BELLEVILLE –– Secretary of State Jesse White announced today
that St. Clair Associated Vocational Enterprises, Inc. (SAVE), a
not-for-profit sheltered care facility serving the
developmentally disabled, has been awarded a contract to produce
Illinois license plate renewal stickers. The stickers will be
distributed to the public beginning with January 2001
expirations.
The stickers, which have been redesigned to fit the new
design license plates being distributed later in the year, will
also utilize bar code technology. For the first time, the
Secretary of State’s office will be able to track the sale of a
sticker throughout the order system and police officers will be
able to match a sticker with the owner of the license plate by a
computer search.
"We are pleased to offer the citizens of Illinois better
protection from license plate registration fraud and to provide
SAVE with this opportunity to provide specialized work for the
people they serve," said White. "SAVE has an excellent track
record in the community and we look forward to doing business
with them."
SAVE has been devoted to vocational training for 27 years,
and maintains a residential living area as well. Many of the 300
clients come from the Belleville area. The agency has contracts
with other companies including Eckert’s Orchards, Empire Comfort
Systems, Ideal Stencil Machine & Tape Company and Crown
Therapeutics, Inc.
"We are excited about this opportunity for our clients and
for the state," said Randolph Law, Executive Director of SAVE.
"This is a perfect example of a public-private partnership that
benefits everyone involved."
The contract calls for SAVE to produce the nearly 12 million
stickers applied to Illinois license plates annually as proof of
renewal. According to the contract, the state will be paying 10
cents per sticker.
"The state will be receiving a quality product at an
excellent price," said White. "I am proud to be able to provide
an opportunity to these workers and this community, and answer to
the taxpayers of this state that we have brokered a good deal on
their behalf."
Secretary White thanked State Representatives Dan Reitz (D-
Sparta), Tom Holbrook (D-Belleville) and Jay Hoffman (D-
Edwardsville) and State Senator James Clayborne (D-East St.
Louis) as well as local officials for supporting SAVE’s efforts
to adapt its physical operation for higher security and greater
output.
The new stickers are being distributed at the beginning of
the calendar year of 2001, meaning some vehicles will receive the
new stickers prior to their turn in the replating cycle. This
includes some passenger cars in the first part of 2001 and all
other vehicles, including B-trucks, which are not being replated
until 2003.
To accommodate the new sticker’s placement on current, old-
design plates, those motorists will receive a blank sticker with
the smaller renewal sticker. The blank sticker must first be
affixed to cover up the old, larger sticker and then the new
renewal sticker should be affixed on top of the right portion of
the blank sticker.
"We are communicating this change because it may be
confusing for some motorists having to affix two stickers instead
of one," explained Secretary White. "The blank sticker is being
applied so law enforcement personnel can make a quicker visual
check that a vehicle is in compliance with the law."
