ILLINOIS COMMERCE DIRECTOR TO SPEAK
AT ELMHURST CHAMBER’S FALL LUNCHEON
ELMHURST, Ill., October 17, 2003 – Former Elmhurst resident Jack Lavin, first-year Director of the State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), will be the Keynote Speaker at the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s 2003 Fall Luncheon at the end of October.
The Chamber Luncheon will be held at the Diplomat West Banquet Halls, 681 West North Avenue, Elmhurst, on Wednesday, October 29, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The cost is $30.00 per person and the reservation deadline is Friday, October 24.
Past Fall Luncheon speakers have included Illinois Chamber of Commerce President/Chief Executive Officer Douglas Whitley (2002), Illinois Lt. Governor Corinne Wood (2001), DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom (2000) and Illinois House Republican Leader Lee Daniels (1999).
Lavin, 41, has 17 years of experience and a record of job creation and financial management in the Chicago business world and in state government.
Before coming to DCEO, Lavin spent seven years working as Chief Financial Officer for Rezko Enterprises, which operates more than 150 Panda Express and Papa John’s Pizza stores primarily in the Midwest. Prior to that, he served four years in the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office, first as Director of Development Finance (1991-93) and then as Deputy State Treasurer (1993-95). He previously worked at Abbott Laboratories in Puerto Rico and North Chicago as a financial analyst and cost analyst.
A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign, Lavin also holds an MBA degree from the University of Chicago with a specialization in finance and a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Chicago. He completed a semester of his graduate studies at Yonsei University in South Korea.
Lavin grew up in Elmhurst and is a graduate of York Community High School. His parents still reside in Elmhurst.
He currently resides in Chicago’s northwest side with his wife, Kathy, and their children, Emily, 6, and Michael, 4.
Established in 1918, the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry 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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