Community Scene: Westmont Chamber of Commerce

CHAMBER-PRES-BECKY

Welcome to Westmont: a tight-knit community of hard-working business owners and an intimate downtown of familiar faces. At least, that’s how Chamber of Commerce President Becky Rheintgen sees it.

Rheintgen, owner of Oakwood Electric & Generator, leads approximately 230 chamber members, who represent the best of what Westmont and its surrounding communities have to offer. From restaurants to insurance agents, the chamber spans dozens of pursuits and provides countless networking opportunities for its members.

“Whenever I’m talking to someone that I’m meeting at a chamber event, I’m like, ‘I wonder how we can help each other,’ and that’s kind of the way I think about it,” Rheintgen said.

One of those events on Sept. 20 gave members a chance to “pitch” their businesses and connect at a baseball-themed networking event full of local fan favorite businesses, complete with the exchanging of business cards over a cold beer and a box of Cracker Jack. For these colleagues-turned-comrades, such events are all about referrals and sharing tips and tricks.

“We get a lot of our business from people in the community who we meet through chamber members or relationships that we’ve built in the chamber,” she said.

The chamber’s impact extends beyond village lines. Rheintgen, a Downers Grove resident herself, welcomes everyone in the surrounding communities to stop by for their holiday events or to check out all the chamber has to offer, especially in the small but mighty downtown district. She’s hoping to share the same hospitality that she and her husband received when they joined the chamber nearly seven years ago.

“We’ve just always been welcomed with open arms…I feel like it’s a really great place to have your home or your business,” she said.

Author

Mom7

Nancy Allodi

Mom5

Bridget O’Meara

Mom5

Rachel Barnish

Dr. Karis Tekwani of Clarendon Hills and Dr. Kate Paquette of Hinsdale

Front-line Physicians and Moms

Kristi Smith, center, with daughters Averle and Alex

Kristi Smith

Mom2

Humble Beginnings

Mom1

Mom: World’s Greatest Coach

Capitalism1

Conscious Capitalism Works

Lincoln2

50 Capitols in 50 Days!

diveheart2

Christ of THE DEEP

MortonArboretum1

The Morton Arboretum

brookfieldzoo1

Brookfield Zoo – Dinosaurs everywhere!