BOARD MEMBERS: PRESIDENT: MARK WILLIAMS Economic Development Manager City of Rockford IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT CRAIG COIL President/COO The Development Consortium, Inc. VICE-PRESIDENT: MIKE VAN MILL Village Administrator Village of Bourbonnais SECRETARY: NORA FESCO Executive Director North Central IL Council of Governments TREASURER: CATHY SCHLUCKEBIER Community Development Planner City of Quincy MEMBERSHIP BUSINESS: BETTY STEINERT Enterprise Zone Administrator Whiteside/Carroll County EZ Jo/Carroll EZ MEMBERSHIP ADMINISTRATORS: EMILY J. MCCONVILLE Mendota City Clerk & Enterprise Zone Administrator DCEO LIAISON: BEN WILSON Economic Development Director Village of Matteson LEGISLATIVE: JOHN THOMPSON President/CEO/ Zone Administrator Lee County EZ Administrative Office Lee County Industrial Development Dixon Chamber of Commerce & Industry MARKETING/NEWSLETTER: ERIC SCHAUSTER Assistant Director of Economic Development, Planning & Zoning City of Belleville

NEW ZONES TO BE CERTIFIED

“THE ZONE” IEZA NEWSLETTER 2015 , VOLUME 2

At the IEZA Fall Conference in Rockford, DCEO Director Jim Schultz

announced that the 49 new Enterprise Zones, approved by the Governor-

appointed Enterprise Zone Board in August, would be certified by DCEO by the

end of 2015. Once certified, the new zones will take effect on January 1, 2016.

Applications for the next round of new zones are due by December 31st.

New Enterprise Zones Approved By Enterprise Zone Board:

Congratulations to all of the newly approved zones!

Alexander/Pulaski Bedford Park Belleville Bensenville Boone County Cal Sag Canton Fulton County Champaign City/County Chicago I Chicago II Chicago III Chicago IV Chicago V Cicero Clinton County Danville Decatur/Macon County DeKalb County Des Plaines River Valley Diamond Edgar County/Paris Fairmont City/Caseyville Fairview Heights Franklin Park Galesburg Harvard/Woodstock Hodgkins/McCook Kankakee County Kankakee River Valley Loves Park/Machesney Park Macomb/Bushnell

Madison County Discovery Monmouth Warren County Mt. Carmel/Wabash County Mt. Vernon/Waltonville Nashville/Washington County Northern Tazewell County Ottawa Area Peoria Urban Quincy/Adams Riverbend Rockford EZ 1 Rockford I-90 Southern Tazewell SW Madison County Springfield/Sangamon County Streator Area Urbana/Champaign County

Will-Cook County

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

“THE ZONE” IEZA NEWSLETTER 2015 , VOLUME 2

It’s been an honor to serve as President of the

Illinois Enterprise Zone Association (IEZA) for

the past two years. I look forward to staying

active on the board as Immediate Past President

and will work with our new President Mike Van

Mill through the transition period starting

January 1, 2016.

Our association is in a good position going forward. I’m confident to

say that we have the best relationship with DCEO that I’ve witnessed in

the past twenty-five years. This is extremely important as we zone

administrators continue to improve our accounting and communication

methodologies in order to collectively gain and maintain the support of

the Illinois Enterprise Zone Program. We are in good financial position

to commission an independent cost benefits study to demonstrate the

effectiveness of the program. We have the ability to share in the cost of

a Zone Administrator’s Manual which will help ensure there is

consistent administration with the new zones being created. We have

seasoned professional members that can offer input on policy

recommendations to make the Enterprise Zone program better and

stronger competitively. Our membership level has continued to increase

to its highest level.

I want to thank all the IEZA Board members for their support and

leadership they’ve provided me. Without their “volunteer commitment”

and “personal support,” I’m not sure I could have made it this past year.

I wish you ALL THE BEST, this holiday season and to ROCK in the

New Year!

-Mark Williams, IEZA President

2

NEW ZONES TO BE CERTIFIED

At the IEZA Fall Conference in

Rockford, DCEO Director Jim Schultz

announced that the 49 new Enterprise

Zones, approved by the Governor-

appointed Enterprise Zone Board in August, would be certified by DCEO by the

end of 2015. Once certified, the new zones will take effect on January 1, 2016.

Applications for the next round of new zones are due by December 31st.

New Enterprise Zones to be certified by DCEO:

Congratulations to all of the newly approved zones!

Alexander/Pulaski Bedford Park Belleville Bensenville Boone County Cal Sag Canton Fulton County Champaign City/County Chicago I Chicago II Chicago III Chicago IV Chicago V Cicero Clinton County Danville Decatur/Macon County DeKalb County Des Plaines River Valley Diamond Edgar County/Paris Fairmont City/Caseyville Fairview Heights Franklin Park Galesburg Harvard/Woodstock Hodgkins/McCook Kankakee County Kankakee River Valley Loves Park/Machesney Park

Macomb/Bushnell Madison County Discovery Monmouth Warren County Mt. Carmel/Wabash County Mt. Vernon/Waltonville Nashville/Washington County Northern Tazewell County Ottawa Area Peoria Urban Quincy/Adams Riverbend Rockford EZ 1 Rockford I-90 Southern Tazewell SW Madison County Springfield/Sangamon County Streator Area Urbana/Champaign County

Will-Cook County

In This Issue:

2. New Zones

3. BMEC Reporting

3. IEZA Board

4. Fall Conference Review

5. Fall Conference Review

6. NIU Assistance

6. News & Notes

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Mark your calendars! The IEZA 2014 fall conference is set for October 1-3 at the Stoney Creek

Inn & Conference Center in East Peoria.

The conference will kick off with a welcome reception on Wednesday, October 1st and will conclude with an IEZA business meeting on Friday, October 3rd. Topics for the conference will include...

*Tax Abatement and School Aid: Panel Discussion

*Best Practices on Local Incentives:

Exemptions and Abatements *Marketing/Selling your Enterprise Zone

*Legal Grab Bag

*EZ Applications: Making the Process Easier

*Get to Know the IEZA *IDOR: Presentation on first report and

questions or concerns on reporting process.

*DCEO: Updated Application Process *IZEA Business Meeting

Topic are subject to change.

NEW IEZA BOARD

A new slate of IEZA Board officers and members was selected at the Fall Conference membership meeting. The terms of these board members will being January 1, 2016.

President: Mike Van Mill

Immediate Past President: C. Mark Williams

Vice President: Benjamin J. Wilson

Secretary: Nora Fesco

Treasurer: Cathy Schluckebier

Membership Co-Chair-Administrators: Betty J. Steinert

Membership Co-Chair-Business Membership: Teri Whitfield

DCEO Liaison: J. Craig Coil

Legislative: John R. Thompson

Marketing Co-Chair: Eric Schauster

Marketing Co-Chair: Ryan McCrady

Ex-Officio Member: Thomas R. Henderson

The IEZA Board would like to extend its deepest thanks to Emily McConville who is stepping down from the Board after many years of service. Thank you, Emily!

If you are interested in serving on the IEZA Board, please contact new Board President Mike Van Mill.

IEZA Calendar December 31: Application deadline for next round of new zones. May 18-20, 2016: IEZA Spring Conference , Springfield, IL.

BMEC REPORTING

Building Materials Exemption Certificate (BMEC) holders are responsible to report to the Illinois Department of Revenue within 60 days after completion of the project for which they hold the certificate. Be sure to follow up with certificate holders to ensure they are reporting in a timely manner. Reports can be filed on the Department of Revenue’s website . Certificate holders that fail to report may be barred from securing certificates for other enterprise zone projects.

The Enterprise Zone Act also states: “The Zone Administrator shall collect and aggregate the following information: (1) the estimated cost of each building project, broken down into labor and materials; and (2) within 60 days after the end of the project, the estimated cost of each building project, broken down into labor and materials.”

If a BMEC is misused, the holder will be assessed taxes and penalties on the un-qualified purchase(s) with additional penalties equal to state and local taxes. Holders of misused BMECs may also be barred from holding certificates for other projects.

4

Mark your calendars! The IEZA 2014 fall conference is set for October 1-3 at the Stoney Creek

Inn & Conference Center in East Peoria.

The conference will kick off with a welcome reception on Wednesday, October 1st and will conclude with an IEZA business meeting on Friday, October 3rd. Topics for the conference will include...

*Tax Abatement and School Aid: Panel Discussion

*Best Practices on Local Incentives:

Exemptions and Abatements *Marketing/Selling your Enterprise Zone

*Legal Grab Bag

*EZ Applications: Making the Process Easier

*Get to Know the IEZA *IDOR: Presentation on first report and

questions or concerns on reporting process.

*DCEO: Updated Application Process *IZEA Business Meeting

Topic are subject to change.

IEZA Fall Conference Review

The IEZA 2015 Fall Conference was held at the Rockford Holiday Inn on October 14-16. The more than 90 participants who attended the conference, the largest conference attendance in years, were treated to a wide variety of sessions.

The conference began with an EZ 101 session led by IEZA Board members. The session was attended by many representing recently approved new zones. The welcome reception gave attendees a chance to network and catch up from the Spring Conference.

The Honorable Mayor Lawrence J. Morrissey welcomed conference attendees to Rockford on day two and discussed many of the initiatives he has instituted. IEZA President Mark Williams then opened the IEZA membership meeting. The membership meeting saw the approval of a change to the IEZA By-Laws (see News & Notes on page 5.), and the election of new board members and officers.

Craig Coil led a discussion on trends in site selection. Following the discussion was an overview of the State budget and legislative incentives by Michael P. Cassidy fro McGuire Woods Consulting, LLC. Mr. Cassidy called for data collection to tell the story of Illinois enterprise zones to legislators, the public, and the media.

Architect Gary Anderson presented “The Evolution of a City: Rockford’s Transformation”, on the many projects that are part of the renaissance of downtown Rockford. One of these projects was discussed in detail by the next presenter, Brian Huels, with his case study of the Prairie Street Brewhouse.

Attendees then loaded on buses for a tour of numerous Rockford sites. The tour stopped for an in-depth tour of the Aviation Career Education Center at Rock Valley Community College. The final tour stop was the Prairie Street Brewhouse ,where DCEO Director Jim Schultz joined the attendees for dinner. It was there that Director Schultz announced that all 49 new zones that were approved in August will be certified by the end of 2015.

Day three welcomed State EZ Board Member Jovita Costenza, along with Heidi Brown-McCreery, Andrew Perkins, Marty Johnson, and Justin Heather from DCEO who discussed the EZ application process. The final session of the conference saw Sherrie Taylor and Norman Walzer of Northern Illinois

University (NIU) return to the IEZA conference to present on the NIU website enterprisezonesillinois.com that is available to generate data for new zone applications.

The Power Point presentations from the conference will soon be available on the IEZA website. Thanks to all who attended and presented at the fall conference. The 2016 Spring Conference will be held May 18-20 at the Abraham Lincoln in Springfield.

DCEO Director Jim Schultz addresses conference

attendees at the Prairie Street Brewhouse.

Craig Coil Presents at the EZ 101 Session.

5

Mark your calendars! The IEZA 2014 fall conference is set for October 1-3 at the Stoney Creek

Inn & Conference Center in East Peoria.

The conference will kick off with a welcome reception on Wednesday, October 1st and will conclude with an IEZA business meeting on Friday, October 3rd. Topics for the conference will include...

*Tax Abatement and School Aid: Panel Discussion

*Best Practices on Local Incentives:

Exemptions and Abatements *Marketing/Selling your Enterprise Zone

*Legal Grab Bag

*EZ Applications: Making the Process Easier

*Get to Know the IEZA *IDOR: Presentation on first report and

questions or concerns on reporting process.

*DCEO: Updated Application Process *IZEA Business Meeting

Topic are subject to change.

IEZA Fall Conference

Review

Incoming IEZA President Mike Van Mill recognizes

outgoing President Mark Williams for his service.

Participants tour the Aviation Career Education

Center at Rock Valley Community College.

Architect Gary Anderson leads a tour of the Prairie

Street Brewhouse.

IEZA Board President Mark Williams leads a bus

tour of Rockford.

Brian Huels presents a case study on the Prairie Street

Brewhouse.

Rockford Mayor Lawrence J. Morrissey welcomes

attendees to the host city.

6

The Center for Governmental Studies at Northern Illinois University (NIU) has created a new website to assist potential EZ applicants. Applicants can log-in and obtain data by identifying the Census Tract for their area or provide a shape file. Information related to Criterion 2, 7, 8, and 10 of the EZ application can be obtained from the website. The site also provides the eligibility criteria for the EZ applications, the EZ Act, administrative rules, a downloadable EZ application, sample ordinances, presentation materials, and much more. Please visit the NIU Center for Governmental Studies site at www.enterprisezonesillinois.com for more information. Applications for new zones can be submitted here.

*IEZA members unanimously approved a change in the organization’s by-laws at the fall conference. The change allows representatives from Illinois River’s Edge Communities to become non-voting members of the IEZA. If these non-voting members are duly elected member of the Board of Directors, they then receive voting privileges.

*IEZA President Elect Mike VanMill was recently named the Village Administrator for the Village of Bourbonnais. Mike previously served as Director/President of the Kankakee County Planning Department and the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County.

*Ben Wilson is the new Economic Development Director for the Village of Matteson. Ben spent the previous ten years with the North Central Illinois Council of Governments. Ben currently serves as Vice President Elect of the IEZA Board of Directors. The IEZA wishes Ben the best of luck in his new position.

*Be sure to check out the members-only IEZA page on LinkedIn. The page offers open discussion and postings among IEZA members on an array of topics. Feel free to participate or even start a discussion thread.

*Most of the items on the IEZA website will soon be for IEZA members-only. You will receive your user name and password soon.

*Please send any news and/or updates to Eric Schauster for inclusion in the IEZA newsletter.

News & Notes

NIU Website Offers Assistance for New EZ Applicants