ELMHURST CHAMBER CHAIRMAN’S AWARD
RECOGNIZES FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR
ELMHURST, Ill., November 28, 2001 – Local entrepreneurial businesswoman Betsy Hanisch of Bensenville received the 2001 Chairman’s Award at the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s Annual Meeting/Silent Auction held at Elmhurst American Legion THB Post 187 last Monday (November 26).
The annual award traditionally is given
to a member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors for his/her outstanding service to the Board, Chairman and President. However, Board Chairman Rich Reichert, Executive Vice President and Controller at Community Bank of Elmhurst (330 West Butterfield Road), made an exception due to Hanisch’s service with special events and as a Chamber Ambassador.
A former Director (1988-90), Hanisch is a 10-year member of the green-coated Chamber Ambassadors and two-time Ambassador of the Year honoree (1991 and 1998). When the Ambassadors march in Elmhurst’s annual Memorial Day, Fourth of July and St. Patrick’s Day parades, Hanisch sportingly fronts them driving in her fire-red Corvette.
Hanisch also received the second “Tee Off for Toche” Good Works Award at the Chamber’s 53rd Annual Golf Outing last July. The Golf Outing and award are named in memory of A.J. “Toche” Terrones, who served as Chamber President (formerly Executive Director) for nearly a decade until his death in July of 1999.
In 2001, Hanisch remained active in and supportive of the Elmhurst Chamber despite selling her business, Fire Facilities, Inc., the company she founded in 1993.
With Hanisch as its President and Chief Executive Officer, Fire Facilities grew into a national marketer and seller of prefabricated fire-training buildings.
While building Fire Facilities from the ground up, Hanisch helped run the family’s manufacturing business, Western Slate Company in Elmhurst, as President and
Co-Owner (with her father, Robert Hanisch). Owned by the Hanisch family for 35 years, Western Slate celebrated its 100th Anniversary in 1995.
Besides her Chamber work, Hanisch also serves on the Board of Directors of the Elmhurst Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) and Elmhurst Family YMCA, and Board of Governors of Elmhurst Memorial Hospital. She is a former member of the Midwest Association of Family Owned Businesses Board of Directors.
Hanisch also is Vice Chairman of the EEDC, served on both the Marketing and Membership committees, and has chaired the organization’s Annual Meeting four times.
Among her various fund-raising activities to benefit Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, Hanisch founded and has chaired the Golf Classic since its inception in 1999.
The Elmhurst Family YMCA is counting on Hanisch to chair its 2002 Annual Campaign as successfully as she co-chaired the 2001 Annual Dinner/Dance.
Hanisch also participates in Elmhurst College’s Mentoring Program through its Center for Professional Excellence and serves on two advisory boards at her Alma Mater, Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis.
Hanisch and her husband, Tom Sawyer, a financial executive with Oak Brook Bank, reside in Bensenville.
Established in 1918, the Elmhurst Chamber 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 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.