West Dundee considers joining Dundee marketing efforts

West Dundee could soon take its first step toward collaborating with East Dundee on its initiative to promote the economic development of both villages.

The village board will vote Monday to team up with East Dundee on wristband sales for the upcoming Heritage Fest, a dual-town event in September.

If trustees approve the proposal, the proceeds from these wristbands, which allow festival visitors to purchase alcohol, would go toward the new nonprofit Dundee Foundation.

In previous years, the villages failed to coordinate on wristband sales, said East Dundee Village Administrator Bob Skurla. Attendees were limited to purchasing alcohol only in the village in which they bought their wristbands.

Selling one wristband for both towns eliminates that confusion, he said.

West Dundee Village Manager Joe Cavallaro said merging on this initiative serves a dual purpose. The proposal also introduces trustees to the concept of the Dundee Foundation, which was created over the past year to enhance the Dundee area as whole.

"It was essentially established to be the unifying entity that markets both sides with the same effort," Skurla said. He added that the foundation may eventually become the face of the Discover Dundee marketing campaign that was adopted to bring customers to downtown businesses.

The initiatives have been driven almost entirely by East Dundee. This past year, the village budgeted $378,200 on marketing and special events.

Though the two villages are separate entities, the outside area views them as one town, Cavallaro said. Recognizing this, East Dundee originally approached West Dundee a few years ago, asking for the village's participation in a marketing plan.

At the time, East Dundee was already aggressively moving forward with a downtown redevelopment plan, Cavallaro said, and West Dundee was a little behind.

"More importantly, what we didn't have two years ago was support from the business community to be involved in this type of program," he said.

But West Dundee caught up over the past two years, adopting a redevelopment plan of its own, and businesses have expressed interest in moving forward, Cavallaro said.

Approval from the board will give the villages the green light to collaborate with East Dundee.

Building the foundation

The Dundee Foundation is in its beginning stages, Skurla said. Members are building up a board of directors, organizing fundraising efforts and building business partnerships.

Eventually, the foundation will likely become a primary sponsor of special events in the Dundees, such as Heritage Fest, Dickens in Dundee and the St. Patrick's Day parade.

"This will probably not happen overnight," Skurla said, "but over the next year or two, we should be evolving the organization."

Three of seven possible members currently sit on the board: Skurla, East Dundee Village President Lael Miller and Sleepy Hollow Village President Stephan Pickett.

Also invited to sit on the board are West Dundee Village President Chris Nelson, Kane County Board member Becky Gillam, East Dundee businessman Cliff Surges and Dundee Township Supervisor Sue Harney.

"We would like to continue our dialogue with the Village of West Dundee and bring that partnership to the Dundee Foundation as a means to make the Downtown Dundee area a more desirable place to shop, dine and enjoy," Skurla said in a letter sent to Cavallaro Wednesday.

West Dundee is working up to its involvement and responsibility in both the campaign and the foundation, Cavallaro said.

"We have a unique opportunity to market the downtown Dundees," he said.