OPRF Chamber Of Commerce

It Has Been a Great Run

It isn’t always easy here – you have to want it to work and you have to work at it.  Small business is especially hard. I have been lucky to spend the last five years helping to build a Chamber of Commerce that supports the many unsung heroes who own and operate those businesses that add energy, vitality and character to our neighborhoods.

I have loved every minute.  I love the Oak Park and River…

Not Every Problem Has a Villain

Each of us uses our own individual lens to receive and interpret information. It is a tool, a defense mechanism to slay the onslaught of “news” coming at us daily.

Our first instinct is to ascribe a reason to whatever problem is presented.  If we know why, we know what to do about it. This process is faulty, however, when our lens is skewed or our information is incomplete.  Sound bite solutions…

Budget Season Provides Opportunity for Annual Reset

Creating a budget can feel overwhelming. But even a high-level summary budget provides you much needed direction about priorities and resources.

The President just confirmed zero raises for civilian federal employees in 2019.  “Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases,” he wrote.

Budget season means setting priorities and making difficult choices for any organization.

Last week,…

Three good friends ended up in the hospital this weekend.  All unrelated, all unexpected. All crazy scary. All keen reminders that life can go awry at any moment.

Are you prepared?  Can you put your finger on critical information, when needed?  Do you have the right contact numbers stored in your phone? Do you have a network of support?

Coincidentally, this past Friday, Chamber Deputy Director…

Mixing Art, Business and Patience

The happy ending is, “good things come to those who wait.”  However, most of this story is, “when it rains, it pours.”

To those businesses who purchased sponsoring images in the Oak Park River Forest “community montage,” your prints are finally ready.  If you even remember, that is, since you committed to the project last year.

A “community montage” is an illustration that includes various points…

Beautiful radishes at the Oak Park Farmers Market provided more eye-candy than the the just-issued 184 pages explaining the Tax Law’s Section 199a 

After reading about small business tax law changes this weekend, I have an even deeper respect for tax accountants than I had before.

The complicated provisions of Section 199A of the new tax law are purported to be highly advantageous to small…

“Nobody Told Me” in the Age of Information

Sharing information via meetings in our community is common – but not particularly efficient.

Free market economic theory assumes all stakeholders are rational actors that share the same information, have full mobility and can attract resources on the strength of expected return on investment.

Of course, that is all very simplistic.  In the real world, there’s marketing, connections, inherent…

Valkyries Come For Our Fallen Hero

Val Camilletti deserves all the good said about her in the wake of her passing last week.  She was a tremendous person for her kindness as much as her influence and knowledge. I can only add my own admiration to what already has been said.

So let’s talk about Val’s Halla instead.

This “little” record store was a giant in the field.  It epitomizes all the things we study in business school: brand,…

Eventful: From Block Parties to Golf Outings

Forest Park’s Music Fest is a professionally-managed event that replaces the locally-run “Summer Fest” of previous years.

My block party morphed from the traditional potluck into a paid affair.  For the two plus decades I’ve lived here, we alternated one side of the street bringing appetizers and the other bringing entrees.  I’ll admit it was always a gamble, usually resulting in an overabundance…

Local Economies Should Make the Short List

Local commerical neighborhoods like this one require intentionality and care if we expect them to align with community goals and values

A consultant listed four of the most pressing issues in our community:  education, housing, food security and transportation. Because people do not have equitable access to these four intrinsic needs, he said, people’s access to livelihood, opportunity and…

Are You Strong Enough?

A close-up of my favorite t-shirt after a harrowing week.

To those of you who read follow me weekly, here’s the latest update following last week:  my sister’s husband is recovering from his medical emergency and on route from Iowa to his home in New Jersey.

For those just glancing at this today, let me give you the short version.  My brother-in-law had a medical emergency while on vacation last…

And Then This Happened

Not where I expected to be this week

I had plans to write about something much different this week.

My short list of topics going into the weekend was promising.  The Fourth of July inspires thoughts of opportunity and the independence small business provides.  David King just celebrated twenty-five years in business.  Poke Burrito opened to lines out the door, indicating a local market for…

No matter how kind and friendly the people are, walking into a crowd of strangers can be an introvert’s nightmare. 

“The Chamber?  Isn’t that just a networking group?”

Well, first of all, no, it’s not “just” a networking group.  We create a supportive community for small business owners interested in becoming business leaders, learning and promoting their business.  We offer digital and “in real…

Renewing Our Point of View

Starship is a good example of a local business with a unique brand or “point of view.”

My favorite part of reality tv show “Project Runway” is Tim Gunn’s exhortations to budding designers that they find their “point of view.”

One fashion designer might believe the world needs more beauty. Another’s perspective could be there should be no gender differences.  Designers refine and communicate their…

If You Have Seen One Chamber…

Program cover from the formal awards banquet hosted by the Joint Chambers of Proviso Twp 

“If you have seen one chamber, you have seen… one chamber,” goes the industry saying.  Each chamber is unique, molded around the needs, interests and make-up of its particular business community.

Although we share the name “chamber of commerce,” chambers are not affiliated with each other.    Nevertheless,…

Developing a Bigger Pie

This tiny island caye off the coast of Belize is an exclusive port of call for Norwegian Crusie Lines, much to the disappointment of locals and activists.

“That caye is a private island.  Norwegian Cruise Lines purchased it to create their own exclusive port for their cruise ship passengers,” our tour guide said with contempt.

It seems Belize wrestles with many of the same development debates I…