Village Hopes to Attract Residents, Visitors with New Website

In hopes of attracting new residents and visitors to in the coming years, village officials are looking at ways to improve the town's "brand" through a new website and future advertising campaigns.

Lemont Trustee Paul Chialdikas, the village's economic development chair, first presented his ideas for a future marketing campaign during the village's Jan. 23 committee of the whole meeting.

The goal of the campaign, he said, is to "brand" Lemont and its assets to make it more attractive to young families living in Chicago who might be considering a move to the suburbs in the next four to five years.

On Wednesday, Chialdikas said the village recently allocated "a small amount" from the budget to hire a marketing consultant.

"We've never promoted our community through banner ads or anything like that, so the board felt it was important to start thinking about how we can start attracting new residents and visitors in the coming years," Chialdikas said.

Recently, the village hired the marketing and communications agency PlumThree to develop a new website that highlights the village's businesses, amenities and unique geography.

"Our current website is too sterile. It's packed with government and information that we have to post for our residents, but there's nothing that highlights the great things about our town," Chialdikas said. "We need something that's a little warmer and is geared toward people who don't live here."

PlumThree is is co-owned by Lemont resident Laura Swalec, who voluntarily created a mock-up website for the village when the marketing campaign was discussed earlier this year. She was hired this spring after the village sent out an RFP to several local agencies.

"PlumThree had the lowest bid, but also the best ideas," Chialdikas said.

Swalec's initial mock-up featured a concept called "iLiveLemont," which would highlight the village's iconic skyline of hills and churches, as well as some its most popular and beloved amenities. Featured on the mock-up site were golf courses, heritage, churches, shopping and restaurants.

She is currently working on a few different designs to present to the village in the coming weeks.

"The focus of this marketing plan, in my opinion, is to invest in community development," Swalec said. "If you look across the state, there are only a handful of towns that have done something like this, and they're really on the cutting edge. Lemont is no different; it's a hidden treasure with so many great things to offer. People should know why this town is great."

In January, Chialdikas said he liked the idea of "iLiveLemont" because it's easy to remember and it reinforces the town's strengths. It would also enable the village to promote itself across a number of mediums, including radio, print and the Internet, he said.

"The idea behind branding the community is that you can't do just one thing to brand it," he said. "You can't just say, 'Visit Lemont.' The website would be a living component of that."

Chialdikas, who owns in Lemont, said attracting new residents is vital for economic development. Although the village has faced budget constraints in recent years, he said he hopes the board will consider marketing opportunities in the future. 

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