ELMHURST CHAMBER ELECTS OFFICERS FOR 2009
ELMHURST, Ill., November 14, 2008 – The Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry Board of Directors elected four officers to its six-member Executive Committee for 2009 during their regular monthly meeting held November 12 in the Community Room at Community Bank of Elmhurst (330 West Butterfield Road).
Elected by the Board of Directors to one-year Executive Committee terms were:
Chairperson— Jason Janes, Investment Representative with Edward Jones Investments (115 West Vallette Street);
First Vice Chairperson—Scott Levin, Partner, Executive Committee member and Attorney-at-Law with Defrees & Fiske LLC (200 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 1100, Chicago);
Second Vice Chairperson—Kevin O’Keeffe, Owner of Fontano’s Subs (113 West First Street); and
Treasurer—Charles Mueller, Commercial Real Estate Broker with Equity Realty Partners (110 Schiller Street, Suite 205).
Janes, Levin, O’Keeffe and Mueller will be joined on the Executive Committee by Immediate Past Chairman Debra Klosterman, Partner in Integrus Lending Group and Catalano & Associates (both at 105 South York Street, Suite 200), and Chamber President and CEO John Quigley, an ex-officio member.
Janes will work closely with the Chamber staff and oversee the policy-making work of the Chamber Board and its four standing committees: Marketing, Membership, Ways and Means, and Governmental Affairs.
Jason Janes
Jason Janes, a Chamber member since 2001 when he joined Edward Jones, is a second-term Director and third-year Executive Committee member.
Janes served as First Vice Chair and chaired the Marketing Committee this year, and was Second Vice Chair and Chair of the Membership Committee in 2007, his sixth year of service on that committee.
He has chaired the York & Vallette Business Association for the past four years.
In 2003, Janes was nominated for The Business Ledger’s 2003 Young Businesspeople Awards, and served as a Chairman of the Elmhurst Chapter of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
Janes is licensed by both federal (Series 7) and state (Series 63) agencies in the field of investments.
He serves as a mentor of college students at Elmhurst College’s Center for Professional Excellence, and is a college classroom lecturer.
As an Elmhurst Jaycee, Janes has served on the organization’s Board of Directors and is completing his fifth year as Vice President of Individual Development.
A resident of Elmhurst, Janes earned his bachelor’s degree from North Central College in Naperville, where he and his wife serve on the Alumni Board.
Scott Levin
Scott Levin, a fifth-year Partner at Defrees & Fiske who joined the Chamber in 2003, is a second-term Director and third-year Executive Committee member.
Levin served as Second Vice Chair and chaired the Membership Committee in 2008, and was Treasurer and Ways and Means Committee Chair in 2007.
His legal practice involves the areas of business and commercial law, litigation and intellectual property. Prior to Defrees & Fiske, Levin was the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Levin, McParland & Minetz LLC (1993-03) and a Partner in the Business Litigation Department at Hinshaw & Culbertson (1986-93).
His resume includes state governmental service as Deputy Executive Director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (1983-86) and Executive Assistant with the Illinois Law Enforcement Commission (1977-82).
Levin has served as President and Legal Counsel for his neighborhood association for three years, Chair of the Edison Elementary School Parent Teacher Association’s Legislative and Bylaws Committee and Chief in the Indian Guides Program.
Levin also has worked on election committees for local public officials and provided legal advice to several not-for-profit organizations.
Kevin O’Keeffe
Kevin O’Keeffe, a Chamber member since 2005, when he purchased Fontano’s Subs, is a first-term Director and new to the Executive Committee. He has served on the Marketing Committee for two years and ran the Brown Bag Lunch & Learns in 2008.
O’Keeffe also is a third-year member of the Board of Directors of Elmhurst City Centre, which manages the two Special Service Areas (SSA 6 and SSA 7) serving businesses, commercial property owners and residential property owners in the city’s Central Business District.
Prior to Fontano’s Subs, O’Keeffe held sales positions in different fields for 18 years and then taught at Elmhurst’s Immaculate Conception Grade School for two years.
During his 11 years as a member of the Elmhurst Jaycees, O’Keeffe held the offices of Director, Treasurer and Vice President, and oversaw the Spectacular Midways Carnival fundraiser at Elmfest and many other events.
O’Keeffe also is a 17-year member of the Knights of Columbus and has served on Parent Teacher Associations for more than five years.
O’Keeffe is a graduate (B.A.) of the College of St. Francis.
Charles Mueller
Charles Mueller, a Chamber member since 2006 with 25 years of experience as a commercial real estate broker, is a first-term Director and new to the Executive Committee. He has served on the Ways and Means Committee for two years.
Mueller also is a member of Elmhurst City Centre’s Board of Directors, and was a 7th Ward Alderman on the Elmhurst City Council (2000-05) who served on the Finance Committee for six years.
A lobbyist for the causes of not-for-profit organizations exclusively, Mueller is a member of the Medinah Shriners and Friends of the Elmhurst Public Library, and is a Past President of the Elmhurst Noon Lions Club.
Mueller is a graduate (B.A.) of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.
Established in 1918, the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce is a voluntary organization of business and professional men and women who have joined together for the purpose of promoting the civic and commercial progress of the community.
The Chamber also serves the needs of its members through services, programs and events that provide opportunities for networking and referral, business education, development and promotion, governmental representation and community involvement.
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