Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce

American Cancer Society/Relay for Life ~ American Motor Trends ~ Associated Bank Avanti's Dome Events & Sports Center of Pekin ~ Bond Eye Associates Boy Scouts of America/W.D. Boyce Council ~ Bridgeway ~ Greg's Garage Door Service Hometown Title ~ J H Car Wash ~ Dr. Brendon J. Johnson, OD PC Kiwanis Club of Pekin ~ Kouri's Pub ~ Pekin National Bank Pekin Trophy House & Engraved Gifts ~ Sam Leman Auto Stop ~ Carol Shields St. Paul Wonderland ~ State Representative Mike Unes ~ Super 8 T-Shirt House ~ Tazewell County Jaycees ~ Teresa Ann Tucker Winpak Heat Seal Corporation ~ WTVP TV

Pekin’s sales tax disbursement from the state was the largest March disbursement ever.   This is sales tax that was charged on sales in December. Pekin’s March sales tax disbursement was 8.9% greater than March of 2011. Pekin’s March sales tax disbursement has grown two years in a row, reversing a three-year downward trend. East Peoria’s March sales tax disbursement was up 15% over March of 2011. For the 12 months ending in March (which represents the 2011 calendar year sales) Pekin (+1.7%), Morton (3.2%), East Peoria (7.9%) and Washington (4.3%) all saw increases over the previous year. The number of residential units sold in the 61554 zip code in the first two months of 2012 is up 6.7% over the same period in 2011.   The average sales price of a residential unit in Pekin in the first two months of 2012 is up 9.1% over the same period in 2011. ...

April 13th Knights of Columbus Hall 715 N. 11th St., Pekin 6:45 – 8:00 am RSVP to 346-2106 or e-mail us at info@pekinchamber.com Additional features of the breakfast include: ·    Door prize drawings provided by local businesses One minute reminders “Meet the new Chamber Member” Spotlight on Business presentation Program will be Holly Crotty from TAPS

Speakeasy Art Center     353 Court Street April 4th  Reservations Appreciated 346-2106 or email us at info@pekinchamber.com   Ÿ   Don't miss this opportunity to network with fellow chamber members and community leaders. You'll also enjoy refreshments, door prizes, entertainment, tours and information from our hosts. This month's event is co-hosted by the Speakeasy Art Center, Home Health Care Plus, and Harbor Light Hospice.     

April 3 – Ambassador Meeting         April 4 – Member Promotion Meeting April 4 – Executive Board Meeting         April 5 – Pekin 1 st Committee         April 5 – Business After Hours April 6 – Chamber Office Closed April 9 – CIRCLE Legislative Reception         April 10 – Member Services Committee April 12 – Transportation Committee April 13 – Puttin on Pekin April 16 – Annual Meeting April 18 - Marigold Festival Committee April 24 – Business Advocacy Committee April 26 – CIRCLE Visits Springfield

PnP Entertainment & Power 92.3 is proud to present the first annual Summer Jam, on June 23, 2012 at 5pm. The concert will be held at the Peoria Civic Center Arena. PnP is offering local businesses the opportunity to be apart of this live broadcasted event. For more information, please contact PnP Entertainment at www.pnpproduction.net or by calling 956 400 2480 .  Don’t miss this tremendous opportunity. As an added bonus, PnP is also offering celebrity appearances at you place of business, along with a live radio broadcast. The 2012 Summer Jam will consist of mainstream music artist like DJ UNK, Silk, Shai, Alicia Keys, Lil Corey and many more. The performance card subject to change.

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. is one of 17 new members included on the 2011 KBW Bank Honor Roll of  banking institutions that achieved positive earnings per share growth over the last decade, regardless of the economic environment. (Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, March 20, 2012) This is a really significant honor which has already been picked up by the Forbes and other business publications (see link below) http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog/2012/03/those-kemper-boys-are-at-it-again.html

T he Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announces that work is under way on US 24 / IL 9 near Lamarsh Creek and Cameron Ln. in Peoria County. Median work, milling, and paving are scheduled for this project, which is expected to be completed by early May. Motorists should expect lane closures while the work is being completed. Please slow down and use extreme caution while driving through all work zones. For updated traffic information and views from dozens of traffic cameras in the Peoria area, click here: http://www.gettingaroundpeoria.com/ For a look at other IDOT District 4 projects, click here: http://www.dot.il.gov/districtreleases.htm#District_4

Members of the Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce can showcase their business at the 2012 Peoira Area Business Showcase at the "chamber member" rate.  Click the photo below to see the flyer or scan the QR code to go to the registration page.

This year the Illinois History Symposium, sponsored by the Illinois State Historical Society and its several partners, explores the War of 1812 on the frontier, presenting the social, political, military, environmental, and long-term effects of the conflict on the landscape and the people who fought it. This event will be held at the Embassy Suites in East Peoria, April 26 - 28. For more information on the symposium, visit www.historyillinois.org

Gregg Ratcliff , Pekin IL 61554; Individual Member

The Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors recently voted to join Chambers for Pension Reform (CPR).  Why is the Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce a part of this coalition? The State of Illinois’ fiscal crisis should be one of the most important policy issues for the State and the Illinois business community. How can we expect Illinois, including Pekin, to have a vibrant economy with this millstone around our necks: Illinois has a backlog of $8.5 billion in bills it cannot pay. Credible projections estimate the backlog will grow to a staggering $34 billion in just 5 years unless there is dramatic action. To put that in perspective, the entire state budget is roughly $33 billion. Moody's has downgraded Illinois' rating to the lowest of any state - even lower than California. With just 43% of pension obligations funded, Illinois’ public pension system is the worst funded state system in the nation. Illinois has an unfunded pension liability of $83 billion. Unl...

Greater Peoria scores excellent when it comes to economic performance, innovation, people and livability according to the Greater Peoria Regional Economic Scorecard released on March 22, 2012 by The Heartland Partnership.  The Heartland Partnership, CEO Roundtable volunteers and Bradley University business professors have spent more than a year gathering data on hundreds of categories to see how the region stacks up.  You can download the complete scorecard here:  http://d27vj430nutdmd.cloudfront.net/22137/103644/103644.1.pdf According to Scorecard project coordinator Ryan Spain, “In order to remain a leader in the Midwest, we need a baseline set of measurements so we can better understand how we perform and how we rate compared to regions we consider our competitors and the regions we aspire to be like.”  Competitor communities were identified as Chattanooga, TN; Quad Cities; Dayton, OH; Fort Wayne, IN; Grand Rapids, MI; Lexington, KY; Rockford; and Springfield,...

The Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce welcomed a new business to Pekin with a ribbon cutting ceremony on March 21st. Command Center is located at 2222 B Court Street. Branch Manager Melinda Palmer and Patti Abernathy were joined in the ceremony by representatives from the City of Pekin and the Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce. Command Center is a labor and staffing company. They can supply construction, clerical, hospitality, and event personnel and can be reached at 309-346-5627 or www.commandonline.com .  You can see more pictures from this and other chamber events at:  http://picasaweb.google.com/PekinChamber

Family Quick Care was officially welcomed to Pekin with a ribbon cutting ceremony on March 21st. Representatives from the Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Pekin joined owner Aimee Sarchet and her family at the event. Located at 3412 Veterans Drive, Family Quick Care offers affordable and convenient healthcare for the working family. Their goal is to provide the best service for only the most common acute illnesses. They are not designed to replace your family doctor or to treat all medical conditions, but specialize in treating 90% of the most common acute illnesses, so that they can offer you the most efficient and affordable medical attention. Open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. they can be reached at 353-6946 or www.familyquickcare.com .  You can see more pictures from this and other chamber events at:  http://picasaweb.google.com/PekinChamber .

AAIM Employers’ Association Education Center is pleased to offer the following educational opportunities in April.  Detailed information on these and other events is available on AAIM EA’s website at www.eaconnect.com .  AAIM Employers’ Association is an HRCI SM   Approved Provider.  Registrations can be made at 800.948.5700 or online at www.eaconnect.com . “2012 Employment Law Series” Dates:  Sessions April 18 – December 19, 2012 1.      April 18 – Special Employment Issues: Privacy, Defamation, and Company Security Learn what it takes to protect your organization’s people, data, intellectual capital and reputation in our digital world. 2.      June 20 – Safe Selection: Reducing Your Hiring Risk 3.      July 18 – Wage & Hour Administration 4.      August 15 – Promoting and Evaluating Employee Productivity 5.      November 14 - Managi...

Over the next two months the Ameren Illinois ActOnEnergy ® program will be offering FREE online training events that you can access from the comfort of your desk. These training events are designed to help businesses become more knowledgeable about energy efficiency. For more information on all ActOnEnergy training events, go to ActOnEnergy.com/Education . Please see below for monthly online training options. April Online Training Events Topic: Energy Efficiency for Grocery and Convenience Stores Speaker: Scott Schultz, Energy Program Engineer with SAIC, an Ameren Illinois ActOnEnergy Partner Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2012 Time: 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Earn 1.0 CE Hours The free, one-hour training event will cover the following topics: Grocery/Convenience Store Industry Energy-Efficient Lighting for Grocery and Convenience Stores Energy-Efficient Refrigeration Options for Grocery and Convenience Stores Other Ways ...

Pat Sullivan , Peoria IL 61525; Individual Member

The Better Business Bureau of Central Illinois is accepting nominations for their 14th annual BBB Torch Award for Business Integrity.  Nominees should have displayed ethics and reliability in the marketplace. An awards dinner will be held on May 15th at the Gateway Building in Peoria. The nominations are due by March 27th. Nominations can be mailed to 112 Harrison St., Peoria, IL 61602, entered online at heartofillinois.app.bbb.org/torchawards or emailed to bbb@heart.net .

Classic Donuts, 815 N. 8th Street, Pekin, IL 61554; phone: (309) 353-6887; email: stockmanbyron@yahoo.com ; Byron Stockman, Owner; Sandy Stockman, Co-owner. Business Hours: 5am - 11am Every Day. Classic Donuts have fresh made donuts, muffins, danishes, and cookies. You can also purchase these at Hucks and Marathon stations.

Pekin Main Street and Artistic Community Theatre of Pekin will be presenting a Murder Mystery Dinner show entitled “My Fatal Valentine” on Saturday, April 14 at the Speakeasy Art Center, 353 Court Street in downtown Pekin. Doors open at 6:00 and dinner will be served at 6:30. My Fatal Valentine by Eileen Moushey is about the fierce competition at the annual Heart Throb Romance Novel Writers competition – the competition is so fierce that someone is willing to kill for a win. It will be up to the audience to solve the crime in this hilarious “Who Dunnit” show. The production will be directed by Nona Buster, with special permission from Mysteries by Moushey, Inc. Starring in the show are: Gordon Lofton, Sarah Moore, Teresa Mack, Dan Carney, Chelsea Norris, Emily Moore, Bobby Lee, Jeleighsa Hamilton, Kate Carney, Suzanne Wheeler, Marlis Tomlinson, Chad Hill, Nona Buster. Tickets are $25/person or $200 for a table of 8. All tickets include dinner and dessert. Dinner will be by CJ’s ...