Just when they could have given up, a Springfield-based business came through for the building of a set of classrooms for Lincoln Land Community College at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport.

Levi, Ray, and Shoup has donated $850,000 that will result in building of new Aviation Program facilities for the college at the airport — after years of officials searching for grant, state, or federal funding for the project.

Mark Hanna, airport executive director said they knew there was a need for Lincoln Land Community College to grow and further develop their program. He also said the work is spurred by what is being described as significant work being done at Standard Aero.

The number of students in the aviation program could double once the new facility is open by late fall.

In other State news, the state’s more than six month old budget crisis is causing people to find cost savings and rethink how government works, but it’s also harming the state’s most vulnerable citizens. That’s the assessment from Governor Bruce Rauner in his first full year in office.

Governor Rauner recognizes the impact on the most vulnerable, but the governor says in a budget crisis people are willing to dig deep and look for cost saving opportunities.

Meanwhile the state is spending more than it’s bringing in because of court orders and consent decrees, something Rauner wants to reverse.

Without a balanced budget from lawmakers for the current fiscal year the governor is set to deliver his State of the State speech January 27th and a budget address a few weeks after that.