Chairman's Perspective - October 2022

A job well done

A special thank you to sponsors, board members and staff

First, I want to say thank you to the hundreds of people that filled the Tebala Event Center to capacity for the Chamber Annual Dinner. It was fantastic to look out and see so many business leaders in one place after such a long hiatus. I felt like I could have used three more hours of networking time just to catch up with all my colleagues I had not seen since the pandemic.

I hope you found the whole event as fun and impactful as I did. Harris III used the term “childlike wonder” to describe the way we feel when we watch someone perform an illusion. That certainly describes how I felt when he made it snow on stage. My hope is that I can take some of that feeling back to work and dream a bit more about where we go from here. I’m anxious to focus more on the wow and not just the how.

Second, I must thank Caitlin and the entire Chamber staff for the hard work and planning they put into the event. You all made it look easy, but I know that was far from the case. Caitlin, thank you also for your energetic and forward-looking message. I’m eager to see all that lies in front of us. Thanks also to the folks at Tebala, Greenfire and SVL Productions, for making sure we were comfortable, well fed and able to fully enjoy the entertainment.

Third, I offer my thanks to all the sponsors of the evening, especially our presenting sponsor, OSF St. Anthony’s Medical Center. I know you have many choices when allocating your hard-earned sponsorship and advertising dollars, and I am sincerely grateful that you saw the value in sponsoring this event. Not only did your dollars support the event, but they also play a critical role in supporting the important work the Chamber does in leading business growth.

Thanks also to the many sponsors who support the other events and programs we do throughout the year.

Fourth, and I don’t say this often enough, thank you to the full Chamber board. These have been trying times dealing with the pandemic, changing business needs in our community, uncertain financial times and many other items that have kept us hopping for the past several years.

In particular, thanks again to Michael Iasparro who completes his final term with the Chamber board at the end of this year. Michael’s counsel and leadership have been truly instrumental in moving the Chamber forward.

Finally, thanks again to Einar for his years of service at the helm of the Chamber. His hard work and dedication to the Chamber and this community have paved the way for all that lies in front of us. I’m grateful we still have your counsel as CEO of the Greater Rockford Growth Partnership, and I look forward to all that we can accomplish together.

As you will see in this issue of The Voice, we are actively working to fill a number of vacancies on the Chamber board for next year. We have an amazing slate of candidates who have stepped up to offer their time and talent to make this an even stronger Chamber. I’m confident that, under the leadership of my successor Jean Crosby and with Caitlin at the helm as president, the Chamber will be poised to grow and do even more to help businesses in our region achieve their goals.

Dan Ross is chair of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce and president of the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.