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Committee approves $60,000 grant to Choose DuPage to continue Sustainable DuPage program
Summary
DuPage County approved a grant agreement through Nov. 30, 2026, not to exceed $60,000, for Choose DuPage to manage the Sustainable DuPage initiative; Choose DuPage reported past assessments, webinars and web traffic and said 2024 savings data will be provided soon.
The DuPage County Environmental Committee voted Jan. 6 to recommend a grant agreement with Choose DuPage to manage the Sustainable DuPage initiative, authorizing funding up to $60,000 for the Jan. 13–Nov. 30, 2026 period.
Rita Hocky, representing Choose DuPage, told the committee Sustainable DuPage launched in 2023 with technical assessments provided by the University of Illinois Smart Energy Design Center (now the Energy Resilience Center). She said the program completed 31 assessments since 2023 (11 in the most recent year), launched a green-business checklist and an interactive sustainability-plan template, ran 15 webinars that attracted about 595 participants, and logged 5,771 visits to the Sustainable DuPage website with a 25% increase in views year over year.
"We have started tracking, so we know we've had 5,771 visits to the Sustainable DuPage website, and we've had a 25% increase in viewing," Hocky said. She said the program expects to continue assessments, participate in a pilot with the University of Illinois focused on action-oriented tasks for businesses, and celebrate early adopters this year.
Committee members praised the work and asked about measurable savings from the University of Illinois assessments. Hocky said the 2024 savings data were not yet available for this presentation but that the information would be provided within the next month.
The committee moved and seconded the grant recommendation and approved it by voice vote; the transcript records 'Aye; Motion carries' without a roll-call tally.
The committee asked staff and Choose DuPage to share the University of Illinois savings report when available and continue program updates to the Environmental Committee.
