President's Message
LISA SHEMROSKE
ASHTON PLACE MARIES CATERING

Greetings to all Chamber members.

As I enter into my second year as President, I look forward to another exciting year of office representing one of the finest business organizations in the Chicago area (or western suburbs).  As a long-standing and active member of the Willowbrook/Burr Ridge Chamber of Commerce & Industry, I'm very proud of our accomplishments and the important role we take in supporting and enhancing our local businesses.

We were proud to introduce our new Strictly Business newsletter to the Willowbrook and Burr Ridge Chamber communities.  With the new format, we are able to expand our capabilities in reaching more readers who can learn more about the businesses located in and around our Chamber area.  We highlight major village news stories that may be of interest to residents and business owners. Our role is to keep the community connected to the news that impacts the business sector, neighborhoods, schools, churches, organizations and municipal agencies serving our towns.  Strictly Business can also be found on newsstands for no cost.

This will be another challenging year as we are still coping with a changing financial climate that affects the retail, real estate, dining, travel and commercial service sectors.  There will be no easy solutions, yet we must remain optimistic and work together to share ideas and find opportunities.  Our Chamber will continue to make a strong commitment to supporting our businesses and communities.  History points to our Chamber's willingness to be adaptive and innovative as we look for viable ways to be successful.

Our 2009 - 2010 theme, "Getting back to Business," reflects a fundamental concept to embrace a plan that targets our basic goals and objectives.  By working together and joining hands to create a successful and purposeful business climate, we can move forward and support the initiatives that are important to our communities.  We look forward to cultivating new ideas and inspiring our membership to be inventive, imaginative and innovative in the months and years to come.

We have also found that our Business2Business Connections program has been very well received.  The goal is to consider Chamber members first whenever there's a service or product need.  The support we give to our Chamber members not only helps the businesses, but also generates sales tax revenue for our villages.  We all benefit from working together and supporting each other.

In the past two decades, Willowbrook, Burr Ridge and our Chamber have experienced tremendous change and growth.  There is so much yet to be accomplished.  By embracing a spirit of cooperation through our Chamber, we can maintain a competitive edge.

Help your business, join the Chamber!