Part of the goal of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was to create work for many of the country’s unemployed citizens. The idea worked better in one state, creating several construction jobs in Illinois and helping the state’s economy as a whole.

The Federal Highway Administration recently announced that Illinois ranked first among all 50 states as far as total expenditure of ARRA funds. So far, the federal economic stimulus has provided Illinois with $170,605,614, which is almost three times the expenditures in the next highest ranked state.

As a result of the stimulus bill, 239 highway projects have been started and 45 have been completed. On top of that, $180 million has been paid to contractors and consultants. Another 268 highway contracts have been awarded, totaling about $552 million.

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As of late, many states are focusing on improving their energy plans. Illinois is no exception, as the state is planning on using a new round of funding to improve its own energy plan, in turn creating new jobs in Illinois (Click here).

Gov. Pat Quinn recently announced that Illinois received approval from the U.S. Department of Energy for its proposed State Energy Plan. The approval gives the state the authority to being implementing the program, which makes more than $100 million available through grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is providing a tremendous economic boost to Illinois,” Quinn said. “The funding approved today will help us provide low cost, reliable energy; reduce our long-term energy consumption; improve our production of clean, home grown fuels; and reduce our impact on the environment.”

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Hundreds of Illinois insurance jobs will soon be lost as one company begins making cuts.

Health Care Service Corporation, the Chicago-based company that runs Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, recently announced its plan to eliminate 650 jobs throughout the state. The cuts are being made because of the economic recession, which has caused the company’s employer customers to reduce workers, and a demand from Congress and President Barack Obama to reduce administrative costs.

Health Care Service Corporation, which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, is planning to reduce its total workforce by about 4 percent. According to an article by the Chicago Tribune, jobs will be eliminated by Q1 of next year.

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One company is planning to cut more than 100 Illinois manufacturing jobs.

Clarcor, based in Franklin, recently announced its plan to cut more than 150 positions at its Rockford, Ill., plant during the next several months. The company said it does not plan to change anything at its Tennessee plant, but there will be a few layoffs at its Campbellsvile, Ky., location.

The company, which works in air filtration, said it needs to layoff some workers because it lost one customer who decided to do its own manufacturing. According to an article by the Nashville Business Journal, the company began a restructuring initiative in 2006, which led to the closing of two plants in North Carolina and Iowa, and the shifting of two plants, a warehouse and an office in Kentucky and southern Indiana.

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