Elgin mayor lauds community partners during state of city speech

Elgin Mayor David Kaptain lauded community partners for the city's economic development during his annual state of the city address to area business leaders on Tuesday.

Kaptain cited strong partnerships between the city and the Elgin Area Chamber, Elgin Development Group, the Downtown Neighborhood Association, Explore Elgin Area and the Alignment Collaborative for Education as a reason for their success.

"Workforce development and business retention have resulted in a growing city, a healthy city," Kaptain said during a breakfast sponsored by the Elgin Area Chamber at Elgin Community College. "We've done a really good job of doing balanced, diversified growth."

Kaptain said working with outside groups for development saves the city from employing more staff. It also allows those groups to harness the power of volunteers.

"It's important that we combine our talents," he said, citing the city's low commercial vacancy rates, including all-time low retail vacancy rates, as proof of the partnerships' success.

"Elgin has caught up and now has a lower vacancy rate than the communities around us that we used to look up to," Kaptain said. "That bodes well for the future."

He said the city's focus on education in the last seven years and the efforts of Alignment Collaborative for Education are helping to create employees to support the growing business community.

"We are creating a workforce that will provide workers at all levels," Kaptain said, adding that the group's work has been recognized by the United Way, which gave it a $150,000 grant to continue improving workforce education.

In addition to an educated workforce, Kaptain said businesses are attracted to Elgin because of the city's fast-tracking during the development process and its business-friendly practices.

Kaptain said one area the city needs to improve on is the availability of affordable and market-rate housing.

"When a community this size has less than 100 available rental units, we're facing a problem," he said.

He said several projects are in the pipeline that will add 300 market-rate apartments in addition to a Shodeen development on the city's western edge that will feature 3,000 single-family homes and apartments. An apartment project by the Butera family on Summit Street will add "a couple hundred units of market-rate housing that will revitalize the east side.

"The gaps are being identified, and the gaps are being filled," he said.

Kaptain is seeking a fourth term as mayor in the April election. City council member Corey Dixon is running against him.