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Table of Contents
From the Desk of
Laura Crawford
From the Chairman of
the Board
Can America Solve
Its Problems?
New
Restaurant/Hospitality Alliance
No Time for Crying
in Our Soup
Thank You
Members in the News
From the
Desk of Laura Crawford...
“The May retail sales data show that seasonally
adjusted annualized spending on gasoline increased just
$1 billion. Personal income that month, not counting the
stimulus spending checks, increased $4 billion. Incomes
outpaced the additional drain from higher gas prices,”
- Dick Green, President & CEO of briefing.com
The stock market finished 1.8% lower Wednesday,
closing near its worst level of the session. The
downturn brings the stock market within a hair of a
20% downturn from its high, reached last October -
briefing.com
In recent weeks, a decline
would have been seen as a decline, which is to say it
would have been interpreted as bad news. In this case,
though, the market rallied on better-than-feared news,
which was a tacit sign that sentiment had hit a level
that was overdone on the down side -
briefing.com
Is it any wonder we don’t know
if we’re in a depression, recession, slump, boom or
collapse? The quotes above were posted on the very same
market analysis website, on the same day. The bottom
line is that we’re living in extraordinary times and our
economy is transitional at best. What it will transition
into is yet to be determined. Because the current
circumstances are unprecedented, history helps us
little. We can be certain that as American business
people, we don’t and won’t give up - we persevere.
Actually, you have very little
choice but to persist. Your families and your
employees’ families depend on you to carry on. This is
the time to use your Chamber! This is time to
support the businesses that support your community! And
whatever you do, don’t stop marketing your business.
Your Chamber offers many
economical marketing venues. Our website,
downersgrove.org continues to be a primary resource for
residents and non-residents to find businesses located
in our centrally situated Village. If you haven’t
already listed three categories for your business, added
an email link, website link, map or logo link – what are
you waiting for? Our website offers something for
everyone at every price point –from highlight packages
to home page banner ads.
Whether your target is the new
resident or new business – we have a personalized and
affordable greeter program to introduce your business.
If it’s a special program or event you’re offering, get
the word out in our weekly email venues. BizWord is
sent to over 1100 people each Monday and the
Member2Member Update is the perfect venue to advertise
your special program.
Info@downersgrove.org,
sent to all of our members every month, is full of
pertinent Chamber information and provides a monthly
calendar of our meetings and events. It offers
economical marketing through inserts or ads on the
center spread right next to calendar, commonly displayed
in our members’ office area the entire month.
Our newest publication, IN
Downers Grove, an annual magazine is currently being
sold. With input from many members, we determined price
points that will fit in everybody’s budget, starting at
only $250 to be in a 9” x 12” full color Downers Grove
lifestyle magazine distributed to every household and
business in the Village. Don’t miss this opportunity.
If you can’t already tell, the
message of this column is to USE your MEMBERSHIP to help
YOUR business succeed. Eventually, these extraordinary
economic times will transition. I don’t pretend to be
an economic specialist, but what I do know is that this
is the worse time to hold back on your marketing
budget. Let your Chamber earn your business!
lcrawford@downersgrove.org
630-968-4050 x14
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From the
Chairman of the Board
The Chamber Board of Directors is eagerly considering
new potential Board Members. However, if you are
considering how to become more involved in your Chamber,
there are several ways beyond serving on the Board of
Directors.
The Chamber Committees and Networks offer a place to
‘get your feet wet’ as a leader in this proud
organization. We are looking to our Members to fill the
important roles of Chair of Committees such as
Legislative and Ambassadors. These two groups are
deeply involved in advocacy, whether it is on the
legislative level or being a sounding board for the
Membership. The Chairs of these two Committees play a
strong role in representing the Chamber to not only the
public, but perhaps more importantly, to you, our
Membership.
There are also a host of leadership positions within the
Chamber Networks and Referral Groups such as the Young
Professionals Network, the Women’s Business Council,
Business Roundtable, Not-for-Profit Network, and the
Women2Women Referral Group. If you have a particular
interest, getting involved with these dynamic groups
offers a chance to further your leadership skills and
build your network.
I look forward to welcoming our new leadership at the
Black & White Ball presented by D3 Financial Counselors
on September 20 at the Esplanade Lakes by
DoubleTree. I hope you consider stepping into these
big shoes!
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Can America
Solve Its Problems?
By Thomas J. Donohue, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber
of Commerce
July 8, 2008
Underneath Americans' joy and hoopla while celebrating
the Fourth of July was deep-seated doubt about America's
ability to compete and win in a rapidly changing world.
Pick up any paper or watch any newscast and you're sure
to see a commentator saying that America is in decline
and is incapable of fixing its problems. New York
Times columnist Thomas Friedman says forget Iraq
and Afghanistan; we need nation building right here in
America, and nothing else really matters. Newsweek
commentator Fareed Zakaria captures American anxiety in
his new book. He notes that the world's tallest building
is in Taipei. Its largest publicly traded company is in
Beijing. Its biggest refinery is being constructed in
India, and so on.
Writer Victor Davis Hanson asserts that building things
is a good indication of a society's relative confidence.
He points out that we haven't built a new refinery or
nuclear power plant in 30 years. Seven years after 9/11,
we've barely broken ground on the replacement for the
World Trade Center.
Indeed, more than 80% of the public think that America
is on the wrong track. There is a growing sense that
America's political leaders are unable to meet our most
pressing challenges.
And we do have a lot of challenges! The economy is
straining under the combined weight of record-high oil,
gas, and commodity prices and a depressed housing
market. Our immigration, education, and infrastructure
systems need fixing. We are failing to properly educate
and prepare our own students even as we drive
foreign-born workers with badly needed skills into the
hands of our competitors. Health care costs continue to
gobble up more and more of our wealth. We lack a
national energy strategy. The list goes on.
This isn't news to the U.S. Chamber. We've been far out
in front of the media and politicians in identifying the
major problems facing America. And we've been among the
first to propose concrete, workable solutions.
We were--and are--among those that believe that
America's greatest days are ahead ... that the can-do
spirit, entrepreneurship, risk taking, and know-how of
the American people is second to none.
The Chamber has a program to position America to compete
and win in the 21st century. We call it our
competitiveness agenda, and it is at the center of
everything we do. There is no more important mission
than strengthening the competitiveness of the U.S.
economy so that all hardworking Americans can prosper
and enjoy the benefits of the American Dream.
Learn more about our competitiveness agenda.
Originally published 8 July 2008. Reprinted by
permission, uschamber.com, July 2008.
Copyright©
2008, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
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New
Restaurant/Hospitality Alliance
Are you IN? The Chamber, Downers Grove Economic
Development Corporation, and Downers Grove
Downtown Management Corporation invite you to join the
newly created Restaurant/Hospitality Alliance.
The Downers Grove
Hospitality Alliance is a great opportunity for area
Members to network with other Downers Grove food and
beverage businesses. The Alliance is here to support and
assist our Members by providing a forum for ideas, a
networking arena, and a marketing engine. Take advantage
of this opportunity to stand out in the competitive
marketplace!
The next meeting is July 21 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm at the
DoubleTree Guest Suites & Conference Center in Downers
Grove. Visit
HERE for
more details and to RSVP.
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By Thomas J. Donohue, President
and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
July 15, 2008
Some in the business community--indeed, many of our
citizens--are worried about the future. They see America
challenged like never before. They see the inability of
our elected officials to tackle big problems. They see a
loss of business support in Congress after the November
elections.
So what should we do? We have
choices. Regarding our ailing economy, we can choose to
blame our foreign competitors for being smarter, faster,
and more efficient than ever. But, we should really be
pointing the finger at ourselves. We have saddled our
economy with burdensome and costly regulations, failed
to pass a national energy strategy, allowed our schools
to fail our kids, let our infrastructure crumble, and
given lawyers free reign to pursue frivolous lawsuits.
We could choose to cry in our soup.
We could throw up our hands and say we'll never win a
pro-business majority in Congress ... we'll never be
able to compete with the likes of China and India ...
we'll never have another “American Century.” But this
country has never surrendered to defeatism, and we
shouldn't start now.
There's another choice for the
business community--we can marshal our resources, drive
a positive agenda, and actually get something done. But
we need a plan. The U.S. Chamber has one.
We have a
competitiveness agenda
designed to position America to compete and win in the
21st century. And we have a plan to implement it during
what is sure to be a very tumultuous time leading up to,
during, and immediately after the elections.
Between now and the elections,
we'll continue to educate presidential and congressional
candidates and the voters and put our issues at the
center of the political debate. We're also going to work
very hard to educate voters about their choices in
congressional contests and judicial and attorney general
races.
After the elections, we're going to
be prepared to support good measures while vigorously
opposing bad ones, keeping in mind that new governments
come in with a head of steam and that their supporters
expect payback.
What we can't afford to do is get
out of the game or give into pessimism. Now, more than
ever, we need to fight with all of our resources to win
the public debate on key issues that will impact
America's competitiveness, the prosperity of our
workers, and our place in the world for decades to come.
Business is the one thing in this country that really
works. We must lead the way.
Originally published 15
July 2007. Reprinted by permission, uschamber.com, July
2008.
Copyright©
2007, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
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Thank You!
Jon Young and the DuPage Dragons Collegiate
Baseball for hosting the Health & Wellness Expo.
Thomas Cunningham,
Exodus Technology Services, Inc. and Jennifer
Murray, J. Murray & Associates, Inc. for their
assistance with the Chamber table at the Expo.
Norb Farnaus,
Farnaus & Associates and Mike Peters, Abacus Rex,
for representing the Business Roundtable Network at the
July General Membership Luncheon
Connie
Laidlaw of the Indian Boundary YMCA for
presenting to the Business Roundtable.
For
marching in the Independence Parade:
John
Page, Vistage International
Frank
Moran and family, Illinois Time Recorder
Jim
Elliott & Dawn Engler, Diveheart Foundation
Jim
Tishkowski and family
Greg
Bedalov, Downers Grove Economic Development Corporation
Cuppie,
Dunkin' Donuts
State
Representative Patti Bellock and State Senator
Dan Cronin for presenting an update on Springfield
at the Legislative Committee. Dave Fieldman, Acting
Village Manager for giving a detailed presentation
of the Belmont Underpass project at the same meeting.
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Members in the News
Midwestern University promoted Barb Wysocki
to the position of Director of Development and
Alumni Relations.
Nick
Kukulski has joined O'Malley & Associates as
an investment and financial specialist.
Do you have news, announcements, awards, or new
staff? Send items to Heather Prince at
hprince@downersgrove.org.
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