Our fun holiday shopping campaign is officially launched!
Click photo below to download and start shopping!
NOW THROUGH DECEMBER 24
8 chances to win $100 in gift cards.
1 chance to win $300 in gift cards.
One chance to win gift cards and special prizes for shopping local on Small Business Saturday on November 28.
Support our businesses and shop local!
Instructions:
Collect as many properties as you can from now until 12/24/2020. Collect all properties in one color group, enter to win!
How to collect properties: Visit the business and follow the instructions on the back side of the game board. Save the receipt! Once you have a receipt for ALL 4 locations within the color, upload them to mokena.com/localopoly or drop off in our drop box located at 11104 Front Street, Mokena.
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Thank you to our sponsors! |
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Top Hat
Mayor Frank Fleischer
Race Car
Ski Colorado
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HOLIDAY HOOPLA PALOOZA
December 12 from 5 to 7 p.m.
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Promote your business with this first of its kind opportunity! We have a limited number of trees available for purchase for you to decorate in the theme of your business!
For a $75 investment you can promote your business during the holiday shopping season and at our BRAND NEW community event! The community is invited to vote for their favorite tree via social media and also in-person at our Holiday Hoopla Palooza on December 12 through food and toy donations for the Frankfort Township Food Pantry and chamber member Tow Trucks for Tots.
Winner will be announced on our social media accounts and website and receives a free tree in 2021.
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Looking for a unique and festive photo opp this holiday season? Look no more! On December 12, at our brand new event 'Holiday Hoopla Palooza' we will have Santa in the Mokena Fire Department's antique fire truck ready for socially distanced photo opportunities! For just $5, you can take a photo in this festive setting! Bring your children or your four-legged friends! |
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This year, we have teamed up with Santa! From November 20 - December 18 we will have a special drop-box located in front of the Chamber office at 11104 Front Street for children to mail their letters to Santa!
Use our template, or write your own.
Submit your letter and $5 for processing, and our team of elves will deliver it to the North Pole! Once Santa receives the letter, he will write back and even include a small magical gift in the envelope! All letters we received by Dec. 1 will have their reply from Santa specially post marked from the North Pole!
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We are proud to announce the first ever
Mokena Chamber Discount Card
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Take it up a notch in 2021 with one of our exciting Marketing Packages |
Upgrade to one of these packages to get more from your membership! By bundling up our services, you receive them at a discounted rate. Signing up for one of these valuable packages also helps set you on a great course for your marketing plan in 2021.
These packages are NOT tied to your annual dues, so no matter what month you renew your membership, you can still take advantage of one of these exciting opportunities.
Is there something in one of the marketing packages that you would like to "swap out" for something else? Contact Melissa at the chamber office for a consultation.
DEADLINE: Friday, December 18
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Region 7 is now in Tier 2 |
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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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Upcoming NO COST webinars from the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Joliet Junior College |
UPCOMING NO-COST WEBINARS - Register Today!
December 15 at 3 p.m. - Website Development
December 17 at 3 p.m. - Starting Your Business
Clients Considering a New Business Starting Your Business in Illinois
This is a one-hour, no-cost overview of the many aspects in opening a new business. We will share information about legal, accounting, insurance, marketing and sales, which are all important parts of your business plan. This session will be a webinar on December 17, 2020 at 3:00pm. Register for this event at: https://ilsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/events/33108
Do You Know Someone Who is Considering a New Business Idea?
Our advisors at the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Joliet Junior College are happy to help with your business formation ideas and business plans. Please register for our no-cost advising at: https://ilsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/?home=60
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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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NEW! Save Small Business Resource Center Connecting Main Street to Available Funding Programs, Advice and Tools for Survival
Last week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced the launch of its comprehensive new Save Small Business resource center—including federal, state, and local financial assistance programs, emergency financial relief resources, grant programs and more—to help provide the assistance and guidance small businesses need right now amid Congressional inaction to provide additional, much-needed financial relief to Main Street. Click here to view the new Save Small Business resource center.
We encourage you to continue to support local small businesses by sharing the Save Small Business resource center on social media, websites, and other channels using the hashtag #ShopSmallEveryday.
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Take our Weekly Poll!
Final results in next week's E-Newsletter.
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What is your favorite Thanksgiving side?
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Mashed potatoes and gravy
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When is an acceptable time to start decorating for Christmas?
Right after Halloween - 7.7%
Around Thanksgiving - 92.3%
Christmas Eve - 0%
Never - 0%
Decorations are still up from last year - 0%
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Welcome to our new members that joined in the past 30 days! |
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12251 S. 80th Ave., Palos Heights
(708) 923-4742
19046 Henry Drive, Mokena
(815) 600-7916
20950 S. Frankfort Square Rd. Unit C, Frankfort
(708) 478-1212
630-878-9837
630-878-9837
9500 Bormet Drive, Mokena
(708) 719-4160
7717 S. Illinois Route 31, Crystal Lake
(708) 377-8413
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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.
Professional Email Templates: Quickly create beautiful, branded and mobile-responsive emails that will wow on any device.
Social Media Tools: Get connected to new audiences and attract new customers with Instagram and Facebook ads.
List Building Tools: Drive more traffic to your site with Google Ads, or grow your list with website sign-up forms, lead generation landing pages, text-to-join, Facebook lead ads and more.
Advanced Features & Integrations: Drive engagement and results with subject line testing, automated email series, and behavioral segmentation to deliver personalized content. Plus, sync with other best-in-class platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce and Eventbrite to do even more.
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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