Movers & Shakers - Fox Valley

Virginia Knapp, director of corporate training for Elgin Community College, was named 2007 Illinois Community College Economic Workforce Development Professional of the Year. Knapp serves on the workforce development committee of the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce; the business solutions team for the River Valley Workforce Investment board; and is assistant membership chairman for the Fox Valley Society of Human Resource Management.

Dr. Sawn Silfies was inducted as a fellow of the International College of Dentists, an honorary organization for the recognition of outstanding and meritorious service to the profession and community. Silfies maintains a general practice in Elgin and is on staff at Sherman Hospital, Elgin. She is immediate past president of the Illinois Academy of General Dentistry and is currently on the board of the Illinois Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped.

St. Charles-based K. Martinez Design, received eight American Graphic Design Awards in the national Graphic Design USA competition, sponsored by Adobe. K Martinez Design is a graphic design and advertising group specializing in advertising and marketing communications for a diverse client base.

Schaumburg native and West Chicago resident Daniel Bertsche, an Allstate exclusive agent, opened an insurance office in Lake in the Hills. Bertsche will offer his customers a full line of Allstate insurance products and services including auto, homeowners, renters, business and commercial, boat, RV, life, retirement and Allstate Motor Club.

Than National Association of Industrial Technology awarded Shane R. Tredup, vice president of engineering at Custom Aluminum Products in South Elgin, with its Outstanding Early Achievement Award. Tredup, a 1996 Larkin High School, Elgin, graduate, holds a bachelor's degree from Illinois State University and a master of business administration degree from Aurora University.