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Council members, city staff and local business owners are collaborating on the program to help long-standing Evanston businesses and nonprofits remain community assets into the future.
The new Legacy Business Program, still under development, will provide direct support to Evanston-based businesses and nonprofits that have been in business for at least 20 years.
The program is being developed by a task force led by Councilwoman Clare Kelly (1st Ward) and Councilwoman Melissa Wynn (3rd Ward), Carl Klein and Susie Reinhold from the Conservation Commission, Economic Development Manager Paul Zalmazek and City Planner Cade Sterling. .
The mission statement explains that legacy businesses are defining aspects of Evanston and the surrounding area, and losing them would be detrimental to both the city’s heritage and economic value. It reads:
“Evanston’s heritage resources are vital, connecting residents to their physical surroundings and defining the city’s unique character and identity. However, Evanston’s living heritage is largely underrepresented and vulnerable to threats such as inappropriate changes, increased rental structures, changes in the market economy, and related development pressures.“
Businesses seeking legacy recognition will nominate themselves to the city, and once approved, will be placed on an online registry and receive a plaque for the location. City staff are creating a request for proposals for artists and web designers to design the plaque and create a website and tentatively plan to submit it on Sept. 22.
The program provides support and assistance to businesses to stay open and successful. Planned areas of support include physical renovation and repair of special features, assistance with marketing and strategic planning, and rent stabilization and lease renegotiation support between businesses and landlords.
Sterling said negotiating long-term leases will be especially important.
“Many of these businesses don’t have long-term leases, so we try to negotiate a 20-year lease with a stable rent structure for the business,” Sterling said. “There’s the normal stress of running a day-to-day business, but there’s also the constant worry of, ‘Is my building going to be torn down for something else, or is my rent going to go up every two years after the lease changes.'” And it’s all very stressful.
The task force first identified 31 long-term businesses through its own research as pilot candidates and has now compiled a list of nearly 200 businesses and nonprofits submitted by community members. Through the Google form.
Businesses on both lists vary by location in Evanston, whether they offer goods or services, and whether or not they have a public storefront. Sixty-seven lived for at least 50 years, and 13 lived a century or more.
The task force’s next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 29, at 4 p.m. in the Civic Center, room 2402. The owners of the 31 businesses on the original list are invited to attend and, in Sterling’s words, “serve as a steering committee in a way” for the task force to move forward.
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