About the Chamber

This has been another incredible year for the Greater Oak Brook Chamber of Commerce and the companies it represents.

Surprisingly enough, Illinois businesses experienced several wins in the General Assembly earlier this year. During the Spring 2011 session, legislators passed a positive workers compensation reform bill that actually provides more fairness and protection for employers. In addition, Commonwealth Edison’s Infrastructure Modernization Act survived the governor’s veto through override support from both houses. This Act will allow the utility company to strengthen and modernize its electric grid, which will improve the system’s reliability, reduce outages, improve power restoration - and save businesses money.

And while the State appears to be unable to dig itself out of debt, businesses and the advocacy groups that represent them keep beating the pension reform drum. We’ll see how the state legislature responds to this pressure during the current veto session, or in 2012.

More good news is that Chamber memberships and business participation continued to increase this year, as did support for the Greater Oak Brook Partnership, the Chamber-led economic development organization for Oak Brook and Oakbrook Terrace. The Partnership engaged many new national and regional commercial real estate partners this year. As a result, it is anticipated that Oak Brook will soon welcome several large companies as new commercial residents. These relocations will bring over 900 new employees to our community. The Partnership’s work and the business and local government support it receives have helped the Oak Brook and Oakbrook Terrace commercial real estate and hospitality and retail markets remain the strongest in the Chicago region.

Please see other Chamber and area business news and announcements on this website, as well as meeting and event information for the remaining year – and soon the upcoming year. Please also feel free to contact me anytime at 708-560-5271 or tmulqueen@obchamber.com if you'd like to discuss the Chamber.

And, as always, thank you very much for your support of the Greater Oak Brook Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Oak Brook Partnership.