Mundelein earns award for business grant program
The village of Mundelein recently took first place in the Lake County Municipal League's annual Innovation Awards. Mundelein was recognized for its Business Incentive Grant program, a matching grant program that provides Mundelein businesses an opportunity to partner with the village for funding.
In 2014, the Mundelein Village Board launched the $100,000 Business Incentive Grant program to improve the look of the community and make Mundelein feel more welcoming and vibrant. Coined the "BIG" program, the acronym has enabled the village to creatively market the initiative to the Mundelein business community.
Certain qualifying interior and exterior improvements are eligible for the program. Select sign replacements are also eligible for the program if the proposed project will help to bring the signs into compliance with the village's sign ordinance. Since its launch in 2014, 25 businesses have taken advantage of the BIG program and a total of $287,715 has been approved for reimbursements. To date, $186,785 has been reimbursed. Currently, the program has led to more than $2.1 million worth of business improvements within the village.
"Like many municipalities across the country, Mundelein is taking strategic steps to increase economic development, particularly in the downtown, which most stakeholders would like to see evolve into the central hub for retail shops, restaurants, and other commercial enterprises in the municipality. Mundelein's downtown is particularly challenging because for nearly half a century, it was an area that was heavily focused on manufacturing," said Mayor Steve Lentz.
"Through our BIG Program we are proactively communicating our pro-business focus and taking steps to demonstrate a strong willingness to work with entrepreneurs to achieve our goals that promote community growth. We view the creation of the BIG program as an important step and a financially sensible mechanism to foster economic growth," Lentz said.
The establishment of the incentive program also coincided with the revision of the village's sign code. The Community Development Department sought to provide an opportunity for businesses that were mandated to make changes to their business signage. The grant program lessens the financial burden on those businesses. The immediate end goals of the program are to improve the aesthetics of the village, reduce commercial vacancies, and help new businesses make valuable property improvements; while the long-term goal is to increase the economic vitality of Mundelein.
The main indicators to assess the BIG Program's success in the immediate term are based on the commercial vacancy rate and the feedback the village receives from the grant recipients. Since the launch of the program in 2014, village commercial vacancy has decreased by 3 percent.
Other measurements the village uses include the change in the property value. For example, Cabinet Creations Plus, awarded the grant in 2015, had an assessed building value of $42,902 in 2014. After upgrades reimbursement from the village, the business's assessed building value increased to $57,597 for 2017. Restaurant Tina G's was also awarded a grant by the village in 2015. In 2014, the assessed building value was $133,185. In 2017, after grant upgrades, the assessed building value increased to $171,137.
Since the program's launch in 2014, all 25 grant recipients continue to flourish. While many factors contribute to the success of a business, the grant funds help underwrite the high cost of starting or expanding a business.
"The hope is that the partnership between business and local government will lead to long term success," said Community Development Director Amanda Orenchuk.
In the program's first year (FY 2014-15), a restaurant owner purchased a new building and renovated the outdoor patio along the busiest highway in the village with $6,800 he obtained from the grant program. In the program's second year, six business were awarded grants for a total of $75,000 of approved reimbursement funds. A notable example includes downtown restaurant, Tina G's, which completed upgrades of over $80,000, with more than $40,000 reimbursed by the village.
In the program's third year, 10 business participated for a total of more than $117,000 of approved reimbursement funds. The village assisted Italian restaurant Mambo Italiano, with more than $21,000 on a $66,000 remodel; and bowling alley Lakeside Lines with $25,000 on a $1.2 million remodel, among several others. This year, the village has approved eight businesses for the grant, totaling $87,000 in funds so far. One of this year's approved applicants, Office Clubhouse, is being reimbursed over $38,000 on a project which includes $100,000 in improvements. The village's vacancy rate has been reduced by 3 percent since its launch in 2014. Assessed building values for applicants awarded the grant have been shown to increase significantly, bringing value to the area and a more healthy tax base.
"We continue to be pleased with the success of our BIG program and we have every reason to believe that the program will continue to be a helpful resource for the Mundelein business community going forward," Lentz said.