Oak Park is working to bolster its economy and ensure both short- and long-term vitality by hiring Camoin Associates, Inc. to create a comprehensive plan.
It will take about seven months to create the plan, beginning in July 2024. The consultants plan to visit Oak Park at least three times in that period to conduct focus groups, a community open house and interviews, and to tour local sites.
The village board is tentatively expected to formally adopt the plan in February 2025.
Village officials said that the board can expect an economic vitality conditions analysis, detailed market analysis, community survey and findings report, and situational assessment presentation to come out of the process, as well as the final implementation plan. Camoin Associates, Inc. is an economic development and lead generation firm, and one of three firms that responded to the village’s request for proposals. Camoin had the lowest cost of $125,000. Some of that is budgeted, but the village will be pulling $47,500 from its 2024 savings to cover the total cost, according to village officials.
It is important, trustees emphasized Tuesday, to ensure the plan takes into consideration the diversity of the town and implements inclusion in its practices.
What the plan will do
According to Brandon Crawford, the village’s deputy director of development services, there are seven goals associated with this project:
- To deliver a data-driven assessment of baseline economic vitality metrics
- To understand the village’s economy within regional, state and national ones
- To identify redevelopment sites and corridors
- To gather community input
- To develop a “Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats” analysis and a “Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results” analysis
- To analyze staff and resource allocation
- To create an implementation playbook over a two-year period
Lindsay Johnson, the senior project manager from Camoin, said the firm has an untraditional and more holistic approach to economic development. Camoin looks at all the aspects of what makes a community thrive, including workforce, small businesses and entrepreneurship, she said.
With that approach, Johnson said the Camoin team can work to bolster the village board’s goals of affordability, health and safety, racial equity, vibrant, diverse and connected neighborhoods, sustainability and economic vitality.
“We really care about the quality of control and transparency involved in our process,” Johnson said.
Crawford said this plan will be the baseline for initiatives moving forward. It will eventually become outdated as times change but can be modified as needed for now.
“The economy is always changing, but we are who we are,” he said.
Having a plan like this, which also might include incentives for businesses or property owners, is more efficient than working on an “ad hoc” basis, Village Manager Kevin Jackson pointed out. And it helps the village use public resources most efficiently.
Trustees’ thoughts
Trustee Cory Wesley asked about the racial makeup of the all-white Camoin team assigned to work with Oak Park, given the racial diversity in Oak Park and on the village board table itself.
Dan Gundersen, the senior vice president of Camoin, said their team works to respect diversity in every community they work with by ensuring all segments of a community have their voices heard.
“We have a very, very good reputation in the field for being successful in integrating different voices,” Gundersen said.
He also described racial disparity assessments Camoin has conducted and ways they’ve helped underrepresented communities and businesses thrive.
“We could not do that if we didn’t first reach out in a trusting way in an environment of respect,” Gundersen said.
Trustee Chibuike Enyia said he wanted to know what other towns Camoin has worked with that have smaller geographical borders but large populations, like Oak Park. Gundersen said one similar community their team worked with was Powell, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.
“They did not want to be a suburb without character, and it was very clear that they weren’t,” Gundersen said. “[Oak Park] is very special. It’s unique, and so, too, is every community.”
Powell, according to Gundersen, followed through on all the recommendations Camoin set out. When that happens, Gundersen said they know they’ve helped the community work toward their goals.
“When we make recommendations, we have to be thinking about what could conceivably happen and what might the village be able to do to ensure that these actions and the intentions, the recommendations, are going to have a longer life so that they can be implemented and adapted over time,” Gundersen said.
Trustee Ravi Parakkat said while the final recommendations are expected before the board in February, he would like to accelerate progress on economic development now. The village is trying to ensure that happens, Jackson said.
Cost is a factor, too. How expensive these economic development moves and vitality initiatives are depends on the village’s priorities, whether that be acquiring and developing new spaces or retrofitting old ones. And there’s only roughly 4.7 square miles to work with.
Wesley also said he wants to ensure natural economic growth in Oak Park through policymaking and decisions rather than relying solely on outside grants or funds.
“It’s important that we all get alignment on what, actually, our goals are and what projects we want to prioritize because that will greatly influence cost,” Crawford said. “A lot of this is going to take a coordinated effort on redevelopment, which is obviously more expensive.”