ELMHURST CHAMBER HONORS CARDINAL CARTRIDGE
AS A.J. “TOCHE” TERRONES BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
ELMHURST, Ill., November 28, 2001 – Cardinal Cartridge, Inc., of Elmhurst was named A.J. “Toche” Terrones Business of the Year for 2001 at the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s Annual Meeting/Silent Auction held at Elmhurst American Legion THB Post 187 last Monday (November 26).
Lee Ferry, Owner and President
of Cardinal Cartridge, accepted the award on behalf of the company’s more than 60 employees. Also in attendance were Paul Pasquale, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and Alex Nelli, Senior Sales Executive.
Cardinal Cartridge has been a Chamber member since 1996, when Ferry purchased the toner recycling business. Since then, sales have grown from only $600,000 to more than $10 million—ranking Cardinal Cartridge among the top two percent of re-manufacturers in Illinois and top 20 percent nationally—and the staff and production personnel have increased 10 fold.
Besides its Industrial Park manufacturing and sales office in Elmhurst, Cardinal Cartridge opened sales offices in Joliet in 1997 and Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China (under a new division, Image Max) in 1998.
The award, which features a traveling trophy and permanent plaque, is given to the member business that has best served the Elmhurst Chamber and the community.
It is named in memory of Toche Terrones, who served as Chamber President (formerly Executive Director) for nearly a decade until his death in July of 1999.
The award presentation was made by the outgoing Chairman of the Chamber’s Board of Directors, Rich Reichert, Executive Vice President and Controller of Community Bank of Elmhurst (330 West Butterfield Road); Chamber President John Quigley; and Virginia “Ginny” Harmon, Owner and President of Unique Travel Service, Ltd. (170 North York Street), the 2000 award recipient.
Ferry and Pasquale were friends and roommates at Western Illinois University in Macomb in 1990, when they wagered the loser would come to work for the first of them to purchase a business. Prior to Cardinal Cartridge, Ferry worked as Controller at The Devon Group in Chicago and Accounting Manager at the HUB Group in Downers Grove.
Last August, Cardinal Cartridge received the 2001 Governor’s Export Award for outstanding accomplishments in the export of remanufactured printer cartridges to China. The company participates in the Illinois Trade Office’s Target China program and works closely with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs’ Bureau of Energy and Recycling. The Illinois DCCA awarded Cardinal Cartridge an $83,000 grant to purchase and install machinery and equipment for the recycling and remanufacturing of laser printer cartridges.
Nelli, who also met Ferry and Pasquale at Western Illinois, is an elected member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors and serves on the Board’s Marketing Committee.
Cardinal Cartridge’s client list includes the Chamber and the following member businesses: Advanced Wireless Data/Chicago Communications, AmeriSuites Elmhurst, Brico Industries, Brown Building Company, Courtyard by Marriott, Edward R. Kirby & Associates, Elmhurst Public Schools District 205, Elmhurst Economic Development Corporation, Federal Record Storage Company, Holiday Inn Elmhurst, L.W. Reedy Real Estate, Lynn Marketing Group, MacCormac College, Patrick T. Sheehan & Associates, RE/MAX East-West, The David Agency Insurance, Val-Matic Valve & Manufacturing Corporation, and Vallette Pharmacy.
The traveling trophy of imported 24% German lead crystal atop a mahogany wood base will be displayed at Cardinal Cartridge until the 2002 Annual Meeting, while an award plaque with the name of Cardinal Cartridge is on display at the Chamber office.
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.
