Mid-term Endorsements - McLean County Chamber of Commerce

a publication of:
Volume I, Issue III
Third Quarter 2010
Mid-term
Endorsements
PAC Supports Pro-business
page 3
Also In this Issue...
Health Care Reform
Forums
Stroker Golf
Classic
2010 ATHENA
Award®
page 2
news
Climate (kli’mit): The prevailing attitudes, standards or environmental
conditions of a group, period, or place.
There are few sights and sounds quite like a central Illinois Autumn: Trees afire
with splashes of red and gold; combines churning through the fields; the passion
and pageantry of high school and college football; the fun and fellowship of a small
town harvest festival.
This fall, there are other important signs. They dot the roadways, the empty lots,
your neighbors’ lawns. The mid-term election is only a few weeks away and it is
my sincere hope that these signs do not constitute your only knowledge of the candidates hoping to represent us in the coming years. It’s true that the financial stability of our local economy has sometimes insulated us from crucial state and federal
fiscal decisions. But our state is at a crossroads, and only by educating ourselves
and making informed decisions in the voting booth can we be certain that those in
office support our views and will put us back on the right path.
Signs of the times: A car headed south on Main Street in Bloomington passes several campaign placards.
L. E. “Les” Mathers, III, MD
Chairman
Bill Brady, Dan Rutherford among those favored for pro-business records
I urge you to take some time and really study the issues and the candidates before
you cast your vote. On the following page, you’ll see endorsements by the Chamber’s Political Action Committee. You don’t have to agree with them, but I hope
you’ll use them as a starting point for a conversation.
I know we’re all busy. I’ll be the first to admit that there have been times over the
past 30 years or so that I’ve “forgotten” to vote. But not this year. This year, I’ll be
standing in line to make my voice heard. This year, it really counts!
TABLE of CONTENTS
Good 4 Business
page 4
Funding for Broadband, Insurance Savings
Health Care Forums
page 5
Chamber Offers ANSWERS on Reform Legislation
Events
page 6
page 7
page 8
page 9
ATHENA Award® Economic Vision Luncheon
Stroker Golf Classic, Member Appreciation Tailgate Party Business and Financial Resources Forum, Not-for-Profit Showcase Announcements
page 10
page 11
BBH, BAH Hosting
Leadership McLean County Class of 2011 CommUniversity
Tent Winners Announced
back page
Editors Note: The next edition of the Climate will be delayed to coincide with the McLean County Chamber of Commerce Annual Gala, scheduled for January 29, 2010.
.
PAC Announces Mid-term Endorsements
Climate is a publication of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce © 2010. All rights reserved.
The McLean County Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee (PAC)
has officially endorsed Republican Senator Bill Brady of Bloomington in his
race for Illinois Governor over the incumbent, Chicago Democrat Pat Quinn,
Green Party Candidate Rich Whitney of
Carbondale, Bloomington Libertarian
Lex Green and Independent Scott Lee
Cohen of Chicago. Brady’s pro-business
record was cited as the deciding factor
in the PAC’s endorsement.
The other statewide race on the Political Action Committee’s radar is Illinois
State Treasurer, where his record in favor
of business put the PAC squarely behind
State Senator Dan Rutherford (R-Pontiac)
in the November 2nd general election
over Matteson Democrat Robin Kelly,
chief of staff to current Treasurer Alexi
Giannoulias, Green Party Candidate
Scott Summers of Harvard and Chicago
Libertarian James Pauly.
The PAC believes that supporting pro- •
business candidates across the state is
not only good for Illinois, but has a positive effect on McLean County. That led
them to jump into the 2010 gubernatorial
race in December of 2009 with a mon- •
etary contribution to the Brady for Illinois campaign. The PAC supplemented
this contribution after the primaries with
an additional donation in July, as well as
an initial contribution to the Rutherford •
campaign.
In other area races, the McLean County
Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee endorses Dan Brady
(R-Bloomington) who is running unopposed in Illinois’ 88th District and Shane
Cultra (R-Onarga), the incumbent in the
105th District, who is facing Green Party
candidate Vince LaMie of Milford. Incumbent Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth) gets
the PAC’s nod in the 87th District over
DeWitt Democrat George Wissmiller
and the PAC also endorses Keith SomThe McLean County Chamber of Com- mer (R-Morton) who is unopposed in
merce itself does not endorse political the 106th District.
candidates, but the Chamber’s Political
Action Committee was organized as a Led by Committee Chair Bob Dobski,
voluntary, nonprofit, wholly-owned sub- the Chamber PAC also decided to get
sidiary to support candidates, commit- involved in a few other races across the
tees, and issues at the local and/or state state. In their support of Senator Brady
level that support a healthy economy, for Governor, it was decided that adfavorable business climate, high quality ditional pro-business members will be
of life and progressive future for McLean needed in the Illinois General Assembly
County.
to help support the Senator’s agenda.
•
For the open 71st District seat, the
PAC endorses Richard Morthland,
Cordova Republican over Democrat
Dennis Ahern of Moline.
Caitlin Republican Chad Hays gets
the PAC’s nod over Michael Puhr,
Danville Democrat in the race for
the open seat in the 104th District.
In the 101st District, the PAC endorses Adam Brown, Decatur Republican over incumbent Bob Flider
(D-Mount Zion).
The PAC endorses East Peoria Republican Michael Unes in the 91st
District over incumbent Mike Smith
(D-Canton).
The McLean County Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee has,
to date, spent $8,150 of the voluntary
contributions they have received on the
2010 Mid-term Elections and will be
holding a fundraiser on October 8th to
help replenish their coffers. The $50per person reception will feature Illinois
House Minority Leader Tom Cross. For
more information, or to make a reservation, please contact PAC Treasurer Ryan
Whitehouse at 309-829-6344 or pac@
mcleancochamber.org.
good 4 business
Funding Approved for Broadband Network
the citizenry alike creating economic
opportunities and narrowing the digital
divide. It will also allow service providers to deliver broadband service to rural, remote, unserved, and underserved
residential populations that were previously unreachable due to the high costs
of existing service. By leveraging CIRBN,
communities will be better able to attract and retain businesses, organizations and people to create opportunities
for partnerships and collaboration that
The creation of CIRBN will strengthen were previously infeasible.
communities in Central Illinois by affordably offering substantially greater In order to secure State of Illinois matchInternet access for organizations and ing funds, CIRBN joined efforts with
CMS (Central Management Services) to
prepare a combined federal application
called IBOP-EC. IBOP-EC has taken the
strength of both projects and combined
them to create a synergistic application.
McLean County Chamber of Commerce The total cost to create IBOP-EC is estimembers may be eligible for an up to mated at $96 million with the ICN as the
The National Telecommunications and
Information Administration recently
awarded funding to support the creation
of Central Illinois Regional Broadband
Network (CIRBN) through a grant supporting the Illinois Broadband Opportunity Partnership - East Central (IBOP-EC).
This grant will fund a high speed Internet
infrastructure to over 250 facilities in 19
Central Illinois communities at speeds of
1 gigabit per second or better.
Insurance Savings
Program Offered
13% discount on business and personal
insurance through a special savings program offered by several Chamber members through Auto-Owners Insurance.
This discount may apply to Commercial
Automobile, Commercial Property and
Liability, Commercial Umbrella, Garage
Liability and Dealer Blanket, Workers
Compensation, Personal Automobile,
Personal Umbrella, Condo Owners and
Homeowners insurance. Additional discount, such as a multi-policy discount,
may also be available, depending on
your individual circumstances.
Auto-Owners Insurance Group is comprised of five property and casualty
companies and one life/health/annuity
insurer. The Auto-Owners property and
casualty companies are rated A++ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company, a nationally recognized independent insurance
company rating organization.
For more information, contact: Compass
Insurance Partners, 309-662-6800; Clemens & Associates, Inc., 309-662-2100;
or Prudential Snyder Realty, 309-6637653.
Chamber Offers ANSWERS on Health Care
lead applicant and Illinois State University as the sub-recipient.
that spoke directly to the larger, afternoon session of small business people
was the promise of a 35% small business tax credit . After digging through
the mountain of legislation, Fowles
found the credit simply too good to
be true. “There are lots of caveats and
there are lots of ways that you will
never be able to get up to that 35%
credit,” she said.
CIRBN will reach the Central Illinois
communities of Arrowsmith, Atlanta,
Bloomington, Chenoa, Colfax, Danvers,
Downs, El Paso, Eureka, Farmer City,
Gridley, Heyworth, Hudson, LeRoy, Lexington, Mansfield, Normal, Pontiac and
Towanda, and provide network connectivity to over 44 public and private
sector partners, including K12 schools,
municipal facilities, and commercial institutions.
It will take an estimated 3 years to create CIRBN. Upon completion, the University will turn over the assets created
during the implementation of CIRBN to
a non-profit LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) that will consist of the CIRBN
membership based upon the original
partners.
AN ADDED MEMBER BENEFIT
As a member of
McLean County
Chamber of
Commerce
YOU’LL SAVE BIG!
Chad I. Thoma, CIC, LUTCF
1410 Woodbine Rd., Suite. 1
Bloomington, IL 61704
309-662-6800
[email protected]
advocacy
We are pleased to offer
special discount rates from
Auto-Owners Insurance
Company on business and
personal insurance—to
members of company
approved organizations
like yours!
Fast, fair and
efficient service—from
The “No Problem” People®.
CALL TODAY AND SEE
HOW YOU’LL SAVE!
Ultimately, the goal of the sessions
was not to overwhelm the attending
employers with the sheer mass of the
new health care laws. Kaufman wanted attendees to come away from the
sessions with a sense of where to go
as opposed to just being mystified by
health care reform.
Sarah Fowles, an associate with the law firm of Michael Best and Friedrich, addresses
concerned employers on what the new health care legislation means for them.
The passing of Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the
Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 left employers with a multitude of questions.
On Wednesday, September 15, at the
Doubletree Hotel and Conference
Center, the McLean County Chamber of Commerce and the Employers
Coalition for Healthcare Inc. (ECHI)
sponsored forums to help provide answers. The two, three-hour forums,
entitled ANSWERS: What the New
Health Care Legislation Means for Your
Business, featured speakers from Michael Best and Friedrich, LLP, one of
the leading law firms in the Midwest;
whose Health Care Practice Group
has achieved national recognition for
its work with clients in anticipating and
addressing their legal needs. The morning session concentrated on businesses
with 51 or more employees, while the
afternoon session targeted businesses
with 50 or fewer – all of whom have a
stake in this new legislation.
“This is a law that is a mammoth law in
terms of scope,” said Daniel Kaufman,
a partner with Michael Best and Friedrich, “(and) there’s no doubt that it has
an impact on everyone in some way.
It impacts employers. It impacts insurers. Any individual, medical provider
-- there’s no one who is immune to the
impact of this.”
Kaufman, Kelli Toronyi, also a partner
with Michael Best, and Sarah Fowles,
an associate with the firm, broke down
the 2000-plus pages of legislation into
manageable bits of information, using
specific examples to illustrate difficult
concepts while defining terms like
“grandfathered status” and “minimum
essential coverage” and drilling down
to the bedrock which states that there
is nothing under any law that says employers must provide health insurance
to anybody. However, said Toronyi
in the afternoon session, “You do not
completely escape health care reform
just by being a small employer. And
you certainly don’t escape it from your
own individual perspective if you don’t
offer insurance. You still have to cover
yourself because every individual, including you, will have a mandate that
you must have minimal essential coverage.”
Among the many facets of the new law
Todd Nelson, CEO of Advanced Rehab and Sports Medicine, came away
impressed. “I have now sat through
a few presentations regarding health
care reform and (this) was by far the
best that I’ve seen,” he said. “With a
hard / convoluted topic to discuss, I
think all three attorneys from Michael
Best provided the information and
gave value-added take home steps.”
Jim Wolfer, owner/operator of the Market
Street Culver’s restaurant, asks a question
during the ANSWERS session for small
business owners.
The Chamber hopes to offer more ANSWERS sessions in the future to help
members with difficult or unwieldy
concepts and how those concepts affect their business and all business in
McLean County.
events
Bordner,” said Zenger, “ lives all of that
each and every day.”
Also recognized were the 2010 Margaret Wakeley Scholarship winners. Megan Miller and Lauren Roark, seniors
at Illinois State University, will each
be awarded $2,000 from the McLean
County Chamber of Commerce Women’s Division based on their academic
excellence, their record of leadership activities and the clarity and focus of their
career objectives. Miller is studying to
be a teacher of choral music and acting,
while Roark, is working toward a degree
in theatrical design and production.
Leanna Bordner, ISU Athletics, poses with 2010 ATHENA Award, presented to her by the
McLean County Chamber of Commerce Women’s Division on September 9.
Leanna Bordner Honored with
2010 ATHENA Award®
The McLean County Chamber of Commerce Women’s Division presented the
2010 ATHENA Award® to Leanna Bordner, ISU’s Senior Associate Athletics Director/Senior Women’s Administrator, at
the culmination of a luncheon event on
Thursday, September 9 at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center.
Stille, Senior Vice President and General
Counsel for 1st Farm Credit Services; and
Vicki L. Tilton, Owner and President of
Fox and Hounds Hair Studio and Day
Spa. “Everybody’s a winner,” said Bordner of her fellow nominees. “(They all
have) very outstanding credentials. Anybody could have been up here today.”
“It’s very humbling,” said Bordner as she
accepted the award. She credited her
parents with instilling in her a sense of
discipline and service and praised the
progressive leadership of Illinois State
University, which “allows women to excel and lead and provide input, which is
so important, whether you’re in education or whatever your profession might
be.”
Sheahon Zenger, ISU’s Director of Athletics, submitted Bordner’s name for the
award, saying it was both “a privilege
and an honor to nominate Leanna for
the ATHENA Award®. The BloomingtonNormal community benefits because LB
(Bordner) takes this ‘can do’ attitude and
her work ethic with her to outside activities. LB gets involved and positively
touches the lives of a large cross section
of the community. ”
Bordner was also quick to praise the
exceptional group of nominees for this
award: Sally K. Pyne, PhD, Academic
Advisor and Community Liaision, Center for Adult Learning for Lincoln College
– Normal; Deborah S. Smith Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, OSF
St. Joseph Medical Center; Barbara K.
The ATHENA Award® is part of an international program honoring excellence,
creativity, initiative, community service
and leadership for women -- recognizing exceptional leaders and inspiring
others to achieve excellence in their
professional and personal lives. “Leanna
Megan Miller (left) and Lauren Roark, seniors at Illinois State University, were recognized at the 2010 ATHENA Award®
Luncheon as winners of the Margaret
Wakely Scholarships offered by the McLean
County Chamber of Commerce Women’s
Division.
The luncheon featured a keynote address from 2009 ATHENA Award® recipient Pamela Westerdahl, Director of
Workforce Services for Heartland Community College, who offered poignant
examples from her own life as she spoke
about her mentors and about her own
role as a mentor to others.
The 2010 ATHENA Award® luncheon
followed a new offering by the Women’s
Division, the 2010 Women to Women
Workshop. Entitled “Managing the
Workplace Jungle,” the workshop featured speakers who offered their expertise in career planning, communication,
personal marketing, job satisfaction and
business ethics to more than 40 workshop attendees.
Tax Talk at
Economic
Vision
Luncheon
events
“Hi. I’m from Washington and I’m here
to help.”
While his opening joke got a pretty
big laugh, Scott A. Hodge, president of
Washington, DC’s The Tax Foundation,
did indeed come to help. His keynote
speech at the 2010 McLean County
Chamber of Commerce Economic Vision Luncheon had the nearly 170 assembled business and community leaders engrossed as he explained the issues
with Illinois’ tax system and how it might
be contributing to the migration of both
people and businesses away from the
state.
The Chamber holds the annual Economic Vision Luncheon as an opportunity
to examine where the local economy is
and where it might be heading. “Illinois
is much like General Motors before the
bailout,” said Hodge to the audience at
the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. “Your cost structure is out of line.
You have benefits you have promised
to your employees that are unafford-
Scott Hodge, President of the Tax Foundation, speaks before a packed house at the
Chamber’s Economic Vision Luncheon.
able. And you’re asking your customers erage “business-friendliness” of Illinois’
to pay too high of a price for an inferior tax structure. Most of the solutions he
product.”
proposed had to do with finding ways to
lessen the corporate tax burden which
According to Hodge, Illinois is trying will, according to the Tax Foundation,
to balance the budget on the backs of increase wages and make Illinois more
a shrinking taxpayer base. His research attractive to both employers and emfound that more than 325,000 people ployees.
have left the state over the last 15 years,
with more than 100,000 taking their in- “Cutting the state’s business tax burden
come across the state line to our neigh- and implementing some pro growth tax
bors. Among the possible reasons stated reforms would go a long way toward refor this migration is the well-below-av- versing these trends.”
events
2010 Stroker Golf: An Instant Classic
A full flight of golfers took advantage of
practically perfect weather and a beautifully-conditioned Crestwicke Country
Club golf course on Monday, July 26
at this year’s Stroker Golf Classic. The
“Monday Afternoon Live” theme meant
laughter on the links as the players teed
up alongside famous SNL characters and
skits.
The consolation prize went to the team
of Matt Lauritzen, Lee Menken, Nancy
Perry and Karen Collins, who weren’t
able to purchase enough Mulligans, Pink
Tees or Strings to keep them from finishing at the bottom.
Ian Miller won the longest drive contest,
with closest to the pin going to Richard
Dr. Les Mathers, McLean County Chamber of Commerce Chairman of the Board, preStroyan.
pares to let the big dog eat on Crestwicke Country Club’s hole #11.
Member Appreciation Tailgate Party
teer on the Chamber’s behalf throughout
the past year.
Dawn Smiley (left) talks with Arron Pirtle of
Blue Dog Technology.
The David Davis Mansion has hosted
many an historic gathering over the
years, but none quite like the McLean
County Chamber of Commerce Member
Appreciation Tailgate Party under warm,
but cloudy skies on Friday, September
10th. The Chamber staff took the day to
provide a big feed as a special “Thank
You” to all Chamber members and to
honor those who took the time to volun-
Entreprenuers Get
Business, Financial
Resource Options
Access to capital has always been a major issue for start-up businesses and for
businesses trying to expand. For this
reason, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity partnered with the McLean County Chamber
of Commerce, the Economic Development Council of the Bloomington-Normal Area and the Small Business Development Center at Illinois State University
to present the Business and Financial
Resources Forum on Thursday, September 23 at Heartland Community College.
The Forum gave entrepreneurs an opportunity to learn about loans and direct
assistance programs that could help start
a business or keep one going.
The team of Rob Fazzini, Marty Hogan,
Glenn Miller and Ian Miller scorched the
Crestwicke Country Club course with an
amazing 47 to take first place, with Robert Lakin, Aaron Meyer, Bill Mullins and
Brian Crabtree finishing a close second.
”We try to do one of these about every quarter,” said John Whalen, North
Central Regional Manager of the DCEO.
“Anywhere we can get the community
to be involved in it. It’s real important to
get someplace like the Chamber or the
Professional Development
New Sales Development Program
Thursday, August 19, the McLean County
Chamber of Commerce kicked off a new
series of programs designed to gather
sales professionals together over a lunch
hour to review and discuss the sales
process and work together informally to
grow and expand your sales skills in order to be more successful.
Great Plains Media provided the party
music for the more than 150 member
representatives who feasted on burgers, hot dogs, chips, Doubletree cookies
and a snow cone or two. Reggie Redbird
stopped by to help pass out packets for
CommUniversity Day.
The Chamber staff would like to extend
a special “Thank You” to: McDonald’s,
who provided the hamburger buns and
condiments; to Sam’s Club for the beverages; and to the Doubletree Hotel
and Conference Center, not only for the
cookies, but for setting up all the tables
and chairs. Said Dawn Smiley, Membership Director “Without the support of
Bev Edgerton, realtor with Bev Edgerton
these businesses, the event would not INC., Prudential Snyder Real Estate plays
have been as successful as it was.”
“bags” with Reggie Redbird at the Member
Appreciation Tallgate Party.
events
Facilitated by Kevin Woods, Adjunct
Instructor at Lincoln College and President of Woods Consulting Group, the
program, packed a classroom at Lincoln
College-Normal and featured a lively
discussion about sales and sales techniques.
Jim Grossman of American Concierge Magazine (left) talks with Ken Springer and Brooke
Weishaupf of the EDC at the Business and Financial Resources Forum on September 23.
EDC to sponsor us. They work with the needs. Many of the entrepreneurs spoke
folks that are really going to need this with several of the presenting organizathe most. “
tions. According to Whalen, “As people
are looking for other opportunities and
The attendees heard from representa- are looking for something different to try
tives from many of the organizations to do, the more that they recognize that
providing resources to the business com- there are resources that can help them,
munity in McLean County and then had the more enthusiasm they have to try to
the opportunity to speak one-on-one do something like that.”
with those who most closely met their
Not-for Profit Organizations Showcase at
Special Business Before Hours Event
Twenty-seven local not-for-profit organizations took advantage of a very special
Business Before Hours networking event
to meet with Chamber members, display their 2011 projects and discuss any
volunteer opportunities that they might
have available on Wednesday, September 28.
Hosted by the Doubletree Hotel and
Conference Center in Bloomington,
the first annual Not-for-Profit Showcase
drew more than 200 visitors who partook in a fabulous spread of food, nonalcoholic mimosas and a non-alcoholic
Bloody Mary bar while learning about
the important work done every day by
these selfless organizations.
Laura Kowalczyk (right) of YWCA McLean
County, talks to an attendee at the Not-forProfit Showcase.
and Conference Center in Uptown Normal. Please contact Chamber of Commerce Membership Director Dawn
The next session in this series of Sales
Development Programs is slated for No- The second annual Not-for-Profit Show- Smiley at 309-829-6344 or via email at
vember 18. Contact Brian Davis at 829- case will be held on Wednesday, Sep- [email protected] for more
6344 for more information.
tember 28, 2011 at the Marriott Hotel information.
page 10
page 11
Leadership McLean County
Class of 2011 Announced
2011 Networking Events
The drawing for 2011 Business Before Hours and Business After Hours networking
event hosting opportunities took place on Wednesday, September 15 during the Business After Hours at Concrete Evolutions in Bloomington.
The 2011 schedule for these popular networking events is as follows:
January 26
Heartland Community College
January 19
Great Plains Media
February 23
Advocate BroMenn Medical Center
February 16
Commerce Bank
March 30
Allied Health Group
March 16
Four Seasons
April 27
Integrity Technology Solutions
April 20
Mavidea
May 25
Busey Bank
May 18
Hawthorn Suites
June 29
ISU Redbird Pride
June 15
OSF St. Joseph Medical Center
July 27
Fox-n-Hounds
July 25
Crestwicke / ECHI
August 31
Central Illinois Regional Airport
August 17
Normal Cornbelters
September 28
Marriott Hotel & Conference Ctr.
Not-for-Profit Showcase
September 21
B-N Public Transit Center
October 26
Luther Oaks
November 23
Jack Lewis Fine Jewelry
Chamber Staff
October 19
ISU Athletics
November 16
Doubletree Hotel & Conference Ctr.
New Business Showcase
December 21
Freestar Bank
Member Directory
Now Available on
Your Phone
Smart Phone users can now have the
McLean County Chamber of Commerce
Member Directory right in the palm
of their hands! Download My Chamber App for Blackberry and iPhone at
mychamberapp.com/download.
Android users can find the App on the
Android Market. Just search for “My
Chamber App.” You can also find a
link on the Chamber’s web site, www.
mcleancochamber.org.
Chamber members can upgrade their
My Chamber App listing by adding pictures, logos and additional information.
Contact Suzanne Johnson at 1-800825-1785, extension 514 or via email,
[email protected].
photos by Studio J Photography
Charlie Moore
Pat Grosso
CEO
[email protected]
Operations Manager
[email protected]
Tiffany Arvik
Mike Palmer
Finance Manager
[email protected]
Brian Davis
Program Manager
[email protected]
Marketing & Brand Manager
[email protected]
Diane Siron
Membership & Programs Asst.
[email protected]
Dawn Smiley
Membership Director
[email protected]
Ryan Whitehouse
Gov’t & Public Affairs Director
[email protected]
Hours: 8:30am-5:00pm M-F
Phone Number: (309) 829-6344
Fax Number: (309) 827-3940
A 17-year staple of the McLean County
Chamber of Commerce has been Leadership McLean County, yet after nearly
two decades and more than 500 alumni,
the Chamber still gets questions on what
Leadership McLean County is and how
it benefits the members of the Chamber
and the community at large. Leadership
McLean County develops community
leaders by cultivating skills, awareness,
and engagement through intentional
learning experiences for the continual
betterment of McLean County. Specifically, Leadership McLean County provides an opportunity to bring together
individuals of diverse backgrounds, job
functions, and employers to examine
leadership in the various forms demonstrated throughout McLean County.
COUNTRY Financial; Sara Chandler,
State Farm Insurance; Rebecca Davis,
State Farm Insurance; Scott Davis, Jack
Lewis Fine Jewelry; Amy Farmer, State
Farm Insurance; Richard Fela, State Farm
Insurance; Scott Frazier, COUNTRY Financial; Ryan Gammelgard, Illinois
Agriculture Association; Phyllis Gillis,
Illinois State University; Tracy Hamilton, State Farm Insurance; Liz Hobart,
Illinois Farm Bureau; Paige Holt, OSF
College Avenue; Brett Howe, Four Seasons Association; David Im, State Farm
Insurance; Michael Jensen, State Farm
Insurance; Mary Jones, COUNTRY Financial; Daniel Kelley, Town of Normal;
Dawn Klintworth, State Farm Insurance;
Angela Lancaster, Bloomington-Normal Public Transit; Angie Moore, State
Farm Insurance; Gurinder Negi, State
Farm Insurance; Jennifer Parent, State
Farm Insurance; Michael Pittman, State
Farm Insurance; Jo Ann Reidy, COUNTRY Financial; Kevin Schwoerer, State
Farm Insurance; Amy Smith, State Farm
Insurance; Josh Tarnowski, Freestar
Bank; Tammy Van Egtern, State Farm
Insurance; Lee Ann Wallace, Advocate
BroMenn; Kersten Wilson, Easter Seals;
Cathy Woods, Community Cancer Center; Laura Wright, Busey Bank; and Joann
Yant, State Farm Insurance.
The participants of Leadership McLean
County spend time learning the background and theory of leadership development, then take this knowledge and
examine the different demonstrated
leadership styles throughout various
organizations and entities of McLean
County to experience first hand how
being a leader actually happens. At the
conclusion of Leadership McLean County, the class members are then able to
take on greater roles within their individual organizations and the community as
a whole to create a better environment
for others.
The McLean County Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce the 40 exceptional professionals who have been
accepted in to the 2011 class of Leadership McLean County.
Congratulations to: Jonathan Allen, State
Farm Insurance; Joni Allison, Lincoln
College; Steven Barcus, Illinois State
University; Melissa Beaver, Heritage
Enterprises; Beverly Beyer, Illinois State
University; Bruce Billings, State Farm
Insurance; Andrew Blumhardt, State The 2011 Class of Leadership McLean County settles in for a presentation at the LeaderFarm Insurance; Mustaali Carbaidwala, ship Retreat, September 23rd at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Normal.
the back page
CommUniversity Day ‘10: Rainy but Red
While “Spread the Red” was the theme for CommUniversity Day 2010, the second-most dominant color on Saturday afternoon, September 26 at the Redbird Tailgate Zone was gray. But the rain didn’t dampen the revelers’ spirits at THE networking and tailgating event of the Fall, hosted by the Mclean County Chamber of Commerce and Illinois State Athletics.
More than 40 tents populated the soggy ground, with four of them receiving special honors from the tent judging committee:
Frontier Communications was voted Rookie of the Year for the best tent by
a first-time CommUniversity taligater.
WGLT took home the award for Most Creative tent.
Mark DeKeersgieter (left) of Integrity Technology Solutions and Connie
Mandula of CM Promotions pose with their award for the Most Red tent.
Leann Seal (left) and Judy Baird (right) of the Synder
Companies, accept the Best Overall Tent award for
the second year in a row from Chamber CEO Charlie
Moore.