124 Business View Magazine - June 2016
and attracted over 2,100 students and other partici-
pants to help match students with local internships
and educate them about careers in engineering and
CAD (Computer Assisted Design) and all the other
curriculums,” Frank says. In addition, the Village also
worked with the local Harper Community College to
help it re-start a dormant manufacturing certificate
program so that high school students could work their
internships while also getting the necessary college
certificates that would help further their careers.
While the Village is investing in the area’s next genera-
tion of skilled factory and manufacturing workers, it is
also continuing to invest in its infrastructure - some-
times using its own funds, sometimes leveraging other
public monies, and sometimes partnering with the
private sector. “Right now, we’ve got some major in-
frastructure projects in partnership with the State of
Illinois,” says Frank. “Schaumburg is conveniently lo-
cated near three expressways so we’ve got two toll-way
interchange projects going on to the tune of roughly
$50 million of local investment to make that happen
on the Village’s behalf. That will open up access for
employers and residents. It’s a huge boost to our com-
munity to have these new access points into Schaum-
burg.”
The Village, itself, is investing $5 million into the ex-
pressway to O’Hare International Airport, and Frank
reports that, this year, it will set aside nearly $40 mil-
lion from its capital improvement funds for its streets,
bike paths, green initiatives, and other municipal proj-
ects. “We go after grants to help pay for a lot of these
through the Surface Transportation Act, but generally,
we fund them through our capital improvement pro-
gram. We are fortunate that Schaumburg’s a diverse
community,” he explains. “We relied on our budget
and reserves and now we’re going at a healthy pace
