January Voice 2019

2019 ECONOMIC FORECAST

BRIGGS FLOORS US

BURPEE COMES ALIVE

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THE VOICE IS ONLINE AT ROCKFORDCHAMBER.COM

of the Rockford Business Community

january 2019 | Volume 32 | No. 1

WE HAD A ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity With agreement by 10 taxing bodies not to levy real estate taxes, Six Flags Great America will lease and operate Magic Waters Waterpark for 10 years, with three 10-year options to renew.

Pictures provided courtesy of Rockford Park District.

By Jay Sandine, Rockford Park District December marked the end of a historic year for your Rockford Park District. We presented a balanced budget for 2019 that included no

additional taxes for the fifth year in a row. The Rockford Park District Board of Commissioners renamed Southwest Community Park, now Clarence Hicks Memorial Sports Fields, after a true legend who dedicated 42 years of service to our community. We presented our five-year strategic plan, built through the feedback obtained from this year’s widescale community engagement.

Our future is bright, and the path to get there is clear, thanks to our citizens providing input, ideas and support.

Lastly, we were able to finalize a partnership deal with the largest amusement and theme park company in the world; to acquire the leasing

rights to Magic Waters Waterpark!

We would like to personally thank and recognize the 10 agencies for making this possible. Without their leadership and community-mindedness, this oncein-a-lifetime opportunity would not have been possible.

An Act of Unity

DISCOVERY CENTER RANKS #8 Discovery Center Museum was named one of the top destinations in the United States to visit with toddlers on Family Vacation Critic, a website and subsidiary of TripAdvisor LLC. The site features reviews of family-friendly hotels, resorts, destinations and attractions; best family travel deals, and advice for traveling with kids of all ages.

Discovery Center ranked eighth in “15 Best Museums for Toddlers.” Noted were the more than 250 hands-on, sciencebased exhibits and Rock River Discovery Park -- the nation’s first community-built science park, where children can dig for dinosaur bones, send whispered messages by satellite dish and operate a water wheel. It also was noted for its themed family fun days. Visit www. familyvacationcritic.com/bestmuseums-for-toddlers/art/

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

As you have read and heard, the only way this deal would become official was for 10 taxing bodies to agree to not levy real estate taxes for Six Flags Great America. Due to the fact that Six Flags Great America is a private sector company, they would have been subject Continued on page 3

ROCKFORD CHAMBER’S

Annual Dinner Jan. 24 • giovanni’s For more info, see page 27 SPONSORED BY

Rockford Chamber board welcomes new members for 2019 ORGANIZATIONS BY YOUTH INVITED TO APPLY FOR GRANTS

Visit us online at: rockfordchamber.com ■ online registration ■ keynote speaker video clips ■ event photos ■ list of Chamber events

Questions? 815-987-8100

Join the Chamber’s LinkedIn Group

The Rockford Chamber approved new board members during its Nov. 27, 2018 meeting.

“We’re confident these members will represent the Rockford area business community with distinction,” said Einar Forsman, president & CEO of the Rockford Chamber.

The following will serve three-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2019:

Supply, Inc. The following were elected as officers for two-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2019 and expiring Dec. 31, 2020: Chairperson: Michele Petrie, Wintrust Commercial Banking & Mortgage Vice Chair: Jean Crosby, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Crosby

Denise Sasse, RSM US LLP

Starck Real Estate

Dr. Alex Stagnaro-Green, University of Illinois College of Medicine

Treasurer: Amy Ott, Boylan Catholic

Teri Sharp, American Precision

High School theVoice

Community Foundation of Northern Illinois announced that the In Youth We Trust (IYWT) grant application has opened for the 2018-2019 cycle. Youth-led and youth-benefitting programs and organizations in northern Illinois are invited to apply by Feb. 7. The maximum request amount has been raised to $3,500.

The IYWT grant program is unique. The entire grant process is managed by the IYWT Council, comprised of high school students from Boone, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties. Grant proposals must be written by youth to fund programs and projects that benefit youth in northern Illinois.

For full details, visit cfnil.org/ grants/youth.

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theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

THE CONFERENCE BOARD ECONOMIC FORECAST FOR THE U.S. ECONOMY

Gap between consumer and business outlook widens Entering 2019, consumers see a stronger economy than do businesses.

Both believe the economy has plenty of room to run. Executives though, perceive a riskier environment defined by cost pressures and higher interest rates.

Investment appetites will likely slacken in the new year. However, elevated confidence and tight labor market conditions will power robust consumer demand. Expect 2018 to close with 2.7 percent GDP growth in the fourth quarter followed by a gradual slowdown to 2.2 percent quarterly growth by the end of 2019 and into 2020. This pace of slowdown is in line with our long-term projections.

The Federal Reserve will be a critical actor. Recent statements by Chair Powell suggesting that he might raise interest rates more slowly temporarily arrested a recent equity market swoon.

However, with the unemployment rate at 3.7 percent for the first time since the 1960s, and wage growth accelerating, core inflation measures are likely to rise above the bank’s two percent target by the end of next year. Therefore, a rate increase in December and three more in 2019 is still the most likely outcome.

As consumers are enjoying post-

recession highs in wage growth, retail sales numbers not surprisingly point to hearty holiday season spending. But rising interest rates, somewhat slower employment growth, and the fading effects of 2018 income tax cuts will make financing big ticket purchases harder, slowing consumption gradually in 2019.

The effect of higher interest rates is especially pronounced in the housing market. New construction activity has

slackened due to higher mortgage rates.

Fast rising prices particularly in high demand markets, combined with tax law changes that reduce homebuying incentives, are also hampering new sales.

Business investment activity may slow as well in 2019 due to higher interest rates.

Both domestic new orders and imports of capital goods have retreated from a faster trend. Weaker global demand and trade policy uncertainty also serve to

modestly lower business confidence even as domestic demand remains strong.

Firms that maintain healthy investment levels though, especially in research and development, can help workers become more productive. This can reduce labor costs leading to larger profits in a tight labor market.

For more information go to www. conference-board.org

THE U.S. ECONOMIC FORECAST The Conference Board Economic Outlook, 2017-2019 Percentage change, seasonally adjusted annual rates (except where noted) 2018 1st Half*

2019

3rd Q* 4th Q

1st Q

2018

2019

2020

2nd Q

2nd Half

Annual

Annual

Annual

Real GDP

3.2

3.5

2.7

2.9

2.6

2.3

2.9

2.9

2.2

Real Consumer Spending

2.2

3.6

3.1

2.8

2.7

2.6

2.7

3.0

2.4

Residential Investment

-2.4

-2.6

0.0

0.5

0.7

1.0

0.1

0.0

1.4

Real Capital Spending

10.1

2.5

4.7

4.8

4.7

4.5

6.9

4.7

4.6

6.4

-4.4

4.1

3.8

3.6

3.7

4.2

3.1

3.7

Exports

* Actual Value

theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

january 2019

Park District

(continued from front page) to paying real estate taxes, even though the park district will still own the park, but has not paid these taxes over the past 30 years.

It was incredibly difficult for these cash-strapped taxing bodies to agree to not collect new revenues. Knowing this is a rare opportunity which only comes around once in a lifetime, and that the community benefits far outweigh the alternative, all 10 organizations voted to abate the taxes and welcome Six Flags Great America to our community. I believe this act of regionalism and unity bodes well for our community’s future.

My all-time favorite quote reads, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Thank you to the great leadership and boards of Winnebago County, Rockford Public Schools, Forest Preserves of Winnebago County, Cherry Valley Library, Cherry

Let your Voice be heard The Rockford Chamber of Commerce welcomes and encourages member submissions for The VOICE of the Rockford Business Community.

Deadline is the 15th of the month preceding publication date. Send news releases and other items of interest to the business community to: The VOICE Rockford Chamber of Commerce 308 W. State St., Ste. 190 Rockford, IL 61101

For information about advertising contact Customer Service at 815-987-8100.

The VOICE of the Rockford Business Community (USPS 784-120). ISSN number 1086-0630, is published monthly by the Rockford Chamber of Commerce, 308 W. State St., Ste. 190, Rockford, Illinois 61101.

Periodicals postage paid at Rockford, Ill. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The VOICE of the Rockford Business Community, 308 W. State St., Ste. 190, Rockford, IL 61101.

Valley Fire Protection District, Rock River Water Reclamation District, Rockford Township, Rockford Highway Department, Rock Valley College and Greater Rockford Airport Authority for going together on this opportunity. Now our families and children will be able to continue enjoying the waterpark at much greater levels than we could provide them as a park district. This will also help us to reinvest our efforts into your

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neighborhood parks, as directed by your feedback.

On behalf of the men and women of your Rockford Park District, we hope you had a very happy holiday, and we look forward to serving you in 2019! theVoice Jay Sandine is executive director of the Rockford Park District.

The views expressed are those of Sandine’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

Getting to a Balanced Budget The Rockford Park District reported to the Board of Commissioners in December that it used feedback from the months of community engagement in the past year to help go from an $800,000 deficit to a balanced budget. How?: ■ Six Flags leasing and operating Magic Waters Waterpark for 10 years, with three 10-year options to renew. Magic Waters and Six Flags Great America Combo Season Passes and Memberships are on sale now.

Guests enjoy the benefits of a season pass or membership at Magic Waters Waterpark and receive free admission to Six Flags Great America and Hurricane Harbor located in Gurnee, Ill. ■ Reallocation of $250,000 of Reclaiming First hotel tax funding to help reduce tax subsidy at UW Health Sports Factory.

■ Non-tax revenue generators: Expanded food and beverage operations, video gaming at select facilities, increased sponsorships and increased fees and memberships. The district has not had any major fee increases in the last five years.

■ Reduction in team members: Three full-time positions eliminated due to attrition.

The commissioners voted to hold the line on taxes and maintain the 2018 tax levy. For the fifth year in a row the Rockford Park District has elected not to increase tax dollars.

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theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

PROFILE Member Profile “The hottest color now is gray,” he said.

PATIENCE PAYS OFF

“White was popular before dark colors

Briggs Floor Sanding & Refinishing

By Paul Anthony Arco It was a chance meeting that led to the biggest break in Steve Reilly’s professional career.

Years ago, Reilly met Russ Briggs, owner of Briggs Floor, a floor sanding and refinishing company. Briggs was doing work for Reilly’s brother at the time.

“I was doing remodeling work with another guy,” Reilly said. “I always liked working on hardwood floors, but Russ couldn’t hire me then, so I waited. He eventually hired me two years later. I always told Russ that I wanted to buy the business one day.”

The company was founded by Russ’s father, Charlie, in 1949. Russ eventually took over the operations for the next 47 years. Reilly joined the company 32 years ago, and became owner 10 years later. Russ Briggs died last year.

Small, Local Operation Briggs Floor is a small operation – Reilly and two employees, James Newbury, who’s been with the company

for 20 years, and Ian Prentice, who recently came aboard. The business stores its material on the third floor of the National Lock Building, while Reilly does paperwork from his home office.

“About 95 percent of our business is sanding and refinishing hardwood floors, besides repair work,” said Reilly.

“We do residential and commercial work, including churches, schools and governmental offices.”

While much of Briggs’ business is local, clients can be found throughout Illinois and Wisconsin. Reilly said his business does about 300 homes a year.

Among its list of clients are Tinker Swiss Cottage, Burpee Art Museum, the historical buildings at Midway Village Museum and Lincoln Middle School.

Hardwood floors remain popular.

“They’re better than carpeting when it comes to allergies, add value to the home and are easier to clean,” Reilly said. “Realtors will call me if a house isn’t selling. We take care of the floors and two weeks later the house might sell.”

came in style, which gives off a more rustic, muted look. Color trends tend to run in seven-year cycles.”

Reilly and company are busy, working 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

Summer is the busiest time. “The three of us all start a project together on a Monday. By Tuesday the guys start a new job and I finish the first project. We Steve Reilly and two employees estimate that they finish floors at 300 homes a year.

Over time, finish wears down due to spills, dirt, moving furniture and the claws of family pets. The good news is that the damage is usually temporary.

“The first thing we do is hang plastic, and put up a plastic wall. We prep the floor and sand it two to four times,” Reilly said. “We hand scrape the corners and use the buffer before letting it sit overnight. The next day we vacuum and apply the final coat.” A typical job takes about two days.

If you’re doing a full refinishing, the stain will be removed during the process.

Reilly said you can expect your floor to be a lighter color after the job is finished.

Or, he said, you can choose a new color.

always have two projects going at the same time.”

Business wasn’t always this good.

Reilly recalls the harsh downturn that occurred 10 years ago. “We were hanging on,” he said. “We cut back to five days and worked no overtime. We found odd jobs to keep the guys busy. It was the first time I had to go find customers. Before they came to me. Fortunately, those days are over.”

BRIGGS FLOOR SANDING & REFINISHING Steve Reilly, owner 615 14th St. 815-397-7250 www.briggsfloor.com

theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

january 2019

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Guest Perspective insight

Developing a competitive, skilled workforce is a community effort The start of the new year is the perfect time to reflect on the work being done locally to create a workforce that meets the needs of our region’s business community.

Nearly two years ago, The Workforce Connection board, made up of business and community leaders, developed and submitted a regional workforce plan for Boone, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties to the state of Illinois. The purpose was to foster regional collaboration to help ensure that money spent on workforce training and adult education programs met the current and future demand of employers in our region by also including employers in the process.

Our regional workforce plan has six goals we worked on and gained lots of momentum.

1. Increasing collaboration and communication between workforce, education and economic development efforts.

2. Engaging employers to create workforce solutions that meet current and future needs.

3. Increasing skill level of the workforce by funding training opportunities that provide industry-recognized credentials on relevant career pathways.

4. Providing connections to career opportunities for residents with all skill levels.

5. Tracking our data and measuring progress for the region’s workforce system.

6. Promoting the workforce system and the benefits of services.

Representatives of area economic development agencies, the chamber and regional employers are active members of our board and have been enthusiastically involved in these efforts to solve the broad spectrum of workforce issues facing our region.

More than two dozen employers are currently taking advantage of local workforce area training dollars to provide both new and existing workers with the skills they need to be successful.

Additionally, six companies are developing apprenticeship programs utilizing TWC funds allocated to our region to create a pathway for future employees.

Seamless Pathways In response to a team of manufacturers, new classes for jobseekers are being offered in both Rockford and Freeport with essential skills development meant to stress the importance of showing up on

time every day, taking pride in a work ethic and understanding the value of team work.

Highland Community College and Rock Valley College are critical partners to promote career strategies that combine classroom training and industry credentials needed for employment.

The connectivity that’s been established to create seamless pathways from local high schools is another step in developing a pipeline of trained individuals for our region.

One of the best examples of “all hands on deck” is the Academy Expo that Alignment Rockford sponsors every year for students to begin career exploration to learn more about what career interests are best suited for them. The event involves hundreds of employers and other volunteers to connect and support our regional workforce, both now and in the future.

The most recent labor market information data shows declining unemployment, fewer workers of prime working age, an aging labor force and a large pool of workers with limited education and skills. If we are to meet the skills gap in our region, it’s going to require us all working together for regional improvements.

TWC has two overarching goals:

1. Improve career options for jobseekers Dr. Lisa M. Bly through an The Workforce integrated Connection public workforce system that links diverse talent to businesses.

2. A system that supports the development of a strong, vibrant regional economy where businesses thrive and people want to live and work.

In 2019, the TWC board will closely review the progress made with our current plan in preparation for our next planning cycle. The mission of TWC is to create a competitive, skilled and educated workforce. We’re excited about the progress made and looking forward to much more for our region’s workforce.

Our region’s success is measured by what we accomplish together.

Dr. Lisa M. Bly is executive director of The Workforce Connection board.

The views expressed are those of Dr. Bly’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

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theVoice

Guest Perspective insight

To be or not to be …

Boylan Developing homegrown leaders

Amy Ott Boylan Catholic High School

What do we want most out of our kids? To get off their cell phones? To do their homework? To clean up their rooms?

I have two teenage boys and my primary goal for them is probably very similar to most of the parents we serve at Boylan Catholic High School.

We all want our kids to be successful and happy adults. If we’re lucky, those successful and happy adults also give back to the community in which they live. Some do that in very recognizable ways — as leaders.

As I look forward to attending January’s Chamber Annual Dinner, along with several hundred of my fellow business professionals and friends, my heart swells with pride when I think about how many of those business professionals and community leaders are also successful Boylan Catholic High School graduates.

In fact, of the nearly 80 business professionals who have served on the Rockford Chamber Board of Directors in the last 10 years, 10 percent are Boylan High School graduates.

Rosemary Collins,

A Culture of Service

means we want to educate our students

The last week of January is annually designated “Catholic Schools Week” across our nation. Whether or not you are Catholic, you should care about the outcome of religious education. Why? Because, historically, private schools in our region, and Boylan Catholic in particular, have churned out leader after leader, taught to excel academically and communally by using their minds and their hearts jointly to lead and succeed.

From Rockford mayors to the Cherry Valley fire chief … from the Winnebago County Chairman to 17th Circuit Judges … from local entrepreneurs to regional philanthropists, so many of our community’s leaders are Boylan graduates or parents of current or former students.

Homegrown leaders are some of our best. They know our community, care about our community and give back to our community. The culture of service starts young, often nurtured within families and in faith and educational environments.

Some of Boylan’s current parents and graduates state it best: “Instilling the values of community service and the duty of one to give back, while contributing to the wellbeing of others teaches compassion and helps students develop empathy. They are important values that stay with the student far beyond high school.” –

Retired

Circuit

Judge “As a parent of three children, one who has graduated and two currently attending Boylan Catholic High School, I can personally attest to the high caliber education delivered, the school’s commitment to instilling civic duty within the students and assisting in their development of moral character.” – David Gomel, President/Rosecrance, Inc. “My Boylan High School experience is a large part of my personal life and success, and I truly believe Boylan should be recognized for its great and positive impact on our community, for all it has done in the past and what it continues to do for the next generation.”

– Pat Bachrodt, ’64 President/Lou Bachrodt Auto Mall

Ethical, Critical Thinkers Boylan’s vision for its students is: “Striving to be Saints. Scholars.

Champions.” What does that mean? It to be ethical and knowledgeable in their decision-making, be critical thinkers and strive for success in all things, especially when caring for others.

Boylan’s mission complements the Rockford Chamber’s mission: “Leading Business Growth.” The chamber, its staff and board help businesses and their employees grow and prosper. In recent years, the chamber has focused on

building

leadership

through

launching and fine-tuning programs like Lead 360, Leadership Rockford and Rockford Leadership Alliance.

If you haven’t taken advantage of these programs, I encourage you to make it a New Year’s Resolution for you and your team. I’m confident you’ll find these programs step in where schools and families leave off, helping create, support and grow Rockford’s leaders of tomorrow.

I hope to see you (and many Boylan friends, alumni, and now community leaders) at the annual meeting!

Amy Ott is president of Boylan Catholic High School and a Rockford Chamber board member.

The views expressed are those of Ott’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

theVoice

january 2019

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A FEW WORDS FROM RPS 205 SUPERINTENDENT

Inspiring others by demonstrating excellence

Education Pathway inspires students to become teachers … and stay Allyson Utech had a close bond with her student Antonio Ramirez for each of the four years he was at Jefferson High School. So when Ramirez handed Utech a certificate from Rockford University at a symposium last month, marking the end of her own studies for a master’s degree in urban education, it was especially meaningful.

But there was another layer of connection -- one that provides a model for all employers in Rockford who want to make a powerful contribution to their community and its young people.

Ramirez is at Rockford University as well. He is pursuing a bachelor’s degree as part of the Education Pathway, a collaboration between RU and Rockford Public Schools.

Ramirez is one of 20 RPS 205 students who every year are chosen to receive their university teaching education at a steeply discounted rate. Once they receive their degree, they return to the school district to teach. Then they can continue their education at RU and earn their master’s degree in urban education at no cost.

Utech is part of the first cohort of district teachers who earned their master’s degree under the same program.

Utech saw Ramirez’ promise as a teacher right away. He was always the one who helped his fellow students, she said. He was patient and kind and took time to work with them, whether it was reading their first draft of papers, helping them practice their lines in theater or helping them look more natural and less stiff on stage.

“He was always kind of taking somebody under his wing,” Utech said.

“He was always very good about giving constructive criticism.”

Seeing that, she did what any good mentor in any industry would do: She helped him realize how those skills could translate into teaching.

Pathways for Every Trade This is a great story about a transformative relationship for two people, but it’s bigger than that. It is an example of what we want for all 12 of our pathways in the college and career academies in the district’s high schools.

We want professionals to create similar bonds with our students, showing them the preparation, critical thinking and skills necessary for a career

Dr. Ehren Jarrett Superintendent RPS 205

The intergenerational support is critical to launching students on their careers, but it’s also a huge part of building a place to which our young people want to return. of their choosing. The intergenerational support is critical to launching students on their careers, but it’s also a huge part of building a place to which our young people want to return.

Imagine the impact that your current employees could have on your future employees. We’re imagining a day when current tradespeople reach out to future tradespeople as they support our pathways. The same relationship might develop between current engineers and future engineers, between current nurses and future nurses — and on and on, leveraging the wealth of talent we have in Rockford.

We just happen to be a large employer using this strategy to launch future professionals. But we envision a day when stories like the Jefferson teacher and her student become a normal part of growing up in Rockford — where our best and brightest students are inspired to follow their career dreams because of people who demonstrate excellence in their chosen field.

The Education Pathway has worked so well for RPS 205, we want it for companies around the region. The vision is exciting, but the small victories make it sustainable.

In Ramirez’ interview for the Education Pathway scholarship, he mentioned Allyson Utech as a teacher who inspired him to go into education.

“That was a huge honor to hear that from him,” she said.

She was honored, too, that he could help her celebrate her own educational milestone at Rockford University: “It was very special that a student could be there at a big moment for me.”

Dr. Ehren Jarrett is superintendent of Rockford Public Schools.

The views expressed are those of Dr. Jarrett’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

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theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

Young Professionals ignite

The state of Rockford’s young professionals

What I see is a desire to give back to the community they call home

Strong passwords help protect accounts against cybercriminals The IRS urges everyone with any type of online account to review new, stronger standards to protect passwords against savvy cybercriminals in accessing accounts and stealing identities.

Three Steps to Building a Better Password Step 1: Leverage powers of association. People can identify associated items that have personal meaning and use them in their passwords.

Step 2: Make unique associations.

Passphrases should be words that can go together in your head, but no one else would ever suspect.

Good example: Items in a living room such as BlueCouchFlowerBamboo.

Bad example: Names of children or pets.

Step 3: Create a passphrase that you can picture in your head. The key is to create a passphrase that is hard for a cybercriminal to guess, but easy for the user to remember.

In addition: 1. Use a different password or passphrase for each account. People can consider using a password manager if necessary for multiple accounts.

2. Use multi-factor authentication whenever possible. They should not rely on the passphrase alone to protect sensitive data. Multi-factor authentication means returning account holders need more than just their username and password to access an account. They also need, for example, a security code sent as text to a mobile phone.

3. Change all factory-set passwords, including for wireless devices such as printers and routers.

Tips When Shopping Online The IRS reminds online shoppers to protect their tax and financial data from identity thieves with a few extra steps. Thieves could use this data to file a fraudulent tax return in 2019.

Cybercriminals want to turn stolen data into quick cash. They do this by draining financial accounts, charging credit cards, creating new credit

accounts or even using stolen identities to file a fraudulent tax return for a refund.

Here are seven steps to protect their accounts: 1. Avoid unprotected Wi-Fi. Unprotected public Wi-Fi hotspots may allow thieves to view transactions.

2. Shop at familiar online retailers. Generally, sites using the “s” designation in “https” at the start of the URL are secure. User can also look for the “lock” icon in the browser’s URL bar. That said, some thieves can get a security certificate, so the “s” may not always vouch for the site’s legitimacy.

Beware of purchases at unfamiliar sites or clicks on links from pop-up ads.

3. Learn to recognize and avoid phishing emails. Thieves send these emails, posing as a trusted source, such a financial institution. or the IRS. The criminal’s goal is to entice users to open a link or attachment. The link may take users to a fake website that will steal usernames and passwords. An attachment may download malware that tracks keystrokes.

4. Keep a clean machine. This applies to computers, phones and tablets. Taxpayers should use security software to protect against malware that may steal data and viruses that may damage files.

5. Use passwords that are strong, long and unique. Experts suggest a minimum of 10 characters but longer is better. People should also avoid using a specific word in the password.

They should also use a combination of letters, numbers and special characters.

6. Use multi-factor authentication when available. This means users may need a security code, usually sent as a text from a financial institution or email provider to a mobile phone. People use this code in addition to usernames and passwords.

7. Encrypt and password-protect sensitive data. If keeping financial records, tax returns or any personally identifiable information on computers, this data should be encrypted and protected by a strong password.

I recently attended a dinner in which the keynote speaker cracked jokes during the presentations that Millennials are simply disinterested, unengaged and possess a poor work ethic. This was not the first time I’ve heard this in a presentation, and not too long ago, there were full seminars on how to work with Millennials.

We saw our young professionals donate more than 415 hours of their time to various local organizations in an effort to give back to the community.

While I’ve heard this rhetoric many times before; this time it struck a nerve with me a little more than other times, simply because I know what’s going on with our young professionals locally.

So with that being said; I wanted to share some numbers with the membership on the IGNITE young professional group for the year.

I’m pleased to announce that we had a banner year for IGNITE in all areas. We had more than 200 young professionals engage and participate in the Ignite Cup, which pits teams against one another in friendly competition that promotes a new way to network and forge new friendships.

In conjunction with these competitions, we had a fundraising effort called Penny Wars that saw our young professionals raise more than $2,600 for local charities of their choice.

This number represents an increase of more than $1,600 from 2017.

A Benchmark Year It’s not all fun and games though. We saw our young professionals donate more than 415 hours of their time to various local organizations in an effort to give back to the community. This is the first year that we’ve tracked this number. So it is a benchmark number for the years to come, however this number far exceeded the IGNITE board’s expectations.

We’ve also seen our YPs engage in global initiatives, such as coat and school supply drives. In addition to that, young professionals participated in learning more about life skills through our Adulting 101 series that helped them learn more about buying a home, city council, investing, negotiating, and even how to change tires. Last but not least, YPs engaged in our lunch with a leader series, which put them in front

Greg Lundquist IGNITE

of some of the most successful and admired professionals in the Rock River Valley.

So as we close out 2018 and head into 2019, I’d like to congratulate and thank the Ignite young professional membership and the Ignite board (Phoebe Morris, Emily Hardy, Zakera Nanabawa, Britney Lindgren, Kim Thielbar, Sydney Turner, Paul Happach, Lauren Jones, Hannah Schoenberg and Matthew Brandt) on an exceptional year. A special thanks to our previous board members, as this sort of success has been years in the making. In fact, current Mayor McNamara led this group early in his career. Finally, to the local chamber restaurants, presenting sponsors and leaders who led those lunch presentation; words do not adequately describe our appreciation, so I’ll just thank you again!

It’s exciting to see the level of success that we have had, and I look forward to building on that success in the years to come. In preparation for 2019, the IGNITE board has met to finalize upcoming events for this year to encourage membership growth, community outreach, education as well as the attraction and retention of young professionals to the Rockford region.

With all that being said, I think you would agree that our young professionals are anything but disinterested, unengaged, and they do possess a solid work ethic. In fact, I would put their desire to give to back to the community they live in as exemplary. Are there Millennials that created this stigma, sure… but I would argue that anyone within any given generation can possess those same lackluster qualities as described in the beginning.

If you are experiencing issues in working with the younger generations, have a serious open talk with them.

In talking with the CEO of a local organization recently; we talked about this very issue. His advice and solution was to be curious … Find out why.

And who knows? Maybe from that conversation, you’ll find some solutions you’ve never thought about before.

Happy New Year from IGNITE young professionals group!

Greg Lundquist is president of IGNITE. The views expressed are those of Lundquist’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

theVoice

january 2019

 Destination

|

9

ILLINOIS, USA

ADDING WEALTH TO THE REGION’S ECONOMY BY GROWING TOURISM

Positive press for a city ‘finding its voice’ Good news for the Rockford region

Every year, evidence mounts that events like Stroll on State are more than just one-day windfalls for downtown and the city overall. Observers from beyond our city limits repeatedly cite Stroll as symbolic of the downtown resurgence and the positive vibe that’s evident across our city.

Downtown merchants and vendors tell me they spend weeks ramping up for Stroll day to give excellent service on the spot and create a positive experience that encourages repeat business throughout the year. The lasting impact of Stroll also is a consistent theme from people who attend the event.

Voices from other places now are … citing Stroll among the proof points that the comeback is real.

One Stroll attendee hit the nail on the head with this comment, “(I like) … seeing all of the people in our beautiful city come together to prove that we are on a comeback.

The local stores, local food, etc. were fantastic ... proud to call this great city home!”

Certainly, we know Rockford is a great city. Voices from other places now are echoing that fact and citing Stroll among the proof points that the comeback is real.

One Stroll visitor in November was Arnie Weissmann, editor in chief of Travel Weekly, which is known as the voice of the travel industry. His experience at Stroll persuaded him to revise his previous negative view of our city.

In a column last year, he’d described Rockford as “a perfect example of a Rust Belt city in decline,” among other unflattering descriptions. Weissmann, who lives in New York City, accepted an invitation to see firsthand what’s happening here. He visited on Stroll day. Here’s an excerpt from a column that appeared after his visit.

“And so it was that I found myself in Rockford the weekend before last, watching its holiday parade, exploring its shops, talking with locals … Although the route I had taken into town passed shuttered factories and quite a few for lease/for sale/space available signs, the town center was alive with interesting shops, restaurants, pubs and rooftop bars, many featuring drinks produced by one of the town’s microbreweries, a whiskey distillery or a coffee roaster.”

John Groh Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

Near the end of his column, he wrote: “Rockford, I apologize.”

Second Looks at the City He’s not the only one taking a second look at the city. In November, The Chicago Tribune featured Rockford on the cover of the Travel Section. The main image of the two-page spread was a half-page picture of the huge crowd at Stroll on State in November 2017. The story was headlined, “Rockford Coming Back,” and the secondary headline read, “Once-sleepy downtown has awakened, and pride among residents is palpable.”

Two weeks after Stroll this year, the Tribune featured a column about Rockford by Kristen McQuery, a member of the paper’s Editorial Board and a native of our city. The column focused on “Minding the Gap,” a documentary that details the life struggles of three Rockford friends growing up in dysfunctional homes in a depressed city that offers limited prospects. McQuery understands the city’s problems, but she is encouraged by changes that are underway. She wrote: “It is a city with a bad reputation but not necessarily an earned one.” She mentioned population loss, crime and high taxes. I’m happy she didn’t stop there. She continued: “Rockford has its heroes, too. I’d like to think the city is finding its voice. There are investors dedicated to revitalizing downtown.

Restaurants, markets and festivals are providing a new draw, and there’s a loyalty among people from Rockford you won’t find in other towns.”

At RACVB, we welcome anyone from beyond our region – including journalists and travel writers – to come see for themselves what’s happening here. We can weather the scrutiny.

Stroll on State and events like it are Exhibit A of what happens when we put our best foot forward as a community.

When we work together, we cannot help but change minds and hearts.

John Groh is president/CEO of Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. The mission of the RACVB is to drive quality of life and economic growth for our citizens through tourism marketing and destination development. www.gorockford.com The views expressed are Groh’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

january 2019

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10

The top trends that are changing the face of manufacturing Pushing the manufacturing industry forward into the Fourth Industrial Revolution Advanced technologies continue to revolutionize manufacturing into a highly connected, highly intelligent industry where tech-savvy workers and intelligent robots develop the products and services of the future.

According to a recent survey1 done

by IQMS Manufacturing Software, manufacturers who are implementing some or all of these technologies to improve their strategies are growing 10% faster than their peers.

In 2019, we can expect to see more sophisticated technology trends that will continue to push the industry forward into the Fourth Industrial Revolution towards intelligent manufacturing.

The top five include: 1. Continued IoT Expansion and 5G Rollout The Internet of Things (IoT) continues to grow at an exceptional rate with 3.6bn connected devices already being used for daily tasks. IoT is anticipated to grow more momentum at the end of 2019 with the rollout of 5G — the fifth generation of mobile communications that targets high data rates, reduced latencies, energy savings, cost reductions, increased system capacities and massive device connectivity.

IoT technologies provide manufacturers with real-time information on their overall business operations; however, most companies today are not structured to take full advantage of IoT. According to Rajan Suri2, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM)* is a critical first step in the journey to these new IoT technologies.

“It’s like you have a house with a shaky foundation. You don’t just jump in and try to update your electrical wiring.

First, you fix the basic structure, then you consider how to fix the wiring,” Suri says.

QRM provides the necessary organizational structure that enables companies to respond quickly to all kinds of situations. Once manufacturers implement QRM into their business strategy, they will have the basic structure in place necessary for IoT technologies.

2. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning The increased adoption of IoT is elevating the data production of manufacturing operations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and smart machines allow manufacturers to meticulously collect and analyze the data so they can resolve any existing machine inefficiencies and increase their responsiveness to customer demands.

AI and machine learning also help businesses who want to achieve autonomous, lights-out production.

Unmanned smart machines provide continuous production and send statistical analytics of performance, quality and yields that lead to significant cost and energy savings.

3. Virtual and Augmented Reality Enhancements Virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) enhancements are expected to gain broader adoption in 2019. Companies using VR and AR in existing machine processes enhance overall experience and improve workforce productivity and safety.

Some early adopters have implemented the technologies into their training programs to help bridge the skills gap with more efficient training for incoming workforce.

According to an article written by Shelby Hegy3, product marketer of PTC, AR overlays digital content and analytics onto the real world to provide:

■ Efficient navigation of factories and between warehouses to workers. manufacturers ■ Identification of the proper tools and and local Meaghan Ziemba parts needed for a task.

MakingChips educational ■ Real-time feedback for alerts and institutions in corrections to missteps that occur along Project Lead the Way (PLTW) programs. the way.

These programs prepare students for ■ Overlays of key performance metrics and operational data onto equipment to STEM careers as early as kindergarten. illustrate how the factory is responding to They also create opportunities for changes. manufacturing companies to mentor VR creates fully immersive scenarios students and teachers and donate for employees to: technology equipment to community ■ Practice emergency response colleges and high schools. situations.

Another solution involves apprentice ■ Work in certain environments that or internship programs that provide are not available due to construction or hands-on experience to students unsafe circumstances. interested in manufacturing careers.

■ Prepare for rapid product changeovers and equipment upgrades without Hands-on learning environments equip students with the appropriate skills damaging property or personnel.

4. Blockchain Technologies Blockchain is a digital ledger that records digital transactions chronologically and publicly. In the upcoming year, it has the potential to increase visibility across every area of manufacturing, including:

that make them confident in the trade,

■ Suppliers

understand how they can affect everything

problem solving and industry knowledge.

Employers

must

recognize

the

generational differences that exist and from training and development to simple

■ Strategic Sourcing

communication.

■ Procurement ■ Supplier Quality

*Note: To learn more about Quick Response

■ Shop Floor Operations

Manufacturing, please register for the upcoming

Blockchain’s distributed ledger structure is perfect for improving supply chain efficiency, order accuracy, product quality and track-and-trace capabilities.

5. Industry-University Collaborations and Partnerships There is already ■ Visual, auditory and kinesthetic a shortage of skilled workers within the training. manufacturing industry. As companies ■ Real-time, step-by-step visual and oral continue to rely on advanced technologies to maintain a competitive edge, instructions. they need to make their businesses more 1. “Where ERP is Making the Greatest Contributions to Growth” - IQMS Manufacturer’s Survey Results (https://www.iqms. appealing to tech-savvy individuals who com/products/whitepapers/how-erp-contributes-to-growth-survey.pdf). could potentially fill that void.

2. Rajan Suri is Emeritus Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is Founding Director of the Center for Quick Response Manufacturing (www.qrmcenter.org). He can be reached at rajan.suri@wisc.edu.

One solution involves the collaboration 3. “How AR and VR are Transforming Training in Manufacturing” (https://www.controleng.com/articles/how-ar-and-vr-aretransforming-training-in-manufacturing/)

allowing them to prosper in areas of

WOTM workshop in Rockford, Illinois: “Increasing Your Manufacturing Competitive Advantage: It’s About Time”— Presented by Rajan Suri, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Visit http://www.wotmrockford.com/events for registration details.

Meaghan Ziemba is content creator/community manager at MakingChips.

The views expressed are those of Ziemba’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

Sponsored by Advanced Machine & Engineering Co.

theVoice

january 2019

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11

Guest Perspective insight

Top ten reasons to revisit your strategic plan

Consider what’s going right, and go from there The holidays are a time for reflection about the past year and to plan for the new one. As part of that process, we have all developed New Year’s resolutions -- some we may actually have accomplished!

But what about all those wellintentioned goals that weren’t accomplished? Where would we be now, what would our organizations look like if we HAD accomplished all of those goals?

Planning in the past has largely been a deep dive into “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.” That means we’re focused on what’s wrong with our organizations rather than what’s right. Hmmm. Is it no wonder our goals go unreached?

When planning is done in this way, it is more than a document that sits on a shelf.

It is a dynamic tool to create positive change in your organization.

It’s similar to positive reinforcement with children — research shows if we continually tell them what they’re doing wrong, we get little change. If we praise them for what they’re doing right, we’ll get more of the same.

Positive reinforcement in the strategic planning process is embodied in a model called “Appreciative Inquiry.”

It’s a planning process that focuses our attention on what is going right and builds on that process to create goals.

Those goals improve our organizations through creative and innovative ways.

When planning is done in this way, it is more than a document that sits on a shelf. It is a dynamic tool to create positive change in your organization.

With the New Year upon us, it may be time to spend a day or two updating your strategic plan.

Top 10 Reasons You Should Revisit Your Organization’s Strategic Plan 1. If you have no goal, any path will get you to the end, but it might not be very effective. Like a football team that is told to only go northeast, a plan without benchmarks or goals for achievement will be ineffective.

Mike Mastroianni MDM Consulting

2. A plan involves stakeholders, internal and external — if those people have changed, it’s time to update your plan and communication.

3. If your plan was developed in a small group but the end goals involved others outside of that group, widen your group. “Two heads are better than one.”

4. A plan that is dynamic can change at times -- circumstances, leaders and staff people change.

5. A plan that is dynamic is used to guide and direct what we will do and what we won’t do in the future. Has the future outlook for your organization changed?

6. Focusing on a positive plan means that we build on successes and emphasize innovation, rather than reinforcing negatives and shortcomings.

How does your plan measure up?

7. Employees, boards and leaders support what they have had a hand in developing. Were they involved in your plan AND involved in updates and accomplishments related to it?

8. Plans are like parts of a car.

It’s great when new, but some need tweaking or even replacement after its useful life. Maybe your whole plan doesn’t need a tweak, but only parts of it?

9. Planning helps us to check our thinking and our vision. Compare your existing plan next to your organization’s mission and vision. Do they work together well?

10. When people can articulate the vision, plan and goals for an organization, buy-in occurs, and everyone (internally and externally) we come in contact with will see that we are moving ahead purposefully and positively.

Let your plan work for you, building on the wonderful things you do daily in pursuit of your mission and achievement of your purpose, and watch your organization grow as a result!

Mike Mastroianni is president of MDM Consulting.

The views expressed are those of Mastroianni’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

12

| tech connections

january 2019 • theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

If patients won’t adapt, modernize the tool: FitsBrush!

By Sherry Pritz Enderle, NIU EIGERlab After years of trying to assist her patients with preventive dental care, Rachael Lolling, a dental hygienist by day and entrepreneur by night, set out to revolutionize the toothbrush. This age-old dental hygiene tool was due for an update, and Lolling took on the challenge to provide consumers with a better tool to fight dental decay and periodontal disease.

FitsBrush is the only toothbrush with a flexible neck and has double the average number of bristles. Her patentpending product launched in October 2017.

Lolling’s first steps were studying and measuring more than 500 models of people’s teeth she had collected over the years. In designing her new toothbrush, she had several important goals in mind.

First the angle of the bristles. To brush most effectively, the bristles have to be at a 45-degree angle. Secondly, the size of the brush head needed to be increased to clean more than one-to-two teeth with each stroke and cover more surface area.

Next, she made the bristles multiple heights in a concave pattern that will conform to convex teeth shape to efficiently clean the tooth’s biting surface, the exterior surface and below

the gum line all in one position. Her final innovation is what makes FitsBrush so unique: its side-to-side bend and ideal flex. This allows the toothbrush to clean behind the molars and around the canine teeth and also assists people who are hard, aggressive brushers — warning them to not push so hard.

Made in Wisconsin After perfecting the design, Lolling set out to find a manufacturer, but didn’t have to look farther than Eau Claire, Wis. After the Tess Oral Health president listened to her compassionate presentation, he was eager to support her efforts.

FitsBrush’s unique movement component makes it a manufacturing challenge. Rachael declined hundreds of samples until the product was perfect.

“I wish I would have known about NIU EIGERlab’s Center for Product Development (C4PD) before starting the invention process,” Lolling said. “Now, when I share my entrepreneurial journey, I inform the audience that there’s a local entity that will make their lives easier, especially in the early stages.”

Next Steps

For Rachael, public speaking doesn’t come naturally. “I watched many TEDx Talks on a variety of topics, before even contemplating signing up to compete in FastPitch. I was incredibly nervous at the competition, but I think when you’re passionate about something; somehow that overrides your nervousness. Everyone was so supportive and encouraging that it resulted in a great experience.” Photo credit: M & M Photography. generations. Now that she’s aware of the C4PD and programming NIU EIGERlab has to offer, she plans to take full advantage.

“My future inventions will be much easier! I now have a team in place, and I’m fully aware of all of the resources our community offers,” Lolling said.

“I’m thankful for events such as NIU EIGERlab’s

monthly

Innovation

Tuesday Meetups. I’m able to connect with like-minded people, and I am

Rachael plans to invent two similar learning or enhancing my knowledge of products for the younger and older a new topic at each Meetup.”

SplashData names Top 25 worst passwords of 2018 SplashData estimates 10 percent of people have used at least one of the 25 worst passwords on this year’s list,

with roughly three percent using the worst password, “123456.” Reflecting the news of the world, for the first time “princess,” “charlie” and “donald” have made the list.

1. 123456

7. 1234567

14. 666666

21. charlie

2. password

8. sunshine

15. abc123

22. aa123456

3. 123456789

9. qwerty

16. football

23. donald

4. 12345678

10. iloveyou

17. 123123

24. password1

5. 12345

11. princess

18. monkey

25. qwerty123

6. 111111

12. admin

19. 654321

13. welcome

20. !@#$%^&*

Philanthropic Efforts The “Fits” in FitsBrush has two meanings. It “fits” in your mouth, and also stands for “Funding In The Schools.” Lolling helps schools raise money through the FITS Dental Fund.

“I’m passionate about working in schools to educate children on not only the importance of dental hygiene and good nutrition, but also how easy it is to prevent the world’s most chronic disease, tooth decay, with the proper tools and instructions. The FITS Dental Fund proceeds assist school children with dental treatment they could otherwise not afford.”

To check out the FitsBrush and the FITS Dental Fund, visit www.fitsbrush. com. To learn more about the C4PD and programming NIU EIGERlab offers, visit www.EIGERlab.org or call 815-753-2192.

Sherry Pritz Enderle is marketing & events coordinator/business development at NIU EIGERlab Innovation Network. Contact 815753-2192.

The views expressed are those of Pritz Enderle’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

rockfordchamber.com • theVoice • january 2019

tech connections |

Augmented reality unlocks hidden content within exhibits at the Burpee Museum, using its new mobile app.

Guests of the Burpee Museum’s Spark Innovation Cocktail Party pose with augmented artifacts.

Burpee Museum launches augmented reality app Unlock bonus content at museum exhibits

By Barbara Connors, The VOICE Thanks to augmented reality (AR) technology, Burpee Museum exhibits are being brought to life for visitors. Rockford-based creative agency Trekk and Burpee Museum of Natural History demonstrated the new, immersive experience of the Burpee Museum mobile app, at the Spark Innovation Cocktail Party on Dec. 4, a behind-the-scenes look for museum guests and donors.

Using the Burpee Museum mobile app, visitors can unlock bonus content at the museum exhibits. But even before you visit the museum, you can ‘visit’ the artifacts remotely at home by downloading the app on a smartphone with Internet connection.

As noted by Trekk, augmented reality adds extra layers of content to the viewer’s physical surroundings -- animation, a 3D model or any combination of images, sound and video. At Burpee, these layers manifest as 3D historical and natural artifacts -a beaver skull, a T. rex claw, a Hopi Kachina doll – right on the viewer’s phone.

Generate a 3D image of a fossil; examine it from all sides, read about its history and where it was discovered, then snap a photo of the fossil in your environment to share.

13

National Informal STEM Education Network will fabricate and distribute the new Sun, Earth, Universe exhibit, including one set to Discovery Center Museum. Photo credit: Emily Maletz.

Explore space with Augmented Reality new NASA exhibit at to advance learning Discovery Center Trekk predicted in its Aug. 10, 2017 blog post that education would be one of the three fastest-growing applications of augmented reality, along with healthcare and navigation.

Museums such as Smithsonian, Washington, D.C., already are experimenting with augmented reality, most notably with the Skin & Bones exhibit; enhanced with AR. Smithsonian visitors can use the museum’s app to overlay skin and movement onto the skeletons in the Bone Hall to experience the animals when they were alive. Visit naturalhistory.si.edu/exhibits/ bone-hall to learn how to download the app to view remotely.

Discovery Center Museum was chosen as a site to display the new Sun, Earth, Universe traveling exhibit on space exploration. Use an infrared camera, an ultraviolet (UV) light, a magnifying glass and a magnetic field detector to reveal information not visible to our human eyes. Design, build and test your own spacecraft model for a NASA mission, and other activities. Arizona State University led the project in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In preparing for the exhibit at Discovery Center Museum, visit explorescience.org/sun. Unlock the imagination with images of tools NASA uses to observe space and its techniques for finding planets outside of our solar system, called ‘exoplanets.’ View the sun up close or how the earth has changed over time, or watch NASA construct a satellite. Visit www.nisenet.org/ sunearthuniverse for more on the exhibit.

14 | marketing strategies

january 2019 • theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

Guest Perspective insight

Social media marketing trends you shouldn’t ignore for 2019 Strategies for making your brand stand out As we head into 2019, social media is projected to reach more than 204 million users in the USA, and ad spending on social platforms is projected to increase by 25 percent over 2018 (eMarketer, Nov 2018). This leads us to a very important question: What can you do to make your brand stand out? Below are some important strategies that will help your brand rise above the competition and get better ROI with your social media marketing.

Run Ads: Today, boosted posts and ads are necessary in order for you to reach people on social. Boosting posts and running ads allows you to hyper target your demographic within a geographical location.

Install a Facebook Pixel: Installing the pixel on your website allows you to track and analyze conversions. The pixel

If someone comments on your posts or direct messages you, RESPOND. A simple “Thank You” is sometimes all that is needed. is also needed to “retarget” consumers who have visited your website by serving up a digital ad to any website visitors.

Utilize Stories: Both Facebook and Instagram have this feature, which is pretty much a carbon copy of Snapchat.

The content disappears after 24 hours.

Since Instagram started Stories in 2016, it’s doubled Snapchat’s user base. Brands need to jump on the bandwagon now!

Create Custom Content: Your content should be genuine, interesting, fun, informative, creative and inspiring while it tells your story, connects with your customers and reinforces your brand.

Customers love to see behind the scenes

of a business. Use this to your advantage.

Facebook Live: When you “go live” on Facebook, the platform sends out a notification to each person who follows your page. Prepare in advance and keep your Facebook Live sessions fun, interesting and engaging. After your Facebook Live session is over, you can boost it to reach even more people.

Utilize Video: Facebook rewards video content by rating it higher in the algorithm, and Twitter and Instagram both support video. When you post a video to Facebook, post the actual video instead of a link to YouTube or Vimeo. Any external links are rated negatively by Facebook’s algorithm,

REPORTS SUGGESTS SOME TOP DRIVERS IN MARKETING IN 2019 IBM Watson Marketing issued its 2019 Marketing Trends Report for businesses. Some of its suggestions of what to look for: In The Emotion Economy, Purpose Creates Brand Loyalty. More than ever, consumers are more likely to engage with brands that are authentic, meaning the brand holds strong convictions and delivers on them, versus experience alone.

Marketer 4.0: Emergence of the Tech-Savvy ‘Martecheter’. Until now the greatest advantages for marketers has been in the order of budget, tools and talent.

That model is now inverted, driven by the rapid growth of new skills and customer expectations.

data and customer behavior, make recommendations and predictions, and become smarter based on the data fed into them.

Agile Marketing Adoption Accelerates, Driving Marketing Outcomes and Culture. Organizations driven by culture change and agile mindsets will widen their lead having a first-mover advantage, especially where AIpowered marketing technology enables the right set of tools to align and measure the proper objectives and metrics.

GDPR Actually Helps Marketers Improve Data Hygiene and Customer Trust. Marketers will increasingly focus on improving data hygiene processes, leading to better targeting and higher quality interactions. With similar AI and Machine Learning Make Hyper-Personalization regulations already in certain parts of the United States and the potential for U.S.-wide legislation, marketers will a Reality. The proliferation of data and compartmentalized proactively improve privacy, security and data management marketing stacks has put AI and machine learning-based as a catalyst for new business models. marketing tools at the center of deep personalization. This Customer Centricity Breaks Marketing Silos will change how marketers make decisions and deploy and Delivers Happiness. Marketing transformations campaigns as AI analyzes and delivers personalized content will increasingly focus on creating differentiated with massive scale. customer experiences. This will be supported by more Director of Marketing Data Becomes the Hottest experimentation using contextualized understanding New Role. Growth of “marketing data” roles will continue of aggregated customer data across other areas of the as they drive human and technology connections across organization such as commerce and digital teams. their organization. This will enable artificial intelligence and machine learning-based marketing tools to analyze

Source: www.prnewswire.com

so you need to upload the Lisa Chatfield actual video. On Ad Vice Marketing Instagram, your videos can only be :60 in length, so be sure to optimize your videos for Instagram.

Respond and Engage: If someone comments on your posts or direct messages you, RESPOND. A simple “Thank You” is sometimes all that is needed. At the very least “like” their comment to acknowledge that you’re there. If you are just posting content, and no one is liking, commenting or sharing, either your content is not engaging enough, your targeting is off, or you are not boosting your posts correctly.

Optimize Your Posts on Each Social Platform: When in Rome … Tailor and optimize your posts/tweets for the platform you’re on. On Twitter, you’re limited to 280 characters. Use the optimal image sizes for each of the platforms. It’s okay to post the same or similar content, however you will need to optimize each bit of content in order to be taken seriously on the respective social platform.

Review Analytics: Knowing what is working and what isn’t is vital to your success. Through analytics you can determine what your followers like so that you can make adjustments to your strategy.

You can also determine your CPM (Cost Per Thousand) to compare it to digital and/or traditional marketing efforts.

In closing, these are just a few of the strategies that can be implemented to make your brand stand out and get you a better return on your social media investment. Here’s to 2019 and making the most of your social media marketing!

Lisa Chatfield is president of Ad Vice Marketing in Rockford.

The views expressed are those of Chatfield’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

rockfordchamber.com • theVoice • january 2019

Rockford University PERSPECTIVE

Long gone, the Sears catalog on the door step 2018 was a learning year for businesses, with the most successful businesses learning that communicating with their customers isn’t focused only on what they want to say and the channels they want to use. In 2019, the focus must be on what messages are important to the customer and then, for businesses to deliver those messages effectively to their customers and the market place in the ways in which consumers wish to receive information.

In 1888, Richard Sears used a printed mailer to advertise jewelry and watches for his new store. By 1894, the Sears Roebuck Company catalog had become a foundational communication tool throughout the United States. Adding color at the turn of the century provided a far more robust message for consumers, and Sears enjoyed impressive growth.

Sears discontinued their catalog in 1993, and much like Kodak, Blockbuster, Toys R Us, and most recently General Motors, Sears failed to continue to successfully communicate their message to their customers, which ultimately resulted in a filing for bankruptcy.

Availability 24/7 Known as inbound messaging, successful businesses will recognize the need to provide value to their audience, and to communicate with them ‘where they live.’ Although we may enjoy the assorted flyers and printed promotional advertisements we find on our doorstep, their future appears to be limited. In the early 1990s, Sears found consumers were

using their catalog as a Dr. John Gunyon value guide Rockford University rather than a purchasing source. Customers who could find merchandise at a price lower than advertised in the Sears catalog felt they had found a bargain, and acted on their purchases with other retailers.

Today it is estimated that roughly half of the buying public chooses messaging on their phone or mobile device, over an e-mail. A similar number of people expect their business partner be available 24/7.

According to Digital Commerce (www. digitalcommerce360.com /2018/12/07/onlineholiday-sales-increase-18-6-year-over-year/), there has been an 18.6 percent increase in online holiday sales over the same period last year. Roughly $50 billion of those sales are being made from our desktop computer, and another $23.7 billion are reaching businesses from our smartphones.

Getting our business message to consumers in 2019 will certainly include traditional media outlets such as print, radio, and TV, but the clear focus is shifting to our personal technology partners, and it is critical that business adapt accordingly.

John Gunyon, Ph.D., is chair of the Puri School of Business and an associate professor at Rockford University.

The views expressed are those of Dr. Gunyon’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

Where is marketing going in 2019?

John Hall, contributor with www.forbes.com, offered his thoughts on marketing trends for 2019.

1. People are putting more trust in others they know and reputable content. Hall cites a Nielsen study from 2015 that showed that the top four most-trusted sources of advertising were: people you know, branded sites, editorial sites and reviews.

2. Creativity, not conformity, will set successful marketers apart. Hall suggests integrated campaigns and creative distribution tactics that focus on ways to engage audience members that industry competitors might not be considering.

3. Winners won’t be concerned with internal barriers. Hall reiterated the importance of engaging content rather than just advertisements and that departments should work together. Content wasn’t just a marketing concern but engaging customer “stories” often came from other parts of the company.

4. Understanding how your customers communicate is vital. Hall states that customers today expect companies to communicate with them in the ways they like, so marketers must be aware of their customers’ communication preferences.

5. Helpfulness and authenticity will combat relationships lost through tech and automation. Marketing automation and technology may be here to stay, but sometimes comes at the expense of relationships with the audience.

Hall states it’s important to do your best to add a personal touch or offer direct help when possible.

John Hall is co-founder of Calendar, author of the best-selling book “Top of Mind,” and a keynote speaker.

marketing strategies |

15

16

| january 2019

theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

government Government Affairs

Rockford Park District announces three commissioner candidates During the April 2019 consolidated election, voters will make their choice for two open seats for Rockford Park District Commissioner for six-year terms. Three filed a petition to run; listed in the order in which they filed: 1) Jack Armstrong, incumbent 2) Ian Linnabary, incumbent 3) Angela Fellars The two elected on April 2 will be officially sworn in at a future Rockford Park District Board of Commissioners meeting.

Area attorney to serve on Governor-elect JB Pritzker’s Serving Illinois’ Heroes Committee Ryan M. Gailey, HolmstromKennedyPC On Veterans Day, Governor-elect JB Pritzker and Lieutenant Governor-elect Juliana Stratton named Ryan Gailey, Esq., a private practice attorney with HolmstromKennedyPC in Rockford, as a member of their newly formed Serving Illinois’ Heroes Committee.

Gailey serves as an infantry officer assigned to the 33D Infantry Brigade HQ, Urbana, Ill. He’s on the Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Military Affairs and volunteers on behalf of veterans throughout northern Illinois.

The committee is the second of several working groups of subjectmatter experts to advise and guide the incoming Pritzker-Stratton administration.

The 19-member Serving Illinois’ Heroes Committee will be chaired by U.S. Senator Tammy

Duckworth, Secretary of State Jesse White and State Rep. David Harris.

“November 12th is my Alive Day; the anniversary of the day I almost died but didn’t,” said U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth. “On this day 14 years ago, an RPG tore through the cockpit of the helicopter I was flying over Iraq, taking my legs and partial use of my right arm with it. I was quite literally in pieces, but my buddies risked their lives and refused to leave me behind. Now, I spend every day thinking about what I can do to repay them, and every year I spend this day, November 12, privately conversing with the people who saved me and reflecting on their sacrifices. Making sure I don’t let them down is what drives me to do everything I can for our veterans and troops.”

Rockford joins SolSmart program to accelerate solar use With an aim to improve quality of life for residents, spur business development and job creation, and protect the environment, the City of Rockford has enrolled in SolSmart. The national designation program provides resources to streamline the development of solar power installations on homes and businesses, cut electricity costs and reduce pollution.

Rockford is one of 22 new Chicago-area municipalities and counties that will receive this expert technical assistance on solar energy development from the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus; selected to serve as a “SolSmart Advisor” in the region.

Participating communities such as Rockford receive: A template from SolSmart for a standard installation permit that’s aligned with national standards, codes and best practices to ease the administrative burden for developers of small-scale residential solar systems and increase city staff’s

efficiency in permitting.

Extensive assistance from the caucus on best practices to speed up local solar development.

Work with partners, such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 134 and the Illinois Fire Inspectors Association, to train staff to evaluate and inspect solar installations.

Expert guidance on adapting zoning codes to remove barriers to solar development, engaging and educating local residents and businesses on solar energy, and other activities to expedite local solar development.

SolSmart is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office and led by the Solar Foundation and the International City/County Management Association. It awards gold, silver or bronze designations based on municipalities’ achievements and level of program involvement.

2019 brings increased wages for some Chicago to raise minimum wage rate mid-year While the federal minimum wage has remained stalled at $7.25 an hour since 2009, there has been significant movement at the state level, with some states enacting a minimum wage rate that is now more than double the federal level, according to an article online by the National Law Review.

Starting this July for instance, Chicago will raise minimum wage one dollar to $13.00 an hour.

Seattle currently is the leader for 2019, increasing its minimum wage to $16.00 per hour beginning in January for large employers (those with more than 500 employees).

New York is close behind, increasing the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour for large employers located in New York City, though the state minimum will be $11.10 in 2019.

The majority of the upcoming minimum wage increases went into effect on Jan. 1 this year. Others will take effect on July 1.

Source: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/2019-minimumwage-rate-increases-list-grows (Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018)

EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1

Statewide Alaska Arizona Arkansas California

Statewide

Rate

$9.89 $11.00 $9.25 $12.00 (26+ employees) $11.00 (≤25 employees) Delaware $8.75 Florida $8.46 Maine $11.00 Massachusetts $12.00 Minnesota $9.86 ($500K+ revenue) $8.04 (<$500K revenue)

Missouri Montana New Jersey New York Ohio Rhode Island South Dakota Vermont Washington

Rate

$8.60 $8.50 $8.85 $11.10 $12.75 (fast food workers) $8.55 $10.50 $9.10 $10.78 $12.00

EFFECTIVE JULY 1

Jurisdiction

Delaware (statewide) D.C. (district-wide) Illinois (Chicago) Minnesota (Minn.)

Rate

$9.25 $14.00 $13.00 $12.25 (101+ employees) $11.00 (≤100 employees)

Jurisdiction

Rate

Oregon “Non-Urban” Counties $11.00 Portland Metro $12.50 All Other Counties $11.25

theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

january 2019 | 17

R O C K F O R D

C H A M B E R

O F

C O M M E R C E

Small Business Enterprise Improving 2019 one person at a time OK. So we can be tired of year-end planning, strategic planning, operational plans and new marketing efforts. We’ve done it. Stop the over-corporate planning!

Just for kicks, let’s review last year’s plan. My personal plan was to lose 30 pounds this year — guess what -- I only lost 14. A bit disappointing, but better to have lost versus maintaining the same weight.

January is a great month. I seem to have more to do in that month than any other. Way back in January 15, 2000, I quit smoking. I have not had a cigarette since — thank God! I finally did it. I do not want to share with you the number of times I “tried and failed,” but I finally did it.

My point is the planning process is usually two-fold: “Stuff I need to do for me” and “things I need to do for the organization.” I think we have a tendency towards putting the two together as though they are inseparable.

The “me” stuff is as important, if not more so, because those plans, goals or action plans will provide an improved human being, and that can be an improvement to the organization. I think we should all declare 2019 as the organizational plan — no plan — and revert to the me improvement plan for everyone.

We just focus on the things that will make us individually better; achieve personal accomplishments. Create them, define success, clarify the process and structure for your achievement.

Why Do We Do What We Do? As many of you have stated in my office — get to the “why” of the what, when and where your goals are created. Why are we doing this?

I wanted to lose weight because I

thought I would feel better and look better in my clothes, I wanted to quit smoking because it’s unhealthy. My “why” was an improved me — plain and simple.

Let me try a few examples of “personal goals” that can have a major impact on my future. Maybe you could use these too.

1. What about “listening carefully?”

Am I really trying to understand what others are saying or am I formulating what I want to say as soon as they stop talking?

Is it possible to improve this skill? I say, yes. The primary difficulty is listening is a passive skill. No one notices how well you are doing it until you say something. I’m going to work on this one.

2. Another example is telling the truth. How many times have I misspoken (stretched) the truth because it was more convenient than speaking plainly. I have done it. This does not mean that we are bad people, just is an indication (I) we tend to take the “easy way” out. The challenge is to remember that for future reference.

Most importantly, just telling the truth is, in the long run, better.

3. How about deciding we are going to be “positive about life?” We will try with dedicated effort to view the world with a “half-full” perspective versus “half-empty.” For some of us, that is a provocation, and if we try to change the group who are “half-empty,” they will quickly tell us we are silly, maybe immature and certainly not realistic. Are we, really?

4. Would it be a reasonable idea that we take inventory on our character?

Are we helping others when they need it? Are we kind to people just because, or do we not extend ourselves until it is really needed? What values do we hold as

invaluable and connected to our integrity; the fiber of our morals, the sense of fairness and, most importantly, rectitude? Are we concerned with those pieces of our ethical fabric, and are we conscious of these? I can honestly say, I rarely think about these issues. I’m too busy doing life, making a living, all the things that make-up this “modern” life. Maybe a new and separate focus on individual growth collectively and individually would make the world a better space. I know if I devoted more time to some or all of these principles, I would be an improved person.

5. How about this? Become a better or more improved employee — embrace the corporate culture; your organization’s corporate direction — drink the Kool-Aid — when complainers complain, listen and bring to the conversation reasons why you are still there, including your boss who just provided a Christmas and/or a yearend bonus. Think of this as advancing, or ameliorating the organization/company one person at a time. Your impact has merit, significance and power.

OK, so we have discussed a novel concept: Embracing the ramifications and reverberations using the straightforward approach of altering our planning style from a corporate mindset to a more individual headset for reasons that may seem frivolous or even sophomoric. I get that, and I do not make judgments regarding your thinking toward those realistic methods of thinking. I get it. Let’s say; however, that we might do a little of both — some corporate stuff and some serious personal growth stuff that has real substance and validity for each of us. I’m going to try it. Join me!

A Personal Note I have one piece of news that needs a moment of Bo Boger special attention.

SBDC My wife of more than 40+ years and I have called Rockford home for more than 27 years. It is home, and we love living in this great city. We also have four grown children and two grandchildren in Denver. Yes, we will move to that area on January 31st. I will continue working with the SBDC in Colorado.

I communicate this news with a divided heart. I will miss all our terrific friends, business associates and this beautiful city.

The Rockford Chamber of Commerce board, Einar Forsman and his talented staff will continue with the SBDC in the Rockford area. We have accomplished a lot over the past two years. Thank you for all your time, patience and support.

Bo Boger is director at the Illinois SBDC at the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

ABOUT THE SBDC The Illinois SBDC at the Rockford Chamber of Commerce offers services free of charge to aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners in the Rockford area, both chamber members and non-members. As a partnership between the Rockford Chamber and the Illinois DCEO, it operates out of NIU EIGERlab, NIURockford, 8500 E. State St., and maintains an office at the chamber’s downtown location. For questions, contact Bo Boger, SBDC director, at 815-316-4301.

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theVoicE • rockfordchamber.com

Stephanie Jones joins RAEDC team as vice president of sales

Jarid Funderburg joins RAEDC as VP of business & investor relations

attraction sales, marketing “I’m looking forward to and lead generation, while Stephanie joining the continuously spreading the RAEDC team,” said Namessage about the Rockford than Bryant, president & area as Your Opportunity CEO of the RAEDC. “She Region. brings a wealth of experience in both sales and busiThe RAEDC continues ness development. She has a the work of Rockforward unique combination of grit 20/20, which extends through and determination paired December of 2020. The role together with a poised, of VP of sales is critical to thoughtful approach. Havensuring the region continues Stephanie Jones RAEDC ing worked with globally to demonstrate a history of recognized companies, delivering successes.

Stephanie will be a great addition to our Jones loves spending time with family team.” and cooking for large family gatherings.

In her role as the VP of sales, Jones In addition to family, she loves the will be working with site selectors, real outdoors either hiking, gardening, estate brokers, international location spending time on the water or simply advisors and businesses to highlight the exploring new places. benefits of locating in the Rockford Please welcome Stephanie Jones to Region. With a targeted industry the RAEDC team at SJones@ approach, she will oversee business RockfordIL.com.

and cultivate opportunities “It’s exciting to welcome for primary job growth having Jarid to the team,” said Funderburg in the role will Nathan Bryant, president & allow the region to become a CEO of the RAEDC. “He has Top-25 community. the unique ability to serve the The RAEDC continues the business community, with work of Rockforward20/20, the highest level of economic which extends through development experience, December of 2020. The while simultaneously raising role of VP of business and investment into a not-forinvestor relations is critical to profit organization. The ensuring the region continues greater Rockford region will Jarid Funderburg RAEDC to demonstrate a history of be well served with Jarid in delivering successes. this new role.”

Funderburg was raised in the greater In his role as the VP of business & investor relations, Funderburg will be Rockford area and is committed to the working with existing companies to success of the region. He’s an active golfer, provide business solutions and develop belonging to the Aldeen Men’s Golf greater connections within our region. He Association and a 3rd generation scow will also be responsible for working with sailor racing every weekend available.

Please welcome Jarid Funderburg into our existing investors of the organization the RAEDC family at JFunderburg@ and fostering new investment.

As our region continues to collaborate RockfordIL.com.

RAAN confirms Aerospace Symposium date

The Rockford Area Aerospace Network (RAAN) has confirmed Tuesday, April 23, 2019 as the date for the Aerospace Symposium.

Topics for the 2019 symposium include; Workforce Development, Supplier Development and Cybersecurity, to name a few.

In 2018, RAAN welcomed Boeing as a presenter discussing how disruptive technology and venture capital are game-changing additions to aerospace.

For additional information about the RAAN Aerospace Symposium contact Anna Garrison or call 815-969-4261.

HAVE YOU HEARD?

From the Wall Street Journal to the Chicago Tribune to the Rockford Register Star, our region is making headlines.

Fortune Magazine: “Amazon Prime to Expand “Amazon Air” with Investments in Chicagoland Airport” Read the article at: http://bit.ly/2Qwxg4U

Wall Street Journal: “A City Solves Veteran Homelessness” Read the article at: https:// on.wsj.com/2PAVSEv Chicago Tribune: “Rockford is Making a Comeback – and so is the City’s Pride” Read the article at: https://trib.in/2rx77nO Rockford Register Star: “Selling Rockford; Right Move at the Right Time” Read the article at: http://bit.ly/2SKCG9q The Rockford Region is winning…

Rockford at a Glance 147,051 2017 Population Estimate

Median Housing Value

$89,500 Total Housing Units

PERCENT OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH BROADBAND INTERNET SUBSCRIPTION VETERANS

72.3 %

Educational Attainment: Percent high school graduate or higher

66,321

Did you know?

Median Household Income Female Median Income

8,668

Male Median Income

Persons without Health Insurance,Percent

$41,991 $20,268 $28,070

8.6%

83.1% PERSONS IN POVERTY, PERCENT

22.2%

12,590 NUMBER OF COMPANIES

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

january 2019

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The ever-elusive “work-life balance” Listen for your values in the quiet of the storm By the time you’re reading this article, I’m hoping my life has changed quite drastically. I’m hoping by that time, I’ve become a mother. My husband and I are expecting our first (a little girl!) in early January, and I know the day she arrives will be a life-changing one.

While everything changes when you become a parent (or so I’m told), there are some things in life that stay the same. Someone still has to run to the grocery store (or order up the groceries on an app). The laundry still needs to be done – more often, I hear. Relationships with family and friends still need to be maintained.

But the biggest constant for both my husband and I will be returning to jobs we both love. While there is no right answer for how to best take care of your child, my husband and I have decided that the best thing for our family is for both of us to keep working. Sure, financially, it’s a great option. But even more so, we feel that the work we do, offers value to not only ourselves, but to the communities we live in.

Far more often than not, work is an exciting, sometimes challenging, and

energizing opportunity for us to utilize our strengths and impact others. But adding another person to our family (while both maintaining careers) will mean we need to be more vigilant and intentional about work-life balance.

Stillness in the Chaos As we enter this new season, we’ve taken some time to talk through our priorities and how things will change.

Because we don’t know what we don’t know (and I have a feeling becoming a parent is a lot like trying to drink from a fire hose, while on fire, and a mouth wired shut), the best we can do is talk about our core values and lightly sketch out what living those values looks like to us.

We’ve had 10 months (anyone who tells you pregnancy is only nine months is lying) to prepare for this transition. We know the chaos is coming. We know we will get little sleep, make many mistakes and be completely flummoxed (probably daily).

But chaos is not usually that kind.

When I think about my role as a leader, I find chaos sneaks up behind me wearing

soft-soled tennis shoes. Very rarely do leaders have the luxury to sit back and contemplate life changes that are coming months out. We don’t have the time to sit back and ponder our core values with our teammates and really think about what success looks like from that vantage point. Far more often, we’re firefighters trying to put out a chaos blaze. And if we happen to find a core value along the way, bonus points.

But if pregnancy has taught me anything, it’s that there is beauty and value in the stillness and the waiting.

There is so much wisdom in the quiet and sometimes the best thing we can do is force ourselves to rest. Work-life balance is not something that will ever be accomplished. It isn’t a 50%-50% seesaw we perfectly balance. But it is something that will not come unless we give ourselves permission to put down the fire hose and just take a break.

We become better leaders in the quiet.

We become stronger leaders when we are intentional — even when it is inconvenient.

We lead better organizations when we allow others the space to do the same.

The firefighting is alluring, but it will

only make us tired if we never find a moment to rest.

To take our organizations Caitlin Pusateri to the next Rockford Chamber level, we must become leaders who are willing to stare down the chaos and make a change. We must be willing to take the time to examine our core values and then do the hard work to live out those values, even in times of crisis. Too often, hard work that can get done in the quiet gets pushed off due to lackadaisical ways. Unfortunately, the noise is always just around the corner, and we’re often ill prepared.

This year, consider adding quiet intentionality to your life, no matter how difficult it is to work in. You, your organization and your community will be better for it.

Caitlin Pusateri is vice president, leadership development at the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

Six ways to be a better leader in 2019 There are good leaders, and then there are great ones — here’s how to score the latter distinction

By Maurie Backman, The Motley Fool It’s one thing to be the boss, but it’s another thing to be a great boss. And when you’re running a business, it pays to strive for the latter. The more effective a leader you are, the more you’ll motivate your team and push your employees to do better. So with that in mind, here are a few ways to step up your game as the new year kicks off.

1. Learn to listen As the person in charge, you’re probably used to giving orders and calling the shots. But how often do you take the time to hear what your employees think about existing processes and policies?

By becoming a better listener, you’ll gain real insight into what makes your workers tick and what tools and support they need to excel.

2. Get comfortable delegating

4. Make time for your team

When you run a business, it’s hard to trust others to do the work you’re used to doing, especially when the decisions they make could impact your bottom line. At the same time, you clearly can’t do it all, and if you overextend yourself, you risk burning out in a really bad way.

Therefore, you’ll need to get comfortable with the idea of delegating tasks to other people, whether that means turning to internal employees or outsourcing as needed.

It’s not easy running a business, and you’re likely to find that your days are jam-packed more often than not. Still, it’s imperative that you make yourself available to your employees, even if it means shifting deadlines to carve out that time. Giving your employees an opportunity to share their thoughts and concerns puts you in a better position to address them, thereby creating a more ideal working environment for all involved.

3. Admit when you’re wrong A good leader is someone others can relate to and respect, and a good way to make that happen is to own up to mistakes rather than gloss over them or put the blame elsewhere. If you show your team that you’re willing to hold yourself accountable when things go wrong, your employees will be less afraid to make mistakes themselves in the course of stepping outside their respective comfort zones.

5. Stay calm under pressure It’s natural to get stressed when things go wrong at work, but if you show your employees that you’re able to keep your cool when things heat up, they’ll be more likely to adopt similar behavior that enables them to better manage stress. And that could really come in handy the next time a disaster (whether major or minor) happens to strike your business.

6. Get your hands dirty As the boss, you have every right to

assign lower-level tasks to other people.

And in many regards, it doesn’t make sense for you to spend your time dealing with individual computer glitches or shipping issues when you’re overseeing a major operation. At the same time, the last thing you want to do is give your team the impression that you’re above the tasks they’re responsible for. Quite the contrary — if you’re willing to spend some time in the trenches, you’ll gain insight as to what challenges your workers are facing and how you can help address them. At the same time, you’ll send the message that every task is important, which will keep your team motivated.

The start of a new year is a great opportunity to resolve to do better. Follow these tips, and your leadership skills are apt to improve in 2019.

Maurie Backman is a personal finance writer who contributes to themotleyfool.com.

The views expressed are those of Backman’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

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theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

National Indicators theRegional, economy

Rockford Statistics

The City of Rockford infographics help residents and businesses understand the key metrics by which the City measures its performance. City departments use dozens of statistics to track the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of critical city services. Slide presentations of these key metrics are posted monthly on the City website and released to the media and public.

View the full presentation deck on the City website: https://rockfordil. gov/news/rockstat/

U.S. Indicators November 2018



Consumer Price Index Unemployment Rate

0.3 percent 3.7 percent

      

Payroll Employment Average Hourly Earnings Producer Price Index Employment Cost Index Productivity U.S. Import Price Index U.S. Export Price Index

150,000 $0.06 0.1 percent 0.8 percent (third quarter, 2018)

January-November

2.3 percent (third quarter, 2018) 1.6 percent 0.9 percent

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

1

11

4.6

5.2

---

Chicago

3.8

3.6

3.9

3.6

Illinois

4.1

4.1

4.2

4.2

United States

3.9

3.7

3.7

3.7

15

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Jan-Nov 2017: 377 Jan-Nov 2018: 321

Jan-Nov 2017: 1,636 Jan-Nov 2018: 1,455

January-November

11

1,455

CREDIT CARD DEBT IN ROCKFORD Jan-Nov 2017:

Jan-Nov 2017:

Jan-Nov 2018:

Jan-Nov 2018:

2017: 2ndJan-Nov percentile ......Expected Payoff Timeframe (8 months and 24 days) 557 4,489 377 Jan-Nov 2018:

5th percentile .......Cost of Interest Until Payoff ($114)449 5,079 321

16th percentile .....Median Credit-Card Balance ($2,006) 68th percentile .....Median Income ($37,488)

2

3

679

20,535

21,079

26,048

26,892

YTD 2018

YTD 2017

YTD 2018

YTD 2017

YTD 2018

3

696

7

JAN-NOV 2018

JAN-NOV 2017

JAN-NOV 2018

JAN-NOV 2017

19

JAN-NOV 2018

15

JAN-NOV 2017

4

January-November

YTD 2017

1

Jan-Nov 2017: 397 Jan-Nov 2018: 423

Jan-Nov 2017: 557 Jan-Nov 2018: 449

Jan-Nov 2017: 4,489 Jan-Nov 2018: 5,079

Rockford Ranks in Top 2% with Least Credit Card Debt Americans started 2018 with more than $1 trillion in outstanding credit card balances for the first time ever, according to the personal-finance website WalletHub, which released its Q3 2018 Credit Card Debt Study. It found that consumers racked up $16 billion in credit card debt from June through September -- an all-time record level for the third quarter of a year.

Some cities, however, have bigger payment problems than others according to WalletHub’s report on the Cities with the Most & Least Credit Card Debt, based on data from TransUnion, the Federal Jan-Nov 2017: 2,233 Reserve, the U.S. Census Bureau and WalletHub’s proprietary credit Jan-Nov 2018: 1,978 calculator. The study determined the cost and time card payoff required to repay the median credit card balance in more than 2,500 U.S. cities.

Jan-Nov 2017: 397 Jan-Nov 2017: Rockford ranked well in this study, but particularly well in paying Jan-Novoff 2018: 1,636 423 credit cards within the expected timeframe.

Jan-Nov 2018:

696

5.3

7

YTD 2017

Rockford

Jan-Nov 2017: 2,233 Jan-Nov 2018: 1,978

JAN-NOV 2018

Nov 2018

JAN-NOV 2017

Oct 2018

19 JAN-NOV 2018

Sept 2018

JAN-NOV 2017

Aug 2018

4

JAN-NOV 2017

Region / State / Nation

JAN-NOV 2018

Unemployment Rates

82

90

theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

january 2019

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on digital

Members Caught on Digital Ceremonial ribbon donated by SERVPRO of Rockford.

Sam’s Club presented checks to various organizations in the Rockford area, such as the Rock River Valley Blood Center, Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois, Harlem School District, Northern Illinois Food Bank, PAWS Humane Society, North Boone Boosters Club, North Boone Youth Sports, Rock House Kids and the Rosecrance Foundation, and thanked members during its 30th anniversary celebration on Nov. 2.

Wesley Willows held a ribbon cutting for its 10th Anniversary Celebration and Re-dedication of the Town Center on Nov. 30 at 4142 Johns Farm Road, Rockford.

Rockford IceHogs players visited children at Mercyhealth Javon Bea Hospital-Rockton’s 20bed inpatient pediatric unit; surprising several of them (including Ella and Bentley) on Dec. 12.

The IceHogs collected more than 3,000 stuffed animals to distribute to local children during its recent Teddy Bear Toss at halftime at the Rockford vs. Milwaukee game on Dec. 1.

Mercyhealth held its official dedication, blessing and ribbon cutting for the new Javon Bea Hospital and Physician Clinic-Riverside, a six-story, $505 million hospital and physician clinic with 194 beds to serve adults and children. The ceremony drew hundreds on Dec. 5.

Calvary Bookkeeping held a ribbon cutting/open house on Dec. 14 at 4010 E. State St., #101A, Rockford.

Tips to prevent frozen pipes this winter

By Jennifer Bogie, Flood Pros Restoration

Simple Preventative Tips

Burst pipes are one of the most common causes of property damage during the winter and can cause thousands of dollars in damage easily.

Pipes most at risk are in unheated interior spaces such as basements, attics and garages, but pipes running through cabinets or exterior walls can freeze as well.

■ Inspect your home for uninsulated pipes and insulate them. It’s a very inexpensive way to prevent frozen pipes.

■ Keep your garage doors closed, especially if you have water lines running into the garage.

■ Do NOT lower your house’s heat

when you leave in extreme cold, especially if you have pipe lines that are not well insulated.

■ Let the cold water drop from a faucet served by exposed pipes.

Running water through the pipe even a trickle helps prevent pipes from freezing.

■ If you leave for the winter, keep your temperature no lower than 55°.

■ Seal cracks around drifty windows and add insulation in crawl spaces, basements or any area that is not well heated or insulated in your home.

Jennifer Bogie is director of client relations for Flood Pros Restoration.

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business

theVoice • rockfordchamber.com Rockford Chamber members appear bolded. Thank you for your support of your fellow Chamber members.

Business Briefs

OSF HealthCare mission partners (employees) gave presents in December to 278 foster children in Winnebago and Boone Counties as a part of the Foster Care Alliance “Adopt-an-Angel” program OSF has been a part of for 26 years.

Chicago Rockford International Airport partnered with several local organizations and individuals to host a special Toys for Tots holiday celebration in December for 90 local children and families from Winnebago and Boone counties. The U.S. Marines arrived via OSF Life Flight helicopter and Stephenson County Sheriff’s Department helicopter, Santa & Mrs. Claus arrived from the North Pole via UPS jet, along with a conveyor toy line and distribution of gifts at the International Arrival Gate.

KMK Media Group completed design of a new brand identity for Rockford Urological Associates, Ltd., with a logo and media and marketing materials. It completed a website for Aurora Educational Technology in Ogle County and was hired by Rockford-based Morse Public Adjustors to handle social media marketing.

Digital Hive Mind received six 2018 American Graphic Design Awards from Graphic Design USA: A J.L. Clark capabilities brochure and client (Reuzel) testimonial video, a Quantum Roll Sheeters brochure, a Remedies Renewing Lives website and the 2017 Annual Report and workplace sell sheet.

Rosecrance received a What Rocks Award from the Rockford Register Star for Best Overall Leadership among large organizations in the Rock River Valley region.

Chicago Rockford International Airport sponsored the annual Festival of Lights event, a Rockford tradition for 29 years. RFD is a major sponsor for this year’s event and has a light display.

The Rockford Art Museum Collection is featured in an exhibition through 2019, Tiger, Calf, Bird, at the University Club of Chicago in downtown Chicago, with works by Thornton Dial, Lonnie Holley, Thomas Hart Benton, Jacob Lawrence, Martyl, Benjamin Perkins, Jason Salavon, Mose Tolliver, Nick Tomasic, Geoff Winningham and Jacqueline Moses.

The 2018 award recipients of the Heritage Credit Union Richard J. McGrath Endowment Fund Rockford were: the African-American Resource Center at Booker ($350), Rock House Kids ($500) and Warm Feet Mission ($200). Applications for the endowment are accepted each year from July 1 to Aug. 31. Visit HeritageCU.org or any Heritage branch.

expansion, a high-profile, adaptivereuse development and international praise for the locally made, Kartemquin-produced documentary Minding the Gap. Rosecrance rolled out its website redesign, assisted by Healthcare Success, a California-based agency, with website copy re-written to improve clarity and search engine optimization.

Bella Francis, patient, (left) and her mother Rebecca Francis give an inspirational testimonial at Mercyhealth Development Foundation’s Holiday Toy Drive on Dec. 13. More than 500 toys were collected for pediatric patients. The event included holiday music by the Boylan Catholic High School Octaves, other inspirational testimonials given by patients and area organizations and a special visit from Santa Claus.

The Morton Arboretum’s Community Trees Program awarded the Forest Preserves of Winnebago County a $3,170 federal forestry grant for tree planting in 2019 in collaboration with Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden.

Stenstrom Companies was recognized as the 2018 Illinois Family Business of the Year, Community Service Award Winner by the Family Business Center at Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business in November. Stenstrom also was voted as a 2018 finalist for the Rockford Register Star’s What Rocks “Most Philanthropic” company in the Rock River Valley.

Illinois Bank & Trust was recognized as Best Bank in the 2018 What Rocks awards by the Rockford Register Star. It also was recognized for Best Employee Benefits, Best Employee Recognition for a mediumsized employer, Most Philanthropic, Best Overall Leadership and Best Overall Company to Work For, for medium-sized businesses. In addition to being presenting sponsor for this year’s Stroll on State, it sponsored an award ceremony for the Stroll on State Dasher Dash 5K, with newly designed finisher medals to race participants.

Rockford Park District’s free Therapeutic Recreation Winter/Spring 2018/2019 Program Guide is available at www.rockfordparkdistrict. org/tr. Registration opens Jan. 14.

Registration forms are also included in the guide.

Rockford Art Museum was spotlighted in an article in Arts Alliance Illinois’ December newsletter highlighting growing attention on Rockford, including Amazon Air’s

Knopp Construction received a 2018 Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics by the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau in December.

V2 Marketing completed a new website for Benassi Family Dentistry, benassifamilydentistry.com, with a mobile-friendly responsive design for desktops, smartphones and tablets.

On Jan. 1, 2018, HealthSouth and Encompass Home Health & Hospice became Encompass Health. Van Matre Healthsouth Rehabilitation Hospital will transition to the new name of Van Matre Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital on Jan. 1, 2019.

Rock House Kids received a donation on Dec. 4 from Savant Capital Management employees as a part of its Project Enriching Lives of those Less Fortunate (E.L.L.F); raising $27,000 with casual days, a bowling party and office lunches.

Wesley Willows reached $901,000 towards a $1,000,000 campaign that began on Nov. 30.

Stroll on State achieved record attendance in its sixth year with an estimated 87,500 visitors to downtown Rockford on Nov. 24; up six percent over 2017.

Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois kicked off the 2019 Girl Scout Cookie Program earlier than usual with online sales beginning Dec. 17. With Digital Cookie 5.0, girls can take electronic orders for cookies. Email cookies4you@girlscoutsni.org to be added to a local customer list.

Rockford Park District’s Snow Park at Alpine Hills opened for the season, weather and conditions permitting.

Regular operating hours for the snow park are Thursdays and Fridays, 5 to 8 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Visit www. alpinehillsadventure.com, Facebook at alpinehillssnowpark or 815-9668737.

Digital Hive Mind completed the design of Remedies Renewing Lives’ 2018 Annual Report. Visit www.remediesrenewinglives.org.

Rockford Park District Board of Commissioners held a special presentation at its Dec. 10 evening meeting for Clarence Hicks; honoring him for 42 years of community service with the park district.

Daughter Laura Hicks Ellis asked for Southwest Community Park to be renamed Clarence Hicks Memorial Sports Park.

Flood Pros Restoration has built a training center in Rockford and will offer free continuing education classes to licensed plumbers, insurance agents and real estate agents in the region.

The Salvation Army of Winnebago County aimed for a $400,000 goal in its Red Kettle Campaign this Christmas, but fell short by $99,970.

For the third year, Illinois Bank & Trust will serve as the presenting sponsor of Club Blue Rockford grant program.

KMK Media Group was hired by Mechanical, Inc., a division of The Helm Group, Freeport, to handle its marketing work.

Transform Rockford hand-delivered more than 3,000 books to local students throughout the region in December, surpassing its original goal of 2,000 books for the first-annual, community-wide holiday book drive, Nov. 19 through Dec. 7.

The Community Foundation of Northern Illinois announced that it committed up to $1.4 million in community grants for 81 projects, programs and events operated by nonprofit organizations in Boone, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties for the 2018-2019 cycle.

Visit cfnil.org/reports for the full report.

Pink Heals paid a special visit on Dec. 19 to patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the Patricia D. Pepe Center for Cancer Care at OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center to brighten their spirits during the holiday season.

Savant Capital Management ranked number 6, with total assets under management of $5.62 billion, by InvestmentNews in the Top 10 Registered Investment Adviser firms in the Midwest.

Rockford Systems LLC., introduced an automatic sanding belt holder that enables lathe operators to sand, polish and debur while keeping hands away from rotating parts and at safe operating distance away from the spinning shaft, thereby preventing entanglement. The lack of effective protection on industrial machines ranks among the top 10 most frequently cited violations by OSHA and puts thousands of operators at risk for catastrophic injuries.

theVoice

january 2019

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community Community Events

Rockford Chamber members appear bolded. Thank you for your support of your fellow Chamber members.

JANUARY 2018 Wednesday, January 2 Rockford Park District presents its new Yeti Camp, Jan. 2 to 4, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., ages 8 to 13, at Alpine Hills Adventure Park, 4402 Larson Ave. Covers the basics of snowboarding, cross country skiing, snowshoeing and winter survival skills. Watch snowboard demonstrations and go snow tubing.

Visit alpinehillsadventure.com/ programs.

Saturday, January 5 The Natural Land Institute hosts a Winter Tree & Shrub Identification Workshop, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with Zach Grycan, NLI, and Melissa Grycan, the Land Conservancy of McHenry County. Indoor classroom session, 9 a.m. to noon, at 320 S. 3rd St., Rockford. Afternoon session, 1 to 2 p.m., at Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden, 2715 S. Main St., Rockford. Register by Jan. 4 at 815-964-6666 or info@naturalland. org.

Tuesday, January 8 NIU EIGERlab invites you to an Innovation Tuesday Meetup, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at NIU-Rockford, 8500 E. State St. Trekk’s Laura Bennett, president, and Michael Wilson, creative director, will share a sampling of successful branding campaigns and highlight new technologies it’s implementing today! Register at Meetup.com, 815-753-2192 or spritz@eigerlab.org.

Thursday, January 10 Rockford Public Library and Prairie State Legal Services of Illinois presents Free Legal Help, 1 to 2 p.m., at the Rock River Branch, 3128 11th St. Schedule ahead of time at 815-965-2902 or walk in; first come, first served.

Saturday, January 12 Rockford Park District hosts Snowboarding Lessons, 9 to 11 a.m., at the Snow Park at Alpine

Hills, 4402 Larson Ave. Two-hour classes, ages eight and older, on Jan. 12 and 26, and Feb. 9 and 23.

Visit www.alpinehillsadventure.com or call 815-966-8737.

Monday January 21 Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden hosts a Tri-Moon Tranquility Walk, 7 to 8:30 p.m., at 2715 S. Main St., Rockford.

Register at 815-965-8146 or info@ klehm.org.

Tuesday January 29 AAA Travel invites you to enjoy coffee travel talks, AAA Travel & Trafalgar, 2 p.m., at Rockford Public Library - East Branch, 6685 E. State St. Refreshments and presentation on vacation values. Space is limited.

RSVP to 815-636-9050 or visit AAA. com/Events.

Wednesday, January 30 Alzheimer’s Association, Illinois Chapter presents Effective Communication Strategies, 4 to 5 p.m., at The Atrium, 2885 McFarland, Rockford. Register with Mary Hallock, 815-315-1531.

FEBRUARY 2019 Wednesday, February 6 Alzheimer’s Association, Illinois Chapter host an Alzheimer’s Community Forum, 6 to 7:30 p.m., at Rockford University-Regents Hall, 5050 E. State St., on Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and memory loss.

Light refreshments provided.

Registration is requested at 815484-1300 or 800-272-3900.

Thursday, February 14 Rockford Public Library and Prairie State Legal Services of Illinois presents Free Legal Help, 1 to 2 p.m., at the Montague Branch Library, 1238 S. Winnebago St. Schedule ahead of time at 815-9652902 or walk in; first come, first served.

IRS announces 2019 standard mileage rates The Internal Revenue Service issued in December the 2019 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2019, the standard mileage rates for a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) are: ■ 58 cents per mile driven for business use (up 3.5 cents from 2018).

■ 20 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes (up 2 cents from 2018).

■ 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations.

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theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

in the news

Rockford Chamber members appear bolded. Thank you for your support of your fellow Chamber members.

Members in the News

1. Sara Schulte

2. Jeffrey Jacobson

3. Jaclyn Martin

4. Stephanie Jones

5. Jarid Funderburg

6. Dr. Katherine Zeigler

7. Jessica Knoll

8. Dr. Justin Rose

9. Dr. Carl L. Christie

10. Lindsay Satterlee

11. Dr. Royland P. Robinson

12. Dr. Sanjay K. Garg

13. Nell Gardewine

14. Scott Krowczyk

15. Nicholas Larabee

16. Chris Soutar

BOARD APPOINTMENTS Phil Eaton, president and chief executive officer, Rosecrance, was named to governor-elect J.B. Pritzker’s Healthy Children and Families transition committee.

NEW HIRES, PROMOTIONS, RETIREMENTS Fehr Graham hired Sara Schulte (1) as project assistant and Jeffrey Jacobson (2) as designer.

Blackhawk Bank promoted Jaclyn Martin (3) to AVP business banking.

Rockford Area Economic Development Council hired Stephanie Jones (4) as vice president of sales and Jarid Funderburg (5) as vice president of business & investor relations.

Katherine Zeigler (6), M.D., joined OSF HealthCare as a family medicine physician at OSF Medical Group – Rock Cut Primary Care, and Jessica Knoll (7), APN, as a family nurse practitioner. Justin Rose (8), D.O., joined OSF HealthCare Surgical Group - Rockford.

Mercyhealth promoted Kim Nielsen, MPH, RN, BSN, CPAN, to perianesthesia supervisor; and welcomed Carl L. Christie (9), D.O.,

to the Mercyhealth Women’s CenterRockford; Lindsay Satterlee (10), APRN, FNP-BC, CNOR, to the Mercyhealth Heart and Vascular Center-Rockford; Royland P. Robinson (11), M.D., to the Maternal-Fetal Medicine staff of Mercyhealth’s Javon Bea HospitalRockton, and Sanjay K. Garg (12), M.D., FAAP, to Mercyhealth Mulford.

and Jordyn McMahon (22) to senior accountants; Ann Hughes (23) to senior specialist, accounting services, and Anthony Troxell (24) to senior manager.

Wesley Willows named Paula Capone (25) as chief advancement officer.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., hired Nell Gardewine (13) as an account coordinator.

Melina Kambitsi, Ph.D., was promoted to senior vice president of business development and strategic marketing at The Alliance®.

RSM US LLP named Scott Krowczyk (14) as principal on the wealth management team and Nicholas Larabee (15) as partner on the assurance team.

The City of Rockford chose Lisa Warren (26) as director of the federally funded Head Start program. She was the interim director for two years.

Entré Computer Solutions promoted Chris Soutar (16) to vice president of managed services.

Specialty Screw Corporation hired Michael Morehead (27) as heading & tool room supervisor.

Midland Wealth Management hired David Allen (17) as director of retirement plan services, and Doug Warren (18) and Robert Torbert (19) as trust officers.

Wipfli LLP, Rockford, promoted: Megan Smith and Lisa Warren to senior administrative specialist; Cheryl Tunison to manager, human resources; Jared Root to consultant I; Kristen Ferwerda (20) to senior consultant; Carolina Koukos (21)

EMPLOYEE/COMMUNITY RECOGNITIONS, AWARDS Senator Dave Syverson (28), deputy Republican leader, was presented with the 2018 IPHCA Health Center Champion Award for contributions to more than 50 community health centers by Kathy Olson, Crusader Community Health, Winnebago County Dental Society, in November.

Meridian named Jackie Bunch (29) its November employee of the month.

University of Illinois Extension Winnebago County named its top 4H award winners: Sowmya Monroe (30), Outstanding Sr. 4-H Member, and Christiana Gewargis (31), Outstanding Jr. Member. It gave 4-H Experience awards to: Sowmya Monroe and Quinten Roush (gold); Christiana Gewargis, Nathan Lyons, Kielyn JacksonRamos, Leo Ramos, Sadie Ramos, Doris Russo and Gavin Roush (silver); and Ella Anderson, Carter Anderson, Gabrielle Baumgardner, Eloise Franklin, Claire Hopkins, Amelia McCray-Grotto and Campbell Russo (bronze).

Krzysztof Gajda received the Emerald Award in Leadership, Rebecca Baird, Outstanding Treasurer, and Zizi von Vittinghoff, Outstanding Secretary.

The National Academic Quiz Tournaments named eighth-grader Saketh Dontaraju (32), Keith Country Day School, its national player of the week. He was the No. 1 individual scorer at the Gladiator Fall Tournament in Elm Grove, Wis., on Nov. 10, the team’s captain and has

Continued on page 25

17. David Allen

18. Doug Warren

19. Robert Torbert

20. Kristen Ferwerda

21. Carolina Koukos

22. Jordyn McMahon

23. Ann Hughes

24. Anthony Troxell

25. Paula Capone

26. Lisa Warren

27. Michael Morehead

28. Sen. Dave Syverson

29. Jackie Bunch

30. Sowmya Monroe

31. Christiana Gerwargis

32. Saketh Dontaraju

theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

january 2019

34. Daniel A. Huntley

(continued from page 24) competed in 11 NAQT tournaments since fifth grade.

Dr. Craig Rogers, medical director, celebrated 40 years of dedicated service at Wesley Willows in November.

Spectrum Insurance Agency Inc., named Bonnie Arrington (33) as 2018 Employee of the Year.

David Bear received the 2018 Ronald Award from the McDonald’s Chicago Field Office for outstanding contributions to strengthening McDonald’s brand image.

Daniel A. Huntley (34), attorney, WilliamsMcCarthy LLP, received the

35. Mike Mastoianni

25

Thriving in the Age of Distraction

Members in the News

33. Bonnie Arrington

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SIGN UP TODAY

36. Dr. Fred Sweet

2018 Habitat Hero Award from Habitat for Humanity Illinois for pro-bono services he provides to the Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity.

OF GENERAL INTEREST Mike Mastroianni (35), president, MDM Consulting, completed a strategic planning session for the Rockford Chamber of Commerce to develop a three- to five-year plan for the organization’s goals.

Dr. Fred Sweet (36), Rockford Spine Center, was senior author on a study showing that antibiotic powders are more powerful than normal IV antibiotics during surgery.

The writeup appeared in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

Are you a Member with News to Share?

CHAMBER’S

ANNUAL DINNER THURSDAY, JANUARY 24 5:00-8:00PM • GIOVANNI’S

Hear from Curt Steinhorst on “Thriving in the Age of Distraction.”

Register online at www.rockfordchamber.com today!

PRESENTED BY

Send news releases and other items of interest to the business community to: The VOICE, Rockford Chamber of Commerce, 308 W. State St., Ste. 190, Rockford, IL 61101 DEADLINE IS THE 15TH OF THE MONTH PRECEDING PUBLICATION

2019 State Business Tax Climate Index Illinois ranks #36 overall Illinois Taxes Rank Corporate 39 Individual 13 Sales 36 Property 45 Unemployment Insurance

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Neighboring States Overall Rank 10. Indiana 14. Missouri 23. Kentucky 32. Wisconsin 45. Iowa Top States Overall Rank 1. Wyoming 2. Alaska 3. South Dakota 4. Florida 5. Montana Bottom States Overall Rank 50. New Jersey 49. California 48. New York 47. Connecticut 46. District of Columbia Source: https://taxfoundation.org

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New Chamber Members CALVARY BOOKKEEPING

RAY LAW OFFICE, P.C.

Providing full service bookkeeping and payroll to small business owners and tax preparation service to individuals.

4010 E. State St., #101A, 61108 Julie Borck 815-246-2110 www.calvarybookkeeping.com

Law office focusing on the representation of all issues relating to family law, including paternity, divorce, custody and issues which apply to child support in Illinois.

1437 S. Bell School Road, #4, 61108 Donald E. Ray, Attorney 815-713-1272 www.raylawoffice.com

GIRLS ON THE RUN OF NORTHWEST ILLINOIS A non-profit to inspire every girl to be joyful, healthy and confident.

111 Erik St. Crystal Lake, IL 60014 Debra Harris 815-893-0259 www.gotrnwil.org

HERITAGE CREDIT UNION Loans, checking accounts, home equity, mortgages, online banking, debit cards, payroll deduction and open membership.

5959 E. State St., 61108 Renee Howse 815-229-7000 www.heritagecu.org

HERITAGE CREDIT UNION Loans, checking accounts, home equity, mortgages, online banking, debit cards, payroll deduction and open membership.

7144 N. Perryville Road Machesney Park, IL 61115 Liz Johnson 815-316-6280 www.heritagecu.org

LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE - JESSICA LEPARTE Auto / Home / Life Insurance Jessica LeParte 847-396-7179 www.libertymutual.com

ROCKFORD BALL SCREW Offering a mature product line with one of the largest inventories of ball screw and ACME screw product lines in the industry.

940 Southrock Dr., 61102 Monica Primm 815-961-7700 www.rockfordballscrew.com

SWEDISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY The Swedish Historical Society is organized for historical, educational, and charitable purposes. 404 S. Third St., 61104 Alix Fox 815-963-5559 www.swedishhistorical.org

UNITY HOSPICE Providing comprehensive care, support and education to people facing life-limiting illness, those who care for them and our community.

915 N. Caron Road Rochelle, IL 61068 Carla Humphreys 815-561-8866 www.unityhospice.com

theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

Membership Renewals Thank you to members who renewed with the Rockford Chamber of Commerce in November, 2018.

Accu-Cut Inc Advanced Machine & Engineering Co. (AME) Alpine Kiwanis Club Anderson Environmental Co. Anderson Japanese Gardens Benning Group LLC Boone-Winnebago Regional Office of Education City of Loves Park City of Rockford - Human Services Department Creative Crane & Rigging, Inc. CYRS Wealth Advisors LLC Eckburg Insurance Group Epilepsy Foundation Erboe & Associates, CPAs Faith Center Fehr Graham Heartland Hospice Hennig, Inc. Hicksgas Belvidere Illinois Bank & Trust Insurance Pro Agencies Lincoln Rent-All & Sales, Inc. MembersAlliance Credit Union Mid-City Office Products Modernspace Studio/ Techline-Rockford

Northern Illinois Terrazzo & Tile Company Panino’s Restaurant - Main Street Panino’s Restaurant - State Street Phelps Industries, Inc. Professional Graphics Inc. Ringland-Johnson, Inc. Rock River Environmental Services (Waste Connections) Rockford Christian Schools Rockford Roasting Company Safelite Auto Glass Siepert & Co., LLP - Beloit Siepert & Co., LLP - Roscoe Siepert & Co., LLP - Sycamore Soltys Dentistry Special Power, Inc. Stanley Steemer of Rockford SuperSuds Car Care Center Testing Service Corporation Thayer Lighting, Inc. Trinity Day Care U.S. Cellular Upper Cervical Care Center Village Green Home & Garden Windmill Hill LC Winnebago County-River Bluff Nursing Home YWCA Northwestern Illinois

January 2019 Member Anniversaries Thank you to our members celebrating their anniversaries with the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

20-YEAR MEMBER

10-YEAR MEMBER

Mulford Park Apartments Terra Creek Apartments

Abbott Plastics and Supply Co.

15-YEAR MEMBER

Alorica Grandview Condominium Association Progressive Steel Treating River District Association

CliftonLarsonAllen LLP

5-YEAR MEMBERS

2018 Rockford Chamber Ambassadors Happy New Year!

theVoice • rockfordchamber.com

january 2019

chamber

Upcoming Chamber Events

JANUARY, 2019

FEBRUARY, 2019

Thursday, January 10

Thursday, February 7

Ribbon Cutting, 2 to 3 p.m., Riverwest Clinic, 815 Marchesano Dr., Rockford.

Business After Hours, 5 to 7 p.m., Fleet Feet Sports Rockford, 1653 N. Alpine Road, Rockford.

Friday, January 11

Government Affairs Council, 7:30 to 8:45 a.m., Stockholm Inn, 2420 Charles St., Rockford. Michael Dunn, Jr., executive director of the Region 1 Planning Council, will present the newly formed Landbank for Winnebago & Boone counties, which allows the region to take deed for blighted and abandoned residential and commercial properties; improving them enough to repurpose them back to private sector ownership.

Thursday, January 24, 2019 5 - 8 pm Giovanni’s Convention Center 610 N. Bell School Rd., Rockford

ANNUAL DINNER

Curt Steinhorst will present Thriving in the Age of Distraction. Announcement of the 2018 Citizen of the Year Award.

Sponsored by OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center (presenting), Associated Bank (gold), Quartz (silver), Gallagher (wine), Event Floral (centerpiece), and The Alliance, AT&T and RSM US LLP (bronze).

Business After Hours, 5 to 7 p.m., Cherryvale Place, Senior Living, 1545 Temple Lane, Rockford.

Friday, February 8

Government Affairs Council, 7:30 to 8:45 a.m., Stockholm Inn, 2420 Charles St., Rockford.

Wednesday, February 13

Breakfast Buzz, 7:30 to 9 a.m., Rockford University, 5050 E. State St., Puri School of Business, room 124. Jeff Joutras, regional vice president, QPS Employment Group will present Everyone Communicates, Few Connect Sponsored by RSM US LLP.

MARCH, 2019 Thursday, March 21

State of the County Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Tebala Event Center, 7910 Newburg Rd., Rockford. Winnebago Chairman Frank Haney will deliver his State of the County address. Presenting sponsor is BMO Harris Bank.

MEMBERS: Do you have news to share?

Send news releases and other items of interest to the business community to: The VOICE, Rockford Chamber of Commerce 308 W. State St., Ste. 190, Rockford, IL 61101 DEADLINE IS THE 15TH OF THE MONTH PRECEDING PUBLICATION

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Advertisers Index advertisers Advanced Machine & Engineering Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Ad Vice Marketing, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . .15

Northern Public Radio . . . . . . . . . . . .11 OSF HealthCare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Blackhawk Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Rockford Bank & Trust Co. . . . . . . . . .9

Boylan Catholic High School. . . . . . . .9

Rockford Chamber of

Brian Thomas Photography. . . . . . . .23

Commerce . . . . . . . . .6, 11, 25, 27, 28

Illinois Small Business Development Center . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Stillman Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

illumination.io . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Thayer Lighting, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Mercyhealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 MercyCare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Meridian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Midland States Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

United Way of Rock River Valley . . . . .4 V2 Marketing Communications . . . . .15 Wipfli LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

of the Rockford Business Community

Chamber Staff / Call 815-987-8100 ...............................................Direct Line Harold “Bo” Boger, IL Small Business Development Center Director ...............................................................815-316-4301 Cori Currey, Membership Development Executive ................................815-316-4336 Einar K. Forsman, President & CEO .......................................... 815-316-4304 Heidi M. Garner, Chief Operating Officer .................................... 815-316-4312 Olivia Guzman, Administrative Assistant/Customer Service Rep..........815-987-8100 Doug Hessong, Director of Publications & Technology ................... 815-316-4338 Lynette Jacques, Vice President, Member Investment .................... 815-316-4317 Phoebe Morris, Program & Event Coordinator.............................. 815-316-4302 Kristin Muehlfelder, Member Relations...................................................815-316-4315 Caitlin Pusateri, Vice President, Leadership Development ...................815-316-4337 Doug Rand, Accounting Manager/Controller ............................... 815-316-4316 Joan Sundvall, Membership Contact Coordinator ......................... 815-316-4320

Chamber Board of Directors & Officers EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Chairperson of the Board Michele Petrie Wintrust Commercial Banking & Mortgage Chair-Elect Dan Ross Gallagher

DIRECTORS Andrew Benson Benson Stone Company, Inc. Kimberly Blascoe Wipfli LLP Jan Bowman TLC Construction LaVonne Brown Savant Capital Management

Vice Chair Jean Crosby Paula Carynski Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Crosby OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Starck Real Estate Medical Center Treasurer Samuel J. Castree Amy Ott Staff Management, Boylan Catholic Inc. High School Immediate Past Chair Richard Zumwalt Z Resource

Doug Curry Stenstrom Companies

Tim Honquest Honquest Family Funeral Home with Crematory

Dr. Alex Stagnaro-Green Univ. of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford

Jeff Hultman Illinois Bank & Trust

Karl Swanson Rockford Bank & Trust Co

Michael F. Iasparro Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP Kris L. Kieper Machajewski YWCA Northwestern Illinois Mike Paterson Mid-West Family Broadcasting Mark Peterson CBL Associates Cherry Vale Denise Sasse RSM US LLP

Sue Schrieber Don Daniels Mercyhealth SwedishAmerican, A Division of UW Health John Schuster Rosecrance Health Rebecca Epperson Network Chartwell Agency Teri Sharp Ira Grimmett American Precision Collins Aerospace Supply, Inc.

Udaya Talwar Woodward Jon Thompson Butitta Brothers Automotive

EX-OFFICIO DIRECTORS Einar K. Forsman President & CEO, Rockford Chamber of Commerce John Groh Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Nathan Bryant Rockford Area Economic Development Council

FEBRUARY VOICE SPECIAL SECTIONS Healthy Lifestyles & Work Styles Legacy & Financial Planning For information on advertising, call 815

987-8100