BizWord November 2011
 

  Table of Contents
From the desk of Laura Crawford

A Letter from the Chairman of the Board

Chamber Choice Awards - It's Your Choice.  Nominate!

Traditional Holiday Celebration

Personalize Your Message

Class A Office Space

Take Advantage of your FREE Banner Ad

Members in the News!
Thank you Members!

From the desk of Laura Crawford

Business Snips Wish I had better news on the business front, but the message from every direction is that government needs more money.  Let’s hope all this ‘new found’ money will improve your quality of life as well as your business. Some state, regional and local snippets follow:  The Downers Grove Chamber hosted the Kristi Lefleur, Executive Director of the Illinois Tollway Authority (ITA) at a multi-Chamber luncheon last week.  You know about the 88% increase in tolls to pay for the $12 billion, 15 year capitol plan; this served as the topic of Ms. Lefleur’s presentation.  What you may not have heard unless you were at the luncheon is that the ITA will come up about $300,000,000 short to complete the plan.  The new board will be looking to municipalities and businesses in the areas of expansion to supplement the shortfall.  The ITA will be sending us the power point and as soon as they do, it’ll be posted on the LINC (Legislative Impact Network Committee) page of downersgrove.org  Something else you might know about: overriding a veto from Gov. Pat Quinn, Illinois lawmakers gave power companies in Illinois authority to raise rates every year for the next decade to pay for modernizing the state’s power grid. Now if you live or have a business in Downers Grove, you know some changes absolutely must occur.  For homeowners, this will cost you about $3 per month during the first year of the $3 billion, ten year capitol plan. All the residents, including business residents were hit pretty hard this past year by Com Ed services.  Several businesses quantified losses and this was shared with the Village who is diligently working with Com Ed toward solutions.  I’m happy to report that Mayor Tully will encourage Com Ed to respond to this recent Chamber correspondence as well as encourage a meeting with Com Ed and the business community.  Details forthcoming! More news from the Village: the 2012 budget was approved last week as was further exploration into a storm water utility.  There are a lot of layers and a lot of history that brought Downers Grove to its current situation of infrastructure needs.  The bottom line however, is that we need improved (and some mandated) storm water management and new roads. Through a lot of shifting around, staff presented a balanced budget.  For the future, the Council may be considering a new user fee, a storm water utility.  Again, for the price you pay, I hope it improves your business’ bottom line.  You can be assured your Chamber is watching this very closely. And yet another increase – directly from the City of Chicago to the DuPage Water Commission to the Village and to you. Chicago sells water to the DuPage Water Commission at a rate of $2.01 per 1,000 gallons. The Commission sells it to Downers Grove for $2.30 per 1,000 gallons, with the markup covering the operational and capital needs. Currently, the average family water bill from the Commission, before the Village tacks on costs to cover their operational and capital needs, is $17.25 for about 7,500 gallons of water.  With the increases from the City of Chicago, that same water will cost $22.43 next year and $37.13 by 2015.  As a matter of disclosure, I serve on that Commission, representing the County District 5.   The Village did anticipate an increase and the budget that passed last week was updated with the additional Chicago increases.  On November 15th, I anticipate the new water rate will be approved by Council, with fixed rates remaining the same as anticipated and the unit fees increasing the same as the Commission rates.  Let’s hope the City of Chicago fixes their infrastructure so we can see some leveling out of these increases!  Bittersweet congratulations to Paul Zaander, retiring superintendent of Downers Grove School District 58!  Under his leadership, District 58 has become one of our top economic engines.  Many may not immediately see the co-relation between schools and business, but most recognize the importance of training our future workforce; and you certainly pay for it as a business owner!  You may not have kids in District 58, but if you pay taxes for the school district, now is your opportunity to share your expectations.  Please take a moment to complete this brief survey and provide feedback on the position that impacts our young students and your future workforce.  This has been a lot of information; if you’re reading this far in the column, thank you for your interest.  According to Wikipedia, an apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern – this is not you!  Thank you for your passion, perhaps together we can create positive change.

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A Letter from the Chairman of the Board

Look for a Letter from Arlene the 4th Week of the Month!

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2012 Chamber Choice Awards - It's Your Choice.  Nominate!

On February 8, 2011 the 5th Annual Chamber Choice Awards will take place at the DoubleTree Guest Suites by Hilton Hotel & Conference Center Chicago-Downers Grove.  Nominate the best of the best in the categories of Business Excellence:  Service, Retail, Industrial, Professional; Community Contribution:  Not-for-Profit, Philanthropic; and Excellence in Education.  Applications are now available for download.

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Traditional Holiday Celebration

Join us at the Downers Grove Park District Golf Course on Thursday, December 8th from 5:00pm - 7:00pm to celebrate.  The fee for entrance is a toy, your donation to Family Shelter Service.  Delicious appetizers will be provided by Events by Tommy R's and beverages, by the Golf Course.  Join us for this festive holiday celebration.  The Chamber's YPN has several toy donation boxes around town.  ServiceMaster Restoration by DSI will once again serve as Santa's sleigh, delivering all the toys collected to Family Shelter Service.

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Personalize Your Message

The Downers Grove Chamber Not-for-Profit Network has focused its entire 2011-12 series on how you can improve your marketing - maximizing your message to increase your market share. Next Tuesday is a don’t miss NFP meeting featuring Dennis Culloton of the Public Relations firm, Culloton Strategies. You may have noticed Dennis on the news as Theo Epstein was signed on as the new president of the Cubs (Sox fans, don’t take offense). Dennis is also a Board Member of the pediatric cancer foundation, Bear Necessities where he has successfully greatly raised awareness of their good work; in his paying job he has worked with clients such as the Chicago Cubs, Navistar, Children’s Memorial Hospital, Metro and the Governor’s office in the O’Hare and Midway expansions.  They paid a lot – for your organization, it’s a benefit of membership!  You will benefit if you work for a Not-for-Profit, serve on a Board or work for a business.

 The presentation is PERSONALIZE YOUR MESSAGE, admit it – we all need that!

 This meeting will take place in the Chamber conference room on Tuesday, 11/1 from 8 – 9 a.m. – sign up TODAY. 

Remember, this is a benefit of Membership, but we do appreciate RSVP’s, please click here.

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Class A Office Space

AVAILABLE RIGHT HERE IN THE CHAMBER!

Enjoy the following:

• 14 x 14 Private Office

• Reception Services

• Internet Access

• Fax & Copier Services

• Conference Room Space

• Mailbox Service

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• If you already have a banner ad, please email it to bpeterson@downersgrove.org. Please also include the web address or email you would like it linked to.
   
• If you are going to make your own banner ad, please size it to be 468 x 60 pixels and sumbit as a pdf or jpeg file to bpeterson@downersgrove.org. Please also include the web address or email you would like it linked to.
   
• If you need help creating a banner ad send us your logo, link and tagline to bpeterson@downersgrove.org. We’ll put it together for you. Please also include the web address or email you would like it linked to.

 If you have any questions, please call the Chamber at (630) 968-4050.

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Members in the News!

Congratulations to the following Members:

• Tom Hausier has joined Illinois Business Systems as Manager of Field Service.  Click here to read more about Tom and IBS.

• Congratulations to Tom Rizzi on being named President & CEO of the Pettibone Companies.    

• Congratulations to Classic Cinemas chain of movie theatres and its owners, Willis Johnson his wife Shirley and son Chris for being recognized with the “Stewardship Award,”.  Landmarks Illinois is part of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards. This 17^th-annual event honors individuals, organizations and projects throughout the state that represent excellence in historic preservation.
• Congratulations to Donald Duncan, of D3 Financial Counselors, for being voted a 2011 Five Star Wealth Manager by Chicago Magazine.
• Congratulations to Keith Hoffman of 1st Advantage Mortgage for being named Citizen of the Year by the Indian Boundary YMCA!
• Congratulations to Spiro J. Garbis, Ameriprise Financial, for being voted a 2011 Five Star Wealth Manager by Chicago Magazine.
• Diveheart: You can dive. Make no excuse.  Click on here to read this hearwarming story.
• Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove has named Patrick (Rick) Idemoto as vice president, business Development.

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Thank You Members!

The Downers Grove Area Chamber of Commerce & Industry would like to Thank the following members for their generosity and support: 

Thank you to all of the following business which sponsored Beaujolais & Beer:  Jim Russ Jr., P.C.; Concept Care Chiropractic & Wellness; Wenzel Select Properties; Community Bank of Downers Grove; DoubleTree Guest Suites by Hilton Hotel & Conference Center Chicago-Downers Grove; Barbara's Elegant Touch Staffing, Inc.; Hamilton Partners; 90.9fm; Nuage Jewelers; Fastsigns Naperville; Sound Check Entertainment.

Thank you to the Downers Grove South Jazz Ensemble for entertaining us with their great musical talents.

Thank you to all of the vendors and restaurants that provided great tastings for Beaujolais & Beer:  Argus Brewery; Ballydoyle; Barbara's Elegant Touch Staffing, Inc.; Carlucci's; Carrabba's Italian Grill; Cheeseburger in Paradise; Events by Tommy R's; French Quarters; Grotto Italian Steakhouse;  Hooters; Malloy's Finest Wine & Spirits; Melting Pot; The Olive Tap.

Thank you to Costco and Consider It Done for displaying a Retailer's tabletop during Beaujolais & Beer.

Thank you to Game Pazzo for hosting the WIN Martinis and Manicures Networking Night.

Thank you to Buffalo Wild Wings for hosting the YPN Professional Development luncheon.

Thank you to Matthew Krajniak, Dr. Melissa Trudgeon, Justine Stark, and Paul Zalduendo for organizing the YPN Roundtable discussion.

Thank you to Choose DuPage for sponsoring the November General Membership Luncheon.

Thank you to Kristi Lafleur from the Illinois Tollway for presenting at the November General Membership Luncheon.

Thank you to Dennis Culloton of Culloton Strategies and Board member of Bear Necessities for presenting at the November Not-for-Profit Network meeting.

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