Employers in Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Mt. Prospect, Palatine, and Rolling Meadows to attend May 18 briefing to learn about Charter One Workforce Housing Initiative
(Chicago)
… The communities along
the north branch of interstate 90 have become a regional job mecca – but,
meanwhile, a shortage of homes and apartments affordable to many workers is
threatening economic development, hurting local employers, and forcing workers
to make long commutes from more affordably priced communities.
To spotlight creative solutions to the workforce housing shortage in the
northwest suburbs, the mayors of Arlington Heights, Buffalo
Grove,
Mt. Prospect, Palatine, and Rolling Meadows will
host an exclusive briefing for local employers and members of the media on
the Charter One Workforce Housing Initiative on Friday, May 18, 2007, 8:30 to
10:30 a.m., at the Arlington Park
Racecourse, 2200
W. Euclid
Ave., Arlington Heights, Ill. The Metropolitan
Planning Council (MPC) will present new data on the mismatch between the supply
of and demand for workforce housing in these five towns.
Through the Charter One Workforce Housing Initiative, a
first-of-its-kind, three-year effort sponsored by Charter One Bank
and administered by the nonprofit MPC along with Housing Opportunity Development Corporation
, employers in the five suburbs will learn how they can
tap new resources, adopt market-based strategies to provide more housing options
for local workers, and collaborate with local mayors to address their shared
concerns about the limited availability of homes affordable to working families. Another
goal is to expand locally proven models for addressing
the workforce housing shortage, such as employer-assisted housing, which since 2000 has helped
more than 1,000 workers from 60 companies in the
region –
including Allstate Corporation in Vernon Hills
– buy homes.
WHAT:
Kick-off event for the
Charter One Workforce Housing Initiative to increase the availability of homes
affordable to working families in the northwest suburbs
WHO:
- Elliott Hartstein, President, Village of Buffalo
Grove
- Arlene J. Mulder, Mayor, Village of Arlington Heights
- Rita L. Mullins, Mayor, Village of Palatine
- Kenneth A. Nelson, Mayor, City of Rolling Meadows
- Irvana K. Wilks, Mayor, Village of Mt. Prospect
- Scott C. Swanson, President & CEO, Charter One
Bank
- MarySue Barrett, President, Metropolitan Planning
Council
- Michelle Olson, Director, Community & Government Affairs, University
of Chicago
WHEN:
Friday, May 18, 2007
8:30
a.m.: Registration and Breakfast
9
to 10:30 a.m.:
Program
WHEN:
Arlington Park Racecourse, 2200 W. Euclid
Ave.,
Arlington
Heights,
Ill.
Attendance at this event is by invitation. Members of
the media are welcome and may request further information by contacting Mandy
Burrell, Metropolitan Planning Council communications associate, at 312.863.6018
or mburrell@metroplanning.org; or Mark Guess, Charter One Bank
assistant vice president, public relations manager, at 312.777.3479 or mark.w.guess@charteronebank.com.