Meeting Events

Meeting: tfv3ppjjude.committee_of_the_whole_4_13_2026

Meeting date: 2026-04-13

Meeting type: committee_of_the_whole

This is a deterministic derived artifact, not official meeting minutes. Related records may be grouped for review while complete machine provenance remains in the JSON artifact.

Decisions and Votes

• Approval of the agenda (Item number four) — Passed

  • Summary: A motion to approve the agenda was made and seconded.
  • Attribution: Alderman Shadle, Council Body
  • Evidence: “Item number four is the approval of the agenda. Is there such a motion? So moved. Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers.”
  • Evidence: “All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes.”
  • Source timestamp: 01:36

• Approval of the minutes from the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 9th, 2026 (Item five) — Passed

  • Summary: A motion to approve the minutes was made and seconded.
  • Attribution: Alderman Shadle, Council Body
  • Evidence: “Item five is approval from the minutes from the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 9th, 2026. Is there a motion to approve? Sommel. Second. Motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Johnson.”
  • Evidence: “All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes.”
  • Source timestamp: 01:53

• Adjournment Motion Vote

  • Summary: The vote on the motion to adjourn was taken.
  • Evidence: “All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed?”

Procedural Actions

• Calling meeting to order and taking roll call

  • Summary: The meeting was called to order, followed by a quorum check and the Pledge of Allegiance.
  • Attribution: Madam Clerk
  • Evidence: “So now we’ll officially call this meeting to order. Madam Clerk, would you please take the roll? Mayor Miller. Alderpersons, Klemm, Johnson, Simmons, Absent, Parker, Stacy, Shadle, Sanders, Sellers We have a quorum. And if you could please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Alderman Shadle.”
  • Source timestamp: 00:59

• Public comment status check

  • Summary: The chair confirmed no one had signed in for public comment.
  • Attribution: Chair
  • Evidence: “Madam Clerk, would you please note that at 6.05, Alderman Simmons has entered. And then item number seven is public comment. I don’t think anybody’s signed in, is there? No.”
  • Source timestamp: 07:36

• Adjournment Motion

  • Summary: A motion was made to adjourn the meeting after confirming no public comments were received.
  • Attribution: Council
  • Evidence: “Next, we will move on to item number nine, which is public comment. Is there any public comments this evening? Seeing none, I’ll entertain a motion to adjourn. So move. Second. Motion made by Alderman Seller, seconded by Alderman Shadle.”
  • Source timestamp: 26:44

Presentations and Reports

• Greater Freeport Partnership quarterly report overview

  • Summary: The Greater Freeport Partnership presented that the agenda would focus on economic development, national trends, workforce development, and solutions, in addition to covering initiatives from the quarterly report.
  • Attribution: Nicole
  • Evidence: “As Nicole passes around our quarterly report, you’ll see, as in every other previous quarterly report we’ve provided, it is outlined in our strategic focus areas that are outlined on the screen above. However, our agenda for this evening is going to be slightly altered, and we’re going to hit on some economic development, national trends, how that relates to workforce development and a path to solution, and then we’re going to highlight some of the initiatives that are covered in our quarterly report.”
  • Source timestamp: 08:26

• Greater Freeport Partnerships quarterly report overview

  • Summary: The agenda will cover economic development, national trends related to workforce development, a path to solution, and highlight initiatives from the quarterly report.
  • Evidence: “However, our agenda for this evening is going to be slightly altered, and we’re going to hit on some economic development, national trends, how that relates to workforce development and a path to solution, and then we’re going to highlight some of the initiatives that are covered in our quarterly report.”
  • Source timestamp: 08:59

• Partnership roles in talent retention and attraction

  • Summary: The partnership outlined four target areas: employer responsibilities, public partner responsibilities, educational/training alignment, and greenfield site development.
  • Evidence: “We outlined these four target areas. It’s hard to see on this screen, but the first one and the last one are Bolded. And those were what we focused on.”
  • Source timestamp: 13:43

• Economic development strategy and Opportunity Zone expansion

  • Summary: The committee discussed that while job growth is desired, attracting a major employer could harm the existing workforce pool; however, long-term economic development requires green field site development, for which environmental assessments are being conducted using a state of Illinois site readiness grant. The City’s investment in Well 12 opened new corridors for potential retail and industrial development.
  • Attribution: Tom
  • Evidence: “However, as we’ve already discussed, there are more jobs than people to fill them. And at this time, attraction of a major employer will cannibalize our existing workforce Force, and tightening our already shrinking pool of workers for our existing employers. However, long term, we know economic development strategy necessitates green field site development. To do that, in an effort to promote that, we will continue to do environmental assessments on key green field sites. We are doing this work through a site readiness grant that we procured from the state of Illinois. Also kudos to the City. Your key investment of Well 12 now opens up new corridors for potential retail and industrial development.”
  • Source timestamp: 16:10

• Opportunity Zone inclusion argument

  • Summary: The partnership has secured letters of support from local businesses and property owners to argue that all census tracts in the City of Freeport should be included in the Opportunity Zone, regardless of the Governor’s final decision.
  • Attribution: Tom
  • Evidence: “Additionally, part of our role as economic development professionals is advocating for our region to be included in any new program or zone that could be beneficial to our and the partnership has secured several letters of support from local businesses and property owners to demonstrate the economic potential if the Opportunity Zone were expanded into other eligible census tracts. Ultimately, the Governor will decide which tracks are added into the Opportunity Zone, but we will make a compelling argument that all census tracks in the City of Freeport should be included where there are opportunities for investment.”
  • Source timestamp: 16:49

• Hotel and conference center development needs

  • Summary: The speaker noted that while occupancy rates were lower in Q1, the area experiences ’leakage’ during peak tourism season (May through October) because hotels are full, meaning visitors stay outside of Freeport. The city only has 200 hotel rooms in its top three key hotels and desperately needs a conference center capable of fitting over 25 people.
  • Attribution: Nicole
  • Evidence: “What we notice is on key times here in Freeport, which houses all of the hotels within Stephenson County, we are losing hotel rooms to other places because ours are full… In our top three key hotels, We only have 200 hotel rooms in the city of Freeport… Leakage means that people are coming to this area for whatever it is that they’re drawn to the area for, family reunions, games, that kind of thing but they’re staying outside of our area because there are no hotel rooms. So on any given weekend between May and October, we are losing money because people have to stay elsewhere.”

• Sister City Program with Lidditz, Pennsylvania

  • Summary: The speaker shared information about Freeport’s sister city, Lidditz, Pennsylvania, which is home to the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in the country. A community liaison will take the key to the city to Lidditz this week as part of an exchange program.
  • Attribution: Tom
  • Evidence: “Also, I asked Tim to stay after we had done a photo with the mayor just as we were getting started, that Lidditz, Pennsylvania, our Pretzel sister city that was talked about here several months ago. And we are sharing a little bit of their fare. Lidditz, Pennsylvania is home to Tom Sturgis Pretzels, which is the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in the country and therefore makes it a really fantastic sister city for us.”
  • Source timestamp: 21:59

• Lidditz, Pennsylvania Sister City Program Details

  • Summary: The community liaison will take the key to the city to Lidditz, Pennsylvania, for an exchange program; Pretzel Fest was rescheduled from 2026 to 2027.
  • Attribution: Tom
  • Evidence: “Our community liaison, Tim Connors, is going to be taking the key to the city to Lidditz, Pennsylvania for this week and meet our fine folks in Lidditz because, well, now he’s the former mayor, but at the time, Mayor of Lidditz. Tom Snyder was here last September. So we’re doing a little bit of an exchange program, if you will. And Tim will be spreading all of the good news of Freeport to Lidditz, Pennsylvania. We do hope future partnership with Lidditz continues. Pretzel Fest didn’t work out for 2026. They’d already picked their date of May 2nd. We already had our date of April 25th. So we’re gonna try it again in 2027.”
  • Source timestamp: 22:28

• Freeport Pretzel Business Opportunities and Events

  • Summary: The speaker highlighted partnering with Tom Sturges Pretzels for local distribution, the new Freeport Pretzel Company specializing in soft pretzels, and an upcoming community event called the Great Pretzel Bite on April 25.
  • Attribution: Tom
  • Evidence: “But we look forward to continuing that as well and also one of the biggest hurdles to us really claiming the moniker of Pretzel City USA is the fact that we didn’t have any pretzels so now we’re very excited to partner with Tom Sturges Pretzels to begin distributing these pretzels right here in Freeport so great business opportunity for small businesses as we continue to push traffic for We have pretzels right here. We’re also really happy to have a new small business startup, the Freeport Pretzel Company that specializes in soft pretzels. Another great small business that we want to continue to see thrive that will be a part of our Pretzel Fest on April 25. Also similar to how we made the big pretzel in the Art Plaza last year, we’re doing another community engagement event on April 25. I hope you can all make it. It’s called the Great Pretzel Bite.”
  • Source timestamp: 23:05

• Community Guide Publication Details

  • Summary: The new tourism and business publication, titled Simply Stephenson County, features highlight stories on 100 years of historic Highway 20 and 100 years of Freeport High School.
  • Attribution: Tom
  • Evidence: “Lastly, our community guide should be arriving any day. It is newly titled, Simply Stephenson County. This is both our tourism and business publication. So we, tourism, one of the great things about our collaborative organization is when we talk about quality of life, there are a lot of people who live here who forget about the things that there are to do here. And then when you are visiting the area, sometimes you need to know where you can go get your car worked on or where you can look for other amenities because something happens in your life. So really having the tourism and the business publication together is beneficial to both audiences. This year’s publication features two new highlight stories because it is both 100 years of historic Highway 20 and also 100 years of Freeport High School.”
  • Source timestamp: 24:41

Metrics

• Current inflation rate

  • Summary: Inflation is at 3.3% as measured by the consumer price index.
  • Evidence: “Currently, inflation is at 3.3% as measured by the consumer price index.”
  • Source timestamp: 09:19

• Unemployment trend comparison (Jan 2026)

  • Summary: Unemployment in both Stephenson County and Freeport increased in January 2026, but unique job postings remained higher than the number of unemployed looking for work.
  • Evidence: “From January 2025 unemployment excuse me January 2026 unemployment in both Stephenson County and Freeport has increased. However consistently every We have had more unique job postings than we have had unemployed looking for work.”
  • Source timestamp: 09:44

• Top employment sectors

  • Summary: The top occupations seeking employees are clustered into health care, logistics, and manufacturing.
  • Evidence: “Also consistent are the top occupations looking for employees are clustered into health care, logistics, and manufacturing.”
  • Source timestamp: 10:29

• Job postings in March 2026

  • Summary: There were over 1,200 unique job postings in March 2026 from 318 employers.
  • Evidence: “We had over 1,200 unique job postings in March, 2026 by 318 employers of those jobs that were posted.”
  • Source timestamp: 10:51

• Median hourly wage (March 2026)

  • Summary: The median hourly wage was just over $32 per hour, equating to approximately a $67,000 annual salary.
  • Evidence: “The median hourly wage was just over $32 per hour, which approximately equates to a 66 almost $67,000 annual salary.”
  • Source timestamp: 10:51

• Median household income (Stephenson County)

  • Summary: The median household income for Stephenson County in early 2025 was $64,043.
  • Evidence: “Median household income for Stephenson County in early 2025, this is from the census, is at $64,043.”
  • Source timestamp: 11:11

• Per capita income (Stephenson County)

  • Summary: The per capita income for Stephenson County was $35,305.
  • Evidence: “Per capita income, so that’s per person, is at $35,305.”
  • Source timestamp: 11:11

• Key targets for workforce growth

  • Summary: Identified key targets include reducing industrial turnover, increasing the population cohort, increasing workforce training programs and apprenticeships, increasing housing units, and reducing commuter leakage by 10%.
  • Evidence: “So these are some key targets that were identified. Reducing the industrial turnover, increasing that population cohort, increasing workforce training programs and apprenticeships, working with our educational partners to do so, increasing housing units, working with our government partners to do so, and reducing that commuter leakage by 10%.”
  • Source timestamp: 13:43

Discussion

• Consumer spending and business sentiment

  • Summary: Due to high inflation and a plunge in consumer sentiment of 11% to its lowest point since World War II, consumers are expected to spend less, leading to hesitancy from businesses regarding jobs and unemployment.
  • Evidence: “So inflation is high, and while consumer sentiment has plunged 11% to the lowest point World War II, when there is uncertainty in the market, coupled with inflation and an increased cost of everyday goods, consumers will naturally spend less. There will be hesitancy from business and about jobs and unemployment here in Stephenson County and Freeport.”
  • Source timestamp: 09:28

• Workforce development necessity

  • Summary: Workforce development is key to business retention; without it, existing businesses will hesitate to invest or expand, potentially choosing to locate elsewhere.
  • Evidence: “The key to remember workforce development is a form of business retention. Without workforce, existing businesses were not able to grow or expand. We must do something different if we want a different result. We’ve not corrected existing employers will hesitate to make future investments and expand because they cannot meet their future workforce needs here or they will choose to go elsewhere.”
  • Source timestamp: 11:52

• Nature of the workforce imbalance

  • Summary: The current issue is identified as a structural workforce imbalance, not a temporary hiring cycle.
  • Evidence: “What we’re finding is this not a temporary hiring cycle. This is not a blip on the radar. This is a structural workforce imbalance.”
  • Source timestamp: 12:17

• Regional workforce alignment issue

  • Summary: The problem requires addressing housing needs, childcare, transportation, and quality of life concurrently, as these issues are mutually reinforcing.
  • Evidence: “All parties hold part of the solution. We know that workforce talent retention and recruitment is complex works. Besides jobs, people have housing needs, child care needs, transportation, quality of life. All these problems and solutions are mutually reinforcing and need to be worked on concurrently.”
  • Source timestamp: 12:38

• Regional economic goal

  • Summary: The shared regional goal is to stabilize and grow the prime workforce cohort aged 25 to 44.
  • Evidence: “So we have a shared regional goal to stabilize and grow the prime workforce ages in that cohort of 25 to 44.”
  • Source timestamp: 13:33

Proclamations and Recognitions

• National Week of the Young Child (April 11th through the 18th, 2026)

  • Summary: Mayor Miller declared April 11th through the 18th, 2026 as National Week of the Young Child in Freeport.
  • Attribution: Mayor Miller
  • Evidence: “Miller, Mayor of Freeport hereby declare April 11th through the 18th, 2026 as National Week of the Young Child in Freeport and encourage all of our citizens to work to make a good”
  • Source timestamp: 03:44

• National Travel and Tourism Week (May 3rd through the 9th, 2026)

  • Summary: Mayor Jodi Miller declared May 3rd through the 9th, 2026 as National Travel and Tourism Week in the city of Freeport.
  • Attribution: Jodi Miller
  • Evidence: “So now, therefore, I, Jodi Miller, mayor of the city of Freeport, hereby declare May 3rd through the 9th, 2026 as National Travel and Tourism Week in the city of Freeport and urge our residents to join in recognizing the essential role this industry plays in our economy.”
  • Source timestamp: 07:20

Follow-ups

• Dashboard creation for HR representatives

  • Summary: The partnership will create a dashboard to gather feedback from HR representatives regarding employee pool, attrition, onboarding, and retention/attraction barriers.
  • Evidence: “So we’re going to create a dashboard and get feedback from our HR representatives to understand their employee pool, attrition, onboarding, and other barriers to retention and attraction.”
  • Source timestamp: 13:43

• Marketing job opportunities to graduates

  • Summary: The partnership will work with area school districts to directly connect with seniors to market job opportunities for those graduating within the month or next month.
  • Evidence: “We will work with area school districts to connect directly with seniors to market job opportunities to those individuals who are graduating within the month or next month.”
  • Source timestamp: 15:22

• Marketing career pathways to younger students

  • Summary: The partnership will continue marketing career pathways to underclassmen and upper elementary and middle schoolers.
  • Evidence: “And we will continue to market career pathways to underclassmen and to upper elementary and middle schoolers to understand what opportunities are here within the community.”
  • Source timestamp: 15:39

• Environmental assessments for greenfield sites

  • Summary: The group will continue conducting environmental assessments on key green field sites to promote future development.
  • Evidence: “However, long term, we know economic development strategy necessitates green field site development. To do that, in an effort to promote that, we will continue to do environmental assessments on key green field sites.”
  • Source timestamp: 16:26