Elmhurst Chamber Elects New Directors

ELMHURST, Ill., November 24, 2015 – The newest of six recently-elected members of the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry Board of Directors were sworn in to serve their three-year term as Directors at the Board’s November 10 meeting at Community Bank of Elmhurst (330 West Butterfield Road).

Installed as a first-term Director was:

Dan Welz, Senior Vice President &and Director of Retail Banking at Elmhurst’s Suburban Bank & Trust, a branch of Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company, a Wintrust Community Bank.

Re-elected to second terms as Directors were:

Mark Daniel, Attorney at Law and Owner of Daniel Law Office, P.C.;

Timothy Gurrie, Pampered Chef Consultant since 2010 and former banker; and

Chuck Thomas, Senior Vice President/Commercial Lending at Inland Bank.

Directors elected to first terms after being appointed to fill vacancies were:

Desiree Chen, Managing Director of Public Affairs at Elmhurst College; and

Diane McGinnis, Community and Government Relation at Edward-Elmhurst Health’s Elmhurst Memorial Hospital.

“Our Chamber is blessed to have well qualified individuals willing to serve on the Board of Directors,” said John Quigley, Chamber President and CEO since 1999. “Five of the newly-elected Directors were already serving on the Board, including a member of the Executive Committee.”

Dee Longfellow, Editorial Coordinator for Rock Valley Publishing, publisher of the Elmhurst Independent, installed Welz in her next to last duty as 2015 Board Chair.

All of the elected Directors were slated by a non-Board Nominating Committee. This year’s slate ran uncontested, with no Chamber member filing the required petition to run for election.

The Nominating Committee was comprised of the following five past Board Chairs: Scott Levin (2010) of Howard & Howard, Jason Janes (2009) of Edward Jones Investments, Cathy Bajkowski (2003) of CB Health Insurance, Rich Reichert (2001) of Community Bank of Elmhurst and Ralph Pechanio (1992).

“Slating Directors is a more-business-like method for recruiting candidates with Board-specific skills, as compared to the popularity contest typical with most elections,” said Quigley.

The Board is comprised of 18 to 21 elected Directors serving three-year terms, plus three Ex-Officio Directors. Directors are limited to serving two consecutive elected terms, not counting years as an appointee or as a post-term Past Chairperson.

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 mission of the Elmhurst Chamber is to promote an environment that creates success for local businesses and our 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.