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The following recaps the welcome message delivered by Mayor Irvana
Wilks at the Village of Mount Prospect October 19, 2006 -- First Annual
Business Breakfast:
"Introductions – Welcome to all of you. We are glad you have joined us at
this First Annual Business Breakfast.
One of my jobs as mayor of the Village of Mount Prospect is to understand
the economic dynamics that impact us as a community. Last year when we began
these business visits, it allowed me first-hand knowledge about some of the
issues facing our local companies, our retail stores, restaurants or other
commercial activities.
I appreciate all the business people who opened their doors to our teams of
interviewers. We are very fortunate to have dedicated members of the
Economic Development Commission spearhead these efforts. As today’s program
continues, you will learn more about the teams and the survey instrument we
used. Please accept my thanks to all of you who participated in the
interviews, and to all who helped put on this business breakfast.
Each day I am reminded of how great it is to have been born in the United
States of America. And I feel particularly fortunate that my family and I
live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. We can tap into the vitality of
being next to a major City, but live and work in the wonderful community of
Mount Prospect.
Recently I came upon some statistics assembled by the Council for the New
American City and given to the United States Conference of Mayors. With
respect to the Gross Metropolitan Product of Metro Areas, the Chicago area
ranks third, behind New York at number 1, and Los Angeles at number 2.
In 2004 they calculated the Gross Metropolitan Product for our area at
$392.6 Billion. Out of 361 metro areas in the US, we are third. The Gross
Product of the United States was over $11 Trillion. During the last few
years over 87% of the US economic growth was generated in metropolitan
areas. It is this metro economy that is driving re-development in Mount
Prospect.
That is why it is so critical that we in government try to understand what
drives business people to make the decisions they make. We hope this
breakfast serves as an acknowledgement that we appreciate your hard work on
all of our behalves."
To see a summary of the Business
Visitation Program Survey results, click here.
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