ThinkMcHenry launched to bring business to McHenry: ‘It is the calls that we don’t get that are important’

Companies considering McHenry as a location to open, relocate or expand their business now have a more convenient way to find the information needed for those decisions, city officials said.

A new microsite, thinkmchenry.com, was launched last week, McHenry Director of Economic Development Doug Martin said.

Anyone clicking on the “Welcome Business” tab on the cityofmchenry.org website is automatically taken to the new site.

Martin and Economic Development Coordinator Dorothy Wolf began talking about the project awhile back and included $15,000 in this year’s budget to fully develop it, Martin said.

“We wanted to remain competitive with other communities, stay fresh, and have a laser focus on economic development by developing a brand and a microsite,” Martin said.

The site’s main goal “is to have all the information right at their hands or at their fingertips,” he said.

Visitors to the website can see a listing of all available properties, including shopping center sites, property available for redevelopment, commercial space, industrial and business park office space and vacant land.

Those listings, viewable on a map, include details on the properties and a contact number for the listing agent.

Another page shows ongoing and approved projects in the city.

Microsites such as ThinkMcHenry are becoming more common and are a change in how communities present themselves to potential new businesses, McHenry County Economic Development Corporation President Jim McConoughey said.

“People can post pictures of the sites, the location, site layouts, zoning plats, pictures from drones. You don’t have to drive around to see the available land choices. It is way different than it was 10 years ago,” McConoughey said.

What used to be a “windshield tour” in a vehicle is now “90% done through the internet,” he said.

Martin agreed, noting that developers and business owners expect to go to the website for complete information before they make a phone call. “It is the calls that we don’t get that are important,” Martin said, meaning the people who moved on because they didn’t find what they wanted online.

Included on the new website is information businesses request the most, Martin said, including what the sites available for development are, what business assistance the city offers, what grants and incentive programs are available and whether the city has a tax increment financing, or TIF, district.

Another service on the site is the Talent Tools page to help local businesses recruit employees.

“It is a section where a company can fill out a form with a job they want to advertise and want us to put it on our social media platforms” to publicize locally, Martin said.

Plans are to update the site as needed, Martin said. “We want to make sure we keep everything fresh and up do date with what is going on.”

Martin and Wolf are in the process of disseminating information about the website to area businesses, updating the available sites listed on the page and rolling it out via social media and other business-related sites.

The website is just one tool for getting information out about potential development, Martin added. He or Wolf also attend conferences designed to draw in those businesses, including one this fall at Navy Pier and a national conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“That is where you can go to interact with retailers, developers, brokers, property owners, and sell your community,” Martin said.