Oswego Mayor Talks New Businesses At State Of The Village Speech

OSWEGO, IL — Village President Troy Parlier delivered the annual 'State of the Village' address on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at Kendall 11 Goodrich Quality Theater. His speech was a relatively short one, during which he touched on topics like the Oswego's revenue streams, local tax levy rates, and the possibility of a cannabis dispensary coming to town. However, he devoted the greatest portion of his speaking time to new businesses coming to Oswego in the near future.

"I don't want to say too much, but we're going to be breaking some big news," Parlier told Patch the evening before the address.

That 'big news' was announcing the arrival of several new pubs and restaurants in the area, including the following:

• 113 Main, a restaurant located at - you guessed it - 113 Main Street. Parlier described it as a "high-end restaurant" that would feature an "eclectic, farm-to-table menu."
• The Dairy Barn, a fast food restaurant and ice creamery that is the successor to the much-loved and recently-closed Dairy Hut. It will be shaped like a barn and reportedly also feature a stage for live entertainment.
• RV's Home of the Hoagy, which is set to open sometime in March of this year. Parlier said the menu would feature craft beer and lots of unique hoagy sandwich options. There was previously an RV's location in Aurora that has since been shuttered.
• The Washington Street Pub, a craft beer pub that is slated to be the anchor bar and restaurant for the 'Reserve at Hudson Crossing' development.

In total, Parlier said 36 new businesses opened in Oswego since the last State of the Village address, reportedly bringing in 170 new jobs. Parlier has previously told Patch that one of his main priorities as mayor is to attract businesses to Oswego, so as to lower the tax burden on village residents.

To that end, Parlier also said that since the start of 2019, the village's general fund revenues have increased by five percent from 2018, while water rates have been reduced by four percent. The village's tax levy has also dropped by about one-and-a-half percent since last year.

Parlier also took a moment to thank members of the board who have helped him acclimate to his first term as village president, and to encourage community members to continue giving honest feedback to himself and the village board.

"I have been fueled by your outpouring of good will," Parlier said.

To view the full address, including Parlier's comments on the possibility of a Metra station coming to Oswego, the entertainment venue he would like to construct adjacent to that possible station, and his thoughts on an Oswego cannabis dispensary, please follow this link to the Village of Oswego Facebook page.

The State of the Village address that Oswego mayors have been doing "for about nine or ten years," Oswego Chamber of Commerce President Angie Hibben said. Every year, the Chamber helps organize and host the event. This was Mayor Parlier's first time to deliver an address himself.

The venue chosen for the address, the Goodrich Kendall 11 Theater, recently came under scrutiny when it came to light that Goodrich Theater owner Bob Goodrich fired all of his youngest workers without much explanation. When asked why the Chamber organized the address to take place at a venue that has proven hostile to some young Oswego residents and their employment, Hibben declined to comment.

"I'm not going to comment on that because I don't know all the details," she said.

Hibben also said that while the Chamber of Commerce has a code of conduct it expects member businesses to abide, she did not have a comment on Bob Goodrich's terminations.

"That's a corporate decision," she said.