On Thursday, January 20th, Mayor William F. Murphy presented the annual State of the Village address to a crowd gathered at Bobak’s Signature Room in the Seven Bridges development.  The presentation, entitled The Strength of Our Business Community, highlighted efforts made by the Village to support the business community, new developments and businesses in the Village, community events supported by Woodridge businesses, companies that have a longstanding history of operating in the Village, and future efforts targeted to continue collaboration with local businesses to ensure their success.

The presentation concluded with the recognition of six businesses that have been in Woodridge for over 25 years.  The businesses include Rosati’s Pizza, Village Barbers, Jewel Osco, Wilton, Swimmers Edge, and Paolucci Jewelers.  Thank you to the attendees and Woodridge Area Chamber of Commerce for holding the breakfast.  Click on the following links for a copy of the Mayor’s script and the presentation slides.

The Village of Woodridge and the ProLogis Foundation have up to five $1,000 awards for Woodridge High School Seniors attending college in the fall. The primary criteria for applicants are: Woodridge residency, good citizenship, leadership potential, community or campus involvement, and academic excellence. Scholarship applications are judged by a panel of educators selected by the Mayor of the Village of Woodridge. Applications and the scholarship brochure can be found in high school guidance offices, at the Woodridge Village Hall or online. Click here for the brochure and here for the application. Completed applications must be returned to the high school guidance office by February 24th. If you have any questions, please contact Leslie Davies at (630) 719-4706.

The Village recently held one of its semi-annual blood drives in collaboration with Heartland Blood Center. A total of 29 people generously volunteered to donate blood that will help those in need. Did you know that a single donation of blood can help save the lives of up to 3 people, and up to 4.5 million American lives are saved each year by blood transfusions? The event was made possible through the efforts of many Village staff that volunteered their time to support the event.

The Village of Woodridge has released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) seeking statements of qualifications from qualified developers/operators to own, develop, and operate an independent senior housing facility on the 3.4 acre Village-owned parcel located in the Janes Avenue neighborhood of the Village.

The Village is seeking statements of qualifications from developers/operators capable of:

• Developing an 80-120 unit independent living senior housing facility;
  
• Providing either affordable or market rate housing, or some combination thereof;
  
• Providing quality on-site services coordination and resident support;
  
• Integrating the development programmatically with existing services provided by the Woodridge Park District and Community Resource Center.

The submittal deadline is February 13, 2012 at 4:00 PM. 
 
For complete details on the RFQ, please visit the Village’s website at www.vil.woodridge.il.us/RFQSeniorHousing.aspx.

In an economy where the competition for grant money is significant, Woodridge staff members have been successful in obtaining approximately $1.76 Million in awarded funds.  The Village recently learned that funding from the Surface Transportation Program, Community Development Block Grants, Illinois Highway High Priority Projects Grant and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has been awarded to the Village, which will allow for the completion of several capital projects. 

In 2012, the following capital projects will take place:
• Resurfacing of Woodward Avenue from Boughton Road to the I-55 bridge
• Patching Internationale Parkway from Beaudin Boulevard to Woodward Avenue
• Traffic signal improvements and interconnect at the intersections of Janes Avenue & Plaza Drive and Janes Avenue & 71st Street
• Resurfacing of Forest Glen Parkway, (Woodridge to Larchwood), Apache Lane, Birchwood Parkway and Valley View Lane

Looking for somewhere to grab a bite to eat and shop local at the same time? Check out the new Woodridge Dining Guide to find a listing and location of all restaurants Woodridge. Visit the Shop Local page on the Village website at www.vil.woodridge.il.us/ShopLocal.aspx to view the new Dining Guide.
 
Why should you shop local?
• To keep sales tax dollars in the local economy.
• To create and maintain local jobs.
• To help save the environment.  
• To save money and time.

Did you know?
Woodridge has a lower sales tax rate than many of its surrounding communities! Paying less in sales tax means more money in your pocket!  Check out the Shop Local Shop Woodridge website today at www.ShopWoodridge.net for campaign updates. Don't forget to become like us on Facebook today www.facebook.com/ShopLocalShopWoodridge!

McShane Development, in partnership with Gallagher and Henry, recently broke ground on a business park located at the northeast corner of I-55 and I-355 in Woodridge.

Phase 1 of the Union Pointe Business Park will house the corporate headquarters and regional distribution operations for Edward Don & Company a national distributor of foodservice equipment and supplies.  It is anticipated that the Edward Don & Company, with approximately 400 employees, will move into the new facility in the summer of 2012.

The remaining 80 acres is available for development for office and warehouse uses.  According to Daniel Fogarty Jr., Vice President of McShane Development, this park presents a great opportunity in a region and an industry that has not seen many build-to-suit projects over the past few years.  “McShane Development looks forward to working with Woodridge on future development opportunities in a highly desirable location” said Fogarty.

The Village is proud to announce the availability of a dining guide for restaurants in Woodridge. The guide includes a helpful map, the restaurant's address, phone number, website address and price indicator. It also includes whether or not they provide a delivery service. Click here for a link to the guide and don't forget to bookmark it for easy access to all the restaurants Woodridge has to offer!

On October 13, 2011, the Village Board approved zoning requests by McShane Development and Orchard Hill Building Company (d/b/a Gallagher and Henry) to facilitate the development of approximately 80 acres of vacant land located northeast of I-355 and I-55 for an office and office/warehouse business park. The applicants received approval to move forward with construction of Phase 1 of the business park, which is currently underway. Phase 1 will include a 362,500 square foot office/warehouse facility, detention pond, berm, landscaping, lighting, and parking lot improvements. Also as part of Phase 1, the developers will be constructing a portion of an internal collector road which will be extended with future phases of the business park. This collector road is intended to serve vehicular and truck traffic generated by the business park and to redirect traffic off of Woodward Avenue. Restrictions will also be placed on semi-trucks using the development, requiring access to the collector road only, located south of Heritage Parkway and prohibiting use of Woodward Avenue north of Heritage Parkway to Boughton Road.

In the next few weeks, construction will begin on the south side of 75th Street east of Woodward Avenue at Village Greens Golf Course.  Du Page County will be expanding the existing retention pond and installing a main line storm sewer and outfall pipe in preparation for the 75th Street widening project that will begin in spring 2012.  No detours will be required for this stage of the project though some minor delays may be expected.  75th street will remain open to traffic at all times and businesses and residential properties will remain accessible at all times.

Elevance Renewable Sciences, a leader in transforming natural, renewable oils into high-performing specialty products and materials, recently moved its headquarters to Woodridge, Illinois, bringing over 70 jobs to the community.

“We are proud to welcome Elevance to Woodridge,” said Woodridge Mayor William Murphy. “Elevance is a fast growing company bringing good jobs to our community. The move positions Elevance in a business friendly and prosperous community with a prime location at the crossroads of two major interstates—I-355 and I-55.”

Located at 2501 Davey Road in the Prologis Park Internationale Centre Business Park, Elevance’s new headquarters occupies the majority of the 102,000 square foot building, and is home to 73 employees. The rapidly growing company expects to add several positions by year end and potentially expand their operations to the remainder of the building. 

This year’s Town Meeting held on October 6th looked quite a bit different than in previous years.  Participants attended an open house in an exhibition hall format.  Attendees went from table to table visiting the various Village departments, the Park District, the Library, Lemont Fire District, Darien-Woodridge Fire District, Lisle-Woodridge Fire District, High School District 99, Center Cass School District 66, and Woodridge School District 68.  The event was held at Bobak’s Signature Events in Seven Bridges.  The open house featured exhibits and opportunities for attendees to interact with the various agencies, ask questions, and learn more about programs and services.  Families were encouraged to attend and kids’ activity tables were available, with toys provided by the Park District.  Attendees could come and go as they pleased during the open house which was held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  Click here for more.

The Village hosted residents and business owners at a topic forum discussion held at Jefferson Junior High August 23rd.  Participants had the opportunity to hear a brief presentation on the Woodridge business community and then were asked to discuss three key questions.  The questions were: what does a healthy business community mean to you, where are the areas where a healthy business community in Woodridge exists, and what is the Village's role in building a healthy business community. 

The related discussions touched upon a desire to keep mall vacancies down and an environment that encourages retailers to work together to promote their businesses.  The Woodgrove Shopping Center and Seven Bridges were cited as two examples of areas where there is a healthy business community.  Additionally, the participants discussed the Village's role and stated that business recruitment, creating a business-friendly environment, supporting promotional efforts, and additional steps are needed in supporting the business community. Individuals are invited to continue on in the conversation on the Village's Facebook page.  There, visitors can post their thoughts on the questions.  An mp3 audio recording of the night’s discussion can be listened to by clicking on the links below.

Topic Forum Audio
Click here for a recording of the night’s presentation.
Click here for a recording of the discussion overview and questions.

Navistar, Inc. recently unveiled a new 70,000 square foot product support center in Woodridge.  The center includes a large office area, three classrooms, a photo and video studio, computer lab, a tool development and fabrication shop and 50,000 square feet of hands-on training space for dealer and fleet technicians.  The center is home to 80 employees who work in training, entry-level technician recruitment, standard repair time development, publications, special tools/diagnostics development and vehicle component system subject matter experts.  We are proud to have Navistar as a corporate citizen in Woodridge,” said Woodridge Mayor William Murphy. “Navistar is a prestigious global company that is bringing good jobs to our community.”  Click here to see a copy of Navistar’s press release.

On July 19, 2011 the Village of Woodridge held a Topic Forum on Public Safety and Drug/Gang Suppression.  The topic was selected through a survey of the Woodridge community regarding topics that they wanted to hear more about.  Approximately 400 people responded to the survey.  The Public Safety Topic Forum took place at Jefferson Junior High School and included a dialogue between attendees, Police Officers, and other Village employees.

Many interested people attended to learn more about the topic and what they could do about it.  Some of the topics included calling 911 whenever a Police Officer’s presence is requested or when something of concern is seen or experienced (no matter how big or small), and what things make residents feel safe and unsafe in Woodridge.  Attendees were also asked what additional information they may need about the topic, so that this information can be provided.  Click here for more.