The Oak Park village board unanimously approved giving the Oak Park River Forest Chamber of Commerce $250,250, at its meeting Tuesday to support community-focused initiatives.
Those initiatives include a youth internship program, First Fridays Street Festival Series and Black and Latine Business Support Network.
The youth internship program, called “NEXT,” or Navigating Employment and eXperience Training, will be open to students aged 14 to 21 who attend local schools or live in Oak Park. The chamber projected the program would cost $149,000.
Darien Marion-Burton, the chamber executive director, has proposed two cohorts for the program in summer 2025 and fall 2025. Each cohort, as proposed, would have 20 interns work at local businesses. Interns would be paid $15 an hour and work up to 20 hours per week.
The street festivals are expected to take place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the first Friday of July, August, September and October, rotating between four business districts. Those are Chicago East, Madison, Southtown and Pleasant.
The festivals are expected to feature live entertainment, local businesses and family-friendly activities. Vendors will set up booths along a partially closed-off street. The events will be open to all residents and businesses in Oak Park, not just chamber members, Marion-Burton said.
The chamber has estimated this series to cost about $43,000 and asked the village for $32,250 to support it.
Police Chief Shatonya Johnson added that the police department supports the festival series, but staffing might be stretched thin on dates when other village events are scheduled.
The support network is intended to help support Black and Latine-owned businesses in Oak Park and foster a sense of belonging. This is expected to be an eight-month program with two cohorts featuring opportunities to learn from other business owners and educational sessions.
The chamber estimated this program to cost about $69,000. With the $250,250 in village funding, the chamber will fund all three of these programs. It’s not yet clear if the village will continue to finance these programs beyond this agreement in the future.
“It sounds like there’s certainly the spirit of continued collaboration with the chamber as the details get worked out,” Trustee Lucia Robinson said.
“I am looking forward to watching these events grow,” Trustee Cory Wesley added. “I feel like it fosters this closeness in the community that we were all missing.”
