Northbrook chamber president retiring after 20 years: Term included Great Recession, pandemic

When initially invited to interview for the presidency of the Northbrook Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Tensley Garris declined.

She was happy where she was: running Chicago's North Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Shortly, though, Garris' hesitancy passed.

And soon, after an eventful 20 years as the Northbrook Chamber president, so too will Garris' tenure there come to an end. She will retire from the chamber in June.

"It's been 20 amazing years, but now I'd like to be spending more time with the family and just kind of relaxing, perfecting my golf game," Garris said.

A native of Greenville, North Carolina, she's been in the Chicago area more than 30 years, and in Northbrook for more than a decade. She lives there with her husband, Harley Korman, owner of the Northbrook commercial real estate firm, Korman Lederer & Associates.

"I'd love to stay involved with the community; I really enjoyed that aspect of my job," Garris says. "It's really been fascinating, getting to know all the different businesses in town, and working with all of those people in Village Hall to make Northbrook a better place to live and work."

Her last day as chamber president will be June 30. She told the chamber board of her retirement plans in January, and the board has started a search for the chamber's sixth president. Garris anticipates that happening before her departure, to aid a smooth transition.

Tensley, who succeeded Barbara Hayskar as chamber president, has guided chamber members through two calamities.

There are the ongoing repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the stay-at-home orders, shut downs, virus mitigations, and companies' difficulty in retaining staff.

Garris said the pandemic is the biggest thing she's had to face as president. Even with the 2008 Great Recession and its attendant unemployment, there had been precedent.

In that case, the Northbrook Chamber paired with partners, including the NorthShore YMCA and the Deerfield-Bannockburn-Riverwoods Chamber of Commerce to establish a career center to help people find jobs.

The pandemic, though, has been a whopper.

"COVID has been a humongous challenge for the business community, and I'm really proud of the way the chamber has stood strong and supported the business community," Garris said.

"If there's a legacy I want to leave behind, (it's) the businesses feel that there's a sense of community and they themselves feel supported and feel like someone has their back in the chamber.

"I think the important thing to say in that statement, too, is I know that will continue. It's not only a priority for us, it's a priority for our village president (Kathryn Ciesla) and our village manager (Cara Pavlicek)," Garris said.

She's enjoyed watching the development of places like the Willow Festival shopping center, the TGM NorthShore Apartments and The Elaine Apartments, both on Skokie Boulevard. She's been able to, she said, "peek behind the curtain" of businesses such as Underwriters Laboratories and Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates.

"It really has been a lot of fun. I feel fortunate. I love my job," Garris said.

She loves her family too, though. She's got four stepsons, and with the way things have gone the past two years, she hasn't been able to see a grandson in Norway who recently celebrated his first birthday.

"That's at the top of my priority list," she said.

Even more than perfecting her golf game at Heritage Oaks. Her retirement will provide time for that, too.

"I'll miss it terribly," Garris said, "and I'll provide any assistance to the chamber that they may need in the future."