Celebrating 19 Years as Barrington’s Signature Magazine
Celebrating 19 Years as Barrington’s Signature Magazine
Barrington’s new Village President Mike Moran knows a few things about getting jobs done on time and delivered as promised. His family business, UVS Motor Freight Lines, was founded in March 1980 by his father, also Mike Moran, in Elk Grove Village as a local cartage business with five aging trucks and a staff of five that served a 30-mile Chicago radius.
Moran started working there in 1980 with his dad part-time while in school, and then full-time in 1989. He has served as the firm’s president for the past eight years and in that time, seen four-fold growth. The strategic plan is to double in size in the next five years. Currently, this premiere regional LTL, LCL, and Air Freight cartage carrier operates 12 service centers in all the Midwest states and the Dakotas, West Virginia, Canada, and Maritime hubs. You’ve most likely seen their bright, emerald-green freight truck cabs with the Leprechaun logo out on the road.
A successful businessman, Moran is celebrating 45 years in his industry with hands-on expertise that translates well to municipal government. At work, pooling resources through less-than-truckload and less-than-container loads requires a mastery of logistics, efficiencies, and use of technology. Moran’s company is committed to excellent customer service and has satisfied big clients like ULINE. He’s no stranger to managing growth and navigating regulations. Industry leadership roles include chairman of the Regional Distribution Carriers Conference in Washington, D.C., chairman of the LTL Carriers Conference/American Trucking Association, Washington, D.C., president of the Distributors and Consolidators of America, and he is an active member and lobbyist for the Illinois Trucking Association in Springfield.
Moran stepped in as a Village of Barrington Trustee to complete a-year-and-a-half unfinished term of a fellow Trustee and then served for four more years to now with Village President Karen Darch, who has just retired from local government after 30 years. He brings current knowledge to his new role.
Moran grew up in Northbrook, which was a small town at the time. “It was very similar to Barrington, as it was built around a rail line with a central downtown and had everything we needed as a community. My family and I were very involved in the community having managed both the Northbrook Fourth of July programs and Northbrook Days, our annual carnival fundraiser, for many years. Northbrook was a community that had a central downtown where everyone knew the local businesses. We shopped at the local stores, ate at the local restaurants, and lived in a community where everyone knew each other’s name. There was a very strong sense of community among the residents and businesses,” he said.
He attended the University of Illinois in Champaign and completed the Advanced Transportation Executive Management Program from Northwestern University. It was right before graduation that the undergrad student met Kathy, who after a few years of dating, he would marry in 1992. The two lived in a few different areas before ending up in Barrington for the past 22 years. “We moved into Fox Point which has always been a very social community within the Village,” he said. “We had young kids at the time, and it was a perfect place to raise a family.” Today, Jack is 27, and Grace is 21.
What qualities do you bring to the office that are important?
I am a very driven and passionate person who enjoys building and growing entities. Whether it be a company or a Village, I hope to bring a new vision to each entity that I manage through collaboration with my team, and business or property owners within the Village.
Will you continue in your career while being Village President?
I will continue to manage both my career in transportation as well as the role of Village of Barrington President.
What did you learn from Karen Darch while serving as a trustee?
Patience. Persistence. The ability to listen to others and her incredible knowledge of the community, the state, and all of the other government entities that affect our quality of life. I have been fortunate over the past five plus years to work alongside Karen and the other Village trustees who are dedicated to serving this wonderful community.
What inspired you to run for office, and what are your primary goals for the town during your term?
I was inspired to run for Village President as I want to continue making a difference in my community. I want to build upon the things we do well, and I want to be aggressive in finding new opportunities for enhancing Barrington.
How do you envision the future of our town in the next 5-10 years?
My goal for Barrington in 5-10 years is that we continue to be a fiscally sound and well-run community delivering high-level services. I envision a revitalized downtown and improvements to the Route 14 corridor.
What are the biggest challenges you foresee for the town, and how do you plan to address them?
The biggest challenge I see in Barrington is infrastructure. As a full-service community, the Village is responsible for roads, sidewalks, water production and treatment, and more.
We need to continue to look for innovative ways to encourage investment in the town, helping us build a more vibrant and thriving community to ensure Barrington remains a premier community.
What steps do you plan to take to support local businesses and attract new economic development?
I would like to continue building upon recent initiatives to strengthen relationships within the business community to encourage feedback on how the Village can support economic development efforts. I plan to start meeting with local business and property owners in Barrington to understand their needs and how the Village can play a role in their success.
How will you balance growth and development with preserving the town’s character and environment?
I moved to Barrington based on its many great attributes and the character of the town. My hope is that we can continue to find a balance that protects the small-town character while being open to thoughtful growth and development.
Do you have plans for improving infrastructure?
Capital expenses and improvements are one of the bigger challenges that all local municipalities continue to face, and it’s not unique to Barrington. We develop a five-year capital improvement plan to prioritize these needs, and work with existing funding levels to address as many projects as we can.
Through business growth and revitalization within our community, we will be able to generate some of the necessary revenue needed to help expand resources available for infrastructure improvements.
How do you plan to involve residents in decision-making processes?
We need to evaluate the ways we obtain feedback from the community. We do a nice job getting information out to the public, but we need to find ways to better understand the needs of the community.
What specific policies or initiatives will you put in place to improve public services?
We have a strong working relationship with other local government partners that includes collaboration on regional issues.
How will you handle concerns from community members, or local businesses, especially in a town where everyone knows each other?
I find a balance between being a neighbor and Village President. That dynamic currently exists as a Village Trustee.
How will you ensure transparency in your administration?
The Village has a strong reputation for transparency, keeping residents and community members well-informed about both recent and upcoming Board actions. We’re committed to building an even stronger foundation of open communication. I look forward to fostering deeper community engagement and further strengthening the sense of connection across Barrington.
How do you plan to keep the public informed about town decisions and policies?
I encourage the public to attend Village meetings to better understand decisions before the Board. As these decisions impact the community, we will continue to provide education and updates on the Village’s regular communication channels.
Do you see social media playing a role in your interaction with the community?
While I am not a big social media user myself, I recognize it is one of the primary ways residents stay informed. Our staff has done a great job
leveraging these platforms to share timely and relevant updates, and we’re committed to building on that strong foundation to reach and engage even more residents.
What steps will you take to improve environmental sustainability in the town?
We have a lot of established regional environmental advocates already helping to protect our natural resources. The Village will continue to collaborate with and support these dedicated local groups that assist Barrington in
driving sustainability.
How will you work with neighboring municipalities and county or state governments on regional issues?
We have always had great relationships with other communities, counties and the state, and we will continue to do so. Barrington has always been a leader in being engaged in regional and state legislative efforts, and I will continue to support initiatives that impact our community and its local interests.
What do you consider when looking at a community’s overall health?
From an overall standpoint, the Village continues to be in very good condition having been managed conservatively and fiscally responsible. We have many of the same challenges as all other communities and states regarding infrastructure, and we will continue to be creative in working through these challenges. The areas that I see with the biggest growth potential are in business development, downtown revitalization and community involvement. One of my bigger goals is to increase community engagement in Barrington while working to grow a stronger and more vibrant community.
Lisa Stamos is the founder of Quintessential Media Group and the publisher of Quintessential Barrington magazine.
She may be reached at lisa@qbarrington.com.
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