Oak Brook

Q. What signs of economic turnaround do you see in the communities your chamber serves?A. During the last quarter, many restaurants and retail stores along the east-west corridor and in Oak Brook and Oakbrook Terrace have seen sales double compared to last year. Hotel occupancy in Oak Brook and Oakbrook Terrace also has increased, overall, and in some cases, significantly. New retail developments also are experiencing solid sales growth.Q. Please identify one project that is an example of that turnaround.A. Several new restaurants - Labriola Bakery and Jason's Deli - opened during the past two years and are now both packed for lunch and dinner every day. Labriola has been so successful it has added more dining space.Q. What type of new development will be most prevalent? Retail, residential, industrial, office or something else?A. While much more new development isn't likely for at least three to five years, due to the current market, Oak Brook and Oakbrook Terrace have both retail and office projects planned.Q. Do you agree that this will be a jobless recovery or are the suburbs more or less immune to that?A. There will be more jobs in the suburbs if communities strengthen their support of businesses. Working to bring more business into the county will mean more jobs for the suburbs during the recovery.Q. What is your chamber doing to best position its membership for the economic rebound? A. The chamber, the village of Oak Brook and the city of Oakbrook Terrace are all working closely together - through the Greater Oak Brook Economic Development Partnership - to recruit and retain businesses in these communities and to bring more large meetings and individual visitors here. These efforts will result in increased sales and services for the companies based here, including our large hospitality and retail businesses.Q. What is your community's single greatest asset or selling point to potential developers?A. Oak Brook and Oakbrook Terrace offer the best location for developers, in terms of access to a full range of major corporate markets and individual consumer retail markets.