Jamrah Middle Eastern Cuisine awarded 2019 Business of the Year

DeKALB – Jamrah Middle Eastern Cuisine was awarded the 2019 Business of the Year at DeKalb Chamber of Commerce’s 95th annual Dinner on Thursday in the Barsema Alumni & Visitors Center at Northern Illinois University.

Co-owner Ammar Mahmood thanked the community for supporting his popular eatery based in Sycamore so much that he and his family were able to open a second location in downtown DeKalb in 2019.

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this,” Mahmood said. “It’s been a lot of work the last four years. Restaurant work is hard, and to do two restaurants in four years speaks volumes about the support we’re getting from the community. And I can’t forget my family. Without them, I’m nothing really.”

Chamber members choose the business of the year and present it to a business that contributed to DeKalb’s economic vitality. The annual dinner also recognizes nonprofits and other chamber members for their work in the community.

Family Service Agency of DeKalb County was recognized with the 2020 Nonprofit Organization Award for their work serving residents who lost their homes because of major fires in DeKalb and Sycamore in July 2019. Heartland Bank & Trust Co. retail manager Tia Anderson received Ambassador of the Year, and three people were inducted into the chamber’s Hall of Fame.

Jamrah Middle Eastern Cuisine first opened in Sycamore at 2672 DeKalb Ave. In 2019, Mahmood and wife, Jennifer, opened a second location at 209 E. Lincoln Highway, adjacent to the mixed-use space known as Plaza DeKalb. The location in DeKalb also offered low-volume alcohol among menu items such as falafel, shawarma and baklava.

Outgoing Chamber board chairman Brian Oster of OC Creative said Jamrah was chosen because it “helps make DeKalb what it is by providing something special.”

Mahmood was presented the award by the 2018 Business of the Year recipient Jim Walter of Whiskey Acres Distilling Co.

Newly appointed chamber board chairman Mark Mattson of Creative Therapeutics said the Family Service Agency was chosen among other nonprofits because the community would “be at a loss without them.”

Tynisha Clegg, executive director of the nonprofit, credited her team for bringing them through a whirlwind 2019 that included fire disaster relief for more than 200 DeKalb and Sycamore residents and a move to the agency’s new home at 1325 Sycamore Road.

To add to the Chamber's
41 inductees in their Hall of Fame, three more people were inducted Thursday: Jennifer Groce, director of community promotion at Northern Illinois University; longtime radio personality Terry "T.D." Ryan of 1360 WLBK AM radio station; and Inboden's Gourmet Meats & Specialty Foods founder Ocie Inboden, who died in 1980. Inboden was recognized posthumously with the Pioneer Award.

Ocie Inboden was a decorated U.S. Navy veteran who founded Inboden’s in 1962 at 1106 N. First St., a longtime community staple and family business now operated by Ocie’s son, Tom Inboden. Tom Inboden accepted the award on his late father’s behalf.

“Going into our third generation and its just an honor you would bestow this on my father,” Tom Inboden said.

Groce said she was encouraged by her induction to think about how to inspire others to be more involved in the community as she experienced through mentors. She was welcomed into the Hall of Fame by her fellow Gather co-creator and Athena Award recipient Debra Boughton.

“This moment I feel galvanized to say how can we really give back to this community?” Groce said. “I can’t think of any other than to say how do we brings others along?”

DeKalb Mayor Jerry Smith said that Ryan’s radio personality at the 1360 WLBK AM radio show “has community written all over him.”

Ryan is the creator and host of WLBK’s “Suicide Prevention Radio Show” and also is known for his annual “Freez’n for Food” and “Let’s Talk Turkey” fundraisers for The Salvation Army. In the past 19 years, he’s helped the community donate about 700,000 pounds of food to the organization.

“I love you madly, and if the good lord’s willing and the Kish don’t rise, I get to do this for another 20 years,” Ryan said.