Journal & Topics Media Group

Elk Grove Village Formally Awards $315,000 Marketing Contract

$100K To 4Front, $100K To U.S. Olympic-Bound Team, $115K For Unrelated Ad Buys, TV Commercial Production


New Elk Grove Village, Makers Wanted, “Sponsoring the American Dream” logo. (Image provided)

Elk Grove Village trustees awarded a $315,000 marketing contract to 4Front at Tuesday’s village board meeting both to sponsor an Olympic-bound U.S. team and for general television commercials marketing the village’s business park.

The contract includes a $100,000 fee to 4Front, $100,000 for the sponsorship of a U.S. sports team heading to the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, and $115,000 for the purchase of air time and production of television commercials, separate from the sports team sponsorship.

Late last month, in anticipation of the contract award, 4Front began soliciting requests for proposals (RFP) from U.S. sports governing bodies for the “Elk Grove Village, Makers Wanted, Sponsoring The American Dream” $100,000 sponsorship award.

Mayor Craig Johnson said 4Front has already been contacted by the U.S. governing bodies for wrestling, fencing, track and field, and judo. 

Johnson, a former Elk Grove High School wrestling coach, said, “Wrestling does not have a leg up (on other sports).” 

At Tuesday’s village board meeting, Johnson said media coverage of the sponsorship has spread from the U.S. to major news outlets in India and China. 

Videos are due to 4Front by Thursday, July 16. That night a special public village board meeting will be held in which videos would be viewed by village trustees. Members of the public, watching the meeting in person at village hall or through the broadcast of the meeting on EGTV Channel 6 or through the village’s website, would be able to see the video presentations made by each sport’s governing body. 

Johnson said no vote would be made at the July 16 meeting. He said trustees would be given a chance to consider and review videos again and further consider their choice. He said a winner would be announced the following week.

No meeting is scheduled to take a vote on selecting the team the village would sponsor. Under normal circumstances, any action item taken by the village board would have to take place at a scheduled open village board meeting, with an agenda posted 48 hours in advance, under rules spelled out in the Illinois Open Meetings Act, but Gov. JB Pritzker made exemptions to the Illinois Open Meetings Act when issuing orders to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, which include allowing mayors and village managers to take certain actions without the need for a formal vote in a public meeting.

Judges issued rulings last week in two conflicting court decisions in separate lawsuits challenging the governor’s emergency COVID-19 orders, which both struck down and upheld parts of those orders.

Johnson said he has received no guidance from the state that anything has changed regarding the governor’s emergency orders.

Last year, the Brennan Investment Group broke ground on the 1.2 million square foot Elk Grove Technology Park. Tuesday, Johnson said the technology park is now 78% filled.

To help keep the business and technology parks filled, the village has engaged in sports marketing campaigns with the Chicago Cubs and ESPN college bowl games since 2013.

Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson (left) and ESPN broadcaster Adam Amin (right) with the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl trophy and commemorative helmet at the October 2019 Made In Elk Grove Expo at Elk Grove High School. (Tom Robb/Journal photo)

Support local news by subscribing to the Journal & Topics in print or online.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.