Hi jww
In case you hadn't figured it out already, company X may be wonderful in Atlanta and never have anything in Illinois and vice versa. Your best bet is to sign up with Jobslinger.com and look at those companies that have recently posted in your area. Sign up with those first and then expand your horizons by using this list from this forum or other forums to sign up with more companies. As you see folks chatting on forums about companies they like, add those to your repertoire. If they don't have anything around you now they may after the beginning of the year because many clients' contracts are expiring and already many are moving or have moved to new companies.
Check the job boards of the companies you KNOW work in your area frequently, check the job boards of all companies you are signed up with about the second week of the year. Look beyond your immediate area when you do your 'all companies' check for anything in your state and in states generally considered part of your 'region'. Do this because you may have missed the shops already in your own backyard but it will give you a notion of who is shopping what clients in your area for 2009.