The Portage Park Chamber of Commerce will serve as the Special Service Area (SSA) service provider for the Six Corners shopping district in Portage Park under a measure approved by City Council today.

The designation of the chamber as the area’s SSA provider will run through the end of 2023.

In October 2022, the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) terminated the service provider contract of the Six Corners Chamber of Commerce due to mismanagement issues. Since December, the Belmont-Central Chamber has provided temporary services, including snow plowing, litter abatement, and holiday decorations.

Founded in 1937, the Portage Park Chamber was selected from four responses to a DPD Request for Proposals (RFP) issued earlier this year for a permanent service provider for the areas. Proposals were assessed on several criteria, including completeness and specificity of the proposal, experience, capacity of the respondent, and respondent familiarity with the Six Corners area.

The SSA program strengthens neighborhood retail corridors by providing supplemental services beyond Chicago’s general municipal services, such as customer attraction, public way aesthetics, business development, sustainability, and safety.

Fifty-seven SSAs exist citywide.

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