New Chamber Chair Presents Vision for 2012

The new year will be a busy one for businesses in Darien — at least if new chamber Chairman of the Board has anything to do with it.

Slowikowski presented her 2012 vision for the chamber and the Darien business community at Tuesday’s annual at Carrabba’s in Woodridge.

Central to her mission is positioning Darien as a growing business community — and she called on her fellow businessmen and women to follow suit.

“You have to have the right intention,” she said. “When you have the right intention, a mechanism (for success) will come. And when you have the right mechanism, you will get results. My intention is to grow business for the businesses in Darien.” 

In the short time since she took the chamber’s reins at the beginning of January, Slowikowski said she’s met with leaders in the city, police department and park district, as well as the editors of Neighbors of Darien.

Her goal was to find out what makes Darien special — in her words, what is its glimmer.

“What I want us to think of is what do we have here? How do we grow Darien?” Slowikowski said. 

The chamber is sponsoring two events in upcoming weeks to set Slowikoski’s vision into motion.

On Jan. 31, there will be a focus group at 9:30 a.m. in the training room at the during which local business people can share their thoughts on how the chamber can help them achieve their goals.

The chamber will hold an economic forum with a panel of local leaders at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 8 at .

Slowikowski acknowledged the obstacles business owners have faced in recent years through the down economy but urged people to persist through the tough times. 

At one point in her life, Slowikowski said she suffered from such extreme panic attacks and agoraphobia that she couldn’t leave the house. Today she appears in front of thousands as a motivational speaker through her firm . 

“When people tell me there aren’t possibilities, I don’t listen to that,” she said.