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We’ve barely hit the second month of 2024 and the Chamber has already hit the ground running recruiting new members, holding events, and planning programming.
The Grundy County Chamber ended 2023 with 72 new members, putting it at about 540 total members, and a retention rate of 92%. The Chamber’s membership has grown steadily over the last several years, with 2023 illustrating the accumulation of that. This year is also starting out strong with four new Chamber members in the first month of 2024.
We kicked off January with the first Coffee & Company of the year at LyondellBasell, and we look forward to our next on Feb. 16 at the Village of Channahon. We spent the rest of January going through about 90 nominations for the Chamber’s Annual Dinner Awards: Business of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, and Organization of the Year. We can’t wait for you all to see the winners at the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Grundy Economic Development Council Annual Dinner March 6.
This year’s dinner is being held at a new location, Jennifer’s Garden in Morris, which will accommodate the growing size of the dinner. This event is the premier business event of the year gathering our business and community leaders to celebrate the success of our local businesses and organizations. Our presenting sponsors are Busey Bank, CPV Three Rivers Energy Center, CN, Old National Bank, and Procter & Gamble. Thank you as well to our gold level sponsors the city of Morris and Comcast, and to our bronze sponsors Pesciolino Osteria and Surf Internet.
Registration for the dinner is open. Individual seats are $50 per person and $700 for a table of 10, which includes marketing. To register or for more information on sponsorships call the Chamber office at 815-942-0113, visit grundychamber.com, or email Events & Marketing Director Lena Wickens at lena@grundychamber.com.
Some other upcoming Chamber events to mark your calendars for include Family Fest 2024 – which is in Minooka this year and will be Saturday, April 13 at Minooka Junior High. Booth registration and sponsorships will open next week so stay tuned!
The Minooka State of the Village Address with the Chamber and Mayor Ric Offerman is set for Thursday, April 18 at the Community Room in Minooka Village Hall. Keep an eye on your Chamber communications for details on this event.
Coming up as fast as next week is the Coaler Business Alliance’s annual Galentine’s Day event from 2 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8. Participating locations in the Carbon Hill, Coal City & Diamond area will give raffle tickets to anyone wearing pink or red and to those who find each location’s clue. Those raffle tickets can then be taken to the Coal City Public Library District by the end of the day Saturday to drop their ticket in a prize bag. Winners will be drawn and notified the following week. Find the Galentine’s Day-Coal City & Diamond event on Facebook to see the list of participating locations and look for flyers through the towns. The hours for the event may vary at some locations.
For information on these events and more Chamber info visit grundychamber.com or give us a call at 815-942-0113. You can also follow the Chamber on Facebook and Instagram.