Lincolnshire executive takes life’s changes in stride

Ida Butler, who is the new executive director of the Greater Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, has given up TV for more than a year. And no, she doesn’t miss it or the cable bills either. And her house does not have Internet service either. If her son wants to do homework or use the Internet, he goes to the library.

After all, home is home and that’s for the family.

“Oh, sure we went through withdrawals at first, but we’re glad we gave it up,” Butler said. “I’d much rather talk or read or sleep. Communicating face to face is best.”

Butler lives in Wheeling with her 10-year-old son and 25-year-old daughter, who was recently divorced and brought along her two children. Still, with all those people at home, Butler also doesn’t miss her landline phone. But she does use an iPhone at work, she said.

She has been influenced by her boyfriend, an artist who has given up TV more than 30 years ago. The extra time used for electronics is now used to enrich the family at home, she said.

While her home life has changed, so has her career. Before joining the chamber staff, Butler served as finance director for Youth Conservation Corps, business manager for the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at National Louis University, business manager for an architectural firm, and human resources manager for special education and special recreation cooperatives. She also serves on the board of directors of St. Gregory’s Preschool in Deerfield.

But she’s not the only family member that has seen turnarounds in life. Butler’s widowed mother, Roberta Butler, has become a nun with the Secular Franciscans in Libertyville.

Raised Catholic, Ida Butler converted when she had a part-time job at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church a while ago and got involved with the preschool, early childhood education, Eucharist ministry and even the marketing and communication committee, she said.

In fact, it was the marketing and communication committee that led her to meeting more business leaders and eventually landing the executive director’s spot at the Lincolnshire chamber, where, of course, they have all the technology necessary to work with local businesses.

Set up shop in Streamwood

Dimitris Nacopoulos has owned his own bathroom remodeling business since 1994 and now has opened Bath Planet in Streamwood. Palatine-based Bath Planet was created in 1999 by BCI Acrylic Bath Systems founders Tom Barzantny and Scott Rosenbach. Bath Planet is backed by BCI, a privately held manufacturer of tub and shower-liner systems with a network of more than 550 independent dealers throughout the United States and Canada.

Starting new clothing line

Glen Ellyn native Abbie Kelley and friend and business partner Stacy Nordlund are expecting to see their Little Monsters Gear, a kids clothing line, in select city and suburban retail boutiques this fall.

Frost those cupcakes

Cupcake gurus Karen Tack and Alan Richardson have teamed up with Lake Forest-based Reynolds to help create the perfect cupcake and have opened the competition to Facebook fans through Oct. 19. Fans can visit Facebook.com/ReynoldsKitchens to design their own cupcake and baking cup and submit their cupcake creation.

FastTrack

Karen Lambert, president of Barrington-based Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, said the hospital has been named one of the nation’s 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Truven Health Analytics. It was the only hospital in the Chicago area to receive the recognition. ... Northbrook resident Michael M. Mullen, co-founder and vice chairman of CenterPoint Properties, is the new Illinois chairman of the new Tri-State Alliance for Regional Development. ... Dave Schupmann, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Rosemont-based Tecta America Corp., said the company was honored as a 2012 Gold Level Installer of FiberTite Roofing Systems. The national award, presented by the Seaman Corp. of Ohio, acknowledges contractors that have exceeded the company’s standards in sales volume, continuous service and quality of installation.

Lawyers Bradley C. Graveline of Hinsdale and Daniel G. Rosenberg of Western Springs have joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as partners in the firm’s Chicago office. ... Michael Flynn is the new vice president and chief financial officer of Friendship Senior Options of Schaumburg. Friendship Senior Options is the parent of senior living affiliates including Friendship Village of Schaumburg, GreenFields of Geneva and Friendship Senior Service Foundation. ... John Price is the new director of independent hotel operations at Lane Hospitality, a hotel management firm in Northbrook. ... Glen Nothnagel, founder and CEO of Montgomery-based SellBackYourBook.com, an online firm that gives consumers a place to sell their used books and old edition college textbooks, has been named an honoree in the 2012 Empact100, an awards program sponsored by Empact, which focuses on making entrepreneurship a viable career option for everyone around the world.

Scott Brown, president and chief operating officer of Cary-based Sage Products, said the company has received the Product Differentiation Excellence Award from Frost & Sullivan for the new Nose to Toes preoperative prep system. Frost & Sullivan is a global research organization that monitors more than 300 industries and 25,000 companies. ... James Kearns of the Northwest Healthcare Center in Woodstock hired Chiropractor Luke J. Smith and Child and Adolescent Therapist Ann Kearns.

Duncan MacLean, president of Mundelein-based MacLean-Fogg Component Solutions, led ground breaking of the 86,000-square-foot precision component machining facility at its Metform location in Savanna, Ill. ... Evanston resident Joshua E. Leibman, an attorney at Novack and Macey LLP litigation firm, has been elevated to the board of directors of the Jewish Counsel for Youth Services. JCYS is an independent, nonprofit agency serving Chicagoland’s Jewish and general communities and developing leaders who continue its tradition of volunteer service. ... Tony Vernon, CEO of Northfield-based Kraft Foods Group Inc., joined employees in New York to ring Nasdaq’s opening bell to kick off the new food-and-beverage company’s first day of trading as an independent company. The spinoff of Kraft Foods Group was completed by Mondelez International Inc. on Oct. 1.

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