Glen Ellyn edges toward new downtown group

With the approaching dissolution of one group in downtown Glen Ellyn, the village this week moved forward with creating another that will handle marketing for the area.

Village Manager Steve Jones said the yet-to-be-named group will not be responsible for attracting and retaining businesses, as had been previously recommended by an advisory committee. Instead it will focus on promoting events and businesses.

The village will allocate $46,500 to the new group and divert money presently spent on the Economic Development Corporation's marketing arm.

Jones said it's not exactly clear how much that amounts to right now. Some business owners have been frustrated that the process has slowed after the advisory committee made its recommendations at a meeting in May.

Janet Avila, president of the Downtown Glen Ellyn Alliance, a 3-year-old organization that will disband Dec. 31, told village board members at a workshop Monday that some downtown business owners wonder if the process will ever move forward.

"We would have liked to have had a decision earlier but there are many, many moving parts to this equation," Jones said.

The transitional group will pull members from the advisory committee and the downtown alliance. The village is seeking volunteers to take part in the new group.

Jones said the chamber of commerce and EDC will continue promotions for the other areas of town but downtown will be promoted by the new group.

In May, the advisory committee gave the village board the results of a six-month study that determined the need and potential responsibilities for the new group. At the time, they included the retention and attraction of businesses into Glen Ellyn.

But in July, EDC officials said those were responsibilities handled by their group. As a result, the revised information was presented Monday.

"This is public money and if it were a question of just putting together an organization, that is fine," Jones said. "But where there is money that is public money, there has to be a heck of a lot of care, scrutiny and concern that the money is being spent in an appropriate way."

The transitional group will work until May 1 to determine an annual budget and then ask the village for the appropriate amount next fiscal year.