New Roles

In the last couple months I have gone from being the "Unofficial Kankakee Ambassador" (a title I gave myself in a not-so-serious way) to someone who has official responsibilities and duties.

I am now wearing a few hats. Generally, I hate this sort of "hat" analogy, I like to consider it a hat, glove and scarf combo that go together pretty well.

I am in an Economic Development role with the City as well as being the Executive Director of the Kankakee Development Corporation. The role I am in that has gathered the most attention is the Executive Director of the new Kankakee Chamber of Commerce. This is a new organization that is focused on the City of Kankakee and Aroma Park. The new organization has come into being after the Kankakee Regional Chamber of Commerce left downtown Kankakee. The idea is to move beyond the initial frustrations that caused the group to form and focus on getting to work on Kankakee-oriented projects and building cooperation around the region.

This really is a dream job for me and in a way I wish it would have come to be in a way that was without controversy. In the end, I am confident that I have been true to myself in taking a stand for the City of Kankakee. My feelings on this were best summed up by my Dad's cousin Dawn. She sent me a letter after I had taken this position and had received press that wasn't always positive. She wrote: "When someone says something negative about Kankakee it is as if they are saying something about a family member."

I feel the same way. Kankakee is my home and in a way a part of my family. When someone is family you love them despite faults ... to me this City is the same way. Kankakee isn't perfect, but neither am I. One of the great things about this job is that people from all walks of life in our area have shared with the desire they have to make our City as great as it can be. There are so many good things happening here ... and so many more to come.

Kankakee Video

Click here to watch the video on the Kankakee Public Library site.

This video was put together by the creative minds (Nicholas Garcia, Vicki Stankewicz and Stephen Bertrand) at the Kankakee Public Library. The song "Kankakee" was written by Andrew Osenga and appears on his "Photographs" cd. The "Kankakee" video has proven quite popular. It really captures the City of Kankakee. If I didn't live here already I would want to after watching this.