Municipality Takes Proactive Approach to Supporting Businesses During Pandemic

Red Caffeine recently worked with Elk Grove Village’s economic development team to launch a new website designed to connect businesses with each other and with local, state, and national resources to help their businesses respond to and recover during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

When the coronavirus pandemic triggered shelter-in-place orders in the state of Illinois, the Elk Grove Village economic development team took immediate action to make sure the many essential businesses operating in the Elk Grove industrial park – the largest in North America – were well supported. Within days of the initial shelter-in-place order, Village leadership started collecting critical data on the manufacturing and logistics capabilities of its local businesses to identify opportunities to support the pandemic response effort. Not only were many manufacturers already producing components that are used in ventilators, medical testing equipment, hospital beds and more, but several were also shifting production to manufacture personal protective equipment and other needed items. Red Caffeine worked with the Village to create a robust survey to systematize the data collection and communication with businesses.

As more feedback came in, many businesses expressed a need to connect with other manufacturers and suppliers on a variety of topics. Business leaders not only wanted to source and partner locally on manufacturing needs, but also connect with local experts for cleaning and sanitation services, financial and legal guidance, and workforce support. Red Caffeine and the Village economic development team worked quickly to develop and launch a business resource website featuring a searchable directory of local manufacturers and service providers, an interactive message board for business leaders to connect and collaborate remotely, and links to local, state, and federal resources to support businesses financially and operationally during the pandemic.

Key services included developing the site wireframes, user experience design, custom graphics, content development, web development, database setup and maintenance, custom feature development, and email and social marketing to support the site launch. Red Caffeine’s consulting team worked closely with a steering committee of business leaders to demo the site and solicit feedback to ensure the site was meeting the most pressing needs of the local business community.