The Citizen Community Enhancement Commission of DeKalb says the city needs to move away from being branded by barbed wire and flying corn.

In March, the CCEC presented a tentative enhancement plan to bring, among other things, a stronger sense of civic pride to the city at DeKalb’s city council.

“The city seems really supportive of this,” said Paul Rasmussen, DeKalb’s economic development policy director and the city’s liaison with the CCEC.

The commission’s plan received praise from City Manager Mark Biernacki.

“It was very forward-thinking and progressive on the part of the commission,” he said.

Numerous steps are in the plan, including strengthening DeKalb’s connection to NIU, bringing in speakers and seeking to draw in knowledge-based businesses. Rasmussen said the new business focus could help the city retain some of the NIU graduates currently leaving after graduation. If businesses willing to hire new graduates were located in DeKalb, the city would draw in a creative group and expand its resources.

“That’s exactly the kind of thing we want,” Rasmussen said, describing how businesses, such as American Marketing, recruit and hire new graduates.

The CCEC also wants the city to either hire a public relations officer or contract an outside firm to help spread the message about new programs and help the staff better communicate with the public. The Feb. 14 shootings are an example of when a PR staff would have been helpful, Rasmussen said.

“City staff writes differently than a PR way,” Rasmussen said. “A PR person would have been very helpful, just trying to craft our press releases.”

Biernacki agreed, saying there has long been a need for someone in city government to craft DeKalb’s public communication. However, the time is not right for bringing in a new person and he could not recommend the city council do so.

Instead, he suggested the idea of bringing in a consultant may offer the city a chance to try before it buys.

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