The Berwyn Development Corporation showed a new public dashboard intended to increase transparency for the city’s Finish Line Grant program and economic-development activity.

Anna, who joined the BDC in June, demonstrated the dashboard and said the Finish Line Grant offers businesses up to $50,000 to support interior and exterior infrastructure improvements. "Businesses have a chance to get up to, $50,000 in, funding to help with infrastructure improvements," she said, and showed the dashboard’s filters by district and year to help applicants identify comparable projects.

Dave told the council the BDC had received a $250,000 Cook County grant for the Art-in-the-Park project at 6209 Roosevelt, which is expected to open in the spring, weather permitting. Anna said the program has only had three applications rescinded since 2019 (all for missed deadlines) and that, across completed projects, the BDC has spent "almost $2,000,000" in enhancement projects.

Anna said the dashboard will allow residents and businesses to see active and completed projects, the amount allocated per project and how to apply. Staff also said they will add reporting for waivers in the dashboard and include finish-line grant dollars that flow through the TIF program in the annual report.

The dashboard demonstration was received positively by council members, who asked about outreach and benchmarking; staff said most referrals come from participating businesses and aldermen and encouraged council to promote the program in their districts.

Next steps: staff will continue to refine the dashboard, add waiver reporting and provide council with any adjustments to outreach and application support.