Chamber Anniversaries
The following two businesses are celebrating Chamber anniversaries in January:

5-Year—A-1 Communications/Verizon Wireless Dealer (540 West North Avenue); and Jewel-Osco (944 South York Street).

New Members
The following three businesses joined in December:

AT&T Broadband Media Services (2907 Butterfield Road, Suite 120, Oak Brook), media, Suzanne Fowler, 586-9420;

Mr. G’s (929 South York Street), restaurant, Tom Dacy, 279-8887; and

Viking Awards (846 North York Street), awards and trophies, Jim Hamilton, 833-1233.

Newsmakers
Brown Building Company (109 Adell Place), a construction manager/general contractor firm owned by Patrick Brown, was recently awarded a $7 million project by JFMC Facilities Corporation for renovation the Joy F. Knapp Children’s Center (33,000 square feet) and construction of a new second story (14,000 sq. ft.).

Cardinal Cartridge, Inc. (211 Spangler Avenue) has created a new core division, International Core Solutions (ICS), to find and collect empty print toner cartridges from sources both domestic and global.  Ian Davidson has been named ICS’s General Manager.

Elmhurst College (190 Prospect Avenue) has promoted 1995 alumnus Scott LaMorte to Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations after nearly two years of service as Associate Director.  LaMorte also has been invited to serve on the Board of Directors of the Elmhurst Economic Development Corporation (209 North York Street).

The Elmhurst Park District (225 Prospect Avenue) has received a 2003 Conservation and Native Landscaping Award from the Chicago Wilderness and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its work on the Great Western Prairie and throughout the parks.

“The Rosary Bride:  A Cloistered Death,” the debut novel authored by Luisa Buehler, a.k.a. Luisa Scala, Owner of Wide Scope Staffing Services (4415 West Harrison, Suite 202, Hillside), is being published by Echelon Press for release in January.

Unemployment Insurance Tax
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is predicting that “virtually all employers” will pay significantly more for Unemployment Insurance Taxes over the next four years, in order to cover a forecasted Year End 2003 deficit of $300 million in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

Special Events
Sherialyn Birdsong, whose late husband, former Northwestern University men’s basketball coach Ricky Birdsong, was murdered by a white supremacist three years ago, will speak on “What Good Is A Dream?” during Elmhurst College’s Martin Luther King Jr. Luncheon in the Prospect Room of the Frick Center, 190 Prospect Avenue, on Friday, January 17, at 11:30 a.m.  The cost is $10.00 per person. Call 617-6186 for tickets.

The Elmhurst Historical Museum Foundation will sponsor “An Evening at the USO” benefit dance at Elmhurst American Legion THB Post 187, 310 West Butterfield Road, on Friday, January 24, from 7:00 to 10:30 p.m.  Chamber President John Quigley will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the swing dance contest.  The cost is $40 per person.  For tickets, stop by the Elmhurst Historical Museum, 120 East Park Avenue, or call 833-1457.

The Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra (P.O. Box 345) will perform “Rule Britannia” at Elmhurst College’s Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel on Sunday, February 2, at 2:30 p.m.