Dear Members:
Today, we officially welcome Grace Bagnole of Aurora to our Chamber staff as the new Director of Member Services—a position vacant since Mariella Mastromauro resignation last October 31 to take a membership retention position with the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce.
Grace brings with her a career’s worth of sales and marketing experience in the building industry, most recently as Sales Manager (2017-19) at Overstreet Builders.
The Director of Member Services serves as the primary staff member responsible for the growth of total membership, membership dues and per member investment through new member recruitment, retention of new members and retention of all other members.
Additionally, the Director of Member Services assists in the planning, coordination and implementation of Chamber programs, products, services and events to ensure and increase membership participation and financial support.
Responsibilities also include scheduling and oversight of the Chamber’s monthly networking events (Membership Breakfasts and Business After Hours), Professional Speaker Series and Ambassador Calls in co-ordination with the Office Manager.
Preceding Mastromauro (2018-20) in a membership role were Tessa Zemgulys (2016-18); Kevin O’Keeffe (2012-14), now Executive Director of the Bolingbrook Area Chamber of Commerce; Betsy D’Onofrio (2008-10), now Inland Home Mortgage; and Ann Palumbo (2001-06).
Chamber of Commerce Month
Grace’s hiring coincides with the planning and implementation of our Annual Chamber of Commerce Month activities in September, which expands on the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (IACCE) Chamber Week from September 12-18 and features a unique Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) membership solicitation campaign.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Elmhurst Mayor Scott Levin will be formally issuing proclamations designating September 12-18 as Chamber of Commerce Week across the state and in Elmhurst, respectively.
In August, nearly 19,700 postcards (9”-by-6.25”) designed by The Stevens Group will be EDDM-delivered in hopes of soliciting businesses to join (or rejoin) our Chamber and promoting resident and business donations to the ECCI Centennial Celebration NFP to support the development of a Civic Hall of Fame public memorial (see Civic HOF below).
Chamber of Commerce Month events will feature our 102nd Annual Award Gala as a breakfast event in the Normandy Banquet Room at Elmhurst American Legion THB Post 187 on Wednesday, September 8, and “Networking on the 9s,” our 73rd Annual Golf Outing, at Sugar Creek Golf Course in Villa Park on Thursday, September 23.
Civic HOF Fundraising
During the first six months of Fiscal Year 2021, tax-deductible donations of $11,675 to the ECCI Centennial Celebration NFP’s Civic Hall of Fame Fund to develop a public memorial increased the fund total to more than $17K—assuring the project will proceed as initially planned.
The Civic HOF memorial will feature a TouchPros Touch Wall interactive, touch-screen TV monitor (55 to 70 inches) on which users can view biographies, photographs and video clips of each of the inductees, and will be installed in a publicly-accessible location
Since its creation in 1992—then as part of the Opening Ceremonies at Elmfest—the Civic HOF has inducted 28 businesspeople, community volunteers and elected officials, with the husband and wife team of Ahlgrim Funeral Home’s Scott Ahlgrim and community banker Charity Ahlgrim joining those distinguished honorees during the 102nd Annual ECCI Award Gala breakfast at the American Legion on September 8. Since Elmfest’s end in 2009, inductees have been honored at ECCI’s Annual Awards Gala in all but one of those years.
Summer Concerts Partnership
Thanks in part to City of Elmhurst Explore Elmhurst Grant Program funding support, this year our Chamber and Elmhurst American Legion THB Post 187 will co-host a trio of country music-themed events—highlighted by the Second Annual Nashville Songwriter Fundraiser on October 16—all staged inside the Legion’s Normandy Banquet Room.
Summer concerts are scheduled for Saturday, August 14 and 28, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Normandy Room. Doors open at 6 p.m. The concert venue will allow concertgoers access to the adjacent indoor bar and an outdoor gathering area.
Freebyrd, a local tribute band with Elmhurst ties, is booked to perform on August 14, as presented by ECCI member Community Bank of Elmhurst, which is located immediately west of Post 187, while Whiskey Creek will perform on August 28.
At both summer concerts, a $10 tax-deductible cover charged at the door will benefit the ECCI Centennial Celebration NFP’s Civic Hall of Fame Public Memorial Fund, while the Legion will profit from all food and beverage sales.
New Members
Our Chamber welcomed one new member in July as follows: Thryv.
Happy Anniversary
Four members are celebrating Chamber anniversaries in August as follows: 50 years—Elmhurst Symphony Association; 35 years—The Silverado Grill; 10 years—Kie & Kate Couture; and 5 years—Elmhurst Centre for Performing Arts.
Dropped Members
The Chamber said goodbye to the following six members in July: Beerhead Bar & Eatery, DeWitt Dentistry, Lezza Spumoni and Deserts, PCT Disinfecting, Pinstripes, Prairie Path Foot & Ankle Clinic.
Gone, But Not Forgotten
Our condolences to Phil and Francine “Sis” Greco of the Odeum Expo Center on the July 26 passing of their mother Phyllis “MG,” 95, founder of the family business. Click HERE to view obituary.