Darien Makes Case For New Business Alliance
DARIEN, IL – The city of Darien announced to the business community Thursday that it now has the chamber of commerce’s events and its former executive director.
This is all a part of the city-created Darien Business Alliance, which the City Council approved earlier this week.
The chamber board is on record opposing the alliance’s creation, saying it was “blindsided.”
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In a letter to business owners, Mayor Joseph Marchese said all 350 Darien businesses have free alliance memberships.
For the last couple of years, Darien has given the chamber about $30,000 annually in exchange for all local businesses joining for free.
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“It is our hope that by creating this new business group, it will open the door to our business community, allowing for more meaningful business-oriented seminars, luncheons and activities, offering a coordinated voice for local businesses, while also focusing on tourism and community events,” the mayor said.
As the city has indicated before, Marchese said April Padalik was hired as the new director of the business alliance and community events. She is still listed on the chamber’s website as the group’s executive director.
With the alliance, Padalik will organize events such as Darien Fest, Darien Dash, the summer concert series and the fall Oktoberfest celebration, the mayor said. Darien Fest and Darien Dash were chamber events.
In a statement last week, the chamber board said city officials informed the group that “they will not allow us to run our two primary and cherished events, Darien Fest and Darien Dash.”
“We were all blindsided when this was presented to us,” the chamber said. “There was no mention of the Chamber of Commerce working together on this or even inviting our current board to the table to discuss or participate in this new ‘chamber’ concept.”
The chamber board vowed to continue its mission.
In his letter, Marchese did not describe the status of the chamber.
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Last week, City Administrator Bryon Vana said he thought the chamber would “sit dormant.”
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