www.peoriachamber.orgA publication of the

Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce

Chamber Report

March 2014

Vol. 22 Issue 3

Inside:Our New President

Community Leadership School:students learn from area leaders

Q&A with Jeff Griffin

CLS:learning from

Peoria area leaders.

Page

2

Bastien Wireless (A)P.O. Box 2236, East Peoria, IL 61611Fax: 217.521.6236www.lincolnlandapics.comLocal Family owned and operated for 25 plus years, Bastien Wireless is a premium Verizon wireless and direct TV dealer.

LB Fitness Inc., DBA Anytime Fitness (A)1320 W Commerce Dr., Ste. 200, Peoria, IL 61615Phone: 309.231.3821www.anytimefitness.com24/7 Fitness Center

Comprehensive Emergency Solutions (A)401 SW Water St., Ste. 509, Peoria, IL 61602Phone: 309.999.1090www.ces-ed.comA group of Emergency Medicine physicians providing Emergency Department staffing at several locations in central Illinois.

Welcome!Sugar Woodfire Bistro and Gourmet Treats (A)836 SW Adams St., Peoria, IL 61602Phone: 309.676.0848www.sugarpeoria.comLocated in the heart of Peoria’s Warehouse District, owner Travis Mohlenbrink and Executive Chef Vince Swanson have created a quick-casual dining experience that is unrivaled in central Illinois. Its name is Sugar.

Great Harvest Bread Company (A)9010 N. Allen Rd., Peoria, IL 61615Phone: 309.589.0900www.greatharvestpeoria.comOur purpose and passion is to provide you and your family with the freshest and most flavorful baked goods you’ve ever tasted. Come in for a free slice of hot-out-of-the-oven bread or a taste of our leg-endary sweets. Enjoy yourself and bring your children. We’re family owned and community focused.

New Chamber Members

Our FamilyWhat does the voice of business look like? There are two very important pieces to this puzzle under the Greater Peoria Business Alliance (GPBA). The Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce and the CEO Council share services through the Greater Peoria Business Alliance.

The Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce continues to be the leading voice and resource for business in the region. Through the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, more than 1100 businesses are committed to building better busi-ness in the Greater Peoria Area.

Sixty-five area business CEOs and leaders invest in the CEO Council and utilize the collective regional business lead-ership to promote a common vision and strategy for executing initiatives that promote the growth of the Greater Peoria Community.

Sherneka Cagle | Director of Events | Peoria Area Chamber

Jolene Cole | Executive Administrative Assistant | GPBA

Jim Lynch | Vice-President of Development | CEO Council

Buffie Griffin | Accounts Payable | GPBA

Jeff Griffin | President | Peoria Area Chamber

Cal MacKay | President & CEO | GPBA

Rachel O’Connell | Director of Communication| GPBA

Michelle Vonderheide | Information Services | Peoria Area Chamber

Suzy Watkins | Director of Sales | Peoria Area Chamber

The Board of Directors of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce and Cal MacKay, CEO of the Greater Peoria Business Alliance appointed Jeffrey Griffin as Chamber President. Griffin assumed responsibilities beginning on February 10. Griffin moved to Peoria from Wooster, Ohio, where he served as President of the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce for four years, leaving in 2012 to fulfill an interest in an entrepreneurial role with Edward Jones. While serving as President, Griffin graduated from the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Organization Management in 2012. As Chamber President, Griffin was influential in recruiting and retaining thousands of new jobs and developing a quality workforce in Ohio, Wooster and Wayne County. In Wooster, Griffin served as the Ward 4 representative for four years on City Council before being elected council president; a role he held until assuming the role of Wooster Area Chamber President. He also served on the Boards of the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Ohio and the Wayne Economic Development Council & Main Street Wooster; he also served on the City of Wooster’s Finance, Public Utilities and Public Properties Committees. Below, Jeff speaks on his experience as a Chamber leader and his plans for the future of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce.

Jeff Griffin:

Q: What attracted you to the Peoria Area? A: The Peoria Area is a strong and vibrant Midwest City which is what my family loves. The diverse economy and potential for growth throughout Illinois made this position very attractive. Also, the new business model with the Greater Peoria Business Alliance, CEO Council and Chamber of Commerce is fresh, ex-citing and the professional challenge I was seeking.

Q: Now that you are settled in, tell us about a couple of things that are important to you in this role? A: I can’t say I’m “settled-in” yet, but during my first few weeks I have gained a great deal of confidence that this is a great match for my family. The Board of Directors and local com-munity leaders have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome and connected. It is very important to me that we deliver a high value service to our membership and truly serve as the “leading voice for business” in our region.

Q: Ninety-eight percent of all businesses in the Greater Peo-ria Area are considered small business. What are some ways small businesses can become engaged and benefit from the Peoria Area Chamber? A: I know 80% of our members employ 25 or fewer employees, and serving them is of tremendous importance. First and fore-most, we are able to provide a network of personal and profes-sional services to meet the needs of small business. Whether a small business needs an advocate or direction for financing, I want them to feel comfortable coming to me for help. I will either provide the service through our office or get them con-nected with who can.

family values and business advocacy

Q: The Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce continually strives to be the leading voice and resource for business. Why is it important for the business community to have a unified re-source? A: Our greatest strength is in our numbers. As a unified re-source, we are successful in gaining the attention of elected officials and policy makers. Even within the membership base we may not always “agree”, but we will serve as a vessel for the discussions to be had and information to be shared. In the end, we will advocate with respect and passion. You cannot be a LEADING VOICE by standing on the sidelines, and I plan to be in the game.

Q: Outside of work, what are some of your interests? A: Rosy and I just celebrated our 18th anniversary and we have three children, Max (13), Alex (11) and Camilla (8). We stay busy with our school, church and sports programs. I love to cook, bike, hike, fish, swim and any outside activity where we can create general chaos with the kids. We also love to travel when the time and opportunity presents itself.

Q: During your time here in Peoria so far, what are some of the things that you have enjoyed the most? A: I feel like I keep repeating this, but I truly feet honored by the warm reception I have received. I am here to serve the Greater Peoria region and getting to know the community con-tinues to be very enjoyable. Aside from the beautiful weather, I have enjoyed Bradley basketball, exploring the locally owned restaurants, getting to know our Chamber volunteers, and at-tending my first Business After Hours.

Business BriefsAdvanced Correctional Health-care welcomes Sarah Gish, Regional Nurse Manager and Jason Ballinger, Regional Nurse Manager to the team; and congratulates Jessica Young, Senior Counsel and Rachel Lewis, Contract Attorney on their promotions.

CliftonLarsonAllen proudly welcomes a new employee, Masha Lovejoy to the firm.

Community Workshop and Training Center, Inc. (CWTC) is pleased to announce the elec-tion of officers for their Board of Directors and welcome four new board members: Wayne Tessier, President; Lindsey Birkel, Vice-President; Tony Lees, Treasurer; Alice Down-ing, Secretary; Clint Nagle, Darin Suarez, Tim Gronewold, and Larry Resutko.

Goodwill of Central Illinois has announced Gretchen Piper as Director of Com-munications and Betsy Bl-adel as Assistant Director of Vocational Services. Good-will has also selected their Board of Directors’ officers for 2014. Terry Best will serve as Board Chairperson with Joe Sharpe III in the posi-tion of Vice Chairman. Scott Klaus has been named Secre-tary and Darrin Autry rounds out the board officers as Trea-surer. The board members are; Barbara Duryea of First State Bank of Illinois; Brian Johnson of Johnson, Bunce & Noble; Dr. Robert Phillips, pastor at First United Meth-

business movesodist Church; Kimberley Smith of Methodist UnityPoint; Jan Wright, publisher of Central Il-linois Business Publications; Renee Charles of Bradley Uni-versity and Kirk Anderson from P.J. Hoerr. Patty Fuchs, Goodwill President & CEO will act as an Ex-Officio member of the board.

The Human Service Center would like to announce the corporate promotions of Mike Kennedy to Sr. Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; Arun Pinto, MD to Sr. Vice President and Corporate Medi-cal Director; Cindy Gilmer, Vice President of Clinical Services; Pat Kennedy, Vice President of Clinical Services; Terry Law-son, Vice President of Human Resources; Clark Schuh, Vice President of Finance and Pam White, Vice President of Deci-sion Support.

The Illinois Valley Yacht and Ca-noe Club is proud to announce Kelly Long as Executive Chef.

The Institute of Physical Medi-cine & Rehabilitation (IMPR) is excited to announce Jenn Rose as the newest member to their staff.

Maurer-Stutz, Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of Jim Schmudde, PE, SE to their structural engineering team.

OSF Saint Francis Medical Cen-ter Sisters Community Health-care Center, the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria (UICOMP), and Heart-land Community Health Clinic are pleased to announce the two community health clinics are now one.

OSF Saint Francis Medical Cen-ter congratulates Lois Bentler-Lampe on joining OSF Home

newsGoodwill of Central Illinois has partnered with Spoon River College to offer free computer and job readiness workshops to the residents of Canton, Macomb and the sur-rounding communities.

Illinois American Water ea-gerly announces that the ap-plication process is now open for its 2014 Environmental Grant Program to support in-novative, community-based environmental projects that improve, restore or protect the watersheds, surface wa-ter and/or groundwater sup-

plies through partnerships. The company will award grants of up to $10,000.

The Illinois Valley Yacht Club announces a spring new mem-ber initiative. Members may join immediately and not be-gin paying dues until April 1, 2014. For more information, contact Paul Kelley or Anita Johnson at 682-5419.

The Institute of Physical Medi-cine & Rehabilitation (IMPR) announces the launch of its new radio program on Voice America called Live Well. Lis-teners can tune in at Voiceam-erica.com and choose the health and wellness channel.

McGladrey LLP in conjunction with the Davis Love Founda-tion, announces the fourth annual McGladrey Classic (an official FedExCup Event of the PGA TOUR) raised more than $850,000 for local and nation-al charitable organizations.

Midstate College is proud to announce that State Senator Darin LaHood will deliver the keynote address at the Col-lege’s spring commencement ceremonies.

The Peoria Area World Affairs Council (PAWAC) sponsored the 44th Annual Central Illi-nois World Affairs Conference that featured former White House national security and cyber policy advisors as well as business, media and legal experts discussing how to bal-ance the use of the world wide web with personal and nation-al security.

Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino is ex-cited to announce the opening of Rocks Bar & Restaurant.

The Chamber Report (USPS-097-250) is the official publication of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce. It is published monthly at 100 SW Water Street, Peoria, IL 61602, phone: 309.495.5900. An annual subscription is $10. Periodical postage paid in Peoria, Illinois 61601 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER - Send address changes to: The Chamber Report, Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce, 100 SW Water Street, Peoria, Illinois 61602.

Care Services as the Chief Nurs-ing Officer (CNO) and Vice Pres-ident of Clinical Operations.

Dress for Success Peoria, a program of Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service would like to welcome Marissa Kenny, Shaunta King, Jennifer Robin, DeAnn Sullivan-Reed and Mia Woolsey to their 2014 Advisory Board.

SC2 Supply Chain Services & Solutions is proud to announce the following promotions, Jeff Denny to Business Develop-ment Manager, Lindsay Egel to Director of Marketing & Cor-porate Operations and Jim Kill-inger to Accounting Manager.

Barbara Beadles, MD was ap-pointed program director for the University of Illinois Col-lege of Medicine at Peoria (UICOMP) psychiatry residency training program at UnityPoint Health – Methodist.

TruGreen is proud to welcome Britt Spangler as Service Manager.

awards & recognition

of “Top Attorneys in Illinois”: Nicholas Bertschy, Personal In-jury General: Defense; Timothy Bertschy, Business Litigation; Roger Clayton, Health Care; Brad Elward, Appellate; Jo-seph Feehan, Personal Injury General: Defense, Rex Linder; Civil Litigation: Defense; Gary Nelson, Insurance Coverage; David Perkins, Civil Litigation: Defense; Stacie Linder Hansen, Workers’ Compensation (“Ris-ing Star”); John Redlingshafer, Government/Cities/Municipal-ities (“Rising Star”); Matthew Thompson, Professional Liabil-ity: Defense (“Rising Star”); and Craig Unrath, Appellate.

Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC is pleased to announce that fifteen of our attorneys have been named to Illinois Super Lawyers® and Illinois Rising Stars 2014 as a result of a survey by Law & Politics Me-dia, Inc.

Illinois CancerCare’s “World Class Cancer Treatment” branding campaign was re-cently presented with a Silver award at the annual American Advertising Awards.

Maaco, Peoria, IL, has been named a certified center by the franchise chain’s home office.

McGladrey LLP was recently selected as a member of the Bob Scott’s VAR Stars for 2013.

Northwestern Mutual – Great-er Peoria congratulates Sunil Oberoi, for qualifying for the The Master Achievement Award by Northwestern Mu-tual; and Joshua Waite, John Dill, Doug Shannon and Sunil Oberoi for qualifying for mem-bership into the Million Dollar Roundtable (MDRT), as well as

Business Briefs

news

Micah LeMoine for receiving the Pacesetter 40 Award.

Dress for Success Peoria, a program of the Peoria Friendship House of Chris-tian Service would like to recognize DSW - Designer Shoe Warehouse and Pro-gram Volunteer, Dee Welch as 2013 Shining Stars recipi-ents.

The Mark Twain Boutique Hotel in downtown Peoria is pleased to announce that it has been Certified by the Illinois Green Business Asso-ciation. The property is the first hotel in the Peoria area to become certified.

The Business Briefs are an excellent marketing opportunity offered to Chamber members. Submit items of interest to the editor to editor@peoriachamber.org. Information must be received by the 10th of the month to be included in next month’s issue. All content subject to editorial review.

Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service Adopt-a-Family program helped provide Christmas gifts for more than 475 children during the month of December 2013.

Quest Charter Academy is ac-cepting applications for enroll-ment for the 2014-2015 school year from January 27-March 13, 2014. Applications are available online at www.questpeoria.org or by calling 309-222-8719.

awards & recognition

The Antioch Group, Inc. is pleased to announce that Barbara Toohill, Psy.D. has been awarded designation as a top psychologist in Illinois by HealthTap. The Antioch Group, Inc. is also pleased to announce that Patricia Poert-ner, LCPC has met the profes-sional standards to be rec-ognized as a Board Certified Coach.

Central States Media is pleased to announce that it has re-ceived national re-certification as a Women’s Business Enter-prise by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

Hawk Agency congratulates 3rd quarter award recipients Alan Gordon, Agent of the Quarter and Abbey Fliege, Team Member of the Quarter for their work and dedication, always remembering that “No-body Watches Out For You Like The Hawk!”

Twelve Heyl Royster attor-neys were listed in the 2014 Super Lawyers compilation www.businesspacofcentralillinois.com

REPRESENTING CENTRAL ILLINOIS

BUSINESSES

Learn how your business can benefit from joining

the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce - CQI Commercial Energy

Purchasing Cooperative by visiting

www.peoriachamber.org or by contacting Brian

McLemore at brian@cqiassociates.com

or 217-855-8417.

The Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership School (CLS) is well underway. Established

in 1975, CLS is designed to ensure the tradition of strong volunteer leadership in the Peoria area. The program enables business and industry to prepare a limited number of committed citizens each year to assume responsible voluntary positions with non-profit agencies, civic groups, and citizen organizations within the community. This year, our students have already heard from speakers such as Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis, Steve Thompson, President and CEO of Easter Seals, Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy, and State Senator Darin LaHood, with more great speakers lined up. One student said, “It’s great to listen to a leader with energy and philanthropic focus...it makes you realize that no matter your path, you can overcome anything.”

Chamber News

Community Leadership School: Growing the future leaders of the Peoria area

Peoria County Jail, Jan. 31, 2014,with Sheriff Mike McCoy

Goodwill Commons Headquarters, Jan. 17, 2014, with Cindy Fleming (Infinite Success)

Community Leadership school is a 12-week program of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce designed to inform and educate business students in the Peoria Area. The 2014 CLS will wrap up in April with 41 graduates. To learn more, contact Sherneka Cagle, at 309.495.5970 or scagle@peoriachamber.org.

University of Illinois Springfield, Peoria Center, Feb. 14, 2014, with State Senator Darin LaHood

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