As you may know, the Village of Tinley Park’s “Benches on the Avenue” program has been a huge success in generating local resident and tourist interest, promoting an appreciation of the arts, and stimulating business for Downtown Tinley.

Because of the tremendous popularity of the Benches, the Village is planning to bring back the companion program, Musical Chairs, which was on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Village would like to invite all Tinley Park businesses to participate!

Amazing artists have turned ordinary wooden chairs into colorful, family-friendly works of art that will be placed inside participating Tinley Park businesses. Chairs will be rotated among the businesses so that customers will be able to experience as many of them as possible.

Having a musical chair inside your business offers many benefits. The Village will be initiating a social media engagement strategy to promote this program. The Village website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Community Email, Tinley TV and YouTube page will be used to encourage customers to visit your business, take a selfie with the chair and share their experience and location on social media. There is no cost to have a chair inside your business, and the free marketing you will receive is an added bonus.

The Village has been working to spread the word about Tinley Park’s new music brand, but we cannot do it alone. Together we can put Tinley Park on the map as the number-one place in Illinois to experience the joy of music! Please join us in achieving this goal.

For more information related to the program, please see the attached agreement. If you are interested in reserving a chair for your business, please fill out and sign the agreement and return it by email to ngardiner@tinleypark.org, fax the agreement to (708) 444-5099 or mail it by Friday, July 23 to:

c/o Nichole Gardiner

16250 S. Oak Park Ave.

Tinley Park, IL 60477

The Village will host its annual Downtown Tinley Block Party from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday, July 18 along Oak Park Avenue and is looking for volunteers to help out! The Village works with local schools and is able to provide community service hours in return for help. Those who are interested can email Special Events Coordinator Vicki Sanchez at vsanchez@tinleypark.org.

The event will feature tropical bands on two stages, food, beverages and lots of free entertainment for the entire family. South Stage entertainment will include Final Say at noon and Troplxplosion at 4 p.m. North Stage entertainment will include Mr. Myers at noon and Cadillac Grove at 4 p.m.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has extended the application date for its Community Navigator Pilot Program to July 23, and anticipates making award decisions by September.

Established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the community navigator approach will reach the smallest businesses, with a priority focus on those owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, as well as women and veterans. Visit the SBA website for more information.

The Village of Tinley Park has created a Facebook page just for Tinley Park businesses!

Visit the Tinley Park Business Community page and "Like" it to receive business-related information right in your Facebook feed.

The Village is planning a series of webinars in the coming months and would like your feedback on which topics would be the most helpful. Please take a few moments to fill out an short survey and let us know how we can best help your business!