Banquet manager aims to help Hispanics, others in community
For more than three decades, Brandi Rojas’ family has been involved in various charities within the Hispanic community. So it’s no surprise when her parents started Brandi’s Banquets in Palatine and christened it after her, she knew she would make a difference. So she left behind a budding career in school counseling to take over the Palatine banquet hall.
Whether it’s a wedding, baptism, first communion or other milestone, Rojas plans to be a part of it by offering the banquet hall at an affordable price to people.
“Dancing and music are a big part of our culture, and we’re always here to help the local community,” she said. “It’s a life’s passion.”
About 30 percent of the events held at the banquet hall are for fundraisers or other charity event or meetings. And despite a tough economy, every weekend is booked for the near future, including a Relay For Life kickoff event for cancer fundraising in January and a Special Olympics dinner gala in February, she said.
Brandi graduated from Roosevelt University in May and quickly went into the family business with her parents Juan and Diana Rojas. The site was under construction for about seven months and opened within the LaRosita shopping plaza on Dundee Road.
“It was their dream,” she said of her parents. “So I want to help them take that opportunity and run with it.”
The family aims to provide affordable facilities for those who want to celebrate something in life. So they aim to provide the right price, even if that means matching a competitor, she said.
“We’re like a Macy’s, but for banquets,” she said.
DC trek for Martin
Barbara J. Martin, president and CEO of Waukegan-based Vista Health Systems, went to Washington, D.C. last week to speak on a panel about jobs and the economy. She said the Budget Control Act’s mandatory 2 percent sequestration across all Medicare programs, effective on Jan. 1, 2013, is just “the tip of the iceberg.” She said the act’s cuts will place hospitals under financial duress with Medicare paying 7 percent below the cost for many services. Martin also was one of six women CEOs asked to participate in the program.
Calamos earmarks $10 million
Naperville resident John P. Calamos Sr., CEO of Naperville-based Calamos Investments LLC, and his wife, Mae, committed $10 million to the Illinois Institute of Technology. It’s the largest alumni contribution in IIT’s fundraising campaign and establishes a chair for the dean of the IIT Stuart School of Business, where Calamos earned his bachelor’s of science degree in economics in 1963 and his MBA in 1970.
Schwepped away
Lombard resident Brian Schweppe, great grandson of Lombard-based Schweppe Inc.’s founder, won a scholarship from the Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association to attend an educational program at Indiana University.
FastTrack
Sleepy Hollow resident Ilanna Fiorenza, an independent director for Mary Kay cosmetics, just won her first Mary Kay career car, a white Chevy Malibu. She has one of 5,600 such career cars on the road today, earned by the sales success.
Grainger, which has operations in Lake Forest, said Mike Pulick, senior vice president and president of Grainger U.S.; and Court Carruthers, president of Grainger International, will rotate positions and assume each others responsibilities. D.G. Macpherson, who leads Grainger’s global supply chain will become president of global supply chain and corporate strategy.
Chicago resident Vince Galloro, a former business writer for the Daily Herald, is the new senior adviser and opens the new Chicago office for Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, a health care public affairs firm in Nashville. ... Oswego resident Ernesto Guillen has been named financial center manger at Fifth Third Bank in St. Charles, and North Aurora resident Benjamin Kirchhoff takes the same role at the bank’s Mount Prospect branch.
And you’re never too young to be an entrepreneur department: Kimberly Miller, Mia Bostelman, Sara Warner and Bridget Zak, all 6th graders at F.E. Peacock Middle School in Itasca, launched a bow-making business called Mon Ami Bows at the 30th annual Lake Park High School holiday craft fair in Roselle. They raised money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure cancer research organization.
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