“We need to concentrate on positive things for the community.”

That was the message Mark Mikenas brought to the City Council Monday.

 Mikenas, the executive director of the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce, gave one of his periodic progress reports at the council meeting, and the report did, indeed, “concentrate on positive things.”

For example:

— Mikenas said retail sales in the city totaled $251 million last year, a record and a 1.5 percent increase over the prior year. Furniture stores were the biggest draw to Kewanee for out-of-town shoppers, Mikenas said.

— Advance ticket sales for the Hog Festival carnival were strong. For the first time ever, Mikenas said, all the advance tickets were sold before the end of July.

Mikenas also said a new option offered this year, purchasing 20 carnival tickets for $20, is legitimate. Some people have called the chamber office asking if the offer is a scam, but he assured the council that it’s real.

— Work has begun on converting the former Kewanee Boiler property into a solar facility. Trees that lined the fence in front of the Boiler office building have been cut down, and the building can again be seen from Rose Street.

The office building is scheduled for demolition, and some of the bricks will be used to create a memorial to the business whose products were sold around the world, and for which spare parts are still being sold.

Mikenas said Wethersfield High School grad Kathryn Dieter Newman is working on a design for the memorial, which will be located on a spot near the former Franklin Street entrance to the property.

— Summer events in Kewanee such as the Fourth of July celebration at Francis Park, the concert series in Veterans Park and the Prairie Chicken Arts Festival were successful in drawing people to Kewanee.

— Kewanee’s new Dollar General store is nearing completion on North Main Street, and will be considerably larger than the store in Midland Plaza.

Councilman Chris Colomer asked what the council can do to spur economic development in the city, and Mikenas replied that financial incentives to prospective businesses are the most effective tool.

He said that whenever someone considering locating a business here contacts the chamber, the first thing they ask about is whether the city offers incentives to new businesses.

The city does offer incentives, such as a revolving loan find, Tax Increment Financing (TIF) grants and a facade improvement program which reimburses business owners for at least some of the cost of sprucing up the front of their building.