Bruce Alkire of Coldwell Banker Commercial Devonshire Realty will become the new chairman of the EDC. He has been active with the EDC, and is a former chairman of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce and a former member of the Heartland Partnership Board of Directors. Working with Alkire is Dennis Bailey of Clifton Gunderson as vice chairman and Henry Allovio, who will continue for another year as treasurer. Allovio retired from McGladrey & Pullen.
Newly elected mayors David Mingus of East Peoria and David Tebben of Pekin will replace outgoing mayors Charles Dobbelaire and Frank Mackaman respectively. Both Dobbelaire and Mackaman have been highly admired ambassadors for their communities.
Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce
Mary Ardapple, owner of Apple’s Bakery, has ended her term as chairman of the Chamber Board. Mary has a passionate interest in the education of all of our children in the community. During her tenure as chair of the Board, the Chamber launched an electricity purchasing cooperative to save members money on their utility bills, undertook a fundraising initiative to fund the District 150 Truancy Assessment Center and began an important analysis of the sources and uses of tax dollars in the city of Peoria.
Roger Lakin of PSA Dewberry will be the new chairman of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce for 2007-2008. Roger has served the Chamber most recently as the vice chairman of the Board but has also served as secretary/treasurer of the Chamber Board and chairman of the Chamber’s for-profit subsidiary Business Resources Services of Central Illinois. Joining Lakin on the Chamber’s Executive Committee are Debbie Ritschel of the Peoria Civic Center as vice chairman of the Board; and Charles Purcell of G & D Integrated as secretary/treasurer.
Sue Yoder of CEFCU and Mary Ardapple have completed their terms on the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce Board and we thank them for their great service. New Board members include Alexis Khazzam, owner of Junction Ventures, and Shari Stout, international trade specialist, U.S. Department of Commerce/ Bradley University.
In an effort to continue to grow in our relationship with the Peoria Civic Federation, the Heartland Partnership Board of Directors will remain the same for the time being.
We have enjoyed working with our current leadership, and we know that they will continue to help drive development and economic growth for the region. We appreciate all of their hard work and vision and look forward to furthering our region’s growth under our new leadership. IBI