Mayor's Special E-Newsletter - Jan. 12, 2016

Village Officials

Village President

Al Larson

Trustees

Marge Connelly

Tom Dailly

George Dunham

Frank Kozak

Mark Madej

Jack Sullivan

Village Clerk

Marilyn Karr

Village Manager

Brian Townsend

All Village meetings can be viewed online on the village meeting calendar.

About the Village

of Schaumburg

Schaumburg is the largest center of economic development in the State of Illinois, outside the City of Chicago, but it is also very much a community of neighbors and neighborhoods. Quality of life is important to us and we are constantly working to enhance it. Visit the website.

Disclaimer:

The Village of Schaumburg accepts no liability for the advertisements in this newsletter and does not endorse any product advertised. Any advertisement does not necessarily represent the view or support of the Village of Schaumburg.

If you attend a local festival or village function and the event is photographed, your image may be used for news and promotional purposes.

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This weekly e-newsletter provides timely information on general news and events from the Village of Schaumburg.

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Farewell 2015 and Welcome 2016!

It's that time again to say farewell to another year and usher in a new one. The year has gone by quickly and Schaumburg's momentum from 2014 continued right into what turned out to be a very successful and prosperous 2015. The village is proud to provide these highlights of its significant accomplishments that have occurred over the last year:

The Prairie Center for the Arts celebrated its 30th Anniversary with another year of sought after performances and events. The center was recently featured in the Northwest Quarterly Magazine discussing its legacy in the community.
Trickster Art Gallery welcomed the National Library of Medicine's traveling exhibit "Native Voices" to its gallery last year and also hosted an event where the public was able to view and take photos with the NHL Stanley Cup that was won by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015.
The Prairie Arts Festival celebrated its 28th year bringing more than 120 fine artists to the village over Memorial Day weekend. In conjunction with the fest, 40 entries were received as part of the village's annual Plein Air Competition.
Schaumburg ushered in summer by partnering with the Schaumburg Park District to offer the popular Summer Breeze concerts. Six performances were well attended offering attendees a variety of live music and performances.
The village also partnered with the Schaumburg Township District Library and the Schaumburg Park District to showcase 22 presentations of dance, music and more with its summer activities held in Town Square.
This holiday season, nine out of 10 performances of Tchaikovsky's grand ballet, The Nutcracker, were sold out in December. Offered by the Prairie Center, 4,200 people came from 137 different communities to enjoy this timeless holiday tradition.
Youth programs at the Prairie Center enjoyed another successful year with the annual holiday concert of the Schaumburg Youth Orchestra featuring the Schaumburg Youth Choir that attracted more than 600 attendees at its two performances.
The village attracted new owners for the vacant former Dominick's location. Art Van Furniture is planning to open at Meacham and Higgins in 2016. Popular grocer, Trader Joe's, also opened at Woodfield Village Green and Patel Brothers relocated to the larger Golf View Center, giving the public more grocery options in Schaumburg.
Our Engineering & Public Works Department held its first Open House in 2015 with hundreds who attended to learn more about what skills, tools and equipment are required to maintain the village's infrastructure. The department plans to host the event again this year in May.
Under new General Manager Pete Laven, the Schaumburg Boomers baseball team hosted the 2015 All-Star game at Boomers Stadium in July which drew a record 6,500 attendees and featured four Boomers players represented in the match between the East and West divisions.
The village was recognized for several awards including taking home third place in the 2015 Digital Cities Survey and receiving the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting.
Schaumburg was recently awarded the Illinois Association of Code Enforcement's (IACE) Agency of the Year Award for 2015 in recognition of the village's single-family home rental inspection program that was recently implemented.
Simon, real estate owner of Woodfield Mall, completed $14 million in interior renovations to the mall that included the transformation of the Grand Court, plus a variety of design and comfort upgrades as part of its style evolution. New retailers, such as Timberland, Zara, Flight 23, rue 21, SIX:02, and Garrett Popcorn were also announced throughout the year-long project.
Director of the Illinois Office of Tourism, Cory Jobe, visited Schaumburg this past fall to take a tour of our community and visit the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center. Officials discussed the village's five new hotels under construction, new developments in the TIF District and ways in which we can work together to bring new visitors to Schaumburg.
A variety of new businesses opened their doors in Schaumburg including: Level 257, Granite City, Ahuua Mexican Grill, H Mart Korean Grocery, U.S. Bank, Sonesta ES Suites, Kuma's Corner, Technology & Manufacturing Association, Anytime Fitness, Salata, Pier 1 Imports, McDonald's, Tous Les Jours, Egg Harbor, and Punch Bowl Social to name a few.
Zurich American Insurance hoisted its highest beam in place of its $300 million North American Corporate headquarters this past summer and is continuing to work toward opening in the fall of 2016.
Work on the village's other development in the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District, Sunstar Americas, was completed in 2015 with an official opening date planned for later in 2016 for their new $50 million facility.
Always looking to improve customer service, the village implemented a variety of new technology this year including the ability to text Customer Service Requests (CSRs) to the village; pay for commuter parking with a mobile payment system, and access information on the village's website through a new mapping tool system.
With the intent of providing support to those in need, the village established new programs, Neighbors Helping Neighbors and the Community Assistance Fund, to provide financial assistance to those involved in crisis and emergency situations.
Work on the western portion of I-390 from Lake Street (U.S. Route 20) to Rohlwing Road was completed in 2015. This work improved the existing Elgin-O'Hare Expressway pavement and shoulders and included the installation of new noisewalls. Three new ramps connecting I-390 to I-290 were also opened improving traffic flow between the two tollways.

While we were fortunate to enjoy many successes in 2015, Schaumburg has much to be excited about in the new year as we continue to invest in and enhance our community. Some highlights include the following:

The village will be celebrating its 60th anniversary to mark when it was incorporated on March 7, 1956. A year-long celebration of the village's incorporation will take place throughout the year.
The village's participation in the Golden Corridor Advanced Manufacturing Partnership resulted in 20 manufacturing events held this past year, which included more than 2,100 students and helped place 35 internships with local manufacturers. The village is working with Roosevelt University and volunteers to establish a Maker Lab and the Schaumburg Business Association plans to host three more manufacturing summits in 2016.
The village is excited to introduce a newly designed website this year at www.villageofschaumburg.com. The new site will be compatible with mobile devices and will be user friendly to those who are looking to learn more about our programs and services.
Schaumburg's retail market continues to remain strong with a vacancy rate of just 7.6 percent. The larger retail centers are doing very well with vacancy rates at Woodfield of 5 percent, Woodfield Village Green of 9.1 percent and Streets of Woodfield of 1.4 percent.
The I-90 Tollway Improvement Project has made significant progress over the last year with the construction of the partial interchange at Meacham Road and the full interchange at Roselle Road. The village looks forward to substantial completion of this project late in 2016 which will improve access and congestion along the I-90 corridor.
Five hotels are expected to be completed in 2016 including Fairfield Inn & Suites, Hampton Inn, Home2Suites, Radisson and Towne Place Suites. Plans are being reviewed for two additional hotels on Martingale Road and discussions are underway with other hotel developers for the property in the North Schaumburg TIF. The village anticipates opening additional restaurants including Giordano's, Uncle Julio's and Walker Brothers in 2016.
The Village of Schaumburg continues to work with Motorola to evaluate the best redevelopment options on their campus and attract corporate business, hospitality and other mixed uses to reflect the vision of the Comprehensive Plan and the North Schaumburg TIF District.

After celebrating 40 years of public service in 2015, I look forward to another successful year ahead. I want to thank my dedicated village board members, staff and advisory committees and volunteers who contribute their time and input to make Schaumburg the best community possible.

Schaumburg is a wonderful place to live, work, play and raise a family, and I am proud to call this village my home. I hope you are, too.

Best wishes to you and yours in 2016.

Sincerely,

Al Larson
Schaumburg Village President