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Volume IV Issue I Second Quarter 2013

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Climate is the award-winning quarterly newsletter published by the McLean County Chamber of Commerce with the ambitious goal of compiling a snapshot of business conditions in McLean County and showing what you and the Chamber can do to help keep these conditions as favorable as possible.

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Page 1: Climate Second Quarter 2013

Volume IV Issue I Second Quarter 2013

Page 2: Climate Second Quarter 2013

Sherri Chinski2013 Chairman of the Board

Climate (kli’mit): The prevailing attitudes, standards or environmentalconditions of a group, period, or place.

I can’t believe that the first issue of Climate 2013 is already here. In my first few months as Chairman I have been very proud of the incredible work that our Chamber is doing locally as well as on the state and federal levels. However, the needs of our community are great and the Chamber cannot do it alone. It is up to everyone to make a difference. Together, by acting locally, our businesses, business leaders and local government can produce positive change and build a stronger community.

Inside this issue of Climate we’re taking a hard look at the political landscape that is currently facing the business community. From the Affordable Care Act and a pro-posed minimum wage increase, to public pension reform and education, the McLean County Chamber of Commerce as well as chambers across the state of Illinois are keeping a watchful eye on Springfield and Washington D.C.

The challenges ahead of us are great but the McLean County Chamber of Com-merce will continue to stay focused on what is best for our membership and the business community of McLean County. We will make sure that all the actions we take fully support our mission statement, which is to “Promote local commerce, advocate business perspectives, create relevant programs and establish relationships.”

This is an exciting time to be a part of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce and I am honored to have this opportu-nity to lead the organization. I have enjoyed meeting many of our members and look forward to engaging with more of you; hearing both your successes and your struggles as we continue to work on finding ways to improve the business climate in McLean County.

CONTENTSCIRCLE

State of Education

Member Spotlight

Affordable Care Act

EventsAnnual GalaAgriculture Awards Dinner

Ribbon Cuttings

Climate is a publication of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce.

©2013. All rights reserved.

Cover Photos - Chamber ribbon cutting, Con-gressman Rodney Davis, Kelley Farms, Business Before Hours @ CIRA.

Annual Gala photo by Valdes Photography.

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Sherri Chinski, ChairmanReiser, Chinski, & Co, LLP

Bill Lawrence, Chairman-electWoith Insurance Inc.

Vicki Tilton, Past ChairmanFox & Hounds Hair Studio & Day Spa

Bob Miller, TreasurerAdvocate BroMenn Medical Center

Leann Seal, SecretarySnyder Companies

Carl Teichman, Vice ChairmanIllinois Wesleyan University

Steve Denault, Vice ChairmanCountry Financial

Carl Olson, Vice ChairmanCentral Illinois Regional Airport

Michael O’Grady, ECHIEconomic Development Council

Justine Robinson, neXt ProfessionalsCity of Bloomington

Brian BastingADVANCE Trading, Inc.

Chad BooreOSF St. Joseph Medical Center

Leanna BordnerIllinois State University

Greg CookGreat Plains Media, Inc.

Winnie FekenChuck’s Harley Davidson

Kristen GivensState Farm Insurance Companies

Julie KubschSpecs Around Town

Robert LakinCommerce Bank

Mike LarkinState Farm Insurance Companies

Jennifer McCarronBusiness Builders

Dr. Kirk NoraianDr. Kirk Noraian, DDS

David StokesEdward Jones – David Stokes

Mary StrackJimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches

Mike SwartzMcLean County Farm Bureau

2013 McLean County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors

Page 3: Climate Second Quarter 2013

In 2011 McLean County Chamber of Commerce joined with 13 other Cham-bers throughout the region to form the Central Illinois Regional Chamber Leg-islative Effort (CIRCLE). The goal of this collaboration is to strengthen the voice of the Central Illinois business commu-nity with state legislators. This year, as in years past, we surveyed our mem-bers to identify issues of importance across the region and now we need to share our Central Illinois perspective on those issues with key members of the General Assembly. This year’s results showed an overwhelming desire from our member businesses for CIRCLE to advocate for worker’s compensation reform, public pension reform, and con-tinued budgeting for unpaid bills.

Illinois Worker’s Compensation Reform

Though it has been two years since the 2011 changes to the Illinois Worker’s Compensation Act, businesses and lo-cal units of government in Illinois still face some of the highest worker’s com-

pensation costs in the nation. The 2011 changes did little to address the low burden an injured worker must meet to establish medical causation between a proven work accident and injury, and thus establish an entitlement to benefits. This low threshold for burden of proof has led to an avalanche of compensable claims in Illinois and it is certainly one of the reasons that Illinois is deemed to be a high cost state for workers’ com-pensation. Change is needed if Illinois is to become competitive with states that can point to lower workers’ compensa-tion costs when competing with Illinois for jobs.

Public Pension Reform

The State of Illinois’ public pension systems are the worst funded in the nation and are in dire need of reform. Simply transferring the cost of funding pensions from the State to other divi-sions of government only shifts the tax burden from one unit of government to another. A massive shift of pen-

sion costs to other government entities could increase property taxes or cause severe underfunding of our schools. Of particular concern is the idea that local governments bear the cost, but the legislature retains control of benefits such as the retirement age, annuity, cost of living adjustments (COLA), employee contributions etc.

CIRCLE proposes that the state move toward a simple cost of living adjust-ment, increase the retirement age and convert pensions to a defined benefit/contribution hybrid. Further, we feel that the current pension ramp is finan-cially unattainable and was unrealistic from the start. The State must undertake thorough review of the pension ramp to create an affordable and realistic time table to reach a 90% funded ratio. Free health care at taxpayer expense is a lux-ury the State cannot financially provide. The State of Illinois must resolve this

(story continued on page 4)

Chamber Takes Influence to Springfield

Lawmakers in Springfield hear the issues that matter most to businesses in Central Illinois.

Robert LakinCommerce Bank

Mike LarkinState Farm Insurance Companies

Jennifer McCarronBusiness Builders

Dr. Kirk NoraianDr. Kirk Noraian, DDS

David StokesEdward Jones – David Stokes

Mary StrackJimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches

Mike SwartzMcLean County Farm Bureau

Page 4: Climate Second Quarter 2013

issue and provide reform in this session. We urge the legislature to take any sav-ings from reforming the retirement pro-gram and pay down the State’s backlog of unpaid bills.

Continued Budgeting for Unpaid Bills

Illinois’ current financial situation and back-log of unpaid bills, approximately $9 billion, happened systematically over a period of time and unfortunately can-not be fixed in a single year’s budget. The State will need to systematically and purposefully continue to focus on paying its bills and working toward creating a manageable cash flow. The backlog of unpaid bills is essentially broken down into three categories since the Illinois Department of Revenue has said that it does not expect to have outstanding corporate tax refunds at the end of Fiscal Year 2013:

•Non-governmental vendors (busi-nesses, Medicaid, private social service agencies)

•Government Entities (schools, units of local government, etc.)

• State Medical Bills (HIRF)

Budgeting payment of past bills in the 2013 budget was a good starting point and the State should build on this with a long term plan to deal with the back log on unpaid bills and lack of working capital. CIRCLE proposes that the State budget at least $1 billion toward unpaid bills in the Fiscal Year 2014 budget.

These are issues that impact YOUR business and OUR region. Together with the other members of CIRCLE, the McLean County Chamber of Commerce is arranging meetings with legislators and key committee staff members that

tion loss. Kane County was the only oth-er Illinois County to have a population growth that exceeded 100,000 people. Kendall and McHenry County had the third and fourth highest growth rates. Collectively, they acquired an additional 110,000 people. On a percentage basis, the US Census Bureau identified Kendall County as the fastest growing County in the country.

Tax increases and deep budget cuts are brutal and short-term reactions to our ongoing problems, not solutions. Let’s push our state’s leaders to create a jobs agenda that improves the business cli-mate and secures our state’s financial future for years to come.

Source: Illinois Chamber of Commerce

Nevada was the fastest growing state (35%) during the decade. Numerically, Texas acquired 4.3 million people and led the nation in population growth. Cal-ifornia, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Arizona also grew by more than 1 million people during the decade.

On a county level: Illinois has 102 coun-ties. In the decade between 2000 and 2010 only 40 counties experienced pop-ulation growth. Even the most populous county, Cook, lost 182,000 people. Of the ten most populous counties in the country, Cook County was the only one to actually lose population (-3.4%) dur-ing the decade.

In Illinois, significant population growth was limited to four counties. Will Coun-ty experienced the largest population growth (176,000) during the decade. Will County’s population growth was almost comparable to the Cook County popula-

At 12.8 million residents, Illinois re-mains the fifth most populated state in the union. Many residents have left the state during the last 10 years primarily because they found better economic op-portunities elsewhere. We need to cre-ate and attract more jobs in this state in order to provide work for current resi-dents and accelerate population growth.

U.S. Census Bureau statistics released in March show that the Chicago region has the slowest population growth among the top 10 metro areas in the U.S. As a state Illinois’ population growth percent-age from 2000 to 2010 was 3.3 percent, compared with the nation’s 9.7 percent rate. Michigan was the only state to lose population during the decade, but other neighboring states showed higher popu-lation growth rates: Kentucky (7.4%), Missouri (7.0%), Indiana (6.6%), Wiscon-sin (6.0%), and Iowa (4.1%).

relate to each of the above issues. On Thursday, May 9, you can play an ac-tive role in the discussions with policy makers for the State of Illinois. For infor-mation on participating in the CIRCLE trip to Springfield contact Ryan White-house, Director of Government and Public Affairs. Or to learn more about CIRCLE’s positions on the topics from this article visit www.4mcleancounty.org.

Slow Growth Hurts State’s Financial Future

The McLean County Chamber of Commerce delegation from the April 2012 CIRCLE trip to Springfield.

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Page 5: Climate Second Quarter 2013

There is a lot of change happening in the education system, both locally in McLean County and across the nation. From new common course standards and evaluation practices to reduced budgets and a multitude of new state mandates. To top it all off, almost 70% of school districts are currently in deficit spending and it doesn’t look like the situation is improving anytime soon.

Since 2010, the state has come up short in general aid for Illinois public school districts every year. In fact, state funding for education has decreased by more than $861 million, or nearly 12 percent, since 2008. As districts large and small struggle to get by, additional cuts could start impacting classrooms and, on a larger scale, the future of a state that now ranks last in state education fund-ing.

“The overarching challenge for all of our districts in McLean County is the central funding issue,” says Mark Jontry, Regional District Superintendent of Schools. “The funding issue is going to impact all areas of district program-ming. As the districts stare at a reduced level of funding resources from the state combined with depressed property val-ues over the past few years it makes for a real challenge to continue to provide the level of education that the residents and tax payers of McLean County have come to expect from our local schools.”

Bloomington-Normal residents enjoy a very high reputation when it comes

to the qual-ity of edu-cation that is offered. Whether a family has just moved here or has lived in the area for a long period of time, they have come to

expect a high level of education that the districts have been able to meet

Along with those expectations comes a very high level of support. “Certainly we have state and federal pressures, but locally there is a lot of support,” says District 87 Superintendent Barry Reilly. “I believe that the schools in our community are currently meeting and, in some cases, exceeding our commu-nity’s expectations. If they were not, we would be hearing about it.”

As Bloomington-Normal and the sur-rounding communities continue to grow the pressure to continue to maintain

quality schools will con-tinue to be a top priority. “We average around 300 new students each year,” says Gary Nie-haus, Super-intendent at McLean Coun-ty District Unit

5. “To accommodate the growth while cutting expenditures schools around the state have continued to increase their class sizes. Quality of education is the number one thing that we have to abide by, and yet it becomes harder to do it as we squeeze down our budgets and increase the class sizes in our build-ings.”

While fiscal issues continue to cast a black cloud over the state’s education system, there have been some great

achievements in education recently, es-pecially in McLean County. In addition to multiple achievements by both Dis-trict 87 and Unit 5 in their classrooms, the districts were recently selected by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York to be part of a learning collabora-tive project called inBloom. A unique plan to utilize the systems that are currently used to store student data, inBloom will integrate the student’s data into its specialized system to give teach-ers a single view of how students are performing and allow them to provide customized learning solutions to each student. The program is currently in the pilot stages but will ultimately provide each individual student having a learn-ing map with a pool of resources that the student, his or her parents and teachers will have access to.

The discussion on education is indeter-minate. It is a subject that deservedly garners attention from local business leaders to national politicians and car-ries with it the fate of a nation. In an ef-fort to continue the conversation and to provide a greater understanding of the local education situation the McLean County Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Regional Office of Education, Bloomington District 87 and McLean County Unit 5 to present The State of Education. This event, held at the Marriott Hotel & Conference Center on May 15th, will feature a presentation by each of the superintendents followed by a period of questions and answers.

Chamber to Host “State of Education“

Gary Niehaus

Barry Reilly

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Page 6: Climate Second Quarter 2013

Operation Recycle needed to perform considerable renovations to the Hewett House at 202 W College Avenue, Normal, before opening the Ecology Action Center there in February 1995.

“The Ecology Action Center’s origins lie in a one day, one time recycling drive back in February 1971,” begins current Executive Director Michael Brown. “In the 70’s there was no recycling going on in our community, so a handful of residents sought to demonstrate the need with a one day drive. How-ever, the recycling drive was so successful that the group’s organizers decided to continue hosting more.”

Before long Operation Recycle, a name created by WJBC ra-dio host Don Munson, who frequently promoted the events on his radio show, was hosting recycling drives every four to seven weeks at three locations in Bloomington and in Nor-mal. A practice they continued for the next three decades.Fast forward to the 1990s and local municipalities were start-ing their own recycling programs and the Ecology Action Center, whose name refers to Operation Recycle’s environ-mental education and learning center (the name was formally changed in 2004), expanded its focus from recycling services to include educational outreach on both solid waste and re-cycling.

Today the Ecology Action Center presents programs for all ages, but a focused audience for the orga-nization is children.

“Today’s children are the leaders of the future,” says the orga-nizations website, and the Ecology Action Center tries to take every opportunity to teach children about the importance of protecting the environment through courses such as Discov-ery Walks, Rainforest Adventure, Worm Works and Conser-vation Kids.

In addition to a wide assortment of programming for both youth and adults, the Ecology Action Center, through a part-nership with Illinois Wesleyan University, hosts an annual event called the Illinois Sustainable Living and Wellness Expo. More than 4,000 attendees, 70 different exhibitors and 11 presenters made for a successful event in 2012 and Brown ex-pects 2013 to be even better. “The Ecology Action Center tries to reach the community in any way we can to be a resource and promote more sustainable lifestyles, “ said Brown. “The Illinois Sustainable Living and Wellness Expo ties together the issues of environmental health and wellness to our personal health and wellness.”

From 9am – 4pm on Saturday, April 13th, the Illinois Sustain-able Living and Wellness Expo hosted at the Illinois Wesleyan

Shirk Center, is designed to be McLean County’s first Zero Waste event. “Our community has been doing re-

cycling for a while now, and we do it well, so we’re trying to raise the bar with this

year’s event,” says Brown. With the help of Midwest Fiber, who will accept all food waste for composting, the event is planned to avoid any generation of waste that cannot be recycled, reused or composted.

For more information on the Ecology Action Center or the Illinois Sustainable Living and Wellness Expo you can visit their website at www.ecologyaction-center.org.

Member Spotlight: Ecology Action Center

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Page 7: Climate Second Quarter 2013

If you’re confused about the new federal healthcare laws, you’re not alone. Business owners across the nation are scrambling to understand the new regulations and striving to make sure they are in compliance with deadlines that haven’t even been announced yet. “More so than any other time in my life, professionally speaking, I have become more edu-cated about how the role of government, decision making and uncertainty, absolutely stifles the marketplace,” said Chad Thoma, an Agent at Compass Insurance Partners. “There is so much gray area in the new law that it makes it difficult for businesses to make decisions regarding healthcare. If you envision how much time I’ve had to invest in trying to learn this law over the past three years to help the businesses that I write insurance for it is staggering.”

Seeing the need to help employers better understand this complex and confusing new law, the McLean County Cham-ber of Commerce, Employers’ Coalition for Healthcare, Inc. (ECHI), and Health Alliance joined together to present The Latest Update on the Affordable Care Act.

Hosted at Eastland Suites Hotel & Conference Center in Bloomington, Sinéad Rice Madigan, Director of Government Relations with Health Alliance Medical Plans helped to break down the Affordable Care Act by explaining the current pro-jected changes that are going into effect. Madigan also pro-vided information about employer responsibilities and costs, and stressed what individuals need to know to work through the new system.

While many of the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have already taken effect, many more are expected to be implemented as 2014 approaches. During this transition to a new health system Madigan highlighted three key timelines that employers should pay close attention to, to ensure they are on track with meeting the requirements of the ACA.

• Starting October 1, 2013, Small employers with fewer than 50 employees can enroll in the exchange.

•Third quarter of 2013, employers will be required to inform employees about their ability to purchase coverage on the ex-change.

• January 1, 2014, insurance companies can no longer medi-cally underwrite applicants.

While these dates are in the near future, Madigan suggested that employers take some proactive steps today. “When em-ployers are looking at their current coverage they need to be taking a look at the coverage they want to move to now in 2013, in particular for large employers, employers with more than 50 employees, to ensure that they are providing the mini-mum essential coverage now required by law.”

For additional information regarding the Affordable Care Act or to learn more about the Employers’ Coalition for Health-care, contact Brian Thede, Business & Relationship Manager for ECHI at [email protected].

Affordable Care Act - What Don’t You Know?

Sinéad Rice Madigan, Director of Government Relations with Health Alliance Medical Plans shares the most recent information available on the Affordable Care Act.

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Page 8: Climate Second Quarter 2013

Spring EDUCate: Remove the BarriersOpening a New Path to Engagement and Positive Outcomes

“Everything rises or falls based on lead-ership,” starts Dan Sanders, President of Albertsons Southern California and 2013 Spring EDUCate keynote speaker. “Where you have good leadership good things happen, where you have poor leadership poor things happen. If you are curious how an organization is go-ing to succeed over the long term, look at the leader.” A seasoned executive in the food industry and supermarket sec-tor, Sanders led Albertsons in Southern California and Las Vegas and ACME Markets in Pennsylvania during business transformations that ultimately resulted in the sale of both companies to private equity investors. In addition to his role with Albertsons, Mr. Sanders is also the author of two books, Built to Serve and Equipped to Lead, and is a highly sought after public speaker.

Pulling from more than 30 years of ex-perience, Sanders challenged EDUCate attendees to evaluate what he called the Four Pillars of Success: Leader-ship, Culture, Execution and Wellness. “There was a time in my career where I believed most of what I shared today was common knowledge,” said Sanders.

“But I’ve discovered that in many cases people have forgotten many of these lessons, and in other cases some were never taught at all. In the end hopefully I’ve provided some food for thought.”

A former officer in the United States Air Force, Sanders shared lessons learned from senior officers in the military to humbling examples of leadership deliv-ered by Albertsons employees whose place on the organizational chart wouldn’t even print on the same page as Sanders. However, Sanders reminded the audience that, “You can be a great leader in whatever capacity you are serving today. It is a choice, not a posi-tion or a title.”

In addition to his keynote address, Sand-ers hosted an afternoon question and answer session allowing conference go-ers the opportunity to ask him questions about work or life and in many cases both. “Being able to listen and interact with a great speaker and business leader like Dan Sanders is a wonderful oppor-tunity for our members,” said McLean County Chamber of Commerce Presi-dent and CEO Charlie Moore. “I don’t

think there is anyone in attendance to-day that will leave this event without tak-ing back some piece of valuable infor-mation to their organization.”

Now in its eighth year, the McLean County Chamber of Commerce EDU-Cate Conference is a day-long learning program designed to provide insight and education to improve employee perfor-mance and grow organizational success. In addition to hearing from Dan Sand-ers, EDUCate attendees participated in a wide array of break out topics in areas critical to organizational and personal success.

President of Albertsons Southern California, Dan Sanders, signs books for eager attendees during the break at Spring EDUCate 2013.

Habeeb Habeeb, President and CEO of Benefit Planning Consultants leads a breakout session, sharing his tips on how to make the culture of an organization about the client, not about the product.

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Excitement for McLean County’s pre-mier business-to-business trade show, the 2013 Twin Cities Showcase is rising as quickly as the temperature. On Friday, May 3 from 7am-2pm at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, the Twin Cities Showcase offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity for businesses to get the at-tention of local decision-makers and to show off their wares to event attendees.

This year’s Twin Cities Showcase is spon-sored by Verizon Wireless: The Digital Store, as well as media sponsors Great

The Bloomington-Normal YMCA kicked off its 2013 Strong Kids Campaign with an announcement of a pre-campaign total of $68,800 toward the $130,000 goal.

The kickoff was at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center with a breakfast for approximately 150 volunteers. The campaign will end June 30, 2013.

Each year, the Strong Kids Campaign provides financial resources to help ful-fill the Y’s mission of never denying ac-cess due to individuals’ inability to pay. One in six members of the Y receives a financial scholarship. One hundred

Plains Media, WGLT and WMBD. Back again by popular demand is the Taste of the Showcase. This special exhibition, sponsored by Sam’s Club, will highlight local restaurants and catering compa-nies who will be serving free samples for breakfast as well as lunch!

The 2013 Showcase will also feature State Farm Insurance Chairman and CEO, Ed Rust, as the keynote speaker. Rust, who is also the Chairman for the U.S. Cham-ber of Commerce, will draw upon his own experiences with the country’s larg-est auto and home insurer to share why business leaders must engage – and stay involved – in the development of eco-nomic and public policy. Rust will ex-plain how local business leaders can ef-

percent of all contributions stay with the Bloomington-Normal YMCA.

“In 2008, our campaign goal was $30,000. Since then, we’ve more than quadrupled that goal in an effort to im-pact the greatest number of people in our community,” Executive Director, B.J. Wilken said. “We really think $130,000 is within our reach and capability.”

In 2012 alone, the Bloomington-Normal YMCA provided assistance to a total of 1,458 individuals who would have oth-erwise been unable to afford such ser-vices. Between the areas of member-ship, day camp, youth sports, aquatics

fectively be part of the public pol-icy debate, particularly on issues related to work force readiness.

Tickets for the keynote p r e s e n t a -tion are $10 each, how-ever space is limited, so visit www.mcleancochamber.org to reserve your seats today!

and before/after school care, that assis-tance amounted to $146,232.

Established in 1855, the Bloomington-Normal YMCA is the oldest continu-ally existing human service organiza-tion in McLean County. Serving more than 5,000 people annually, the YMCA is dedicated to instilling Christian prin-ciples through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. As a charitable, nonprofit organization, the Y seeks to establish programming in the community for youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. For more information, please visit www.bnymca.org.

YMCA Strong Kids Campaign Starts Strong

State Farm CEO to Keynote Twin Cities Showcase

State Farm Insurance Chairman and CEO, Ed Rust, will keynote this year’s Twin Cities Showcase.

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Page 10: Climate Second Quarter 2013

More than 500 business and commu-nity leaders gathered at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel and Conference Center on Saturday, February 2 for the 2013 McLean County Chamber of Commerce Annual Gala. The evening celebrated the courage and creativity of our local visionaries and honored their successors with the presentation of the 2012 Busi-ness Excellence Awards.

Taking a light-hearted approach, the event featured Bloomington Mayor Steve Stockton and Normal Mayor Chris

The best in 2012 McLean County ag-riculture were honored at the McLean County Chamber of Commerce annual Agriculture Awards Dinner, held Friday, February 22 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel and Conference Center in Bloom-ington.

The first award of the evening went to the late David Freed of Lexington. The Outstanding Conservationist Award recognizes a person who has helped to advance the knowledge and practice of soil and water conservation. Freed was a participant in a number of conservation initiatives and served on the McLean County Soil and Water Conservation District Board for several years.

Carrie Muehling, Agribusiness Director for WJBC AM-1230, was honored with the Emerging Leader in Agriculture Award. Muehling works tirelessly to pro-mote agriculture and agricultural events including local fairs, the Peoria Farm Show and McLean County Farm Bureau Events on WJBC.

Koos in a parody of the hit 1970’s televi-sion show Rowan and Martin’s Laugh- In. Several community leaders were also enlisted to help on stage including, Angela Holloway (Advanced Rehabili-tation) as Goldie Hawn and Bob Lakin (Commerce Bank), Tim Tilton (Fox & Hounds) and Representative Dan Brady as Henry the Poet.

In addition to the live stage acts, several videos were produced to emulate popu-lar skits from the original show.

•Tom Mercier (BOPI), David Hales (City of Bloomington) and Mark Peterson (Town of Normal) were cast as Wolf-gang the German Soldier.

•Bob Dobski (McDonald’s), Julie Dob-ski (Little Jewels) and Greg Cook (Great Plains Media) had attendees rolling with their version of Glady’s and Tyrone.

• John & Ketti Carter (Jack Lewis Jewel-ers), Tracy Patkunas (Great Plains Media), Robin Juhler (Mid-Illini Credit Union),

The Outstanding Young Farmer Award was presented to Brian Carlson of Le-Roy. Carlson started his farm from scratch and through his own initiative and hard work has seen his operation grow tremendously since its inception.

Kelley Farms, com-prised of Dan, Jim and Greg Kel-ley was named the McLean County Farmer of the Year for their active involvement in civic and community af-fairs in an effort to pro-mote and improve agricul-ture. While Dan is widely known throughout the agriculture com-munity as the President and Chairman of the Board for GROWMARK, the success of Kelley Farms would not be possible without the work of Jim, Greg and the rest of the Kelley family who oversee many of the day to day operations.

Jonell Kehias (Pantagraph), Jeff Pritts (Marriott), Leann Seal (Snyder Compa-nies), Julie Kubsch (Specs Around Town), Ray Rybarczyk (Allied Health Group), Jeff Paxton (WGLT) and several Cham-ber staff were also featured.

The Outstanding Person in Agribusi-ness Award recognizes a business

person who has served to im-prove agriculture through

civic and community activities. For 2012, this award went to Steve Dennis; Grain Department Manager with Ev-ergreen FS, Inc. In addition to his 27 years of service with

Evergreen FS, Den-nis has served on the

board for the Illinois Grain and Feed Association for six

years and recently acted as President of the Board in 2012.

Rader Family Farms in Normal received the Outstanding Service to Agriculture Award. The Raders blend “having fun with Agriculture” and “learning about Agriculture” showing thousands of school children the importance of agri-culture in our community.

Agriculture Celebrated at Annual Awards Dinner

Annual Gala Showcases Local Talent

Mayors Stockton and Koos left attendees rolling in the aisles.

Angela Holloway from Advanced Rehabilita-tion tapped into her inner Goldie Hawn for the evening!

The Rader clan stops for a family photo after being awarded

the Outstanding Service to Agriculture Award.

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Image Potential

Normal Gadgets

Clothes Mentor

Applebee’s

Allied Health Group

Community Players Theatre

Salvation Army

McDonald’s

Barker Buick/GMC/Cadillac

Azura Boutique

The Shoppes at College Hills

Bridal Elegance

True Clean Restoration

Meadows at Mercy Creek

Randstad

Mid-Illini Credit Union

Head 2 Toe

Springfield Electric Supply Co.

Majestic Interior Design

Hospice Compassus

Wild Style Design Company

Goodwill - Land of Lincoln

Advanced Women’s Healthcare

N8 Touch Massage

Studio 234

Find out more about these new members in the Member Directory section of the Chamber’s web site, www.mcleancochamber.org.

Advanced Digital SolutionsAlter Metal Recycling*Applebee’sAuto MotionAveyo Technologies, Inc.Becker Tree ServiceBeitz Trucking Inc.Bennett Electronic Service Co., Inc.Binny’s Beverage DepotBlooming Gardens by CindyBloomington Wellness Center*BNBoomer*Bridal EleganceBrio Cove Salon & SpaChase Real Estate Group*CherryBerry Self-Serve Yogurt BarChief City Mechanical

Childer’s Door ServiceChurchill’s Formal WearClothes MentorCoca-Cola RefreshmentsCore 3 Property ManagementCreative ClicksCub Food/County MarketDress BarnEastland Dental Center*ElevenEnvironmental Solutions GroupFleet Feet Sports BloomingtonFreedom StoneMakersGingerbread HouseGT Custom Paints Inc.Heartland Head StartHome Theatre Designs

Hospice CompassusIllinois Cancer Care*Illinois Shakespeare FestivalIllinois Valley Construction, LLCImmanuel Health CenterIWIN Integrated Work Injury NetworkJames P. Ginzkey, Trial AttorneyL & L Auto Sales & Service Inc.Lakewood Family DentalLancaster’s Laser WarsLearning Alliances CompanyLets Party Rental CenterLogsdon FarmsMD Computer ServicesMidwest Molding Solutions, Inc.Midwestern Family Heritage*

Normal First United Methodist ChurchNormal GadgetsPearson Design Group, LLCRosati’s Pizza of NormalSacred Nature Healing and WellnessSafe Guy Inc.Screaming Eagle Door Service Inc.Service Master of Central IllinoisShari Buckellew ConsultantShawarma & Spaghetti HouseSK ExteriorsStratus NetworksSynergy HomeCare*Thomas J. Pliura, M.D., J.D.Thrivent Financial for LutheransTitleMax

Tomorrow Enterprises LLCTrillium*True Clean Restoration Inc.UnifirstUnison Solution Ventures, Inc.Village of Hudson*WEEK/My59/CW4/Weather FirstWehrenberg Theatres*Wendell Niepagen GreenhousesWomen for Women

*Denotes Member of Distinction

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2203 E Empire StreetBloomington, IL 61704www.mcleancochamber.org

PRSRT STDU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #146

Bloomington, IL61701