Per the guidelines of our by-laws, the Chamber must present to the membership the recommended slate of board nominees at least 30 days prior to a vote. Your Board of Directors unanimously approved the recommended slate on September 8 and you will have the opportunity to vote at the general membership luncheon on October 26, 2009.

This year, we had an unprecedented amount of nominees which shows the great interest from leaders willing to share their talents. It was a difficult task by your selection team to come up with the recommended slate of directors for your approval. Please know that every nominee was well qualified and a leadership position will be found for every applicant.

The complete resumes of the recommended slate of directors to take office on January 2010 are extremely impressive. Therefore, these are just a few highlights of their prestigious attributes:

Shane Beard, Owner/Operator, FastSigns
Shane’s company is a past winner of the Chamber’s Small Business of the Year Awards and he is the idea person who initiated the Business Makeover program. He is an innovative thinker, experienced networker, and his passionate attitude is contagious. He currently serves as a board member of the Naperville Development Partnership, Naperville Conventions and Visitors Bureau and is a past vice chair of the Chamber board.

Dennis Culloton, Executive Vice President, Res Publica Group
Dennis is an experienced strategist, advocate, revenue generator, leader and mentor, crisis and issue manager, media and government communicator, collaborator, trained lawyer, high level negotiator. He has served on a multitude of boards and has over 20 years experience in media, politics business and communications strategy. Dennis is Vice Chair of NACPAC and active in the Chamber’s Legislative Committee.

Don Emery, President/Owner, Profit-Link, Inc.
Don’s career spans 30 years and includes business reengineering, organization and human resource development, and executive leadership. His expertise helps organizations develop a set of implementation tactics and ensure long term profitability. He recently provided valuable consulting to the Chamber with regards to cost cutting while increasing revenues which was very successful.

Tom Kallay, Sr. Community Relations Director, Nicor Gas
Tom is a community and public relations professional. He is skilled as a communicator and negotiator and has been a successful liaison between corporate, community government and public safety groups. He is a past chair of the Chamber Legislative Committee and was President of the Board of the Chamber’s Not-For-Profit winner at the 2009 SBY Awards.

John Norman, President/Owner, Design Resource Center, Inc.
John’s participation in many boards and pro bono work for community events has shown his deep dedication, work ethics and willingness to volunteer. He has successfully grown his company over the past 19 years. He has extensive creative skills providing image and corporate identities for a large variety of businesses and is a past winner of the Chamber’s Small Business of the Year Award.

Sandra Price, Financial & Business Advisor, Sandra A. Price-Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc.
Besides Sandra’s ten years experience as a financial advisor, she also has run her family’s business and has supervised six large locations of a large restaurant chain. She is a past chair of the Chamber’s Ambassadors Committee, is an Advisory Team Member of the Ambassadors and committee member for Women in Business. She has been active in many leadership roles in charity work throughout the community.

Michael Squire, Director of Community Development, North Central College
Michael’s background includes expertise in the entertainment industry, international sports industry and he has great understanding of strategic planning, production of special events, product placement and experiential marketing. He is committed to acting as conduit in providing opportunities and resources from the College to the Naperville business community.

Sue Welsh, Asst. VP for Residential Lending, Old Second National Bank
Sue not only has expertise in the banking and financial industry, she was also a vocational education counselor where she wrote and had published a Federal Grant. She is an avid community volunteer, served as past Chair elect for SOHO, and is a member of the Member Services Team and recently facilitated 3 leadership roundtables for the Chamber.

Russell G. Whitaker, III, Attorney, Dommermuth, Brestal, Cobine & West, Ltd.
Russ regularly works with the City of Naperville on development projects and is very familiar with City politics. He has served as Chair of YPN, current Treasurer of the DNA and Secretary of NACPAC and is an active member of the Chamber’s Legislative Committee. He was recently featured in Naperville Sun/Beacon News as an “Up and Comer”.

Norm Zienty, President/Owner, Fair Oaks Ford
Norm has been a business owner in our community for 29 years and has been a Chamber member just as long. He is a strong community leader and has been involved with many boards and community projects over the years. He is a past member of the Chamber board. He has in depth understanding of business issues and concerns, the current business environment and business financial matters.

This month, I would like to place in the “Spotlight”, your selection team who donated their time in order to present you with the above slate. They are: Ron Davidson, Harris Bank; Karen Garlough, My Chef Catering; Kevin Harris, BP; John Knobloch, Knobloch Law Firm; John Puscheck, Prager Moving & Storage; Dennise Vaughn, Edward Hospital. Thanks for all their time and commitment to the Chamber.



Annmarie Siwik
DiGiovine Hnilo Jordan + Johnson
Board Chair