Oswego Chamber celebrating 40 years of supporting business community

For 40 years, the Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce has worked to support and promote the area’s business community.

“Our primary mission is to create opportunities for our membership to market to the community and to market to each other,” said Angie Hibben, president/chief executive officer of the Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, currently has more than 500 members. Hibben has been head of the Chamber for 11 years.

Prior to that, Hibben was in charge of setting up the organization’s events. She has been a Oswego resident since 1986.

The Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce helps support and promote businesses in various ways. For example, the annual Oswego Hometown Expo provides a way for businesses and organizations in the Oswego area to showcase what they do.

“We’ve had some businesses get some really good leads and jobs from the expo,” Hibben said.

Two and one-half years ago, the Chamber started a new resident box program. Inside each box is a community guide, a map of downtown Oswego and a list of the Chamber’s upcoming events.

In addition, for a charge of $1 a box, Chamber members can put marketing materials into the boxes. The Chamber puts together 100 boxes at a time.

“We have delivered 2,200 boxes to new residents in Oswego,” Hibben said. “We did 700 boxes last year alone.”

The Chamber also will present boxes to new School District 308 teachers and administrators at the start of a new school year.

“The members tend to put things in the boxes like rulers and highlighters and notepads and things that teachers could find useful,” Hibben said.

We also wanted people to understand that even if they aren’t physically located in Oswego, they can still join the Chamber. If you want to do business in a town, I always recommend people join a Chamber.”

—  Angie Hibben, president/chief executive officer of the Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber also hosts different events. It is planning to host a new event in November in downtown Oswego.

“This will be kind of a coffee crawl,” Hibben said. “Geneva does one. It will help kick off the holiday shopping season. The idea is to get people downtown, checking out the stores.”

The organization expanded its name to Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce a few years ago to reflect the fact that not all of its members have an Oswego address.

“A third of our membership is not physically based in Oswego,” Hibben said. “They are in Montgomery, Plainfield, Yorkville, Plano and Downers Grove. We also have members from Aurora, St. Charles, Batavia and all over. We also wanted people to understand that even if they aren’t physically located in Oswego, they can still join the Chamber. If you want to do business in a town, I always recommend people join a Chamber.”

Seeing new businesses thrive is one of the things she loves the most about being part of the Chamber.

“We revel in our members’ triumphs,” Hibben said.

The organization was incorporated on May 14, 1984. At the May 7 Oswego Village Board meeting, Village President Ryan Kauffman read a proclamation acknowledging May 14 as being the 40th anniversary of the Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce.

“The Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce is a resource for community members looking for products and services and they are a marketing tool to help spread the word to the community about their business,” Kauffman said in reading the proclamation.

The Chamber was also recognized as Business of the Month. The designation highlights a business that has demonstrated significant involvement in the Oswego community.

Hibben would like to continue to grow the Chamber’s membership.

“My goal before I retire is to get us up to 600 members,” she said. “The community is growing. I should be able to get us to 600 members. And just offer more services to our members.”

More information about the Oswego Chamber of Commerce is at its website, oswegochamber.org.