Evanston’s model for economic development has been based on the development of housing to attract more residents. More residents equated to an expansion of the tax base and created a market for retailers and restaurants. While effective to a point this model has reached a plateau.

Evanston can no longer afford to be passive in its economic development. We face fierce local and national competition for knowledge based and service base businesses. Civic and business leadership has not been unified around business attraction, expansion and retention efforts.

We don’t have unified plan to attract small and medium sized businesses, let alone retain the ones that are here. We only learn about a business leaving when it hits the news or we see the for rent signs.

POTENTIAL:

A half-dozen major employers make up half of the jobs in Evanston. The other half come from small and medium size professional service and knowledge based businesses. The growth of jobs in Evanston will come from the nurturing and attracting this business base.

In this economic environment cities must strive to expand their business base. We can’t rely on things just happening. To the extent possible, the Evanston community wants to influence the kinds of businesses that decide to operate and grow in Evanston. However, we don’t currently have a plan or the means to achieve that outcome. A business development based economic development organization can do this for Evanston.

COMPARISON WITH SIMILAR CITIES:

In a shifting economy Evanston is out performed by similar communities such as Ann Arbor, Palo Alto and Cambridge in business investment and job creation. Like those cities Evanston has a unique offering to the business community (i.e., world class university - Northwestern, world class city – Chicago, geographic center of the country, public transportation, educated workforce, etc.) and with a unified effort would be competitive not only locally but nationally and even internationally.

PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN ALL STAKEHOLDERS:

A successful approach to economic development will unify and focus the resources of the City, the University, the health care organizations, the Chamber of Commerce and civic leaders towards a joint effort that actively works to retain and attract businesses to Evanston.

IMPACT ON ALL OF EVANSTON:

The recent hit to the national economy shows how quickly things can change on “main street”, Evanston is not immune. Active recruitment of new business, support for the expansion of current businesses will the create jobs, solidify the tax base and the sustain property values, that are crucial to a strong local economy. A strong Evanston is built on a strong economy

A strong Evanston will have an engaged business community, where business owners know and support one another; where they recognize that the growth of one results in the growth of many; where there’s a sense that as a City, the university, the business community is moving forward – growing, adding good jobs, and bringing innovative products and services to the marketplace.

EXAMPLES OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES MISSED:

We often don’t know about a business moving out of Evanston until it either reported by news organizations or we notice the “for rent” sign. An Business and Economic Development Council could play a key role in identifying opportunities that we currently miss.

Rand McNally: Was considering Evanston, but the lack of any BEDC to champion Evanston, meant that Rand McNally did not get much encouragement or support from the City, developers or business community to move to Evanston.

TURLEY ARCHITECTS: Was located in Evanston but moved to the West-West Loop area because they had more opportunity to expand.

Did you know the City of Evanston is back to publishing the Social Security Numbers of applicants applying for a liquor license? They have resumed a practice of publishing this info in the City Council records and on the City’s web site! It is a practice that needs to stop.

A few years ago the Chamber Executive Director had a meeting with the City Manager of Evanston to discus the City’s requirement of listing Social Security numbers of liquor licences applicants in City Council packets and on the City’s web site. He expressed a concern for the privacy of Evanston business people being compromised and the risk this practice has for identity theft our our business owners and requested the City stop the practice.

At the time the City Manager agreed and put an end to this practice.

However, for some reason the practice has been reinstated, with SS# being listed on the City web site and included in City Council packets as recently as June 23rd!

While full disclosure on liquor licenses is a good thing, there is value in this being public information, the publishing of an individuals Social Security number in such a public forum is not appropriate. This is hostile and damaging to our business community and restaurant owners and is not good government since it places the City in potential legal harm and does not protect citizens. It needs to stop.

There is no way the City can guarantee security on these numbers. Recently the CEO of an identity theft protection company called LifeLock published his Social Security number in an ad daring people to try and steal his Identity, well they did and if his company can’t keep his identity from being stolen there is no way the City of Evanston can.

In a letter to the City Manager’s Office (cc’d to the Mayor and City Manager) our Executive Director, Jonathan Perman, asked the City to “cure this situation immediately and to end the disgraceful practice of compromising the personal information of business people in Evanston”.  We trust that they will do the right thing and our Chamber will be watching out to make sure they do.

One of the best things about being on the Board of Directors for the Evanston Chamber of Commerce is the opportunity to learn about current issues and discuss them with the people involved. In the past year we’ve had discussions with the developer of the proposed tower at 708 Church, the new Provost at Northwestern University and got an overview of the new downtown development plan. Those discussions have been been interesting, engaging and useful. I think this helps us further our mission and I look forward to continuing this at our board meetings over the next year.

On that note, I am very excited the June 23rd board meeting. We invited our Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin to discuss his recent actions on the board. Larry has been a stalwart voice for reform in the Cook County government but recently was the swing vote in favor of doubling the Cook County sales tax. That action has made the sales tax in Cook County and Evanston one of the highest in the country! The Chamber heard a lot of criticism of this move from members so our Executive Director wrote Commissioner Suffredin a letter expressing our disappointment in his action and outlining our concerns. Larry, to his credit wanted a chance to respond to our letter directly and have a discussion on the issue with us, so we invited him to the next board meeting. This should be interesting.

If you are like me, you are busy running your business and doing other things so you don’t pay a lot of attention to the Cook County Board until they do something like raise our taxes, have a political meltdown or a patronage scandal. Last month I caught a great interview with Mike Flannery, the political editor for CBS-2, on the Chicago Public Radio show Eight Forty-Eight that I found to be an extremely helpful primer on the Cook County Board. While it is mostly about Todd Stroger it is good analysis of how the Cook County Board operates, the patronage, the impact of the reform movement and gives some insight into the possible motivations for Larry Suffredin’s recent action. It is a good listen and I recommend checking it out before the next board meeting.

Here is the link to a podcast of the segment:

http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=22757

When I told friends that I was going to be president of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce I got different reactions. Those who owned businesses were congratulatory and thought it was cool. Those who didn’t asked if I could get their alleys plowed.

This got me to thinking about what the Chamber means to business people like us and what it means to our friends and neighbors. So I thought I would share with you my thoughts on that and ask for your support in fulfilling our mission over the next year.

For those of us who are members, we know the value of the Chamber. We see what the Chamber is doing and the issues it takes on to encourage a strong business climate in Evanston. Sometimes it might seem like we are alone in this. But if you listen to the debate around development in our city, you hear that people really do value the business community and really want creative, innovative and successful businesses to thrive in Evanston. This is mission of the Chamber of Commerce and it is a value shared by residents and businesses a like.

I’ve been to a number of public meetings where I hear a lot of ideas from people how to improve Evanston. I am encouraged by the willingness of the Chamber Staff, the Board of Directors and the Members to find new ways to positively shape the quality of Evanston. We are effectively partnering with our legislators and city managers on public policy issues and future development opportunities that effect the business environment. Our sponsorship of cultural, community and charitable events is an important piece in enhancing the Evanston community and making Evanston a great place to live work and play. Again, a goal we all share.

As one of its founders, I want to brag about one of these initiatives: The Young Professionals of Evanston. This group represents the future business owners, residents and leaders of Evanston. YPE reaches out to young professionals who live, work or play here and gives them a chance to connect with our business, social and cultural groups. It is growing, has brought fresh ideas to the Chamber and a activated new voice in our city. I’d like to point out and introduce the new president of YPE, David Fisher, as well as the members of the YPE Steering Committee. I strongly encourage any of you who have Young Professionals in your organizations to check out YPE and get your organization involved. Again this is another way we are generating real energy and connections in our community.

I believe the Chamber is an effective organization because of members like you who support it and get involved. The value of our membership and the way we fulfill our mission is by the connections we make and the way we follow up on them. Be it doing business together, learning from each other, referring business to each other or working together on projects and issues we are passionate about. We all have a stake in this place and I believe that the Chamber gives us the opportunity to step up in our community.

I tell people that my Chamber membership is one of the best investments my company has ever made. Not only because I have grown my business but because I think my involvement has made me a better community member and a better citizen.

So my answer to my friends is “NO, I can’t get your alley plowed!” But I can talk to them about what is being done about streets and traffic around town. I can talk to them about how things get done in the City and more importantly what they can do to get involved. I tell them that I am working with other like-minded people to make sure that Evanston continues to be a great place for business to get done, as well as a great place to live and play. I think that is a better use of my time than pushing some snow around.

So what are we going to do over the next year? A good question is what are you going to do over the next year? The Chamber will set the stage for you. We will still have the monthly Networking Breakfasts, the Business After Hours, the Home-Based Business Lunches and we will still have the annual Golf Outing, Legislative Outlook Breakfast, the Mayor’s State of the City Lunch and we will still host the wonderful Fountain Square Arts Festival. We will still work on public policy issues and support community and charitable events, so that won’t change. For you there is a lot of opportunity with our organization. What I hope will happen over this next year is that as you continue your support and your involvement with the Chamber, you also encourage others to get involved and join our efforts to make Evanston a great place to live, work and have fun in. I really look forward to doing that with you.

Thank you for listening and for your support.