APRIL, 2009 – GENERAL MEETING
The April, 2009 Chamber general meeting will be held on Thursday, April 2nd, at 8:00 AM, at North Shore Community Bank -Sauganash, 4343 W. Peterson Avenue (773) 5545-5700. The Chamber thanks Kate Gallagher for hosting the April general meeting and Maria G. Monastero from Monastero’s Ristorante & Banquets for hosting our March general meeting.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING
The next Board of Directors’ meeting will be held on Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 4:30 PM at the Edgebrook Public Library, 5331 W. Devon Avenue (312) 744-8313. Thanks, to Katherine Panares for providing our meeting room.
2009 CHAMBER MEMBERSHIP DUES
The chamber’s 2009 Membership Directory is in final proofing and distribution to local businesses, residents and community groups will begin in late April.
The Chamber would like to thank everyone who renewed their membership or decided to join the chamber for 2009.
Members will receive or be eligible to participate in: the Monthly Newsletter; linkage to the Website; the Member-to-Member Discount and Welcome Packet programs; the Edgebrook Banner program, and the annual Edgebrook Festival and Golf Outing. Thank you for supporting the chamber and may you prosper in 2009!
SIGNUP FOR THE BANNER PROGRAM
Applications are still being accepted for the Chamber’s Street Banner Program. A Standard Banner is $300 and a Custom Banner is $350. The program includes a five-year maintenance program that covers everything. A purchase form is included in this newsletter.
“SPRING SPLASH” RECAP:
The after-hours business networking event at Airoom Architects & Builders (6825 N. Lincoln Avenue) on March 26, 2009 was a great success as dozens of chamber members attend. Airoom is a home design business. This event gave participants an opportunity to view and experience Airoom’s showroom displays and provided ideas for future remodeling projects. Thanks to all who
participated!
NEWSLETTER ADVERTISEMENTS:
Business card newsletter advertisements are available for $100 per year. Send your business card to the Chamber by the 20th of each month in order to be included in the newsletter. The Chamber would like to thank the following chamber members for either renewing their advertisement or taking out a new newsletter business card advertisement!
* Dee Busch, Greenlawn Landscaping, Inc.
* Hazel Clementz, Seattle Sutton’s Healthy Eating
* Stephen Field, Edgebrook Bank
* Brandon Leavitt, Solar Service, Inc.
* Dr. Joy Poskozim, Joyful Dental Care
* Rich, Lightning Lube, Inc.
2009 MULTI-CHAMBER GOLF OUTING
The chamber’s 2009 Golf Outing will be held at Ridgemoor Country Club, 6601 W. Gunnison Street, Chicago, Illinois on Monday, June 15, 2009. The event is being co-hosted by the Edgebrook, Edison Park, Norwood Park and Sauganash Chambers of Commerce. The 2009 golfing outing has been developed to meet your business needs! The event will start at 11:30 a.m. with registration, practice and lunch on the patio! The “shot-gun” start will take place from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. Afterwards, a buffet dinner (with business networking opportunities galore!) will be served from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. What are the business advantages of this format? I am glad you asked!
* You will avoid a long, early morning drive.
* You will avoid fighting rush-hour traffic.
* You can work a half-day and still play a round.
* If you don’t golf, you can still participate. You can work a full day and still enjoy a relaxing buffet dinner and network at the same time!
* If you just don’t have the time, you can consider sponsoring the event and advertise your business.
A detail flyer listing the amenities and ways to participation in or sponsor the event has been included in this newsletter. Join in the fun and bring your business cards with you. Participation in this golf outing will be the best advertising money you ever spent! FORE!
CITY OF CHICAGO LITTER NOTICE
Each year, the City of Chicago spends millions of dollars to clean-up litter. Refuse causes neighborhoods and business districts to look rundown and deteriorated. The City has implemented an aggressive anti-littering program and you can download it at: www.cityofchicago.org/streetsandsanitation.
THE GEM OF EDGEBROOK IN TROUBLE
Shortly, downtown edgebrook businesses and community groups will be receiving a letter from Chamber president Julie A. Schultz regarding the fact that renting and managing the FREE
parking lot at Devon and Central for the benefit of Edgebrook businesses and residents has becoming an economic hardship. You didn’t know the chamber PAYS rent to provide you with free parking? YES, it does.
You didn’t know the chamber PAID to install the decorative fencing everyone admires? YES, it did. You didn’t know the chamber PAYS to snow plow and maintain the parking lot year-round? YES, it does. The chamber does all of this ONLY with the kind donations of a very few contributors who are both civic-minded and understand the economic benefit to do so. SO, will anyone else step up and help out financially, OR will everyone just throw up their hands in anger when the parking lot is closed? Oh, by the way, given the fact that the cost of parking meters is going up, a free downtown parking lot is a GEM we can’t afford to lose. It is your choice, please help!
The chamber would like to thank Marilyn Henry of Edgebrook Massage Therapy for making a recent contribution to the parking lot fund. What is special about that? Marilyn Henry already contributes on a regular basis, but she understands the importance of the parking lot and is concerned about saving it for all businesses, not just her’s. How nice is that?
OFFICE DEPOT DISCOUNT PROGRAM
If you are a dues-paying member of the Edgebrook, Lincolnwood, Sauganash or West Ridge Chambers, you can take advantage of Office Depot’s discount program (designed exclusively for chamber members!) that could mean significant savings if you purchase your their office supplies. Even if you already have a business account with Office Depot, you can still take advantage of this program. Check it out!
ECA’S ANNUAL EASTER EGG HUNT
The Edgebrook Community Association will behosting their annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 11, 2009 starting at 10:00 a.m. The ECA is currently accepting contributions. Email co-chair Tom Misiewicz at: tmisiewicz@ameritech.net to learn how to support this family event!
SWAP 2009 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Spring is right around the corner and it is time to coordinate the chamber’s annual business district cleanup program with the Cook County Sheriff’s SWAP Program. The chamber seeks volunteers to help coordinate this effort (see attached flyer). The chamber will even spring for coffee and bagels!
SWEDISH COVENANT HOSPITAL
Swedish Covenant Hospital offers a priority program that will schedule your mammogram appointment in seven days or less! To register, call (773) 878-6888. We can also visit their website at: SwedishCovenant.org/breasthealth to learn more about their Breast Health Program. If your physican is not affiliated with them, Swedish Covenant Hospital will fax them the results!
WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS!
Greenlawn Landscaping, Inc: Greenlawn is a Chicago-based landscaping firm located at 3915 W. Devon Avenue. They can provide you with lawn care, landscape design and installation, and other top-notch services to properly display and manage your property. Call Dee Busch at (773) 463-0445 or email her at: busch@greenlawnchicago.com.
Lightning Lube, Inc. Lightning Lube is a well-known Gladstone Park-based auto service business located at 5609 N. Milwaukee Avenue (northeast corner of Milwaukee and Bryn Mawr). They offer the fastest oil change this side of the Mississippi! Free of charge, they will also inspect your car from top to bottom and will inform you if here is a problem that needs to be addressed. Call Rich at (773) 775-1611 to schedule an appointment.
AND THE “PORK” ROLLS ON!
If you read the, March 12, 2009 edition of the Chicago Tribune, the cover page article about the types of “earmarks” funded by the $410 billion dollar “omnibus funding bill” would have you rolling in the aisle or mad as hell. Here are a few examples. $6.6 million to the state of Louisana for “Formosan Subterranean Termite Research.” How about $1.8 million to the city of Ames, Iowa for “Swine Odor and Manure Management.” We pay taxes to support this kind of stuff? Apparently so. Whether it be a Democrat or Republican in charge of Capitol Hill, the pork rolls on.
RECYCLING: DOES PARTICIPATION ACTUALLY GET US OFF THE HOOK?
Chicago can be a frustrating place for the recycler. While the city’s program evolves, Joe (or Jane) Q. Public can guiltily throw everything into the garbage OR schlep it to a recycling center. Individual recycling efforts should be encouraged and a city as forward-thinking as Chicago should have a viable recycling program. However, even the most diligent recycling does not let us off the environmental hook. Three problems stand in the way:
1) Lots of stuff is not recyclable, but we think it is.
Putting a plastic thing with a recycling symbol in your recycling bin does not mean it will be magically transformed into another useful plastic thing. Of the seven types of plastic used in the
consumer industry, only two are accepted at most recycling centers. Styrofoam and fast-food containers? Not a chance!
Most things we think are recyclable end up in our landfills.
2) Recycling creates worthwhile jobs, right?
It used to. The recycling industry is in the economic doghouse and the industry is actually losing jobs. Why? Commodity prices have plummeted since the fall of 2008 and this downturn
took the recycling industry with it. Aluminum cans now sell for 50 cents a pound versus a $1.00 per pound, paper and cardboard prices plunged from $200 a ton to $20, and plastic bottles
now fetch a mere 25 cents a pound versus $2.00.
As recycling prices bottom out, many recyclers are actually warehousing items until prices firm up again. Can you imagine stockpiling garbage! If the economy doesn’t turn around in short order, these potentially recyclable items are fated to end up in that smelly landfill.
3) Recycling doesn’t have an environmental footprint.
Wrong! It takes a tremendous amount of energy which is needed to turn those plastic bottles into lawn furniture. While recycling is beneficial in terms of resource conservation, there is a huge environmental cost to throwing plastic bottles into the recycling bin. In the short-term, if not dealt with in a meaningful way, our legacy for future generations will be unseen tons of garbage scattered throughout landfills around the world.
So, what can we do? Part of the solution is making a concerted effort to reduce what we throw away and expect Mother Earth to absorb. We can buy reusable bags to take when shopping. We can use a non-plastic refillable water bottle instead of buying bottled water by the case. We can avoid non-recyclable to-go containers (used to take home restaurant left-over items) by splitting a dinner. These small changes in our lifestyle could save us some money. They may be easier to make than we think. Let’s give Mother Earth a small break. She deserves it after many
decades of abuse!
EDGEBROOK FESTIVAL 2009
The dates for the annual Edgebrook Festival are set! Come join us on Saturday, July 25th and Sunday July 26th! The festival will be located on N. Kinzua Ave. (east of the METRA tracks and north of W. Devon Ave.).
The Festival will feature: 18-hours of live music from local bands; a beer garden and numerous local food vendors; a Kids Corner; and dozens of artisans & local merchants.
CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:
APRIL 2ND – 8:00 AM
General Meeting
North Shore Community Bank – Sauganash
4343 W. Peterson Avenue
MAY 7 – 8:00 AM
General Meeting
Myron & Phil Steak and Seafood
3900 W. Devon Avenue
MAY 21ST – 4:30 PM
Board of Directors’ Meeting
Edgebrook Branch – Chicago Public Library
5331 W. Devon Avenue