Round Lake hires consultant to help lure business to village
Round Lake officials have hired help to lure business and promote the village.
"We have been doing without and we've realized with the economy picking up, we have more questions and developers calling us and we didn't have the staff" to handle that, Village Administrator Steve Shields said.
"We know we can't compete with a Vernon Hills, but we're able to compete with a Round Lake Beach or Fox Lake," Shields said.
To that end, the village has hired Glenview resident Gino DeVivo as an economic development consultant. DeVivo served nearly three years as economic development coordinator in Lake in the Hills - a part-time position - before resigning in April to pursue "outside professional interests," officials said at the time.
In Round Lake, DeVivo will be paid $35 an hour working approximately 15 to 20 hours per week in an open-ended contract that began Tuesday, and he will continue as long as the village board and Shields determine the village is receiving "adequate value" for the service. Updating the village's nine-year-old master plan and improving the website to provide more relevant business information are also part of an overall village strategy.
"How do we market ourselves?" asked Mayor Dan MacGillis.
"We knew the comprehensive plan was outdated. I interviewed many land planners and chose who I think is the right one because he spoke of the comprehensive plan as a marketing tool."
The village at one time had a full-time economic development coordinator, but that position was cut about three years ago.
"We decided to change routes and go with an independent consultant to work with us to get businesses in here to generate sales tax," Shields said. Round Lake ranks near the bottom of sales tax per capita among Illinois towns, he said.
Part of DeVivo's job will be to market the entire village. Other duties include; promote economic development activities and create promotional materials; create an inventory of sites most appropriate for commercial development and contact representatives to pursue relocation or expansion in Round Lake; forge relationships with business leaders, brokers and others; and, assist in reviewing and coordinating projects.
He said he will assess the village's strengths and weaknesses as far as available properties and what the market can bear in terms of "logical and practical" development.
"We're trying to strategically position them to capture as much market share as possible," DeVivo said.
Potential areas of concentration are the downtown area, which has a Metra commuter rail station and the Route 120 corridor near Wilson Road.
"We have an old downtown district that needs to be revitalized," MacGillis said. The future realignment of Cedar Lake Road, which is under discussion, is expected play a major role in that regard and create an opportunity for new business.
Having a Web page with information sought by developers and developing a marketing plan are short-term goals.