Business attire not required for Schaumburg exec
Schaumburg Business Association Executive Director Tonya Lamia usually wears business attire to meetings, but today she'll don jeans and boots for a ride to the Schaumburg Business Development Commission meeting on her black, single-seat Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary Fat Boy with custom Python pipes.
Since Lamia took the helm of the association in April 2010, she has ventured out on two wheels with village trustees and employees, as well as staff from the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, she said.
She plans to ride her black, single-seat Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary Fat Boy with custom Python pipes to today's Schaumburg Business Development Commission meeting.
Lamia has found so many other suburban motorcycle and car enthusiasts that she created a fundraiser called Pistons & Amps. Set for Saturday, Aug. 20, it will benefit the Schaumburg Business Association.
If you want to see Lamia in a video with her father and mentor, Jerry Lamia, on You Tube. The video helped her win an expense-paid road trip for two from Atlanta to Daytona Bike Week in 2008 alongside Karen Davidson, great-granddaughter of the Harley-Davidson co-founder.
<h3 class="breakHead">A millllyon dollars</h3>
<B>Jeannie Renn </B>of Round Lake aims to make her Envision Group Consulting a $1 million firm after becoming one of 62 finalists in the M3 1,000 event, aka Make Mine a Million Dollar Business. It's American Express Open's way of helping small business owners. While Renn awaits word on whether she won the top spot, she's getting some financial and life coaching help to boost her bottom line and organize her daily work.
<h3 class="breakHead">Gulp</h3>
<B>Mike Hardy</B> has launched Easy2Swallow LLC, a new Lake Barrington company with easy-to-swallow vitamins that are smaller than usual, mostly for those with swallowing disorders caused by cancer, Parkinson's disease or other diseases. See more at www.easy2swallowvitamins.com.
<h3 class="breakHead">Slowing down? </h3>
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Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce CEO and President <B>Jim Uszler </B>plans to retire in late June. His replacement will be Dawn Fletcher Collins. Uszler, who turns 69 in May, plans to travel, spend time with his grandchildren and "slow things down." We're not sure about that last part. After all, Uszler, who says he'll stay in Mount Prospect, will be president of the Mount Prospect/Prospect Heights Rotary Club from July through June 2012 and president of the newly formed Crime Stoppers of Mount Prospect, and will do some consulting work. As for <B>Fletcher Collins</B>, the Mount Prospect resident currently chairs the village's Special Events Commission and has been chairwoman of the chamber's block party for the last 10 years. She joined the chamber staff as an assistant to Uszler in January and officially takes over on July 1.
<h3 class="breakHead">Give me Libertyville ... or?</h3>
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Motorola Mobility CEO <B>Sanjay Jha </B>addresses shareholders Monday during the company's annual meeting at the Westin Hotel in Wheeling. At least he can tell shareholders where he's going to hang his hat after Friday's announcement about keeping the headquarters in Libertyville.
<h3 class="breakHead">Tech, Hollwood-style</h3>
The Illinois Technology Association's CityLights Awards gala will be Thursday, May 12, and features finalists <B>Dave Shea</B>, CEO of Deerfield-based Corptax, and <B>Michael D. Alter</B>, CEO of Glenview-based SurePayroll, who are battling along with five others for the CEO of the Year Award. About 700 of the technology industry's finest will be decked out for the formal event at Union Station in Chicago.
<h3 class="breakHead">In tune</h3>
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<B>Bev Patterson Frier </B>of Naperville will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce at the Small Business of the Year Awards on Friday, May 13. She started Fabric Inn in 1966 in Naperville and added a second store in Elgin. A year later, she opened her first music store, Bev Patterson Piano & Organ Co., and added stores in Addison, Schaumburg and Aurora. She later sold them but retained ownership of the properties in Naperville and Addison and rented them out to other business tenants and remains active with several organizations.
<h3 class="breakHead">FastTrack</h3>
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Crowe Horwath LLP in Oak Brook has hired three executives: <B>Lisa Heim</B> of Bartlett as senior associate of People Services, <B>Charles Bretz</B> of Mount Prospect as manager of People Services, and <B>Thomas Paar</B> of Palatine as manager of Risk Consulting. ...
<B>Brenden Cannon</B> of Arlington Heights is now manager of sports training and education for Special Olympics Illinois/Chicago-Area.
<B>Carrie M. Buddingh </B>of Naperville will focus on estate planning, estate administration, business law and real estate transactions for Bellock & Coogan Ltd., a law firm in Oak Brook.
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<B> Susan Wright </B>of Lake Forest, president of Community Banking at Baytree National Bank & Trust, was among eight women recognized for outstanding accomplishments by the YWCA Lake County.
Others include <B>Michele Vaughn</B> of Gurnee, associate dean for Community Education at the College of Lake County and <B>Lucilia Rios</B> of Waukegan, perinatal enhanced case manager with Pediatrics Aids Chicago Prevention Initiative.
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ŸThere's more to Business People than just business. There are people, too! And my aim is to tell you about them. I'm Anna Marie Kukec, and I'd like to hear from you. Send news about people in business to akukec@dailyherald.com. And follow me on LinkedIn and Facebook and as AMKukec on Twitter.