Together staff is pleased to provide a personal and professional commitment to the development of your project. Existing Coles County companies, site location consultants, and corporate real estate professionals have relied upon our staff’s practical experience planning, analyzing, negotiating, and executing successful projects. This counsel and leadership helps companies reduce risk  and expense. Operating in today’s competitive environment means companies must consider workforce skills development, accessible business development incentives, partnerships with municipal governments, data collection, and infrastructure support. Coles Together is able to guide companies through all of these considerations as they compete in an increasingly global marketplace. The organization actively pursued and was selected as the host site for FutureGen, a public-private partnership to build the world’s first near-zero-emissions coal-based power plant in Mattoon, Illinois. The plant would have been the first near-zero-emissions coal-fired power plant built in the United States . The president of Coles Together is Angela Griffin. In 2009, the America’s Power Factuality Tour interviewed Angela Griffin to report on FutureGen’s potential impact on the local economy and its role in generating electricity in the United States.