Oak Park study session reviews draft economic vitality strategy; plan calls for new commission, OPEDC role and staffing

Consultants from Camoin Associates presented a draft economic vitality strategic plan in a study session during the Village Board meeting. The plan outlines 62 recommendations grouped under four broad areas — operations, diversifying the economic base, life experiences (quality of life) and the built environment — and advances 12 priorities for implementation.

Dan Gunderson of Camoin Associates and Brandon Crawford, Oak Park’s Economic Vitality Administrator, led the presentation. Gunderson said the work included market and policy review, about eight months of analysis, and wide outreach: the consultant team said roughly 500 individuals and organizations participated in interviews and events, and 340 community members completed an online survey. Gunderson described the plan as a five-year framework to give staff and the board clearer direction for economic development and to “set a foundation for supporting additional board policy development.”

Key operational recommendations include centralizing economic vitality work in the village manager’s office, forming an Economic Vitality Commission to advise on policy and performance, and reconstituting the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation (OPEDC) to perform due diligence and manage small-business financing and targeted acquisitions. Gunderson and staff proposed that the OPEDC be staffed by village staff and act with the commission and village manager’s office to align operations with board policy.

The plan also emphasizes implementing a systematic customer-relationship-management (CRM) approach to business retention, attraction and tracking and recommends a publicly accessible performance dashboard. Gunderson and Brandon Crawford described CRM and reporting as priorities to enable regular, documented contacts with businesses and to measure performance year over year.

Trustees and staff discussed several recurring themes: staffing and skills for a metrics-driven approach; how the OPEDC and the proposed Economic Vitality Commission would relate; small-business financing (including revolving loan funds); approaches to foster entrepreneurship (including K–12 partnerships); and strategies to attract younger professionals and more homeownership among Black and African American residents. Connor Allen and Lindsey Johnson of the consultant team answered technical questions about data sources.

Trustees asked about specifics: whether CRM and dashboard tools require technical hires (consultants said staff need not be software engineers but should be able to run and interpret reports and to work with IT), how the OPEDC would be governed if reconstituted (staff said board appointments and clear policy guidance would be used), and what timelines and performance targets would look like (consultants said the plan provides priorities and recommended next steps; setting targets and impact analyses would be part of implementation and suggested commission and staff work).

The plan highlights several measurable gaps the consultant recommends addressing: a more systematic program for business retention and attraction, a coordinated one-stop online portal for business services, small-business financing tools that can revolve and grow over time, and more targeted efforts to expand the professional-services and health-care economy and to increase “missing middle” housing. Staff noted one specific baseline figure in the materials: the report shows a 35% homeownership rate for Black and African American residents in Oak Park, below Cook County and regional averages; trustees said that disparity directly informed housing-related recommendations in the strategy.

No formal vote was taken during the study session. Trustees generally responded favorably while requesting additional detail: several asked for specific performance targets, cost estimates and economic impact analyses (the consultant team said economic impact analysis was out of scope for the initial study but could be completed in follow-up work). Staff said recruitment for the authorized Economic Vitality staff position is underway and that implementation steps would come back to the board with proposed timelines and metrics.

The board directed staff to continue refining operational steps, to work with the consultant team and to return with implementation details, including performance metrics and proposed governance language for the commission and the OPEDC.