Itasca inks deal with Woodfield bureau

Itasca officials aim to draw more attention to its 550 businesses and boost tourism with an agreement announced Tuesday with the Woodfield Chicago Northwest Convention Bureau.

For the next year, the Schaumburg-based convention bureau will promote Itasca as a destination for business and leisure travelers and help give the local economy a lift.

“We're looking to work with others to help promote the village,” village Administrator Evan Teich said.

The one-year agreement has been in the works for about a year. It will be reviewed annually to decide whether it will be renewed. The payment was made through the village's hotel/motel tax.

Village President Jeff Pruyn said executives at Itasca hotels approached village officials about joining because they already were each paying separate dues to be part of the bureau.

Under a recent bureau policy change, Itasca can join by providing a percentage of its hotel tax revenue each year in exchange for the bureau promoting all Itasca hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions.

This year's percentage equals about $50,000, or nearly 10 percent of Itasca's roughly $500,000 hotel tax fund. The fund must be used on efforts to generate overnight hotel stays in the village.

Pruyn said the fee is just above the range of what each hotel was paying individually. “It made some sense,” he said.

As a result of this new partnership, Itasca already has a lead on possibly hosting regional track and field events for Illinois high schools at the Hamilton Lakes property, which also hosts large events such as Itasca's July 4 fireworks.

Village restaurant owners also met with bureau officials Tuesday at village hall to discuss new marketing options available to them as a result of joining the bureau.

Pruyn said the partnership doesn't necessarily mean Itasca will stop exploring private marketing firms, because Itasca must share the bureau's resources with Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village, Rolling Meadows, Roselle, Schaumburg, Streamwood and Wood Dale.

“That is something the board will have to decide at another date, but the hotels felt this would be helpful to them now and we agreed,” Pruyn said.

The bureau has been more aggressive in its relationships among suburban communities, aiming to forge stronger ties to help boost economic development.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to promote this vital community to meeting and convention groups, sporting groups, and individuals who are interested in bringing business to our area,” Woodfield Chicago Northwest interim President Dave Parulo said in a statement.

Parulo said the agreement will “help the bureau provide a more inclusive benefit to the communities that fund us and a more comprehensive picture of all the northwest Chicagoland region has to offer.”

The bureau is funded by a state Local Tourism & Convention Bureau grant specifically established for Illinois convention bureaus and by the local communities it represents.

Early this year, leaders considered hiring Chicago-based Mauge, Inc., an advertising agency that has handled clients such as The Abbey Resort in Lake Geneva, Wis. But trustees wavered on whether a Chicago-based firm would understand Itasca's needs.

Others said the village should use its own resources, with most marketing efforts traditionally done by crime prevention officer Rick Brogan and Itasca Park District board secretary Dan Kompanowski. In the past, both men helped organize dozens of annual village events, such as Itasca Fest and Oktoberfest, and secure corporate sponsorships to offset costs and create publicity.

ŸDaily Herald Business Writer Anna Marie Kukec contributed to this report.