Elmhurst Chamber Elects Officers for 2016

ELMHURST, Ill., November 24, 2015 – The Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry Board of Directors elected three officers for its six-member Executive Committee for 2016 at its regular monthly meeting held November 10 in the Hammersmith Community Room at Community Bank of Elmhurst (330 West Butterfield Road).

Elected/appointed to serve one-year terms on the Executive Committee were:

Chairperson— Tim Gurrie, Pampered Chef consultant since 2010 and former banker;

First Vice Chairperson—Joe Muchow, President at E.L. Foust Co. (754 Industrial Drive) since 1997; and

Second Vice Chairperson—Charity Ahlgrim, Vice President and Business Development Officer at Community Bank of Elmhurst since 2005.

Gurrie, Muchow and Ahlgrim will be joined on the Executive Committee by Immediate Past Chair Dee Longfellow, Editorial Coordinator for Rock Valley Publishing, publisher of the Elmhurst Independent (240 North West Avenue), ex-officio member John Quigley, Chamber President and CEO since 1999 and a Treasurer soon to be appointed.

Gurrie will work closely with the Chamber staff and oversee the policy-making work of the Chamber Board and its four standing committees (Marketing, Membership, Ways and Means, and Governmental Affairs), as well special committees and task forces.

Muchow and Ahlgrim will serve as Chair of the Marketing and Membership committees, respectively, while Quigley chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee. The to-be-appointed Treasurer will chair the Ways and Means Committee.

Tim Gurrie

Tim Gurrie, a Pampered Chef Consultant since 2010 with 40 years of experience in business and sales, is a second-term elected Director.

Gurrie is a five-year member of the Chamber’s green-coated Ambassadors and was active in the Chamber and former Elmhurst Economic Development Commission (EEDC) during his earlier years in Elmhurst as a community banker.

Gurrie also has served the chambers of commerce in Burbank and Homer, respectively, as a Director and Ambassador.

Prior to Pampered Chef, Gurrie served as a Vice President and Bank Manager for various retail banks, including two in Elmhurst, served in various national and regional retail sales and commercial leasing positions, and even co-owned a travel agency that is still in business today.

He also has served as President of his homeowners association.

Gurrie holds Associate degrees in both commercial art and advertising.

He is a 41-year resident of Downers Grove.

Joe Muchow

Joe Muchow, President at E.L. Foust Co. since 1997, was elected to a second term as a Director in 2014 and has served on the Governmental Affairs Committee since 2011.

A Chamber member since 1977, Muchow served as General Manager of E.L. Foust from 1989-97 and was President (1995-99) of his Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local.

E.L. Foust has been a manufacturer of high-quality air purifiers for allergy and asthma sufferers since 1974 and now offers a line of “green” cleaning products for work and home.

Muchow has been a member of the Illinois Professional Firefighters Association since 1974, winning Firefighter of the Year in 1998 and receiving the Joseph Hartman Award for Paramedics. He also was active in the local chapter of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO).

Muchow earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Illinois University and an Associate Degree in Fire Science from the College of DuPage.

Until recently, Muchow was a resident of Elmhurst for 36 years.

Charity Ahlgrim

Charity Ahlgrim, Vice President and Business Development Officer at Community Bank of Elmhurst since 2005, was appointed as a Director to fill a Board vacancy in late 2015 after serving two one-year terms as Treasurer (2014-15). Previously, she served two terms as an elected Director after being appointed to the Board in 2006 to fill a vacancy.

A longtime volunteer at the Steak Fry and Elmfest, Ahlgrim also served as a Chamber Director in the 1990s and is a former member of the Chamber Ambassadors.

Community Bank of Elmhurst annually hosts the Chamber’s Mayoral “State of Our City” Membership Breakfast in January and holiday Business After Hours in December.

Ahlgrim has some 30 years of community-based banking experience in Elmhurst and was elected to serve as Treasurer for the City of Elmhurst from 2005-09. During her years in community banking, she has been active in the Spring Road Business Association and is a

Co-Founder of the Elmhurst St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Ahlgrim also is a member of League of Women Voters of Elmhurst and a former Trustee for the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Foundation.

She is a 23-year resident of Elmhurst.

Dee Longfellow

Dee Longfellow, Editorial Coordinator for Rock Valley Publishing, publisher of the Elmhurst Independent, served as only the ninth female Board Chair in the Chamber’s 96-year history, all of them since 1982, but the seventh during Quigley’s 15-year tenure.

Preceding Longfellow as female Board Chairs were Virginia “Ginny” Harmon (1982) of Unique Travel Service, Nancy Phillips (1988) of York State Bank, Gloria Duarte (1999) of Café Las Belles Artes, Cathy Bajkowski (2003) of CB Health Insurance, Dare Messina (2006) of L.W. Reedy Real Estate, Debra Klosterman (2007) of Guaranteed Rate, Jennifer Speaker (2013) of SMB Advantage Group and Julie Miller (2014) of Patrick T. Sheehan & Associates.

Longfellow chaired the Marketing Committee in 2014 as First Vice Chair, the Membership Committee in 2013 as Second Vice Chair, and Ways and Means Committee in 2012 as Treasurer. She also has served on the Governmental Affairs Committee since 2010.

Longfellow previously served on the Board (1988-89) and Membership Committee while representing the Holiday Inn Elmhurst.

Longfellow also is the former Program Director for the Northwest & Schaumburg Association of Commerce & Industry (NASCI), a regional chamber where she planned the annual gala, golf outing, job fair and other special events. Prior to NASCI, she ran her own public relations and marketing company for small businesses and individuals.

Longfellow is a Founding Board member, Past President (1997) and Former Publicity Chair of the Elmhurst Children’s Assistance Foundation (ECAF), and a former member, Publicity Chair and Newsletter Editor of the Elmhurst Lions Club.

Longfellow is a graduate (B.A.) of Augustana College in South Dakota.

She is a resident of Villa Park and former Elmhurst resident (1985-97).

Established in 1918, the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce 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 mission of the 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.