Elmhurst Chamber to Honor Bajkowski with Good Work Awards
ELMHURST, Ill., June 10, 2011—Cathy Bajkowski of Elmhurst will be honored as the 2011 recipient of the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s Good Works Award presented at the Chamber’s 63rd Annual Golf Outing held at White Pines Golf Club in Bensenville on Thursday, June 30.
The 12th Good Works Award recipient, Bajkowski is the owner of CB Health Insurance (188 Industrial Drive, Suite 226), which she opened in 2005.
The award is being given to Bajkowski “for her contributions to the betterment of the Chamber and Elmhurst business community through her active 18-year membership in the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce and Industry, including 2003 Chair of the Board of Directors, 2002 Chairman’s Award recipient and 1997 Ambassador of the Year, her mentoring as a founding member of Elmhurst Women in Business (formerly Committee of 100), her charitable and philanthropic work, including membership in the Kiwanis Club of Elmhurst since 1996 and Character Counts in Elmhurst since 2003, and her personal and business support of the Chamber Golf Outing.”
“Cathy is one of those special individuals who throws her heart and soul into whatever endeavor she chooses,” stated John Quigley, Chamber President and CEO since 1999, “and our Chamber is among the fortunate benefactors of her good works.”
Bajkowski has worked in the insurance business since 1989, starting out with Woodman Accident & Life and then moving to MONY Life Insurance before opening up her own agency.
In 2003, Bajkowski became only the fourth woman to serve as Board Chair, following in the footsteps of Virginia “Ginny” Harmon (1982) of Unique Travel Service, Nancy Phillips (1988) of York State Bank and Gloria Duarte (1999) of Café Las Belles.
Bajkowski and her “Ya Ya” friends began the Committee of 100 (now Elmhurst Women in Business) by putting on a golf outing and branching out to seminars.
She is a Past President of the Character Counts in Elmhurst Board of Directors and also served on the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
A graduate of the University of Illinois in Champaign, Bajkowski also volunteers as Chapter Advisor for the Phi Mu Fraternity at Elmhurst College.
Her husband of 19 years, Joe Bajkowski, is the Owner of JB Painting, a Chamber member since 2002.
Presented annually at the Chamber Golf Outing since 2000, the Good Works Award honors the memory of the late Chamber President, A.J. “Toche” Terrones, who led the Chamber for nearly 10 years until his death the night before the 1999 Golf Outing.
Past recipients include office manager/paralegal Julie Miller (2010) of Patrick T. Sheehan & Associates, longtime Chamber volunteer Ralph Pechanio (2009), retired banker Frank Vitelli (2008), former building contractor Paul DeMichele (2007), Chamber Retention Coordinator Jerry Sletten (2006), the mortgage team of Frank Catalano Jr. and Debra Klosterman (2005), retired business executive and Membership Vice President Howard Schreiber (2004), retired banker John Wartinbee (2003), then Elmhurst Mayor Thomas D. Marcucci (2002), entrepreneur Betsy Hanisch (2001) and Tom Coffey (2000) of Electronic Specialty Design.
Established in 1918, the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry is a voluntary organization of business and professional men and women who have joined together to promote 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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