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Business Briefs
Updated: July 20, 2012 11:42AM
‘Got Funds” forum held at Chamber
State Rep. Kelly Burke, Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Dan Patlak and State Treasurer’s Office Debbie Meyers-Martin led a resounding “Got Fund$?” Forum June 13 at the West Suburban Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Hodgkins. The forum was constructed by the Chamber’s Legislative Affairs Committee and sponsored by AT&T, the latest in a series of events designed to provide open and productive discussions on a wide range of issues affecting business and the community.
Burke, D-36th, provided a briefing of the recently concluded Illinois legislative session, addressing a wide range of issues including debt reduction, Workers Compensation overhaul, her leadership of local business outreach initiatives and current developments surrounding Pension Reform, particularly as it applies to teachers. Burke noted while the Pension Reform debate has been exceptionally difficult, the need for major change is a matter of reality that is slowly settling in with all of the interested parties.
Patlak, the only Republican on the 3-member Cook County Board of Review, provided a short review of the process available to Cook County residents and business owners if they feel their property tax assessment requires adjustment. He revealed rather startling facts in terms of the volume of such reviews: 341,000 assessments of tax “indexes” (essentially property parcels) were put into the Board of Review in 2011, compared to 1.7 million in total. 68% of the reviews resulted in adjustments.
Meyers-Martin discussed the “Business Invest” Linked-In Deposit program as well as a number of additional services (“Cash Dash” among them, now available to businesses as well as consumers).
The West Suburban Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the premier advocate for business on behalf of the communities of Countryside, Hodgkins, Indian Head Park, La Grange, La Grange Park, McCook, Western Springs and Willow Springs.
Hotel earns 2012
certificate
Hampton Inn Chicago/Westchester (Oak Brook Area) in Westchester recently announced that it has received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award. The accolade, which honors hospitality excellence, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor, and is extended to qualifying businesses worldwide. Approximately 10 percent of accommodations listed on TripAdvisor receive this prestigious award.
To qualify for the Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher, out of a possible five, as reviewed by travelers on TripAdvisor. Additional criteria include the volume of reviews received within the last 12 months.
For more information about Hampton Inn Chicago/Westchester (Oak Brook Area) at 2222 Enterprise Drive in Westchester, contact Jim Craver (708) 409-1000 or CHIWC_Hampton@hilton.com.
Hospital earns an ‘A’ for patient safety
Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital earned the highest grade possible, an “A,” from The Leapfrog Group, an independent expert on patient safety, which released a hospital safety score for every acute care hospital in the country.
Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital’s safety score is based on the levels of infections, injuries and medical and medication errors. Calculated under the guidance of a nine-member panel of patient safety experts, the score uses 26 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to produce a single score representing a hospital’s overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors.
Of the 2,652 hospitals issued a safety score by Leapfrog, 729 earned an A, 680 earned a B, and 1,243 earned a C or below.
For more information, visit http://hospitalsafetyscore.org/.
