The Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce has existed for 25 years representing and promoting the business and political needs of the vast south suburban region.

The Southland area spans 82 communities, from the Illinois-Indiana state line in far eastern Cook County to the Will County townships and cities nestled around Joliet.

It has long been known as a blue-collar region filled with industrial and agricultural developments, with newer commercial elements currently being built as a result of the I-355 expansion.

The chamber recently celebrated its 25th year servicing the economic, political, educational and technological needs of its community. One of its primary focuses is bringing its member businesses together to help build community relationships.

“We offer numerous networking and marketing opportunities for our businesses,” said Lisa Ziegler, Southland’s president and chief executive officer.

The business activities division hosts annual and monthly events for members, which include a business expo, golf classic, annual dinner meeting, holiday sports luncheon, fashion show, awards luncheon, and numerous “business after hours” events.

“We have a lot of industry groups that get together, whether it be for exchanging leads and referrals or just for information and knowledge sharing,” said Ziegler.

The economic development division implements regional programs designed to create economic stability and growth.

“We handle economic development in terms of promoting and retaining businesses in the area, while advocating for specific projects and infrastructure needs,” Ziegler said.

“Our economic development initiatives work with all the agencies. We provide resources (for our members). A lot of times a business on its own is not aware of some of the resources. When we go to visit them and we find out they have issues that somebody can help resolve, then we give them that information.

“We try to be a resource to make sure that business resolves any problems and gets things done or even just addresses their growth issues.”

The chamber has also established an education workforce development division designed to institute, in cooperation with local colleges and school districts, a positive working relationship between educators and regional business professionals.

“We filter those educational programs through our membership in the hopes that they get involved in order to encourage future workforce skills,” said Ziegler.

One such program is called job shadowing, which is an academically motivating activity designed to give kids an up-close look at the world of work. In the program, students “shadow” workplace mentors as they go through a normal day on the job. The students get to see firsthand how the skills learned in school relate to the workplace.

Additionally, the Southland Chamber participates in junior achievement of Chicago, which brings volunteers from the community face to face with students for the simplest of human interaction-sharing. Classroom volunteers make economic concepts relevant, fuel the entrepreneurial spirit and challenge the students to excel.

“We also participate in a program called principal for a day,” Ziegler said. “The business person finds a school and they go in and follow the principal around. It’s very eye-opening for both sides.”

These programs have achieved great success in building relationships between the schools and Southland businesses.

“It’s building awareness of what the business environment needs and also building those relationships with schools and to support the education process,” said Ziegler.

The chamber is very active in the political arena as well.

“We have a governmental affairs council that tracks legislation and writes position statements and contacts legislators and encourages member to do so also,” Ziegler said. “We also have a political action committee that donates funding to candidates that are in line with our positions on the state level.”

One of the main focuses for the chamber has been a fundraising campaign to support the development of a third Chicago area airport in the Southland region.

The belief is that a third airport, as proposed near Peotone, will stimulate industrial, commercial and residential growth; create economic balance for the region comparable to other airport communities; and result in better distribution and accessibility of jobs to the existing population.

“We’ve wanted this airport built and after 20 years or so, and it’s been getting very frustrating,” said Ziegler. “Yet, since it’s being built in Will County, in the Peotone area, we see that at least we have a better opportunity for it to see fruition sooner.”

The Illinois Department of Transportation is currently working on a proposal that, once finished, will need the governor’s approval before being forwarded to the Federal Aviation Administration.

“It’s my understanding that any day now the plan will be released,” Ziegler said.

If all parties sign off on the proposal, the airport could be up and running within the next five years.

The chamber also has a technology division whose mission is to develop and support a targeted plan leading to the creation of a competitive, supportive high technology infrastructure and environment in the Southland region.

The division hosts technology seminars, develops member benefits and creates special projects to enhance the use of technology in the region.

Jeremy Stoltz, Staff Writer