Amid Recession a Private Company Invests in their Community—the Results are Amazing
"The more you invest in your area, you get more out of it than what you've put in."
With many homes being foreclosed on of late, neighborhoods are often full of empty houses which, in turn, bring down the value of existing occupied homes.
Such was the case with a community in the Chicago suburb of Carpentersville. But, one private business owner with a vision started a wildfire of community restoration.
"In February of 2008, I was driving through a neighborhood on the east side of Carpentersville. I was astonished to find it was a pretty nice neighborhood, but there were vacant homes everywhere. Vacant homes are a bad thing for a neighborhood…" Tom Roeser, CEO of OTTO Engineering explained.
"I went to the city and suggested that maybe if we partner together we could solve [this problem]," he said. "But the city didn't know how to work in a public-private partnership, so we took it on ourselves to do this."
The family-owned enterprise, OTTO Engineering, began to purchase properties to restore them and sell them, making them owner-occupied once again.
"You can't fix 5,000 homes, but you don't have to… all you have to do is start. So that others will realize there's a future, and they will continue to invest. And that was how we started."
Chris Bruske, OTTO's Facility Manager remarked, "Tom likes to use the word 'seeding the area' which I think is nice. You fix up one here, one there; the people in between start doing stuff to their homes."
"The concept is, if you take care of your area, other people will too," added Roeser. "The more you invest in your area, you get more out of it than what you've put in. …This model works."
Jack Roeser, Founder of OTTO Engineering and Tom's father, agreed, "These homes look great. Anyone would want to move into Old Town of Carpentersville… the homeowners have made it a very nice part of town."
To watch a YouTube video about OTTO's investment in their community, click on the source link provided. Special thanks to Michael C. Brown for the news tip.
