The Elmhurst Independent will receive the A.J. “Toche” Terrones Business of the Year Award for 2018 at the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s 100th Annual Awards Gala held in the main-floor ballroom at The Drake Oak Brook Hotel in Oak Brook on Friday, January 25, from 5 to 9 p.m.
Covering the community since 2002, The Elmhurst Independent is part of the Rockford area-based Rock Valley Publishing, a family-owned and operated business that also publishes weekly newspapers in Addison, Bensenville, Lombard and Villa Park.
The annual award is given based on a member’s contributions to the Chamber’s success, to the betterment of both the business community and Elmhurst community, and impact in their field of business, each in the given year and historically, along with years in business and years as a Chamber member.
“The Independent’s reporting roots in Elmhurst go back nearly as far as our Chamber,” said John R. Quigley, ECCI President and Chief Executive Officer since 1999, “and covers four generations of family members with printer’s ink in their blood.”
Pete Cruger is the Publisher of The Elmhurst Independent and Co-Owner of Rock Valley Publishing with his brother Jack. Their great-grandfather and grandfather bought the Elmhurst Press and their father Melvin Cruger added Villa Park and Lombard on his way to seven newspapers, before Pete and Jack expanded the chain to 38 newspapers.
Harold John Cruger, Pete’s grandfather, served as President (now Chairman) of the ECCI’s Board of Directors back in 1923.
The Cruger family sold Press Publications Newspapers to the Suburban Life in the 1990s and Shaw Media bought out Suburban Life in 2012—the same year that Pete was inducted into ECCI’s Civic Hall of Fame for his career as a community newspaperman.
In 2016, Rock Valley bought out the McKay newspapers in Villa Park and Lombard.
From the 1960s through 2008, our Chamber’s Annual Elmhurst Community Directory was typically published in partnership with a Cruger-owned newspaper.
The award presentation will be made by Outgoing Chairman of the Board of Directors Ken Bartels of Community Bank of Elmhurst and Quigley.
The annual award, which features a traveling trophy and permanent plaque, is named in memory of A.J. “Toche” Terrones, who served as Chamber President for nearly a decade until his death in July of 1999.
Business of the Year honorees include Brewpoint Coffee (2017), Roberto’s Ristorante & Pizzeria (2016), Café Amano (2015), West Suburban Office Products (2014), Community Bank of Elmhurst (2013 and 1999), York Furrier (2012), Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare (2011), OEC Business Interiors (2010), Harris Elmhurst (2009), Diplomat West (2008), Suburban Bank & Trust Co. (2007), Larry Roesch Chrysler Jeep Dodge (2006), York Theatre (2005), Synergistic Networks, Inc. (2004), Silverado Grill (2003), Great American Exteriors (2002), Cardinal Cartridge, Inc. (2001) and Unique Travel Service, Ltd. (2000).
The traveling trophy of imported 24% German lead crystal atop a mahogany wood base will be displayed at The Elmhurst Independent’s Elmhurst office building at 240 North West Avenue until the Chamber’s 2020 Annual Awards Gala, while an award plaque with a nameplate listing The Elmhurst Independent is on permanent display at the Chamber office.