Chamber & GEDC welcome public comment of draft Advancing Grundy plan

The Grundy County Economic Development Council (GEDC), the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce (Chamber), and community partners invite the community to comment on Advancing Grundy, a first-of-its-kind comprehensive economic development plan. Advancing Grundy provides a five-year vision and framework for countywide economic prosperity and resilience.

“It is exciting to reach this stage of the Grundy Resiliency Project. Our consultants, TIP Strategies, have dove into our community’s data and sought out real conversations with business and residential representatives.  The result is an action-oriented plan that will lead us to a diverse and thriving Grundy County,” said Nancy Norton, GEDC President & CEO.

The Chamber and GEDC contracted with the economic strategy firm TIP Strategies, Inc. (TIP) to complete the plan as phase two, the economic development roadmap, of the Grundy Resiliency Project. The project was funded by grant dollars awarded to the Chamber and GEDC by the US Economic Development Administration, as well as a match from the County. North Central Illinois Council of Governments (NCICG) is the grant administrator, and a steering committee composed of 12 local organizations has convened regularly to contribute additional strategic oversight and share ideas.

The project launched in Spring 2024, with the first phase focused on data review and industry analysis. The second phase of the project included individual and group conversations, business and resident surveys, and town halls to better understand the County’s economic opportunities. Both quantitative data and qualitative insights, combined with TIP’s extensive experience and understanding of best practices from other regions, have helped design the strategies. The resulting plan creates a roadmap for proactively shaping a prosperous future for the County.

The Advancing Grundy draft identifies dozens of actions for building a resilient economy across 10  strategic areas identified by the community as high impact areas.

“Advancing Grundy is truly a community-wide plan. The planning process was marked by extensive stakeholder engagement which has been critical in shaping the priorities and direction for the plan,” said Mishka Parkins, consultant at TIP Strategies and project manager for Advancing Grundy.

Public comment is encouraged on the document and open through December 13. Comments can be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to: Grundy Chamber, 909 Liberty St., Morris. Attention Christina Van Yperen. A printed copy of the Advancing Grundy draft is available upon request. Please refer to the page number or section heading when submitting a comment.

“Throughout the Grundy Resiliency Plan project public feedback has been imperative,” said Christina Van Yperen, Grundy Chamber President & CEO. “The community responded in number to our public surveys and town hall meetings. We ask you to again give us a little of your time to review the Advancing Grundy draft to ensure we are headed in the right direction from our community’s perspective.”

All comments will be reviewed and considered by the project steering committee, which will then revise the draft strategy before publishing the final document. The project steering committee will also oversee the implementation of Advancing Grundy.

For more information about Grundy Resiliency Project, to view project updates and data findings, and learn more about partners and collaborators visit resilientgrundy.com.