The Future Is a Choice was the theme for a contingent of Chamber630 Members who recently hosted five other chambers of commerce organizations for the Tenth Annual Business Day in Springfield, IL on April 5, 2017. We welcomed for the first time, Batavia and St. Charles Chambers, returning chambers were Bolingbrook, Elmhurst and Western DuPage chambers of commerce. Collectively, this group represented businesses in eleven counties, 75 municipalities and over 100 zip codes.
Wary of harping on issues of years past [workers’ compensation reform, pension, etc.], the group shifted their focus to pro-actively advocate for the THRIVE, House Bill SB2071 which addresses alternative incentives for job retention and credits related to training as well as transferability, assisting the start-up entrepreneur.
Secondly, we discussed with legislators, ways to connect students to business, with the hope that Illinois will have a viable and varied workforce in the future; and of course, we couldn’t be down in Springfield without touching on the budget or lack thereof.
The day started with an AT&T sponsored luncheon featuring lobbyist Elizabeth VanHolt of Isaiah Consulting and Illinois Chamber president, Todd Maisch who provided us with up-to-date information on the many bills effecting business. Once inside the Capitol, several different committee meetings were attended, we received an introduction from the Senate gallery and met with many of our region’s legislators.
Prior to the trip, Senate Leaders, Christine Radogno and John Cullerton had presented a bi-partisan budget, the latter served as keynote speaker at the Elmhurst College Governmental Affairs Forum which Chamber630 sponsored. While in Springfield, we heard yet another proposal from Senator Kyle McCarter which included a balanced budget that captured input from all departments and both parties. Needless to say, it was an informational day.
Chamber630 would like to thank the Chamber Members who took time away from their businesses to travel to Springfield, making sure our message was heard. John Carpenter, Choose DuPage; Michael Cassa, Downers Grove Economic Development Corporation; Ron Castrogiovanni, Waddell & Reed; Karyn Charvat, PowerForward DuPage; Debbie Mossburg, Bike Bald; Mike Nulicek, Edward Jones; John Quinn, AT&T; Scott Rausch, Caliber Home Loans; Phyllis Roman, Giamanco & Ooink; Elizabeth VanHolt, Isaiah Consulting; Lisa Wenzel, Wenzel Select Properties and Linda Wilhelm, Allegra Marketing Print & Mail.
Without the generosity of our sponsors, we would have been unable to host this event. Many thanks to AT&T, Choose DuPage, Downers Grove Economic Development Corporation, Midwestern University, Allegra Marketing Print & Mail and Shell Oil Products U.S. for sponsoring our legislative efforts.
The Legislative Impact Network Committee [LINC] meet on the third Monday of each month at noon in the 2001 Butterfield Road in Downers Grove, IL. For more information, please visit Chamber630.com or call at (630) 968-4050.
