· There
are a few key fundamental principles to a successful economic development
program which I don’t believe can be overstated. I have always been a firm believer in the importance of
maintaining positive, healthy and productive relationships to facilitate business
growth, retention and expansion, as well as to sustain a community’s economic
well-being. I am also a
strong advocate of community engagement as well as taking a holistic approach
to economic development and interrelationships between business attraction,
expansion and retention, tourism and community events and festivals!
· I’ve
also stated economic development is not only about filling a vacant building or
constructing a new one but selling an entire community; quality of life; educational
system, emergency management/public safety, working collaboratively and
partnering with other stakeholders because at the end of the day businesses
are, in a figurative sense, buying into everything a community has to offer not
just a building or site. At
the end of every blog post I state:
Please continue to provide feedback, submit questions and comments
because economic development is a community-wide effort!!!
· At
the City Council meeting this past Monday many examples of the aforementioned
points were displayed. First the McHenry
Area Chamber of Commerce provided their quarterly update to the City Council. Representatives from the Chamber spoke about their Business
Network Scramble on April 24, 2015 to assist small business development and
matching businesses with resources and other businesses which may complement or
supplement their efforts. The McHenry
Area Chamber will also be coordinating a Scavenger Hunt on April 28, 2015, hosting
their Annual Golf Outing on May 20, 2015 and Fiesta Days will take place July
10-July 19, 2015. More information about these and
other Chamber events can be found on their website: http://mchenrychamber.com/.
· McHenry
Elementary District 15 received zoning approval to construct building additions
to replace mobile classrooms at Chauncey H. Duker Middle School as well as
Hilltop School. These are the first two schools which will
have additions constructed over the next several years in an effort to remove
all the mobile classrooms at all schools in McHenry Elementary District 15.
· Also
at Monday’s City Council meeting an expansion to the existing conditional use
permit for Chain O’ Lakes Brewing Company, located at 3425 W Pearl Street was
approved. This expansion will allow Chain O’ Lakes
Brewing Company to offer outdoor seating and entertainment as well as host food
trucks at their site on a permanent basis.
Previously, they had done so but were only permitted during specific
time periods. This approval provides
them more flexibility and opportunities to be even more successful.
· You
may have noticed the gas station at the southeast corner of Elm Street and
Meadow Lane has been undergoing extensive renovations and remodeling. At the City Council Meeting on Monday night V3 Gasoline
Inc. doing business as Marathon was approved to sell packaged alcohol. This station will be reopening in the near
future….
· The
City Council also approved a Professional Services Agreement with FGM
Architects to complete design and facilitate construction administration at the
City’s Municipal Center. In the
coming months, in addition to the construction of the first phase of the
McHenry Recreation Center renovations will also be completed at the Municipal
Center in an effort to make the Municipal Center more customer-friendly and
provide a consolidated one-stop shop point of service contact for multiple City
services….
· Police
Chief John Jones announced the City of McHenry Police Department’s successful
reaccreditation from The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement
Agencies (CALEA). The
City of McHenry Police Department was the first law enforcement agency in
McHenry County to attain CALEA Accreditation 12 years ago and must undergo an
extensive reaccreditation process every three years. This is quite an accomplishment and a great
deal of work is required to even be considered for accreditation and intensive
training, ongoing procedure review, community outreach, policy formation and
implementation is necessary from the
moment an agency receives its initial accreditation in order to maintain and receive reaccreditation. This is an
incredible honor and immense source of pride for the City and I’d encourage you
to learn more about CALEA by visiting the following website: www.calea.org.
· Mayor
Low read a Proclamation on Monday night recognizing the City of McHenry as a
Tree City USA, an achievement the City has maintained for more than 20
consecutive years!!! The Tree City
USA program is administered by the Arbor Day Foundation. The City must apply annually to receive this
designation and specific criteria are utilized to qualify and be considered. This is another great source of pride
for the City and its Parks and Recreation Department and specifically Tom
Schmidt, Superintendent of Forestry and Park Planning….
· The
City of McHenry Arbor Day Celebration will be held on April 24, 2015 at 3:00
p.m. in the City of McHenry Council Chambers. I’d encourage you to attend this event as it
is a great opportunity to learn more about the program and how residents can
participate by donating a tree which is planted in one of the City’s many
parks. To learn more about Arbor Day,
its history and the Tree City USA Program you can visit the following
website: http://www.arborday.org/programs/treeCityUSA/index.cfm?TrackingID=400&utm_source=ArborDay&utm_medium=ArborDAy&utm_campaign=SepOct2014ArborDay.
· As
you can see just in this blog post the City of McHenry has cultivated and
maintains numerous productive working relationships with many public and
private agencies throughout the City and County. As I stated at the beginning of this post community
engagement, quality of life, partnerships and working collaboratively is
critical the City of McHenry’s economic
well-being and will assist in its business retention, attraction and expansion
efforts!!!!
Please continue to provide feedback, submit questions and
comments because economic development is a community-wide effort!!!!!!!
Coming in future blog posts:
- What are
economic development clusters and value chains?
- What are SIC, SOC and NAICS
codes and what were/are they used for?
- What factors do non-retail
businesses consider when thinking about relocating?
- How do brick and mortar
businesses remain competitive with on-line businesses?
- Chicago Metro Metal Consortium..
- Challenges Businesses Face when Road Construction occurs
- Customs and
Export Controls and Sanctions Compliance Seminar….
- Illinois Small
Business Development and International Trade Center…
- Comprehensive
Economic Development Strategy Update…
- What are Class A, B and C
spaces?
- Franchising? What is it? What companies offer it and what
challenges are associated with attracting a retailer which operates
exclusively using franchising?
- Future trends in economic development: “market segmentation;“ “pop-up” stores;
“placemaking/third places” and “creating an experience”….
- Challenges associated with
economic development…
Douglas P. Martin
Director of Economic Development
City of McHenry
333 S Green Street
McHenry, IL 60050
815.363.2110 (d)
815.363.2173 (f)
815.790.4752 (c)
@McHenryIL
