Business Briefs

BUSINESS BRIEFS

JOLIET -- The University of St. Francis College of Business and Health Administration and The Fifth Third Bank will present Margaret Stender , president and CEO of the Chicago Sky , during a business symposium at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the university's Moser Performing Arts Center, 500 Wilcox St.

Michael LaRocco , dean of the College of Business and Health Administration, said Stender's presentation, Birth of the Sky, will recap her life experiences.

Stender, who played Division I college basketball, helped to establish the Chicago Sky after the Women's National Basketball Association awarded the city a franchise in 2005.

JOLIET -- The Latino Business Association will hold its 13th annual awards banquet at 6 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Holiday Inn Joliet Hotel and Conference Center, 411 S. Larkin Ave.

Honorees include: Karisma Sales , entrepreneur of the year; Patrick McGuire , Will County treasurer, community advocate of the year; and Joe Belman , community service award.

Tickets cost $35 per person. RSVP by Nov. 27. For more information, call 815-727-5371.

JOLIET -- The Mobile Learning Center of the Workforce Services Division , a department of Will County government, helps people find jobs and helps businesses find people to fill those jobs.

The center will be at these locations (hours are from 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. unless otherwise specified):

Monday: Bolingbrook IDES, 321 Quadrangle Drive.

Tuesday: 9:30-11:30 a.m., University Park Town Center; 1-3 p.m. Steger Community Center, 3501 Hopkins.

Wednesday: MorningStar Mission, 350 E. Washington St., Joliet.

Thursday: Shorewood-Troy Library, 650 Deerwood Drive, Shorewood.

Friday: Mokena Library, 11327 W. 195th St.

For more information, call 815-727-4444 or go to www.jobs4people.org .

NEW LENOX -- Joan Monreal of New Lenox Auto Parts/NAPA won a $100 Southwest Airlines Gift Card in the chamber's Grand Raffle Early Bird Drawing.

Tickets are still available for the raffle, which has a cash pot of $12,000. This is the last year the chamber will host the raffle. The drawing will be 5-7 p.m. Thursday at Suburban Bank & Trust's Business After Hours.

JOLIET -- Grant Wegner has joined the Mahoney, Silverman and Cross law firm as counsel to the firm and the formation of its Statewide Appellate Practice Group. Wegner recently retired as a trial judge from the 16th Judicial Circuit after 23 years.

He served as chief judge of the circuit from 1998 to 2002 and was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve on their mentoring committee from 1997 until his retirement.

The firm is at 822 Infantry Drive, Suite 100. For more information, call 815-730-9500 or go to www.msclawfirm.com .

ARGONNE - Mark Peters is the new deputy director for programs for the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory .

"Argonne is intensifying its efforts to address the nation's energy and environmental challenges and the Obama administration's goals to lessen significantly the impact of energy on the environment and strengthen our energy security," Peters said.

Peters, 45, came to Argonne in 2004 as senior scientific adviser. Most recently, Peters served as the deputy associate laboratory director for energy sciences and engineering.

NEW LENOX -- Lincoln-Way High School District Foundation for Educational Excellence welcomed Air Quality Inc . of New Lenox to the foundation's Partner Program.

The program provides individuals and businesses with an opportunity to support the foundation with annual donations that range from $1,500 to $20,000. In return the donor receives a package of donor benefits.

"After graduating from Lincoln-Way High School in the 1980s, it was crystal clear that we wanted to raise our family here, and open our heating and air conditioning business here," said Beth Brouwer , of Air Quality.

JOLIET -- NuMark Credit Union launched its state-sponsored Bank at School program with an annual teller training session that included four Laraway students.

Kasandra Magana, Destiny Alexander, Jonah Coble and Daniel Martinez were all chosen to attend.

Students were invited to the Joliet office boardroom, where they learned about key topics, such as identity theft and Internet safety, as well as confidentiality. A tour of the credit union provided the students with an inside look at the world of business.

Interested in Bank at School? Call 815-729-3211.

JOLIET -- Dow Chemical Company 's Styrofoam brand extruded polystyrene foam insulation has been converted to a zero ozone-depleting, no-VOC (volatile organic compound) foaming agent.

The company held a celebration Thursday at the Joliet facility where it is manufactured. Joliet is the fourth Dow facility to convert to Dow's new foaming agent technology. Dow is ahead of the Jan. 1 phase-out deadline for compliance with the Montreal Protocol, a landmark international agreement to protect the stratospheric ozone layer.

Dow has been manufacturing STYROFOAM Brand Insulation at Joliet since 1984. The company commemorated the occasion with a tree planting ceremony and celebratory luncheon.