• Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three-part series on Kane County Sparkler Award winners for 2016. Sparkler Awards are presented annually to Kane County organizations, institutions and individuals for excellence in the categories of business, partnership and innovation.

There’s a ton of innovation going on in Kane County that, frankly, a lot of us don’t know about.

Yet, innovation is one of our great strengths, with communities like Aurora and Elgin and Gilberts pushing the envelope, taking risks and investing in the infrastructure that is becoming as important to 21st century economic development as electricity or transportation.

The Kane County Sparkler Awards, now in its second year, is designed to recognize some of those innovations, as well as achievements in the categories of partnership and business. Here are the innovation Sparkler Awards winners of 2016:

WINNER: Troy Mertz, The Conservancy Development and the Village of Gilberts

Head out to Gilberts, IL, and you’ll find something you haven’t seen a lot in recent years — dozens of new homes under construction.

One reason for that growth is the investment made by Troy Mertz, developer of The Conservancy, along with the village of Gilberts in creating a model for future development. The Conservancy will be the only subdivision in the state of Illinois to have every home built with fiber-to-the-home technology with broadband capacity so lightning fast that it creates an “Internet at the speed of light” experience.

Mertz and community leaders have constructed an Internet backbone that interconnects to the world’s largest data center, located in Chicago.

The development itself features more than 500 acres of conserved open land, giving homeowners a tranquil, rural feel. But it’s still just minutes from I-90 and within walking distance of the elementary school. The lifestyle development is pure 21st century, recognizing that more professionals are working from home and there is an expectation to be connected at lightning speed.

That speed was made possible at an affordable price by connecting to Kane County’s 47 miles of fiber-optic cable — another of this year’s nominees for a Sparkler Award.

Meet 5 More Innovation Nominees

IN2 at the Illinois Math and Science Academy

A next big thing at IMSA is IN2, a $1.9 million, 6,400-square-foot, state-of-the-art innovation center. IN2 is designed to ignite collaboration and entrepreneurial activity among students, educators, business and the community to solve real-world problems, design prototypes and launch
new ideas to advance the human condition.

IN2 focuses on four areas of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and innovation: entrepreneurship education, teaching and learning, maker movement and diversity. A generous lead gift of $1 million by alumnus Steve Chen (Class of ’96) is enabling access to the community and inspiring innovation at IMSA, and in Aurora, the Fox Valley, Chicago and beyond.

Kane Fiber Network

It is quite possible that Kane County’s 47 miles of fiber-optic cable has been the best-kept local technology secret of the new millennium.

That all changed Friday, May 27, when Kane County hosted the 2016 Leaders Summit, “Connecting Our Futures,” at the Q Center in St. Charles. A “how to” presentation by Kane IT Director Roger Fahnestock and his team have built over time and in conjunction with the Kane County Division of Transportation road improvements showcased the fiber-optic infrastructure that any local institution — a business, a unit of government, a nonprofit — can hook into.

Read more about the network in this article about the unveiling and this article about the digital age.

Want to connect? Visit fiber.countyofkane.org/

Kane Health Counts Website

The Kane Health Counts website helps community members and policy makers learn about the health of the community. This website provides information that allows viewers to see how Kane County stacks up in such topics as health, transportation, economics, housing and more. It makes it easier to find information that is typically housed on different websites or not available without a subscription. Certain indicators are measured at the ZIP Code and census tract level, allowing for municipalities to quickly see what is happening in their communities.

Waubonsee Vision 2050 Project

The Waubonsee Vision 2050 project created a dynamic framework to anticipate, imagine and elevate our collective futures. In June 2015, stakeholders came together on the college’s Sugar Grove Campus for the Waubonsee Vision 2050 Futures Summit, which featured presentations and discussions. Several themes emerged. The following fall, the Waubonsee Board of Trustees, faculty, staff and Futures Summit attendees were invited to participate in Outreach and Engagement Roundtables to help refine what these themes might mean, both for Waubonsee and for the future of our local communities. In total, 1,814 participants were involved in the process.

Kane County OpenGov Website

OpenGov is a cloud-based financial transparency website for agencies and local governments — like Kane County. OpenGov is an online financial analysis platform that will provide unprecedented access to Kane County’s financial information to all stakeholders — including local residents, elected officials, department heads and other employees. OpenGov is a powerful visualization software that transforms volumes of raw data into an interactive, digital format, enabling better analysis and understanding of the current and historical budget and operations of Kane County.

2016 Sparkler Award Nominees and Winners

Innovation Category

• IN2 / Illinois Math & Science Academy
• Kane County Fiber Optic Network
• Kane Health Counts
• Kane County OpenGov website
• Waubonsee Vision 2050: A Future Beyond Expectations
• 2016 INNOVATION AWARD WINNER: Troy Mertz, The Conservancy, with the Village of Gilberts

Partnership Category

• Aurora River’s Edge Park
• Anderson Road Overpass
• Blackberry Township / McNair Field
• D300/Elgin Community College tuition partnership
• Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin
• 2016 PARTNERSHIP AWARD WINNER: Lao American Organization of Elgin (LAOE)

Business Category

• ALE Solutions
• Chicago Premium Outlets
• Clarke
• Otto Engineering/Tom Roeser with the Villages of Carpentersville, West Dundee and East Dundee
• Riverbank Laboratories
• 2016 BUSINESS AWARD WINNER: Kane County Cougars