Riverside’s economic development commission wants to connect local business owners with village officials and staff through a series of coffee chats.
“One of the ideas that one of the commissioners surfaced was the idea of having a regularly scheduled coffee session with the business community where we could gather around a table and talk about issues and topics that are relevant and important to the business community,” said Larry Forssberg, the chair of the commission. “At the same time, [we could] have a representative not only from the EDC but from the village board and village staff.”
The chats would allow residents and business owners a chance to speak directly with the local officials who shape Riverside’s economic policies, he said.
“[It’s] a first-hand opportunity for everyone to hear what are the optics of importance, what is it that we need to work on or focus on as a community,” Forssberg added. “We thought this would be a great opportunity to bring the business community together, because that’s not something that we’ve done on an ongoing basis.”
He noted that Riverside has its Chamber of Commerce, which brings member business owners together for meetings every few months.
Arrick Pelton, who is the president of the Chamber, “serves on the EDC and serves as the voice of the Chamber at our commission meetings,” Forssberg said. “That’s a wonderful thing, but we thought we would take this to another level by inviting all the businesses and the community to participate.”
He said the commission — which consists of himself, Pelton, Peter Boutsikakis, Sara Burcheri, Paul MacNerland, Perry Montgomery and Tom Orgler — hopes to finalize the details of the program at their upcoming meeting in May, with plans to host the first coffee chat in June.
“We don’t want to let this idea slip away, but we want to make sure we do it right the first time and build a foundation that we could rest upon for many years to come,” he said.
For those unfamiliar, the EDC is an advisory group that meets every other month to discuss matters related to retail businesses, commercial development and sales tax revenue in Riverside.
“The village board will send us issues or topics that are going on, that they’re looking for some feedback on, and we provide that feedback. We have a diverse group of commissioners,” Forssberg said. “Our focus is basically on business recruitment and retention for the community and making sure that momentum for the local business community is continuing to trend upwards.”
Forssberg has been a member of the commission since 2020, he said, when then-Village President Joe Ballerine tapped him to fill a vacant seat.
“COVID was shutting everything down, and there were massive concerns about how small businesses were going to survive, especially restaurants. I have experience in economic development through my work, so I thought I should share my knowledge and expertise,” he said. “[Ballerine] asked me if I would volunteer, and that’s how I got involved. I thought it was a good fit.”
Later on, he became the chair of the group when the previous chair had to step away due to personal circumstances, he added.
“It was hard to deny that,” he said. “It was a natural transition to step up to that role, but we have a lot of talented people on the EDC. Any one of them could step into the role as chair and do a great job. They’re all very committed.”
