Arlington Heights Cements Small Business Development Agreement

The village board approved an agreement Monday that creates an official relationship with the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce in an effort to support local business. 

"After several months of work, we will now be able to move the business community in Arlington Heights forward," said Mayor Tom Hayes, who came up with the concept. 

The agreement, which will be effective on August 1, binds the village and the chamber of commerce together in an effort to ensure local business issues and concerns are addressed. 

The chamber of commerce will be responsible for ten visits per month to small businesses in town that have eight or less employees and are in a 2,000 square foot or less space.

Hayes did say that those parameters are starting points, and businesses that don't fall exactly within them could still receive benefit from the program. 

The goal, according to Mayor Hayes, is to gauge issues that affect small business which could possibly lead to policy changes in the village, depending on information gleaned from the business visits.

At a minimum, issues facing individual businesses will be addressed in an effort to solidify their existence in the village. 

"I see a number of benefits, we will be working for retention of small business by addressing issues and concerns small business owners may have and work directly with them," Hayes said. 

Hayes said there are 462 small businesses in Arlington Heights currently that fall within the set employee numbers and square footage set forth in the approved agreement.