Author: Sarah

Podcast Ep. 4 features The Quarter Restaurant owner, Brandon McGraw

September 21, 2021 | General

Co-hosted by Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce member’s Stephen Sedlak (Schmale Insurance Agency, Inc.) and Erik Huber (BOS Metro East Banking Center) to help highlight, promote and enlighten people, businesses, and community events in the Greater Belleville Area. Ep. 4, 27 minutes: Mixing up the Hurricanes with Brandon McGraw and The Quarter Restaurant In this episode we catch up Brandon McGraw, one of the owners of Belleville’s Original NOLA inspired restaurant, The Quarter and discuss why they decided to invest in Downtown Belleville, why they decided to open their second restaurant during COVID, the HERO Beer Tab at their other restaurant in Fairview Heights, Signature Tap House, how they, and all downtown Belleville restaurants, work together to help each other, what the return of events such as the Belleville Oktoberfest and Chili Cook Off mean…

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Podcast Ep. 3 Features Belleville Oktoberfest & Chili Cook-off Leaders

September 07, 2021 | Events | General

Co-hosted by Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce member’s Stephen Sedlak (Schmale Insurance Agency, Inc.) and Erik Huber (BOS Metro East Banking Center) to help highlight, promote and enlighten people, businesses, and community events in the Greater Belleville Area. Ep. 3, 27 minutes: Tapping into Oktoberfest with Cari Frick and Mixing up the (Belleville Chili Cook-off) Pot with Wendy PfeilWith the return of events coming to Downtown Belleville, we sit down with the Cari Frick from Oktoberfest and Wendy Pfeil from the Belleville Chili Cook-off to discuss a few things including: How excited they and the city are to have these events back this year, how much work and time they (along with others) have had to put into this years events compared to past years, the effects last year had on the events being cancelled,…

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Chamber Announces Episode 2 of Podcast Featuring Chris Blair of WWT Raceway

August 17, 2021 | General

Co-hosted by Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce member’s Stephen Sedlak (Schmale Insurance Agency, Inc.) and Erik Huber (BOS Metro East Banking Center) to help highlight, promote and enlighten people, businesses, and community events in the Greater Belleville Area. Ep. 2, 30 minutes: Racing to the Finish Line with Chris Blair of WWT RacewayIn this episode we sit down with Chris Blair, Executive Vice President of World Wide Technology Raceway to discuss a slew of things including: his background and how he got to where he is today, how WWT Raceway has looked outside the box to bring people into their race weekends, the impact that WWT Raceway has on the surrounding communities with their events, and this weekend’s NASCAR Camping World and NTT IndyCar races. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/L7IX135n52UApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/growing-belleville-thru-community-chats/id1579571466Google: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy82NjJhYmRhYy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7oGyG3SX8Lz3BZTPDsZprrAnchor: https://anchor.fm/belleville-chamberPocket Casts: https://pca.st/466f3ht7…

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Back 2 Business Grants Available August 18

August 12, 2021 | Membership Tips

Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) today announced the $250 million Back to Business (B2B) grant program to support the continued recovery of small businesses across Illinois. The first in a series of economic recovery programs set to launch by the administration, B2B will offer small businesses access to funds that can help offset losses due to COVID-19, bring back workers and take continued steps to rebuild amid the fallout from the pandemic. The program builds on last year’s Business Interruption Grant program, which provided $580 million to small businesses and childcare providers across the state. $250 million to small businesses across the state that experienced losses in 2020 due to COVID-19 Grants will range from $5,000 to $150,000 per business and can be used to cover a wide…

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Belleville Chamber Launches First Podcast

August 04, 2021 | General

The Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce is happy to announce our first PODCAST! Co-hosted by member’s Stephen Sedlak (Schmale Insurance Agency, Inc.) and Erik Huber (BOS Metro East Banking Center) to help highlight, promote and enlighten people, businesses, and community events in the Greater Belleville Area. In the first episode, we sit down with Belleville’s first female mayor, Patty Gregory to talk about her first three months in office, her love for gardening, the return of events to downtown Belleville this fall, and what Belleville has learned and gained over the past year through Covid to name a few. Episodes will be released on the first and third Tuesday of every month. You can find these on the Chamber’s website under Publications.

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