Barrington businesses urged to be politically active

The Barrington area's business community Thursday was personally invited to join statewide and national campaigns to pressure elected leaders into making a business-friendly economy a top priority.

A Barrington Business Economic Summit sponsored by the Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce was held at the Makray Memorial Golf Club in Barrington barely 12 hours after President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

This coincidence provided the perfect springboard for the passionate appeals by U.S. Chamber of Commerce Managing Vice President Brian Gunderson and Illinois Chamber of Commerce President Doug Whitley for business owners to get more involved in the political process.

Whitley said the president's emphasis on job creation was the reason why the speech resonated with him more than any since Obama's election.

But he added that greater emphasis must be put on creating private sector jobs, not just public sector jobs.

Gunderson said that's one of the main issues of the "American Free Enterprise - Dream Big" campaign he's working on. He said Americans need reminding that while government is able to provide short-term fixes, long-term economic solutions have always come from the free market.

The growth of government spending, as well as the current frenzy of legislative activity involving health care and other issues, are creating a lot of uncertainty in the economy and confusion over making investment decisions, Gunderson said.

Illinois is still a leading industrial state, but poor leadership over the past decade has caused a backslide that now threatens this position, Whitley said.

Business owners have a responsibility to encourage employees to see the impact elected leaders have, and to write checks for politicians and political action committees who are on the side of business.

Whitley said he can't understand why he doesn't see the same passion for this year's state races as there was for the presidential race in 2008 when so many of the issues and stakes are the same. Illinois particularly needs to recapture the long-term investment in transportation infrastructure that originally made it the crossroads of America, he said.

Barrington Chamber President Janet Meyer said Thursday's event bringing together business leaders and officials from the villages of Barrington, South Barrington, Lake Barrington and Deer Park was everything she'd hoped for. It's been a long-sought goal to organize a business summit for the area, she said.