Mt. Prospect leaders think business will be good in 2015

The annual Dynamic Year Luncheon organized by the Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce gives local business leaders a chance to reflect on the past and then look toward the future.

That future will build upon the optimism of 2014, Mayor Arlene Juracek said during her keynote address.

"2015 will show once again that our optimism was real and should be sustained," she said.

Juracek said that economic activity continues to hum in Mount Prospect, with existing commercial areas doing well and developers reaching out with new business proposals. She expects long-dormant commercial sites, like Central Plaza at Central Road and Main Street, to have new life in 2015. And she predicted that Randhurst Village, which is now on the market, will get a new owner this year.

Some challenges remain, Juracek said. Unfunded mandates from the state can hurt the village's ability to offer financial help for new development, she said. And the ongoing shift in retail from brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping makes it important that village officials rethink the types of outlets that should fill the downtown and other commercial areas.

Juracek said she envisions the village taking a supporting role in future development activity, with the marketplace taking the lead.

"Our job is not to remove all risk (for businesses), but to ensure that everyone has a fair shake," she said.

The luncheon, held Thursday at Bristol Palace banquet hall, recognized businesses and businesspeople who were particularly successful in 2014.

Dawn Fletcher Collins, executive director of the chamber, praised the business community for the resilience it showed last year after a fire destroyed a building in the downtown area in February.

"The community came out in droves (to help)," she said. "We had a really good year."

After Juracek's speech, the chamber handed out its annual business awards:

• Rick Bowman, of Village Bank & Trust, was named Business Leader of the Year.

• Le Peep Cafe, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, was named Business Supporter of the Year.

• Marilyn Genther, executive director of the Mount Prospect Public Library, and her staff, were given the Community and Business Partner Award.

• Craig Nicholas of Genesis Consulting Group won the Chairman's Award.