The city’s partnerships with businesses and development groups is paying off with balanced growth, economic development and a healthy community, Elgin Mayor David Kaptain said this week in his annual State of the City address.
Elgin’s collaboration with the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin, Elgin Development Group, Elgin Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and Alignment Collaborative for Education helps the city connect with a opportunities in a variety of fields, he said.
The Alignment Collaborative for Education, for example, focuses on workforce development issues while the Downtown Neighborhood Association deals with just the city center and the chamber has its eye on the bigger picture, said Kaptain, who presented his analysis Monday at a chamber-sponsored event.
It would be impossible for city staff to do everything those organizations do so “it’s important we combine our talents,” the mayor said.
Each partnership has resulted in positive advancements, he said. “We’ve done a good job of doing balanced, diversified growth,” he said.
This year in particular has been very good for new west side housing projects that now under construction or will be in 2023, but Elgin needs to find ways to create more affordable housing, he said.
And it needs additional staff to keep up with services those new residents will need, something being addressed in the proposed 2023 budget, Kaptain said.
One of the most important things the city has done is implement fast track permitting for some developments, which has helped spur economic growth by getting big projects moving more quickly, he said.
Atlantic Packaging is a good example of that, he said. The largest corrugated box company in the U.S. is building a $30 million facility because of that program.
“What we did for them was make it easy,” Kaptain said. Their decision to choose Elgin over other major cities “signifies what the future of Elgin is … we are on the right track,” the mayor said.
The coming year will be a busy one, with the renovation of The Hemmens Cultural Center, a U.S Army Corps of Engineers decision on the Fox River dam and a study exploring North Grove Avenue options all on the docket, he said.
“The future of the city is in the hands of its business leaders, its businesses and its residents, and people like you (at the chamber event),” Kaptain said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
