THE 360 ON 630

06  WELCOME

08  ABOUT THE CHAMBER

12  HELPING CLIENTS NAVIGATE THE POLITICAL PROCESS

16  HOPE’S FRONT DOOR DELIVERS HOPE AND MUCH MORE

20  RUSH MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER DELIVERS IMPROVED ACCESS TO CARE

24  IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR AT GATTO’S RESTAURANT AND BAR

26  GARCIA MUSIC ACADEMY: SPREADING THE SOUND OF MUSIC

5117B Main Street,
#2 Downers Grove, IL 60515

630-968-4050

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This publication was created and produced by Town Square Publications for the Chamber630.

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Chairman, CEO and Publisher | Douglas K. Ray

President and Chief Operating Officer | Scott Stone

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Editor | Mia Katz

Project Manager | Katharene DeLorenzo

WELCOME
to CHAMBER 630

Dear Members and Friends of Our Business Community,

As President & CEO of Chamber630, it is my honor to welcome you to the summer edition of our Chamber magazine. You will find a number of our member businesses highlighted inside. These businesses are a testament to the vibrant economic landscape we share and the remarkable diversity of products and services available right here in the region.

Chamber630 is committed to fostering an environment where businesses thrive. We believe that by supporting local enterprises, we not only enhance our economy but also strengthen our community. Each of our member businesses represents the hard work, dedication, and entrepreneurial spirit that defines us as a Chamber – and as a community.

Our mission is simple: to advocate for our members, provide valuable networking opportunities, and serve as a resource for business growth and development. We are here to support you every step of the way.

Thank you for supporting our business community. Your participation and contributions make a difference.

Best,

Beth C. Goncher

President & CEO

Chamber630

ABOUT
CHAMBER 630

Welcome to Chamber630, one of the largest business organizations in DuPage County. In the center of the suburbs, members of Chamber630 span across 50 municipalities, 65 zip codes and several counties. Businesses benefitting from membership in this organization range from small, family-owned companies, start-ups to international corporations and everything in between.

We offer top notch marketing opportunities, legislative advocacy, workforce development and a connection to the residential and business communities of central DuPage County. There is something for all businesses to embrace, from networking events, referral groups, regional events, trips to Springfield, engagement in the local high schools, many committees and networks, scholarships for members’ students, one golf outing, business excellence recognition and so much more.

Our mission is to serve our members by providing and protecting economic opportunities essential to a successful enterprise. The Chamber630 vision is to be the best resource and advocate for our business community. We work hard at this vision, every single day. For more information visit
https://www.chamber630.com/.

Helping Clients Navigate the

Political Process

By Matt Beardmore

Suzanne Hart said that her favorite part of serving as the president of the Will County Forest Preserve and chair of the Will County Forest Preserve’s Legislative and Policy Committee was learning the legislative process.

Knowing how politics works, her desire to learn every nuance about the issues she’s supporting, and taking an ethical approach are what makes Hart, the president of Hart Solutions LLC, a go-to for those looking for a lobbyist with strong ties in Springfield and within local municipalities.

A Naperville resident for the last 30 years, Hart served as a commissioner and president of the Naperville Park District before being elected as a member of the Will County Board in 2010. She served as the president of the Forest Preserve District of Will County from 2014-2018 before opening Hart Solutions in 2019.

“There was a crowded field in the 2018 primary and I really only planned on staying in office for two years,” Hart said. “It was time to do something else.”

Since starting Hart Solutions in 2019, Hart has been leveraging her 20 years of political experience and contacts to benefit private and public sector clients.

“I speak with the elected officials and I know how to get my clients in front of the right people to tell their story,” Hart said. “I also do consulting with businesses. In the last year I started getting more into security since the police’s hands are often tied and the private sector is looking for other ways to protect their storefronts and protect themselves against crime.”

One way Hart has helped clients with security is working with Naperville stores that have had issues with smash-and-grabs to get density fog machines – which release non-toxic fog and are designed to prevent intruders from stealing items they cannot see – approved by the Naperville Fire Department.

“Four years ago I did not know the statistics and the dynamics of security – now, I’m one of the biggest advocates of private sector and public security,” Hart said.

“I’m always learning,” she added. “Another avenue I thought of going into was being an investigator – and that’s kind of what I’m doing now with consulting and lobbying.”

Hart wants to fully understand an issue so she can determine if it aligns with her beliefs and values. “I’m a lot more open-minded than I used to be, so if a client says they want me to do something, I ask them to help educate me,” she said. “I have done a complete 180 on certain issues that I didn’t probably know enough about, but I have to be 100% bought into what I’m trying to navigate, or I won’t do it.”

As a lobbyist, Hart also must educate her clients and potential clients about how the legislative process actually works and how “nothing gets done quick ever” in her business.

“When I’m talking with someone in the private sector who wonders why they need a lobbyist, I need to explain to them it’s all about working smarter, not harder,” Hart said. “They sometimes have no idea how a bill becomes a law and what goes on in the capitol and to be able to get a law passed at the state level, you sometimes have to navigate through the proper channels at the local level.”

Delivering Hope and Much More

HOPE’S
FRONT DOOR

By Matt Beardmore

“Thank you for always
treating me like a person.”

It’s been probably 15 years, but Janell Robinson can still remember those words from a woman who leveraged Hope’s Front Door’s resources to find a job and permanent housing after enduring two years without a home to call her own.

“I still carry those words with me,” said Robinson, executive director of Hope’s Front Door, a Downers Grove-based nonprofit. “Everyone has value and everyone has dignity. It’s important to acknowledge that. That’s what keeps me going.”

Robinson has been with Hope’s Front Door, a resource for DuPage residents, since 2002, including the last 16 years in her current role. While there are currently only two Hope’s Front Door employees – Robinson and Program Director Kathy Nazzarini – Robinson said the organization is expecting “to hire more staff this year since there is a need to expand capacity to meet needs.”

According to Robinson, Hope’s Front Door – which has been a registered 501(c)(3) in Illinois since 2001, and under its current name since 2013 – served between 6,500-6,900 adults and children throughout DuPage during a 12-month period that ended in May 2024. During that span, there was a 120% increase in households requesting assistance, Robinson said.

“People are still grappling with financial issues, and we’ve had to step up our efforts to inform the community about our resources,” she added.

Hope’s Front Door is “dedicated to finding solutions to some of the most pressing social challenges faced by individuals, children and families.” Some of those challenges include not having enough food to eat, not having access to reliable transportation, not having the resources to procure toiletries and other essentials, and not getting regular dental and vision exams.

When someone reaches out to Hope’s Front Door for assistance, one of the organization’s Client Interview Volunteers conducts a phone or face-to-face interview to determine each client’s specific needs and how the organization can assist. For most services, those who qualify will receive a certain amount of services during their service year, and they can return (if necessary) on their anniversary date for additional resources. For some of the higher-cost services, such as dental and eye exams, those who quality will receive a lifetime amount – which Robinson said is “a fairly hefty amount” – that helps them get through any gap period, such as a stretch when they do not have dental or vision insurance.

To help people find immediate relief, Hope’s Front Door keeps toiletries on hand, such as diapers, wipes, shampoo, and feminine products and assembles toiletry packets for client pick-up. It also provides food and transportation vouchers for those in need.

One of Hope’s Front Door’s strengths is its ability to connect clients with its vast referral network of nonprofit agencies and community partnerships with local businesses and healthcare providers. Its partnerships include “oral health providers, pharmacies, optometrists (eye exams and eyeglasses), banks (providing financial literacy counselors), and bike repair shops.”

“Money is important to us so we can meet our mission, but we need people volunteering their expertise,” Robinson said.

These experts – which include a number of Chamber630 members – are key to Hope’s Front Door’s Pathways Programs that “offer life-skill education and a clear pathway to self-sufficiency.” The programs include Pathways to Financial Health, “a 9-month financial skill building program offering one-on-one financial counseling,” Pathways to Employment, which offers an “incredibly popular weekly job list,” and details about workshops and recruiting events, and Pathways to Well-Being, which “provides education and resources for clients or their family members who are dealing with chronic physical and/or mental health issues.”

“Our partners are incredibly helpful,” Robinson said. “Once people know there’s a need, they step up. I’ve been fortunate to have a front row seat to this over the years as the organization has grown. I’m proud to say we do really good work.”

To learn more about Hope’s Front Door’s resources and volunteer opportunities, please go to https://hopesfrontdoor.org.

New RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center

Delivering Improved Access to Care and Increased Hope

By Matt Beardmore

Dr. Ying Zhang, a radiology oncology specialist at RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center in Aurora, feels a sense of hope as advancements in science, technology, and new innovations have led to “tremendous strides in cancer treatment” over the last decade.

That feeling of hope has grown even stronger with RUSH MD Anderson, a partnership between Rush University System for Health and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas – one of the nation’s leading cancer centers.

Since he started at RUSH 10 years ago, Dr. Zhang said, “there have been tremendous strides in cancer treatment.”

“There has been this huge surge of immunotherapy,” he added, “and it has had a tremendous impact on survival. Probably 10 years ago, for patients with certain diagnoses, there wasn’t much hope, but now I get the feeling of hope. Today, a cancer diagnosis doesn’t have to mean the end.”

The data clearly supports that. According to American Cancer Society figures released in January, there was a 33% decrease in the overall cancer death rate from 1991 to 2021, “translating to an estimated 4.1 million fewer cancer deaths (2,794,900 in men and 1,344,600 in women) than if mortality had remained at its peak.”

This is encouraging news, but the same report also projected that in 2024 there will be more than 2 million new cancer cases in the United States for the first time. This is, according to the report, largely due to the increase in incidence rate for 6 of the top 10 most common cancers – breast, prostate, endometrial, pancreatic, kidney, and melanoma – and the aging and growth of the population.

Given those figures, the need to provide more people greater access to advanced cancer care and clinical trials is critical. RUSH MD Anderson– the seventh partner in MD Anderson’s network of hospitals and healthcare systems – is doing just that as this collaboration “represents advanced clinical and operational integration in the delivery of cancer care, providing RUSH MD Anderson patients greater access to cancer treatments and research considered among the best in the world.”

RUSH MD Anderson locations are at Rush University Medical Center in the new, $450 million Joan and Paul Rubschlager Building in Chicago, Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora, Rush Oak Park Hospital, and Rush Copley Healthcare Center in Yorkville.

“This partnership has brought a lot of excitement for sure,” said Dr. Zhang, who sees patients at Rush Copley in Aurora. “MD Anderson is widely known as the best cancer center in the country and it’s amazing the amount of resources they have. We started working on this partnership many years ago – just knowing we are going to have access to these resources is very exciting.”

A cornerstone of this partnership, Dr. Zhang said, is building what are called “multidisciplinary clinics.” “One of the core tenets of MD Anderson is that if a patient needs to see all three specialists – medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and surgeons – the patient can make an appointment and see all three specialists on the same day at the same location,” he said. “You walk in the clinic with a diagnosis, you see the whole team, and you leave with a plan. That’s something RUSH has already done, but the process has become a lot more solidified under the partnership with MD Anderson – this is going to change how cancer treatment is done in Chicago and is probably going to make the biggest impact for patients.”

For more details on RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center, please visit https://www.rush.edu/Locations/Rush-Cancer-Center.

It’s a Family Affair at Gatto’s Restaurant and Bar

By Matt Beardmore

When Chuck and Frank Gatto opened Gatto’s Restaurant and Bar in Tinley Park in 2000, their hope was that the combination of classic Italian comfort food and treating all their customers as family would allow them to find a place within the community.

That has been a recipe for success, as now, almost a quarter-century later, the brothers’ three Chicagoland locations have “grown up” within the communities they serve.

After spending more than a decade working at a longstanding Italian restaurant in the Little Italy area of Chicago, Chuck and Frank Gatto took their lessons learned there - as well as their mom and grandmothers’ kitchens - and opened the first Gatto’s Restaurant in Tinley Park in 2000. The Gatto’s expanded to a New Lenox location in 2006 and two years later, Gatto’s Restaurant and Bar opened at 5123 Main Street in Downers Grove in the former longtime home of Herbert’s department store.

“When we took over that special spot on Main Street, we felt like Downers Grove was ready to grow especially with some of the larger residential developments planned in the area.” Chuck Gatto said, “We were honored to move into that location and be part of the new face of Downtown Downers Grove.”

The 5,000-square-foot Downers Grove location seats approximately 130 customers. Its 20-seat bar and welcoming environment are highlights, as well as the traditional Italian comfort food. On the menu are such dishes as sausage and peppers, chicken vesuvio, lasagna and a slew of other traditional Italian dishes.

“It’s been wonderful being in Downers Grove,” Chuck Gatto said. “The village has been so receptive to our concerns, and the movement toward outdoor dining was so imperative to us and all the other restaurants and bars on the block.

The Gatto brothers could not be more proud of their teams. After nearly 25 years they have three thriving restaurants in three great communities. “We dreamed that we would stay open this long, but you never expect it,” Chuck Gatto said. “Quite honestly we are stronger than ever. We’ve been well received and we have grown-up with a lot of these communities.”

The Gatto’s have also watched their staff grow up, as some of their long-time employees are now working alongside their children.

Bringing families together, whether it is their staff or customers walking through the door, is a priority for the Gatto’s, whose motto is “Arrive as friends, leave as family.”

“When anyone comes in, we want them to feel like they are sitting at our house and they’re not just the number,” Chuck Gatto said. “We are also known for quality and pricing. We want to stay affordable - everyone should be able to have a great dining experience and not feel like they were gouged.”

As Gatto’s Restaurant and Bar approaches 25 years in business, what can customers expect in the years to come?

“Let’s just say - we’re not done yet,” Chuck Gatto said. “We constantly look at our plan moving forward. We really would like to find another community that has the same fit as Downers Grove and our other communities. We could not be more grateful to our customers who have supported us for the past 25 years and we look forward to serving our communities for many more years to come.”

To learn more about Gatto’s Restaurant and Bar, including their catering and banquet options, please visit https://www.gattosrestaurant.com.

Spreading the Sounds of Music

By Matt Beardmore

For nearly 20 years, Zyan Trager was teaching piano lessons out of her childhood home in Woodridge. Since opening out of a Woodridge storefront in April 2023, Trager’s Garcia Music Academy has spiked in popularity – and she has dreams of expanding her business even further.

Trager learned the piano when she was 5 years old, and she also played the clarinet, violin, and guitar while growing up. At Bob Jones University in South Carolina where she earned a Bachelor’s in Music Education in 2014, Trager also learned how to play the trumpet, percussion, cello, bassoon, and oboe as part of the program.

Before transitioning into a full-time piano teacher in 2019, Trager – whose maiden name is Garcia – was a music teacher at Marquette Manor Baptist Academy in Downers Grove. At night, she would also teach piano at home to a handful of students. As much as Trager’s parents, Jerry and Marlene Garcia, enjoyed having the sounds of music and children in their home, “as I started to grow and word spread about Garcia Music Academy, they could tell it was time for me to find a bigger space,” Trager said.

Garcia Music Academy’s location at 7400 Janes Avenue is just a mile from Trager’s parents’ home, meaning her clients did not have to adjust much to the move.

Months before relocating her business, Trager stopped giving private, 1:1 lessons and now exclusively teaches piano in group format.

“I find teaching three to five students at a time is more effective for student learning and retention,” Trager said. “Kids are learning music faster.”

Trager currently has about 80 clients that range from 4 ½ years old (she will accept children that age if they have good motor skills and can read) to a senior in high school. Her students perform in two recitals each year, one at Christmas time and once during the spring. These events at Marquette Manor Baptist Academy are a family affair as Trager’s parents serve as ushers, her younger sister Rayna assists with the reception, and her husband, Eddie Trager, whom she married in April, helps with set-up, clean-up and any task necessary to ensure a successful event for all.

Looking forward, Trager “would like to venture into adult piano lessons.” “I’ve also started to open the possibility (of having) some home school groups and doing lessons with them as well,” she added.

There is also a possibility that the sounds of instruments other than piano could be heard inside Garcia Music Academy.

“If I were to expand to a location with multiple classrooms, it would be really cool to offer group violin lessons with another violin teacher who has a good musical background,” Trager said.

For more information on Garcia Music Academy and how to sign up for a free trial lesson, please visit

https://www.garciamusicacademy.com.