Economic Development Commission Summary

Economic Development Commission discretionary agenda highlights for August 20, 2026

West Chicago Economic Development Commission Agenda Review — August 20, 2026

This table summarizes each Economic Development Commission agenda action, the money involved, and whether the action appears non-discretionary under the review rubric.

View the PDF text extraction table

Item	Short description	Money involved	Non-discretionary evaluation
4 — July 28 minutes	Approve the prior Economic Development Commission minutes.	No current expenditure identified.	Likely non-discretionary / administrative. Minutes approval maintains the Commission's official record.
5 — 2026–2028 Work Plan mid-year realignment	Recommend a revised sequencing of the current economic-development work plan and forward it to City Council.	No appropriation or direct expenditure is authorized. The plan references future budget, financing, incentive, and infrastructure decisions without assigning current dollar amounts.	Discretionary strategic recommendation. The Commission would endorse changes in which economic-development initiatives receive priority and when they advance. City Council makes the final decision.
6 — 2027–2029 Economic Development Work Plan	Recommend a new three-year work plan adding and refining economic-development initiatives and forward it to City Council.	No direct expenditure or appropriation is stated. Future initiatives—including studies, business-finance tools, an indoor marketplace, branding, and downtown construction support—may require later budgets and approvals.	Discretionary strategic recommendation. The Commission would shape the City's multi-year economic-development agenda, but each funded project or policy still requires later authority. City Council considers the plan.

Detailed analysis of substantive topics

5 — 2026–2028 Work Plan mid-year realignment

The proposed realignment keeps Downtown Modernization, West Washington Street redevelopment, the Business Regulations Review, the new City website, downtown housing and business attraction, and marketing tools as core priorities. It would coordinate placemaking with Downtown construction, finish business-regulation and directory tools before expanding marketing programs, align digital projects with the website and ERP system, and delay initiatives dependent on staffing, technology, redevelopment, or related project completion.

This vote would recommend strategic sequencing, not authorize a contract or appropriation. The attached work-plan table nevertheless points toward future policy and financing choices, including business-service fee review, incentives and public-financing tools, and another potential bond for 2027 industrial-road construction.

6 — Proposed 2027–2029 Economic Development Work Plan

The new plan retains downtown revitalization, housing, business attraction, regulatory modernization, digital services, partnerships, infrastructure, and workforce development. It also proposes evaluating several expanded initiatives:

The recommendation sets priorities but does not itself approve any listed project, land-use entitlement, contract, debt issuance, or spending amount.

a City rebranding initiative tied to the new website;
a community survey;
revolving-loan and bridge-loan partnerships rather than a currently funded City loan program;
a Downtown construction-support strategy;
a Grand Lake Boulevard/Elliott Avenue land-use transition study;
a year-round indoor marketplace addition at 103 W. Washington Street; and
design and construction of public futsal fields at West Washington Street, contingent on separate zoning-text and special-use approvals.

Last generated: September 15, 2026 at 7:04 AM CDT