Economic Development Commission

Village of Skokie Economic Development Commission Thursday, June 20, 2024 8:30 A.M. Skokie Village Hall, 5127 Oakton Street, Skokie IL, Conference Room D&E I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER / DECLARATION OF QUOURM II. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES FROM MAY 15, 2024 III. INTRODUCTIONS a. New Member – Nathan Norman b. Members of the Economic Development Commission IV. OLD BUSINESS a. Economic Vitality Strategy Update - Recap of last month’s presentation b. Economic Vitality Strategy Update – Further Scope Discussion c. Skokie Green Business Program Update V. NEW BUSINESS a. Presentation – Skokie and Downtown Skokie visitor data b. Main Street Project Update VI. COMMUNICATIONS a. Village Staff b. EDC Members VII. PUBLIC COMMENT VIII. ADJOURNMENT The next regular meeting of the Economic Development Commission is scheduled for Wednesday July 17, 2023 at 8:30 A.M. in CONFERENCE ROOM D+E at Skokie Village Hall, 5127 Oakton, Skokie, IL Document Number: 615281v2 1  Economic Development Commission Meeting Minutes Date: May 15, 2024 EDC MEMBERS PRESENT: Howard Meyer, Vice-Chair, Barbara Carley Steve Franklin, Jeremy Gleason, Brian Levinson EDC MEMBERS ABSENT: Michael Rosen, Chair, Alexis Barbour, Marc Battista, Scott Gendell, STAFF PRESENT: Michael Lorge, Corporation Counsel Johanna Nyden, Community Dev. Director, Rod Tonelli, Economic Vitality Manager, Marlene Bargamian, Administrative Asst. (I) CALL TO ORDER A quorum being present, Vice-Chair Meyer called the meeting to order at 8:45 AM. (II) APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES FROM APRIL 17, 2024 A motion was made to accept the draft minutes of the April 17, 2024 meeting. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. (III) INTRODUCTIONS Members gave short introductions. Howard Meyer chaired this meeting in Michael Rosen’s absence. (IV) OLD BUSINESS a. Economic Vitality Strategy Update Rod Tonelli distributed and summarized the Economic Development Strategy Update process for the group. The last time this was done was 2017 and quite a lot has changed. There has been an explosion of small business development since COVID. He requested members of the Economic Commission to serve as liaisons from July through November in 4 groups strategies; business attraction & retention, small business development & entrepreneurship, talent attraction & workforce development, visitor attraction, and art, culture, & entertainment. They would come back together by the end of the year to review and formalize actionable and measurable findings for Village Board adoption in Spring 2025. Steve Franklin was wondering if Skokie’s policies and procedures are too slow and cumbersome to stay competitive when compared with how fast new businesses and restaurants open in other nearby communities. Page 1|3 #619533 – Economic Development Commission Meeting Minutes – May 15, 2024  Barbara Carley wants to see engagement with consultants, developers and brokers and suggested offering a concentration of activities to identify what we have and what types of businesses Skokie wants. Howard Meyer stated that Old Orchard has a new manager; inquiry should be made as to how they recruit for new businesses. Rod also spoke of the efforts to revitalize the Main Street corridor. He said that you need to start out with lower tier places to fill the vacancies first and then move on from there. Ms. Carley agreed. Steve Franklin mentioned the many major buildings that are “ghosts” like the Bank of America locations. Mr. Meyer added that the Economic Development plan is offsetting with Cook County’s plan of giving incentives for keeping properties vacant. He cited a scenario: if a business gets money to remodel and then doesn’t get enough funding to operate and has to close, a new business comes in and gets new money again. Brian Levinson and Barbara Carly added that flexibility needs to be built into zoning because you don’t know what something will turn into in 30 years. It needs to be re-worked to make new businesses function in older spaces. b. Business District Litter Management Plan CD Director Nyden brought up the discussion from December. Howard Meyer allocated it as a future agenda item to discuss plastic bag bans. Lisa Sanzenbacher could give a presentation. She also mentioned that Illinois is moving to ban styrofoam next year. (V) NEW BUSINESS a. Skokie Green Business Program Lisa Sanzenbacher, Village Sustainability Coordinator, updated the group about the anti-litter pledge for businesses. Carol is working on a “Shop Small – Think Big” program. Lisa also spoke about the Village’s monetary support to economic development and the need to reduce greenhouse gases to be carbon neutral by 2050. Green Business Programs are not new but new for Skokie. It doesn’t need to be a certification program but rather a checklist. It should be easy, not financially or time crippling. A first step would be to create a task force of volunteers who would target 20 small businesses to help work through the checklist. Training of volunteers could take place in June; completing checklist items from July to November; with public recognition at the end of November. Barbara added that we should coordinate with local utility companies to find ways to be “greener” like a voluntary energy assessment that would analyze utility usage. She also mentioned a recognition of “greenest business of the year”. Lisa has already reached out to Nicor and ComED. Page 2|3 #619533 – Economic Development Commission Meeting Minutes – May 15, 2024  Mr. Meyer offered that businesses are changing the way they operate. Dunkin Donuts is slowly moving away from plastics which are so bad for the cleaning systems. He also mentioned that Skokie should take the lead to make cigarette butts bio-degradable. b. ISTP Update Barbara mentioned that “Out of Space” tickets are on sale for July 26 -28 before leaving the meeting at 9:56 AM. (VI) COMMUNICATIONS a. Village Staff After Memorial Day, the car shows and Wednesdays on the Green returns. (VI) ADJOURNMENT Vice-Chair Meyer adjourned the meeting at 10:00 AM. Respectfully submitted, Marlene Bargamian, Administrative Assistant Page 3|3 #619533 – Economic Development Commission Meeting Minutes – May 15, 2024