Lake in the Hills Strives for More Economic Development in 2013

Gino DeVivo has a goal for 2013 to make Lake in the Hills a destination for opportunity for big and small businesses.

“We are looking to continue our efforts on the Economic Development Strategy by building on branding themes,” said DeVivo, LITH’s Economic Development Coordinator. “It is moving in a positive fashion. It’s going to be exciting to watch it unfold.”

LITH’s board of trustee approved the Economic Development Strategy in August hoping to spur commercial investment in town. A goal was to create effective branding and marketing materials, he said.

LITH has been making progress on that goal and recently added a marketing map _ titled Commercial Investment Opportunities _ to its website that showcases what DeVivo calls “target areas” to promote commercial investment opportunities in those areas.

Each target area gives details about parcels and what the village thinks would be a good development. For example, a target area near the Lake in the Hills Airport suggests a hotel.

Last month, the department also launched an online ad campaign reaching out to businesses, retailers and developers, he said.

“This is a first step as we build upon branding efforts with expanded marketing tools to promote target area opportunity through media on a larger regional scale,” DeVivo said, who has been in the position less than six months.

Already, LITH has been promoting areas of Route 31 with success. DeVivo said the village has met with investment groups who’ve indicated areas within LITH's boundaries along the Route 31 corridor have great market potential.

What businesses and developers are looking for is investing in proven markets and looking for growth potential areas, DeVivo said. LITH has plenty of both, he said, pointing to the area of Algonquin and Lakewood roads where businesses have popped up in the retail center at that intersection.

“We are trying to communicate what each market area offers,” he said.