Godfrey Weighs $20,000 Placer Program To Study Location Data
Data collection service would give village officials a clearer picture of visitor hot spots and unmet demand.
Village of Godfrey Board of Trustees
GODFREY – Godfrey officials may consider a new tool to attract developers and see who is visiting and leaving the village’s parks, businesses and more.
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Economic Development Director Jim Mager presented information to trustees about the Placer program and its capabilities at the Sept. 15, 2026 Village Board meeting.
Mager said members of the Parks and Recreation Board expressed interest in monitoring who is coming in and out of Godfrey parks. He said the technology could also help businesses better understand which nearby communities their customers are coming from.
However, he said the service comes with a subscription cost of $20,000 per year, leaving the decision to trustees whether the possible benefits would justify the cost. No official action was taken at the meeting.
Mager acknowledged potential privacy concerns, stating Placer would only use data that is already “out there” from mobile phone applications, credit and debit card usage and more. He also said the data would not include individual names, and the “aggregate” data could help form “heat maps” showing group trends and patterns.
“We are not tracking anybody – the data has already been collected,” Mager said. “When you use Placer, you’re simply subscribing to a service that allows us extract that data.”
He added that the $20,000 subscription cost would include training for village staff on how to use Placer.
Trustee Craig Lombardi said the Placer data could help the village prepare statistics to share with future developers, which could make it easier to attract them to Godfrey over other communities with more detailed demographics.
Trustee Rick Lauschke agreed with Lombardi, adding the data could help the village attract a hotel or large retail developer. He also expressed interest in seeing how many visitors are leaving Godfrey for communities like Glen Carbon and St. Louis.
Mager said the data could also guide future decision-making on the village’s possible recreation center. Parks officials could generate a Placer report to see where most park visitors are coming from and where they go afterwards.
At one point, village officials estimated there is $70 million in unmet retail demand leaving Godfrey for other nearby cities. One example given was Texas Roadhouse in Edwardsville being one of the top five restaurants chosen by Godfrey park visitors.
Lauschke requested more details on the “pros and cons” of the Placer program and encouraged his fellow trustees to revisit the topic at a future meeting.
A full recording of the Sept. 15, 2026 Godfrey Village Board meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
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