Greater Freeport Partnership reports Q1 business wins, seeks enterprise-zone expansion for Savencia

Andrea Schultz Winter and Nicole Hass of the Greater Freeport Partnership gave a quarterly update to the Stephenson County Board and requested that the board approve expanding the Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone to include three parcels owned by Savencia, a cheese manufacturer, to support a planned expansion.

The presentation outlined business retention and expansion work, new-business leads and marketing and tourism efforts. "Tonight's presentation will cover the highlights of our work in key focus areas in the first quarter," Andrea Schultz Winter said, noting materials were included in the board packet.

The request to add three Savencia parcels to the enterprise zone is tied to an announced expansion by an existing food manufacturer in Stephenson County that organizers say would create an additional 40 jobs and is slated to begin construction this summer. The presenters said expanding the zone would enable incentives for the project.

Why it matters: county enterprise-zone designation can affect tax incentives and site readiness for manufacturing expansions; county approval is one step in a state-administered process. The expansion would support a private-sector project the presenters described as creating about 40 new jobs and would restore parcels that were included in a prior version of the zone but were left off when maps were redrawn in 2020.

Details from the presentation

- Business retention: the partnership reported 33 business visits in the quarter and assistance to nine entrepreneurs on business plans. Presenters said geopolitical uncertainty and tariff changes are creating hesitancy in some sectors.

- New leads and real estate: the Partnership reported 17 new business leads in the quarter, eight from Intersect Illinois; five leads had suitable existing buildings. Presenters said three leads could not be pursued because of insufficient acreage or building size. The former visitor center building in Freeport was sold and is now home to Auto Smart, which organizers said plans to expand.

- Workforce and education: presenters described ongoing outreach with Honeywell and local education partners — Freeport High School Career Tech and Highland Community College — to link students and training programs to employer needs. A classroom tour with Honeywell executives and school partners occurred the day before the meeting, the presenters said.

- Entrepreneurship and membership: the Partnership said it entered its second year of the Basecamp business academy, assisting small businesses and entrepreneurs. Nicole Hass said the Partnership added 18 new members in Q1 — the highest quarterly increase in 2024 — bringing total membership to 408 and raising retention to nearly 98%.

- Tourism and marketing: the presenters described new collateral including a 2025 Stevenson County community guide and a rediscover-your-downtown brochure, a visitor campaign due in early May, and revived promotions such as the Northwest Illinois Ale Trail and a museum passport program. They said occupancy tax revenue was up year over year despite lower occupancy, indicating higher revenue per available room.

Enterprise zone request and board action

The Partnership asked the board to approve adding three Savencia-owned parcels into the Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone. Presenters said the parcels had been part of the zone previously and were inadvertently omitted when the zone was redrawn. Andrea Schultz Winter explained the parcels would be connected to the existing zone by a narrow right-of-way strip to meet contiguity requirements.

Board member questions focused on parcel identification and contiguity. Steve Frick moved to approve the enterprise-zone expansion; Tim Whelan seconded. The motion passed with one member recorded in opposition.

Speakers

- Andrea Schultz Winter, presenter, Greater Freeport Partnership (nonprofit). First referenced at transcript time 1560.75. - Nicole Hass, presenter, Greater Freeport Partnership (nonprofit). First referenced at transcript time 1930.01. - Lynette Williams, Stephenson County Board member (government). First referenced at transcript time 2212.7751. - (Mr.) Davis, audience member/commenter (citizen). First referenced at transcript time 2401.27. - (Mrs.) Gomeser, audience member/commenter (citizen). First referenced at transcript time 2532.8152. - Scott Helms, Board chairman (government). First referenced at transcript time 1560.75.

Authorities

- type: other; name/description: Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone; referenced_by: ["gfp-q1-and-savencia-enterprise-zone"]

Clarifying details

- category: jobs; detail: announced expansion expected to create an additional 40 jobs; value: 40; units: jobs; approximate: true; source_speaker: Andrea Schultz Winter - category: construction timing; detail: construction is slated for this summer; source_speaker: Andrea Schultz Winter - category: membership; detail: 18 new members in Q1, total membership 408, retention ~98%; source_speaker: Nicole Hass - category: leads; detail: 17 new business leads in Q1; 8 from Intersect Illinois; source_speaker: Andrea Schultz Winter

Proper names

[{"name":"Greater Freeport Partnership","type":"organization"},{"name":"Savencia","type":"business"},{"name":"Honeywell","type":"business"},{"name":"Freeport High School Career Tech","type":"school"},{"name":"Highland Community College","type":"school"},{"name":"Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone","type":"other"},{"name":"Stephenson County","type":"other"}]

Provenance

{"transcript_segments":[{"block_id":"block_1560.75","local_start":0,"local_end":166,"evidence_excerpt":"Aye. Any opposed? Aye. 1 in Opposition, motion carries. Next, we have Greater Freeport Partnership, quarterly presentation by Andrea Schultz Winter and Nicole Hass.","tc_start":"1560.75","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"block_4372.5","local_start":0,"local_end":257,"evidence_excerpt":"So yes, you're correct the Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone or any enterprise zone has to be contiguous. There's a 3 foot wide connection strip that usually runs up the right of way, and that will connect from, further south, New Astracueso and Pearl Valley Eggs. So we'll just continue north. This again was in the enterprise zone. In the previous zone, it was inadvertently when the new zone was created in 2020, it was inadvertently missed and so the 3 parcels that are highlighted on the map are all owned by Savencia, we would be requesting the State add all 3 zones or 3 parcels excuse me into the zone.","tc_end":"4372.5","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]}