Would you like to participate in our first ever
Halloween Scavenger Hunt?
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How to Play: Trick-or-Treat at our participating locations while looking for the secret decoration! Once you find it, you'll drop one of your raffle tickets into the bucket next to the decoration. The more places you visit and find the decoration, the more chances you have to win!
What to Win: First Place Prizes: 1 child from each age group (2-4 years, 5-7 years, 8-10 years, and 11+) will win a $50 gift card to Urban Air Adventure Park of Mokena. Second Place Prizes: 1 child from each age group (2-4 years, 5-7 years, 8-10 years, and 11+) will win a $25 gift card to Aurelio's Pizza of Mokena!
How to Register: Sign your child(ren) up below! On Halloween, visit the Chamber Office to pick up a candy bag, raffle tickets, and the scavenger hunt map. The chamber office will open at 10:45 am. We are located at 11104 Front Street, Suite 1B across from the Metra train station.
Fee: $5 per child.
You must pre-register for your child to participate! There is a participant limit of 250 children. Sorry, no refunds. Rain or shine.
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Extra! Extra! Read all about us! |
Our upcoming event has already been featured in today's addition of the Chicago Tribune/Daily Southtown.
Read the preview article of our event written by local journalist Bill Jones here!
Be sure to share the article on your social media accounts or share with a friend or colleague to help spread the word!
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Please help us spread the word! |
Please consider printing out and displaying, or downloading and emailing out our Halloween Scavenger Hunt flyer to spread the word about our event.
We are looking to this event to be a huge success for the community, our participating chamber businesses and sponsors, and for ourselves to keep our doors open.
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Promote your business through one of our sponsorship opportunities |
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Witch - $50
Have your business logo printed on every flyer, poster, and scavenger hunt map!
Social media exposure on chamber's Facebook page with nearly 3,000 followers.
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Bat - $100
FREE registration to be one of 20 business on the hunt (if you choose to participate).
Have promotional materials of your choice included in the candy bag that each child will receive at the beginning of the hunt.
Have your business logo printed on every flyer, poster, and scavenger hunt map.
Social media exposure on chamber's Facebook page with nearly 3,000 followers.
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Prize Sponsor - Any amount
Would you like to donate a prize for the children that are hunting? Anything you would like to donate is welcome! Contact Melissa at the chamber office. 708-479-2468 or chamber@mokena.com.
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Thank you to our Participants and Sponsors! |
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PARTICIPANTS:
Ace Hardware of Mokena
An English Garden Flowers & Gifts
Aurelio’s Pizza of Mokena
Axion Dental
Berkot’s Super Foods
CrossFit Mokena
EggCetera Café
Ivy League Kids
jean lachat photography
Joel Roberts Hair Salon
Lashology Skin and Beauty Bar
Little Blossom Early Education
Medulla Chiro One Wellness
Melka Garden Center & Landscaping
Mokena Pharmacy
Nothing Bundt Cakes - Mokena
The Great American Bagel
Three Wolves Fitness
Urban Air Adventure Park
Yoga Life Center
2020 Premier Sponsors:
Aesthetica Day Spa
Berkot's Super Foods
Nothing Bundt Cakes Mokena/Orland Park
Sterk Family Law Group
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PRIZE SPONSORS:
Urban Air Adventure Park
Aurelio's Pizza of Mokena
BAT SPONSORS:
Ace Hardware of Mokena
An English Garden Flowers & Gifts
jean lachat photography
Mokena Pharmacy
The Great American Bagel Mokena
Three Wolves Fitness
WITCH SPONSORS:
Angle Drone Solutions
Century 21 Affiliated - Laura LePage
Diamond Financial Services
Joel Roberts Hair Salon
Little Blossom Early Education
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It's time for the Holiday Mailbag! |
Do you have something special you need to promote for the holidays? Catering, specials, events? Let us help you promote this to our members!
Just provide us with 375 copies of your flyer* and $100 (cash, check or credit card) and we will mail your flyer to all of our chamber member businesses!
Feature your business specials, announcements, etc.
Contact the chamber office before delivering as we are currently by appointment only. DEADLINE: Nov. 13
The mailbag will be sent out the week of Nov. 16.
*One page only please. Double-sided is okay. Call the Chamber office at (708) 479-2468 or email chamber@mokena.com with questions.
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Village of Mokena Early Voting |
Early voting for voters residing within the corporate limits of the Village of Mokena is available now at the Mokena Village Hall, 11004 Carpenter Street.
Hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and run through October 30.
Have additional questions regarding early voting and other locations in Will County where you may vote if you do not reside within the corporate limits of Mokena? Interested in voting by mail?
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So much important info from your fellow chamber members. Please read & support each other!!! |
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If you would like your information included below, submit as either a Word Document, PDF, or a website link by 3:30 p.m. on the Friday before the week you would like it included. Reply to this email or send to chamber@mokena.com
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Upcoming Workshops at the Workforce Center of Will County |
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All in for Women: B.I.G. Grant Webinar |
Hosted by: The State of Illinois
Tuesday, October 27 at 2 p.m.
Join Ibie Hart, the women's business development manager, to learn about the Business Interruption Grant Program (BIG). In this webinar, women owned businesses will learn about eligibility, program details, and the application process. Technical assistance support will also be provided for the last 30 minutes of every session.
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Business Enterprise Program Certification Workshop |
Hosted by: The Will County CED, The Illinois Department of Central Management Services, and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO).
Thursday, October 29 at 2 p.m.
This webinar will provide assistance with the certification process and information on the benefits and advantages of becoming BEP certified.
Who qualifies for the BEP Program?
· At least 51 percent owned and controlled by persons who are minority, women or designated as disabled
· Must be a United States citizen or resident alien
Annual gross sales of less than $75 million
We will cover:
• Eligibility
• Requirements
• Procurement Opportunities
• Small Business Set Aside Program
• Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)
• Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC)
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Build Your Business with Instagram |
Hosted by Constant Contact partner
Thursday, October 29 at 4 p.m.
Instagram is the fastest growing and biggest trending social media for business these days. And it’s always evolving! Join us for this session as we
- Learn the difference between Instagram and Instagram for Business
- Take a tour of Instagram for business
- Best Practices for posting
- Explore the different sub-channels of Instagram
- Learn how to use video to maximize your Instagram presence
- Explore using hashtags to grow visibility for your business
- What is tagging?
- Live Q&A
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Will County Offering Second Round of Small Business Grants |
Will County recently announced it is offering a 2nd round of grants with expanded eligibility criteria for businesses with annual revenue up to $5 million and those that have fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees.
Funding for the grants is provided through the CARES Act passed earlier this year by Congress and signed by the President. Will County has earmarked more than $24 million for these small business assistance grants.
The Small Business Assistance Grant Program was developed to provide financial assistance to small businesses in Will County impacted by COVID-19 so they can maintain operations. Selected businesses may receive up to $15,000 in grant monies.
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Business Interruption Grants Program (BIG)
*NOTE: This information below was found on the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity website here.
The Business Interruption Grant (BIG) program is a $636 million program developed by Governor Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly to provide economic relief for small businesses hit hardest by COVID-19.BIG leverages federal funding provided by the CARES Act to help offset COVID-19 related losses for Illinois small businesses. funding may be used to help businesses with working capital expenses, including payroll costs; rent; utilities; and other operational costs as defined in the eligible cost list found below.
Program Status:
Round 1: In August, an initial round of funding was directed to restaurants, personal care services, gyms and fitness clubs, and businesses located in DIAs. The first round of BIG provided a $49 million boost for businesses at every corner of Illinois – with grant funds deployed to roughly 2,800 businesses spanning 400 towns and cities, and in 78 counties all throughout the state. Grants averaged $17,000, and the majority of funds were deployed to businesses in economically distressed communities. As a result of the equity-centric approach to the program, more than half of the first-round grants went to minority-owned businesses.
Round 2: A $220 million second round of BIG aims to provide relief for all types of small businesses, but with a particular focus on businesses downstate, in disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs), and for heavily impacted industry and regions – representing businesses that have been unable to reopen or operating at a severely diminished capacity since the spring.
The second wave of funds includes the following provisions to ensure a wide distribution of funds geographically and across business type:
· Heavily Impacted Industries - $60 million for heavily distressed industries, such as movie theatres, performing arts venues, concert venues, indoor recreation, amusement parks, and more.
· Disproportionately Impacted Areas - $70 million set aside for DIAs, defined by zip codes identified by the General Assembly for communities that are most economically distressed and vulnerable to COVID-19. A map of DIAs is shown below.
· Downstate Communities – DCEO has committed to ensuring that at least half of all remaining funds, totaling more than $100 million, are reserved for businesses in downstate and rural communities of Illinois.
· Priority Businesses– Apart from the $60 million for heavily impacted industries, applications from the following types of businesses will be prioritized for review for remaining funds: businesses directly affected by regional mitigations implemented by the state or local governments, independently owned retail, tourism- and hospitality-related industries including accommodations, and more.
· Agriculture - $5 million of the remainder of funds will be set aside for livestock production disruptions. Applications will be available in the coming weeks from the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
· Grants and Loan Forgiveness for Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan recipients - As authorized by the General Assembly, DCEO will offer grants for businesses that have incurred eligible costs to offset loans received under the Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan program. This round of loan forgiveness and grants will go to businesses that have received loans or remain on the wait list and the program will sunset going forward as DCEO and its partners focus on making BIG awards.
Businesses outside the categories listed above are also eligible to apply and receive funding under the program but may be reviewed later than priority businesses. All businesses will receive a decision on their grant application within four to six weeks of application submission.
ROUND 2 APPLICATION DETAILS:
ASSISTANCE: For assistance with your application, please submit a question via the following question submission form in either English or Spanish.
During the second round, DCEO is partnering with community navigator organizations aimed at helping minority-owned businesses receive assistance necessary to apply and access available funding. Contact information and a schedule of upcoming webinars will be posted soon. Check back here for updates.
DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED AREAS
Need to find out if your business is located in a DIA? The below map allows you to search by address, or by searching for your zip code in the list of 176 distinct DIAs here.
Emergency rules to implement the Business Interruption Grant program can be found here.
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Take our Weekly Poll!
Final results in next week's E-Newsletter.
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What is your favorite Halloween movie?
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Who would make the best new manager for the White Sox?
Baseball - 14.3%
Football - 57.1%
Basketball - 0%
Hockey - 7.1%
Soccer - 0%
None - 21.4%
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Welcome to our new members that joined in the past 30 days! |
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7717 S. Illinois Route 31, Crystal Lake
(815) 459-4040
19820 Wolf Rd. Ste. B, Mokena
(708) 320-3770
10937 Front Street, Mokena
(708) 995-5795
708-535-3006
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These members renewed their chamber investment in the past 30 days! |
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As a chamber member you can receive discounted Constant Contact service! |
Grow Your Business & Save!
Constant Contact provides all of the online tools, expert support and marketing advice you need to build your brand and grow your business.
With Constant Contact you get:
Website Builder: Create your own website in minutes with our awesome website builder. Just pick a template, choose a domain and publish.
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Real-Time Reporting: Review email results, website performance and traffic results quickly to see what is working and improve your marketing strategy.
Marketing Advice & Expert Support: Get your marketing and technical questions answered fast by our marketing advisors and award-winning support team.
Sign up and save!
Best of all, as a Chamber Member you’ll enjoy exclusive savings on our entire suite of marketing tools, with plans starting as low as $20 per month. Sign up today for your FREE 60-day trial and when you're ready to buy, save 20% when you prepay for 6 months or 25% when you prepay for 12 months.
Questions? Call Constant Contact at: 855-797-4708.
More information here! Plus enjoy a 60-day free trial if you're still thinking this offer is too good to be true!
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Free printable face mask posters for your business |
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New Resident 'Swag Bag' marketing opportunity for you. |
As a member of the Mokena Chamber of Commerce you can be one of the first businesses to welcome new residents to Mokena!
When new residents set up their utilities account at Village Hall, they are given a card to bring to the Chamber Office to redeem for a Welcome Swag Bag of free gifts, including promotional items and coupons from Chamber member businesses, along with information about the community.
To participate in the Welcome to Mokena program, we just ask that you provide a promotional item for the Welcome Bag, and/or a coupon for your business.
To participate, we ask for a 12-month commitment in the program. In return, at the end of each quarter, you will receive the mailing addresses of the Welcome Swag Bag recipients who have opted to receive information from you.
The program fee is only $200 per year!
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Do you like to know stuff? |
Do you like information? Do you like to know what's happening in the community? Do you like to be interactive and social (virtually)? Do you like to impress your friends and colleagues with your knowledge of all things Mokena?
For even MORE daily content and updates regarding our chamber, community and chamber members, follow our Facebook page HERE!
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Our 2020 Premier Sponsors |
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Melissa M. Fedora
Executive Director
Mokena Chamber of Commerce
11104 Front Street, Suite 1B
Mokena, IL 60448
Tel: 708-479-2468
Fax: 708-479-7144
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