Happy Fourth of July week to all!!! I will spend this holiday weekend as I have many previous years…playing on a ballfield. Here’s a piece of July 4-connected Elmhurst trivia for you: The last city-sponsored fireworks show took place in 1986 as part of Elmhurst’s Sesquicentennial Celebration (150 years), but that was not our community’s fireworks finale. Watch Elmhurst TV’s 2017 retrospective, “Elmfest Gone, But Not Forgotten,” if you don’t already know.
While willingly adhering to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s “Stay at Home” Executive Order May 30 extension, business leaders and elected officials across our state are speaking out in opposition to a longer-than-expected timeline within the Governor’s five-phase Restore Illinois plan developed in partnership with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH).
While striving to adhere to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s “Stay at Home” Executive Order May 30 extension, our Chamber will continue to work diligently (and safely) to help Elmhurst businesses both sustain operations financially and keep their workforce employed during the health care and economic crisis caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic.
While striving to adhere to the City of Elmhurst’s “Stay Home, Save Lives” mandate as best we can, all of us—small businesses and not-for-profit organizations alike—are working diligently (and safely) to both sustain operations financially and keep our workforce employed during the health care and economic crisis caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic.
As I presumed in my second Special President’s Message Update on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic e-mailed to you (and posted on YouTube) on March 27, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on March 30 extended his “Stay at Home” Executive Order through the end of the month of April. “Stay at Home” first went into effect on March 21—following the April 17 shutdown of restaurants and bars—and was initially scheduled to last through April 7.
During the past month, the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry has worked diligently on our member’s behalf to assure that federal, state and local agencies and elected officials understand the economic damage that COVID-19 and the related public policy responses have inflicted on the Elmhurst business community in general and our members in particular.
Following Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s March 13 coronavirus (COVID-19)-related order closing all restaurants and bars, as well as all schools, effective March 17 through March 30, City of Elmhurst officials contacted the our Chamber to request input and support in assisting this directly-impacted segment of our business community.
I and other representatives from our Chamber will travel to the Springfield in both March and April to meet with members of the Illinois General Assembly to discuss proposed legislation that will directly impact employers and their businesses.
During my Annual “State of Our Chamber” Address at the 101st Annual ECCI Awards Gala on January 31, I promoted how our Chamber will assist Elmhurst American Legion THB Post 187 in hosting the 2020 American Legion Baseball Great Lakes Regional Tournament at Plunkett Park from August 4-9.
October kicks off the Fourth Quarter of 2019 with plenty on our Chamber calendar, including a Multi-Chamber Luncheon, Professional Speakers Series presentations by Itasca Bank & Trust and New York Life Insurance Company, and monthly Business After Hours and Membership Breakfast networking events.
In celebration of Chamber of Commerce Week in Illinois, our Chamber will sponsor a month of networking and fundraising events, offer a new member recruitment incentive and hold a special sale on our Elmhurst-Opoly board game.