OPRF Chamber To Present 2nd Annual Business Spotlight Awards
Sep 21, 2017 12:00 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
OPRF Chamber To Present 2nd Annual Business Spotlight Awards
September 21, 2017 (OAK PARK, IL) -
The Oak Park - River Forest Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the 2nd Annual Business Spotlight Awards will be presented Tuesday, October 10, 2017 from 5-7pm, at The Nineteenth Century Club, a landmark Oak Park building.
This exciting “Oscars Of Local Business” event was created to recognize excellence in hometown businesses. Awards will be presented in the following categories:
- Community Character
- Customer Experience
- Green/Sustainability
- Innovation/Collaboration
- Integrated Marketing
- Investment/Development
The awards are not a “best of” popularity contest, instead, the categories and the nominees reflect community values and success factors important to running a successful local organization. It is a celebration of businesses doing things right.
Nominees did not have to be members of the OPRF Chamber to be eligible and the program was open to all businesses – large or small, profit or non-profit - located in Oak Park, River Forest and surrounding communities, including Forest Park, Austin, and others.
Response to the program in its 2nd year was overwhelming, with 120+ businesses receiving a total of over 350 nominations in the various categories!
Award nominations were made public through the Chamber website. Nominees had to actively acknowledge and accept their nomination in order to become eligible to win.
The six 2016 category winners will announce 2017 winners in a big reveal during the October 10th ceremony. Winners will receive recognition, media exposure and bragging rights, as well as a one-year free membership to the Chamber.
Since 1905, The Oak Park-River Forest Chamber of Commerce has supported local business. The Chamber currently works closely with all area companies, organizations and associations, to represent and connect our small business community.
Quotes:
Kristin Vogen, the President & CEO of The Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation, and winner of the 2016 Investment/Development Spotlight Award, said “We believe we are continually developing ways to add value to the community and invest in the fabric of our community; external confirmation through the Chamber’s 2016 Spotlight Award for Investment/Development was a delight!! The Spotlight Awards bring our community together to highlight businesses and nonprofits that create the atmosphere in which we all intentionally choose to live. Thanks to the Oak Park – River Forest Chamber of Commerce for placing the spotlight on community success!!”
Anne Pezalla, one half of the sister-owners at Oak Park’s Lively Athletics, winner of the 2016 Integrated Marketing Spotlight Award, shared, “Winning the 2016 Spotlight Award for Integrated Marketing was huge for our store, Lively Athletics. We were still relatively new at the time and approached our marketing with a sense of adventure and fun. Apparently, people liked our decision to Photoshop short running shorts on a life-size Frank Lloyd Wright, or post personal behind-the- scenes peeks of our business on social media. We were thrilled to win. It reminded us of the fun of running our business and gave us credibility in the business community. It also gave us the opportunity to publicly and profoundly thank our customers for their support and their nominations. The Chamber also does a great job of promoting nominees and winners, which helped us expand our reach to new customers. We were also excited to get a free year-long membership to the Chamber. We were already members and planned to re-up our membership no matter what, but it's always nice to get a perk like that.”
Deno Andrews, President of Felony Franks, winner of the 2016 Community Character Spotlight Award said, "Being recognized for this award was a true honor. We have a community with so many exceptional business owners. Earning this award was simply humbling. From a business perspective, the award certainly shined a spotlight on us in the community."
John Williams, Youth Services Director at the Oak Park Township, and winner of the 2016 Innovation & Collaboration Spotlight Award said, “Youth Services appreciated being recognized in the 2016 Spotlight Award for Innovation/ Collaboration for our collaborative efforts with Cargo Circles with the Township Youth Services, Rotary, the Oak Park Police Department and District 97. All told, we facilitated over 100 Cargo Circles this past fiscal year. We continue to expand, and are slated to work with the entire 5th grade in District 97, as well as with Middle School grades. The Chamber’s recognition helped increase awareness of our services and programs in the business community and community at large, and gave our staff, volunteers, collaborating partners, youths and community a boost encouraging further collaboration and programming.”
OPRF Chamber To Present 2nd Annual Business Spotlight Awards
September 21, 2017 (OAK PARK, IL) -
The Oak Park - River Forest Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the 2nd Annual Business Spotlight Awards will be presented Tuesday, October 10, 2017 from 5-7pm, at The Nineteenth Century Club, a landmark Oak Park building.
This exciting “Oscars Of Local Business” event was created to recognize excellence in hometown businesses. Awards will be presented in the following categories:
- Community Character
- Customer Experience
- Green/Sustainability
- Innovation/Collaboration
- Integrated Marketing
- Investment/Development
The awards are not a “best of” popularity contest, instead, the categories and the nominees reflect community values and success factors important to running a successful local organization. It is a celebration of businesses doing things right.
Nominees did not have to be members of the OPRF Chamber to be eligible and the program was open to all businesses – large or small, profit or non-profit - located in Oak Park, River Forest and surrounding communities, including Forest Park, Austin, and others.
Response to the program in its 2nd year was overwhelming, with 120+ businesses receiving a total of over 350 nominations in the various categories!
Award nominations were made public through the Chamber website. Nominees had to actively acknowledge and accept their nomination in order to become eligible to win.
The six 2016 category winners will announce 2017 winners in a big reveal during the October 10th ceremony. Winners will receive recognition, media exposure and bragging rights, as well as a one-year free membership to the Chamber.
Since 1905, The Oak Park-River Forest Chamber of Commerce has supported local business. The Chamber currently works closely with all area companies, organizations and associations, to represent and connect our small business community.
Quotes:
Kristin Vogen, the President & CEO of The Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation, and winner of the 2016 Investment/Development Spotlight Award, said “We believe we are continually developing ways to add value to the community and invest in the fabric of our community; external confirmation through the Chamber’s 2016 Spotlight Award for Investment/Development was a delight!! The Spotlight Awards bring our community together to highlight businesses and nonprofits that create the atmosphere in which we all intentionally choose to live. Thanks to the Oak Park – River Forest Chamber of Commerce for placing the spotlight on community success!!”
Anne Pezalla, one half of the sister-owners at Oak Park’s Lively Athletics, winner of the 2016 Integrated Marketing Spotlight Award, shared, “Winning the 2016 Spotlight Award for Integrated Marketing was huge for our store, Lively Athletics. We were still relatively new at the time and approached our marketing with a sense of adventure and fun. Apparently, people liked our decision to Photoshop short running shorts on a life-size Frank Lloyd Wright, or post personal behind-the- scenes peeks of our business on social media. We were thrilled to win. It reminded us of the fun of running our business and gave us credibility in the business community. It also gave us the opportunity to publicly and profoundly thank our customers for their support and their nominations. The Chamber also does a great job of promoting nominees and winners, which helped us expand our reach to new customers. We were also excited to get a free year-long membership to the Chamber. We were already members and planned to re-up our membership no matter what, but it's always nice to get a perk like that.”
Deno Andrews, President of Felony Franks, winner of the 2016 Community Character Spotlight Award said, "Being recognized for this award was a true honor. We have a community with so many exceptional business owners. Earning this award was simply humbling. From a business perspective, the award certainly shined a spotlight on us in the community."
John Williams, Youth Services Director at the Oak Park Township, and winner of the 2016 Innovation & Collaboration Spotlight Award said, “Youth Services appreciated being recognized in the 2016 Spotlight Award for Innovation/ Collaboration for our collaborative efforts with Cargo Circles with the Township Youth Services, Rotary, the Oak Park Police Department and District 97. All told, we facilitated over 100 Cargo Circles this past fiscal year. We continue to expand, and are slated to work with the entire 5th grade in District 97, as well as with Middle School grades. The Chamber’s recognition helped increase awareness of our services and programs in the business community and community at large, and gave our staff, volunteers, collaborating partners, youths and community a boost encouraging further collaboration and programming.”