Business
It’s a scenario that has played out all too often in America’s downtown business areas. A long-time major employer closes up shop, leaving the community with a reduced job and tax base, fewer customers for downtown retail and service businesses, and a large complex of empty buildings. The result is often a domino effect of more business closings, higher social service costs and the loss of community identity.
In Skokie, community leaders were presented with just such a scenario with the closure of the Pfizer pharmaceutical research and manufacturing complex on the north end of its downtown area. Instead, Skokie embarked on an ambitious redevelopment program designed not only to turn the pharmaceutical complex site into a magnet for up-and-coming technology-based businesses, but to remake the downtown into a mixed-use center for people to live and work.
Village officials jump-started the process by bringing in Cleveland-based biotech developer Forest City, which bought the former Pfizer complex. The firm moved to demolish most of the buildings on the 23-acre campus. That still left roughly 700,000 square feet of laboratory and office space, as the company made plans to construct 1.3 million square feet of new space over the next decade.
Now, the Illinois Science + Technology Park is home to Evanston Northwestern Healthcare and its 800 employees. On a site that once employed 1,500, Village officials now envision anywhere between 3,000 and 6,000. Meanwhile, the Village has been working with a developer to recreate the bulk of downtown into a mixed-use area designed to be more densely populated.
While this all may sound like a radical change of direction for the community, Skokie Planning Supervisor Steve Marciani doesn’t quite see it that way. Rather, it’s a case of the community building on its strengths, including an educated workforce. “It’s really a continuation of what’s already been going on,” Marciani said. “We’re diversifying our housing stock and our jobs.”
One of the keys, Marciani said, is Skokie’s excellent transportation system, starting with a grid street system, three exits onto the interstate system and stops on the Chicago elevated rail system. “The difference between us and other communities is our mass transit right into the city system,” Marciani said. “A third of our (CTA) Yellow Line riders are reverse commuters.”
A community with a good public transportation system offering high-tech jobs is in a good position to attract workers, he said. “As new hires happen, they are able to choose a place where they don’t have to have a car,” Marciani said.
Workers will be able to choose a place to live in a thriving downtown filled with all of the restaurants, retail stores and service businesses they will need.
Developer Linda Kogen builds single-family homes in Skokie and neighboring communities. She likes what she hears about the Skokie downtown redevelopment project. “That would be great for the housing market,” Kogen said. “A downtown redevelopment project is greatly needed.”
A Growing Voice in the Skokie Community
By Becky Cline
Working diligently to aid in creating a downtown area that is second to none, the Independent Merchants of Downtown Skokie (IMODS) has become an important voice in the community. Having joined forces with the Downtown Skokie Merchants Association, IMODS is comprised of approximately 75 members representing businesses, property owners, residents and generally concerned citizens who are part of Skokie’s downtown development district.
“Our long-term goal is singular. We wish to create the best downtown area possible with the resources presently, and soon, available,” explains Randy Miles, founder and president of IMODS. “IMODS will continue to adapt and grow into the future as an entity with an eye on the aesthetic and general ‘good,’ interests of the population of the downtown area and, therefore, the Village of Skokie at-large.”
Dedicated to Skokie Businesses Since 1925
By Becky Cline
The mission of the Skokie Chamber of Commerce is to promote and support the interest of the business, professional and service organizations in the Skokie Chamber of Commerce. – Mission Statement
Currently in its 83rd year of service, the Skokie Chamber of Commerce has developed into an extensive non-profit association of 550 members. “The Chamber serves its members by creating networking opportunities, educational opportunities and great opportunities for bringing merchants and customers together,” explained Howard Meyer, executive director of the Skokie Chamber. “Our membership includes everything from smaller home-based businesses, non-profits and retailers to manufacturers and multi-national companies.”
The benefits are truly endless. In addition to the networking exchanges and educational seminars, members can take advantage of business referrals, advertising and promotional opportunities through Chamber publications and its website, and an assortment of advantageous business resources and information. What’s more, the Skokie Chamber of Commerce offers such diverse facets as a strong Women in Business program, drawing in anywhere between 30 and 40 women each month for exceptional networking opportunities and programming; a great Young Professionals program, offering a variety of networking and social action programming unique to the business person under 40; and an impressive Home-Base Business program, designed to meet the unique set of challenges for the home-base business.
The Skokie Chamber of Commerce works avidly in trying to promote the Village and its family-friendly lifestyle by sponsoring and participating in such local festivals as the Skokie Festival of Cultures, the North Shore Festival of Art, the Backlot Bash, Taste of Skokie Valley and the 4th of July Celebration. The Chamber also works closely with other communities and Chambers through multi-Chamber programs and business-to-business trade shows in order to promote Skokie’s positive image on Chicago’s North Shore.
The Douglas Center – Making a Difference in Skokie
By Becky Cline
A well-known author and poet was vacationing on the Southern Coast of Spain. One morning, very early, he was walking along the beach...the sun was rising, the rain had ended, the rainbows were magnificent, the sea was calm. While enjoying the beauty about him, he glanced down the beach and saw a lone figure dancing about. Fascinated by this person celebrating the day that was about to dawn, he moved closer. As he came nearer, he realized that the young man was not dancing, but in one graceful movement was picking objects from off the beach and tossing them out into the sea. As he approached the young man, he saw that the objects were starfish.
“Why in the world are you throwing starfish into the water?”
“If the starfish are still on the beach when the tide goes out and the sun rises higher in the sky, they will die,” replied the young man as he continued tossing them out to the sea.
“That’s ridiculous! There are thousands of miles of beach and millions of starfish. You can’t really believe that what you are doing could possibly make a difference.”
The young man picked up another starfish, paused thoughtfully and remarked as he tossed it out into the waves, “It makes a difference to this one!”
—Loren C. Eiseley
“This short story touches our hearts [at the Douglas Center] and describes our mission very well,” explained Rifath Khan, executive director at the Douglas Center.
Opening its doors in March 1999 as a non-profit social services agency, the aim of the Douglas Center was and is “to provide training programs for adults with developmental and mental disabilities in Skokie and its neighboring areas,” explained Khan. “From the very inception of the program, the idea was to provide a place for people with disabilities to go for work training, to give them a purpose in life and encourage them to be productive members of our community.”
This particular service is quite unique for a number of reasons, according to Khan. Not only does the Douglas Center provide comprehensive skills training programs, but also, apart from the work aspect, it offers independent living skills and social, cognitive and economic self-sufficiency skills training. What’s more, licensed art, music, dance and drama therapists; individual and group counseling; occupational and physical therapy; and podiatry and psychiatric consultation round out the center’s offerings – making this multi-faceted center a one-of-a-kind service in the Chicagoland area.
“Douglas Center provides a home away from home for many of our participants who have never seen a home,” stated Khan. “We provide a place for people with disabilities that is safe, clean, supportive, and, most of all, where people care about people and human beings are treated with respect and dignity.”
The following quotation, written by Stephen Grellet, permeates throughout each program offered at the Douglas Center, truly grasping the essence of the facility’s objective:
We shall pass through this world but once, therefore any good thing we can do, or any kindness we can show to others, let us do it now, let us not defer it, for we shall not pass this way again.
RCN: Connect to Something More
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RCN Business Services understands the challenges that face business owners. The company offers complete Phone, Internet and Cable TV solutions that keep your business running smoothly and on budget. Plus, you will get the personal attention you deserve, with dedicated and experienced in-house customer support. Knowledgeable and dedicated representatives will meet with you, evaluate your needs and design a communications package that fits your business and bottom line. They take the time to understand your business needs so you can focus on what's truly important — running your business.
To find comprehensive information on RCN Business Services please visit the company’s website at www.rcn.com/business-services.
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