Speaker 3, the enterprise zone administrator, presented a plan for expanding the McHenry County Enterprise Zone and described two legally distinct pathways to add parcels: a project-based route and a data-driven route that relies on state socioeconomic tests. He said any added parcels must be contiguous with the existing zone and that each participating unit of government (McHenry County, Woodstock, Harvard and Marengo) would need to adopt amending ordinances and update the intergovernmental agreement (IGA).

The administrator summarized the project-based pathway as an “immediate benefit” option for cases where a specific development would create or retain full‑time jobs, remove an infrastructure impediment, or otherwise stimulate revitalization; he said DCEO’s statute does not prescribe a fixed job threshold for such project-driven amendments. He contrasted that with a data-driven pathway that requires meeting state socioeconomic criteria (for example, higher local unemployment rates, poverty thresholds and the presence of vacant structures or brownfields) before a broader set of parcels could be added.

To proceed, Speaker 3 asked each community to send parcel lists and said he can work with Northern Illinois University (NIU) and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) processes to verify contiguity and run means tests. He recommended communities submit updated parcel PINs by Dec. 31 to put the project on a local schedule and to revisit progress at the January enterprise zone meeting. “If you have any updates, by year-end I think would be great,” he said.

On timing, Speaker 3 described the administrative steps (local public hearing, amending ordinances and IGAs, then submitting to DCEO) and noted DCEO has a formal review window of up to 90 days; he estimated that, if local work stays on schedule, a 12–16 week timeline from local initiation to certification is a reasonable expectation. He cautioned that DCEO’s merit or criteria review could extend that timeline.

The board voiced support for pursuing parcels and confirmed they will consider the IGA and ordinance updates at the local level. Speaker 1 and others agreed to gather parcel lists so the administrator could begin the contiguity checks and, where appropriate, request NIU assistance with the socioeconomic analysis.

What happens next: communities interested in expansion should send parcel PIN lists to the administrator; local governments must adopt amending ordinances and update the IGA before the county sends materials to DCEO for review. The administrator committed to coordinating with NIU and to reporting progress to the board.