Naperville chamber names first outstanding member award recipient

There's a smile in Mark Galati's voice when he talks about the surprise award he received from the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce as the group's first Outstanding Chamber Member.

Chamber leaders say it matches the smile that's always on his face as he helps mentor new members, greet attendees to events and make business connections.

Galati, 60, of Aurora, took home the honor last week during a free banquet for chamber members created to replace the Small Business of the Year Award event with something more inclusive, said Kara Carpenter, director of events and programs.

"We were trying just to do something different this year," Carpenter said about the event in which Galati was honored. "We have so many chamber members that do so many great things, but we have a handful that just go above and beyond. We wanted to give him a special honor."

Roughly 400 chamber members attended the dinner planned as a thank you for all they do to support business in the Naperville area, Carpenter said. During the meal, they heard about ways Galati has been a welcomer, a leader and an adviser during his 10 years as a chamber member.

"He is just such a generous person," Carpenter said. "He's always ready to volunteer. He's always at ribbon-cuttings; he's just always there with a smile on his face."

When Galati took over the Naperville branch of the office furniture company Interior Investments in 2005, Galati said he knew he needed to get involved in the community. He'd been living in Aurora for about 10 years at that point, but working in Lincolnshire until his company decided it wanted to market itself more to some of the new offices in the I-88 corridor.

Galati says he jumped right in to the chamber in 2006 and became an ambassador, someone who helps with registration at chamber events, greets other members and serves as an extension of the chamber's staff.

"I thought I would meet a lot of members that way and other businesses, which it certainly helped out for that," he said. "I certainly like to help people and the chamber lets you do that and helps make connections."

Soon, Carpenter said, Galati became the chairman of the ambassadors and later joined the chamber's top governance group, its board of directors. As a board of directors member, he served on the member services team that oversees programs and events. In that role, Galati suggested the chamber formalize a mentorship program to help new members get acquainted.

"It's been very helpful and fun to work with people that join, introduce them to your influences and friends," Galati said. "It can be a little daunting with 1,300 members and pretty much an event you can go to every night."

Carpenter said the Outstanding Chamber Member Award will become a new annual honor, given to recognize devotion to the organization.