State of the Village Goes All Business

Last year's State of the Village address included the announcement that Chinese President Hu Jintao would soon make a visit to Woodridge. 

No such high-profile announcements came out of Thursday's State of the Village. 

Instead of a State of the Village address, Mayor William F. Murphy's presentation was more of a State of the Village Business Community address. 

Each year, and the host the event. There were some changes made to this year's event -- the format was different and breakfast was served instead of lunch. 

But the most marked change was that the mayor's speech focused entirely on the village's business community. 

Murphy noted business highlights like the village creating a Woodridge restaurant guide and distributing an interactive guide to encourage local business employees to live in Woodridge. 

The mayor also touted the openings of Elevance Renewable Sciences and MicroSun Technologies and the cooperation of Seven Bridges and Internationale Center businesses in hosting events to draw in the community. 

Murphy also spoke of the opening of Edward Don's new headquarters in the Union Pointe Business Park and Englewood Distribution Company in the ProLogis Business Park. 

The village decided to make the event business-friendly since most of the audience were owners of local businesses, said Amy Melinder, CEO and president of the Woodridge Area Chamber of Commerce. 

The change came after a healthy business topic forum held last summer in which businesses requested increased communication with the village. 

To further accomplish that goal, village employees will begin visiting Woodridge businesses.

"To truly understand what you are facing on a daily basis requires face-to-face interaction," Murphy said. "We'll be knocking on doors to meet you in your environment...Woodridge wants to be your business partner and to get to you know your business better." 

Murphy also touched on the 75th Street widening and resurfacing project, set to begin in the spring. 

"The village is working closely with the county to make sure that businesses are informed of any updates and that disruptions are kept at a minimum," Murphy said. 

The village kicked off a silver anniversary recognition program for local businesses. See which businesses received recognition Thursday. 

You can read the full speech from Murphy at the village's website.