It was another busy weekend – Oakton Ice Rink, Community Center pool, ‘Marmaduke’ at the Pickwick! Then popping into 2 Sisters to see Gina (one of the sisters), visited Ralph at Cream of the Crepe – and he joined the Chamber! Then stopped by to chat with Lisa and LuAnne at Lisa’s Homemade Italian Ice then hoofed it across the street to see Linda at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (and by some dark chocolate with almonds – my favorite!). Spent a long time in Hill’s Hallmark – they have a wonderful selection of Park Ridge items and so much more! I love Park Ridge and believe in keeping my money in town by shopping here! And, of course, I’m very loyal to Chamber members!
The Chamber’s Monthly Networking Luncheon which was at Rosewood Restaurant, 9421 W. Higgins Road, Rosemont last week was a great event! Almost 30 attended.
Rosewood did a wonderful job and the food was fabulous! We enjoyed a Caesar Salad, Chicken Romano, and White Chocolate Mousse Cake! Thank you to Sue Raap for coordinating and hosting – and to the staff for their attentive service!
Our guest speaker, Neil H. Dishman, Jackson Lewis LLP, was a wonderful keynote speaker with his topic: The Top Five Mistakes Small Employers Make
1. Assuming that employment laws don’t apply to small businesses
2. Failing to prevent and remedy potential harassment claims by your employees
3. Failing to properly address an employee’s request for a leave of absence or other accommodation
4. Misunderstanding who is legally considered your employee and who is not
5. Misclassifying employees as “salaried” and thus failing to properly pay overtime
Neil spoke for an hour on the above and said if he’d had longer, he would have spoken about the top TEN mistakes small employers make! I’ve had several people ask me to book him again because he was so interesting and they want to know the other 5 mistakes! So, I did ask him again for next June and we’ll see if he says yes.
Thank you to everyone who brought gift certificates for the raffle! We raised $140 that will go towards paying off the Chamber’s new pc!
The Spotlight business card drawing was won by Dave Sherman with Pioneer Press (and Chamber board member) who will grace the cover of the August newsletter!
Here’s the other lucky winners and what they won:
Four $50 Rosewood Gift Certs were won by: Joe Campagna, Linda Hills, Amy Sullivan & Frank Kaminski
$150 Newsletter Insert Tom Dombro, ING
$200 MicroSoft Office Pkg Joe Campagna, Grant Merchant Services
PR Chamber $25 Gift Cert Pat Rubino, Dr. Rubino
BFF Personal Training Gift Cert Wes Davis, Davis & Associates
Chad Finney The Exercise Coach Gift Cert Beth Parsch, The Murphy Group
Mary Kay Satin Hands donated by Kirsten Leys: Diddy Blyth, A Sterling Design
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory: Orit Gordon, First Data
2 PR Taxi Vouchers Amy Sullivan, Sullivan & Johnson CPA & Dr. Perry Fisher, Christian Science Reading Room
The monthly Tech Forum met last Thursday and discussed: "VoIP – What is voice over IP and why does it matter to me?"
The moderator of the Tech Forum was Ben Wilson, co-founder of Falkor Group, LLC. www.falkorgroup.com
Last Thursday was the Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Jet Windows & Doors, Inc. 713 W. Devon Ave. Chamber members, Board, Ambassadors and Mayor Schmidt, Alderman Frank Wsol all helped to welcome this new business to Park Ridge and to the Chamber! The owners are two brothers, Jeff and John Shea, and their proud parents were also on hand! Even Perry’s Pizza got into the act with fabulous pizzas that we feasted on and there was plenty of wine to go around. We met some of their window manufacturers too.
I mentioned last week that the Park Ridge Garden Club and the City award 10 Beautification Awards each year in September to homes in Park Ridge with gorgeous yards. The City usually gives each winner a $100 check but because the budget was cut, they are handing out certificates only.
Chamber Retailers stepped up to the plate any many will donate 10 gift certificates for the winners of the awards.
Here’s a partial list – if you can donate 10 gift certificates to your business, let me know! We have $330 worth of gift certificates so far for each winner!
1 Ace Hardware
2 Affresco Pizzeria/Lounge
3 All on the Road Catering & Bakery
4 BFF Personal Training
5 D'Agostino's Pizza & Pub Park Ridge
6 Le Peep Restaurant
7 Lisa's Homemade Italian Ice
8 Perry's Pizzeria
9 Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
10 Rosewood Restaurant & Banquets
11 Tasty Pub
12 The Juniper Center
13 The Perfect Dinner
14 Uptown Chiropractic Clinic
15 WineStyles of Park Ridge
We reserved 175 tickets for Billy Elliot: 100 of the Dress Circle (24 remaining) and 75 of the Lower Balcony (60 remaining). Tickets not paid for by Wed, June 23, will be released and given back. I can’t front anyone the money so ‘no money, no ticket’!
I sent this out Friday in the Member News but in case you missed it:
I reserved a VIP Suite at the theatre: cost is an additional $30 pp and includes open premium bar and appetizers for 45 minutes before the show and open premium bar and dessert during the 15 minute intermission. Let me know if you want to do that and we’ll need cash/check by June 23. If we don’t get any takers, I’ll release the suite on June 25.
Billy Elliott, the Musical, at Ford Center/Oriental Theatre.
Dress Circle Regular price $83.50 Chamber price $57.00
Lower Balcony Reg price $61.00 Chamber price $$42.00
No credit cards! Cash or check only. First come, first served. Strict payment deadline: June 23, Wednesday.
Once payment is made, order is final with no substitutions, exchanges or refunds.
FYI – the tickets are reserved but we receive them after we send in payment so we don’t know rows or seats yet.
July 10, Saturday, Chamber Business Expo: Canopies on Courtland.
During Saturday of Taste of Park Ridge, businesses can reach the multitude of residents who come through the Taste! There will be family activities going on in Hodges Park to draw people over to the area in front of City Hall.
Just $325 for Chamber Members, $425 for an end cap (Chamber members only); $650 Non Chamber member (may as well join!). Call the Chamber today for the few remaining booths as they are selling out quickly.
Did you know that Platinum members get a $50 discount on a booth? You can sign up for a Platinum upgrade to your membership any time of the year for only $300. There are a lot of other benefits too!
Here’s who we have so far and each business must sign the agreement I emailed so if you haven’t, you will be contacted today:
A-Abiding Care
ABC American Building Contractors, Inc
Advanced Physical Therapy
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
Allstate Insurance Co. - Gentile
AMA Dancers - Platinum
ATI Physical Therapy - Platinum
BFF/Lee Accupuncture
CMR Construction
GleeDay!
Liberty Bank for Savings
Norwood Seniors/Norwood Crossing
Park Ridge Chamber
Park Ridge Chiropractic
Park Ridge Community Fund
Resurrection Health Care - Platinum
Ross Rubino - Platinum
St Matthew Center for Health
Next meeting: NSYP meeting - July 14th, Niles Chamber offices on Oakton from 11:30 a.m. til 12:30 p.m.
NSYP has chosen to work with The Douglas Center in Skokie as the highlighted non-profit in their very first food drive, “Network with a Cause”, which will be held at Curragh Irish Pub, 8266 Lincoln Ave, in Skokie on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. Save the date, bring your canned goods and win prizes as we network with a cause for the Douglas Center. NSYP will be selecting several non-profits throughout the year to partner up with in an effort to give back to the caretakers of our community, so be on the watch for these special networking events.
About the Douglas Center: The Douglas Center opened their doors March 1999 as a non-profit social service agency, providing training programs and a training facility for adults with developmental and mental disabilities
About NSYP: The North Suburban Young Professionals program is a multi-chamber supported program. The chambers involved are Skokie, Niles and Park Ridge. It was created this year by a group of business professionals having a desire to get involved in their prospective business communities. The North Suburban Young Professionals is designed to provide a platform for spirited professionals within the community by building relationships with professional, social and charitable organizations. Our main purpose is to connect with others through networking; assist our chambers in their effort to provide educational and professional development resources and give back to our community.
For more information about NSYP, please contact the ambassadors listed below or the respective chambers; for Park Ridge (847) 825-3121, for Skokie (847) 673-0240 and Niles (847) 268-8180. Be sure to watch for NSYP news and events through chamber emails and updates.
Ivette Camarano, Niles Chamber, nsypniles@yahoo.com
Joe Campagna, Park Ridge Chamber, nsypparkridge@yahoo.com
Stephanie Murray, Skokie Chamber, nsypskokie@yahoo.com
June 16, Wednesday, 8:45am – 9:45am Retail Committee Meeting, Strategize on various methods and events to bring more business to merchants, stores and retailers. Chaired by Linda Hills, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
June 18, Friday, 9:00am – 10:00am PREN 3: Park Ridge Executive Network Leads and referral group with one person per profession. Third group in formation – needs more members!
June 18, Friday, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Vine Street Candle, 147 ½ Vine Street. Join Mayor Schmidt and Chamber Board, Ambassadors and other members as we celebrate the opening of this delightful little candle store!
June 22, Tuesday, 9:00am – 10:00am PREN 2: Park Ridge Executive Network Leads and referral networking group with one person per profession. Call to see if your spot is available!
June 22, Tuesday, North Suburban Young Professionals, Network with a Cause, Curragh Irish Pub, 8266 Lincoln Ave, in Skokie. 5 p.m. $10
June 23, Wednesday, 9:00am – 10:30am Brand New Health Care Forum Discuss all aspects of health care in an open forum with guest speakers. All health care professionals are invited to attend this first meeting and so are all members! The venue is open for discussion so get your name on the roster to speak!
June 24, Thursday, 5:00pm – 7:00pm Athletico Ribbon Cutting Ceremony/Business After Hours, 800 Devon Ave. Please join Chamber members and 7th Ward Alderman Frank Wsol, and 1st Ward Alderman Joe Sweeney as we celebrate with Athletico and network.
June 25, Friday, 8:00am-9:30am Women in Business Monthly Networking Breakfast. 720 Garden St. Laura Clark, Laura T. Clark Massage, will speak about "How to be your Best Self". Catering provided by Morningfields. $10 member $15 prospective member.
July 1, Thursday, 10:00am – 11:30am EKG – Entrepreneurial Knowledge Group Monthly Meeting, Regus, 350 S. Northwest Hwy. Suite 300 – Dedicated to entrepreneurs. Moderator and Facilitator: Lynda Tourloukis, You Can Say…Yes!
July 5, Monday, Chamber Office Closed in observance of 4th of July
July 10, Saturday, Chamber Business Expo: Canopies on Courtland. During Saturday of Taste of Park Ridge, businesses can reach the thousands of residents who come through the Taste! Just $325 for Chamber Members, $425 for an end cap (Chamber member only); $650 Non Chamber member. Call the Chamber today for the few remaining booths!
September 2, Thursday, Annual Golf Outing with Skokie Chamber at Chevy Chase Country Club
October 23, Saturday, E-cycling at Public Works. Dispose of your old pc’s, peripherals, and tv’s for just $5 per car. Save the Date for the Chamber’s golf outing with Skokie Chamber: Thursday, September 2, at Chevy Chase. We’re looking for committee members to help plan and sponsors to help underwrite the costs. Co-chairs are Kane Connell, Liberty Bank for Savings with Jim Cone, WSI. Let me know if you’re interested joining this fun committee! Meetings will start up very soon!
December 26, Sunday, St Paul of the Cross Sunday Supper. The Chamber will serve Sunday Supper at St Paul of the Cross on Sunday, December 26. We’ll need food, money, and volunteers to serve at least 100 hungry people (including children). Please open your hearts, checkbooks, and more importantly, give your time to help out those less fortunate.
The Executive Directors met yesterday, June 9, to plan for the 2010 B to B Expo being held on October 21 at Bristol Court Banquets.
Participating Chambers:
1. Des Plaines
2. Edison Park
3. Mt. Prospect
4. Niles
5. Park Ridge
6. Skokie
7. Wheeling/Prospect Hgts
Pricing for the event:
Major Sponsor $500
Restaurants - $50
Exhibitors – Early Bird $200 – After September 23 $250
Each chamber gets 8 exhibitor spaces.
Let me know if you’re interested in our Greeter Box program as we have a few more openings. For just $275, you’ll reach all new property owners in Park Ridge for a full year. You provide us with 50 items per month and we’ll include them in the Greeter Boxes and mail them out each month – and I hand deliver to new businesses in town when I invite them to join the Chamber!
Gail Haller
Executive Director
Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce
720 Garden Street
Park Ridge, IL 60068
phone: 847.825.3121
fax: 847.825.3122
email: gail.haller@parkridgechamber.org
website: www.parkridgechamber.org
Thank you to our Platinum members
1. Accounteque Services Inc.: 847.768.9100
2. All on the Road Catering & Bakery: 847.518.8958
3. AMA Dancers & Company: 847.727.7066
4. Aqua Plumbing, Heating and Cooling: 847.459.7900
5. ATI Physical Therapy: 847.292.0151
6. barrett-TECH: 847.823.1830
7. Cardinal Fitness of Park Ridge: 847.318.7550
8. Catalyst Marketing-Public Relations, Inc.: 847.298.8748
9. CMR Construction & Roofing of Chicago: 847.926.4245
10. Comfort Inn O'Hare/Des Plaines: 847.635.1300
11. D'Agostino's Pizza & Pub: 847.518.8700
12. Falkor Group LLC: www.falkorgroup.com
13. Global Handmade Hope: 847.720.4084
14. Home Comfort Heating & Cooling: 847.824.4336
15. Hyatt Regency O'Hare: 847.696-1234
16. Jason's Deli: 847.823.0210
17. J.C. Lilly Windows & Doors: 773.588.4332
18. K.G.M. Plumbing, Inc.: 847.583.8988
19. le Flour Bake Shop: 773-631-1400
20. Leys, Kirsten; Prudential Financial Services: 847.627.3950
21. Minuteman Press of Deerfield: 847.279.8550
22. Naperville Exterior, Inc: 847.593.7337
23. Panino’s Pizzeria: 847.823.3450
24. Park Ridge Community Fund: 847.825.5311
25. Periodontics of Niles, P.C.: 847.685.6686
26. Perry's Pizzeria & Ribs/Catering: 847-823-4422
27. Pickwick Theatre: 847.825.5800
28. Pro Windows: www.prowindowservice.com
29. Resurrection Health Care: 847.813.3210
30. Ross E. Rubino, D.D.S.P.C. & Associates: 847.825.1002
31. Sebastian Co. Real Estate: 847.823.3117
32. Subway of Park Ridge at 2618 Dempster: 847.813.9552
33. The Juniper Center: 847-759-9110
34. Unbound Technology: 847-235-4994
35. William Cunningham Movers, Inc.: 773.594.0398
36. You Can Say…Yes! Motivational Guidance Services: 847.401.5787
37. Y-Tech Heating & Cooling: 847.696.0477
38. You can be here!
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