Posted on August 11, 2023 at 11:51 AM by James Guirguis
The need for business development, retention, and expansion in Park Forest is ongoing. When I decided to seek the post of Mayor, I made a public commitment to look for new ways to attract, retain and encourage expansion of business and commerce.
A few ideas: One of the most moves that we have made was to create more opportunities for Park Foresters and visitors from neighboring communities to embrace our existing businesses. The main events sponsored by the Village in our DownTown, such as Main Street Nights, occur when many businesses have already shut their doors for the day. My goal will be to create more events at times when businesses are open and encourage businesses to extend their hours in order to benefit from events that occur in the evenings. In the end, we will bring more people fact-to-face with our business operators.
Another step is to create a periodic business fair for which residents can interact with potential businesses and encourage them to come to our community. As our town's demographics have changed, the needs of our residents have also changed. We will show potential businesses the opportunities that are available to them by having them hear directly from our residents who, after all, will be their customers! Businesses locate in a community because they think they can be successful in that community. The people who can demonstrate that potential for success are the ones who will be making the purchases.