Berwyn Development Corp. names Diane Salemi board president

BERWYN – The Berwyn Development Corp. has named Diane Salemi as the second woman to serve as its board president.

Salemi, who will serve as president for the 2022-24 term, has an extensive career in banking, serving as the branch sales manager at the Republic Bank of Chicago’s Berwyn branch for more than five years. Passionate about supporting the business community, Salemi credits her success to her ability to build relationships.

“I turn prospects into clients, and then clients become friends,” she said in a news release.

The Berwyn Development Corp. noted that Salemi fully immersed herself in the Berwyn community from the get-go by attending events and supporting local businesses.

“This town is so embracing,” she said. “I can’t believe the number of grand openings I have attended where the business owner is a Berwyn resident themselves. That really shows the pride and commitment in this community.”

In attending those events, Salemi learned about the Berwyn Development Corp. and wanted to be involved. Upon becoming a member of the BDC, Salemi joined the Commercial Loan Commission in 2016, opening the door for a partnership with Republic Bank of Chicago, which is now one of the BDC’s seven commercial banking partners. Salemi’s involvement in the BDC didn’t end there.

In 2017, she became an active member on the BDC’s Economic Development Commission, and later was elected a BDC board member in 2018. In 2020, Salemi was elected secretary of the executive board committee and served her term through 2021.

Outside of her involvement in Berwyn, Salemi has served as a trustee in her hometown of Berkeley for 27 years, and has been treasurer of the Necahual Foundation for the past 13 years. The word Necahual comes from the Nahuatl Indigenous language of Central Mexico and means “left behind survivor.” As a nonprofit organization, the foundation aims to help children in need with new housing, education, recreation, social skills and self-sufficiency. Its goal is to give meaning to the word Necahual by providing seed funds for social change and the necessary tools for the children to succeed in life.

During her free time, Salemi enjoys watching telenovelas and spending time in Michigan, where she likes unplugging to take in nature and explore on ATVs. Salemi has a passion for swimming, and previously taught water aerobics for 30 years at such locations as Memorial Park District, Veterans Park District and Triton College.

Looking ahead, she said she wants to continue to “be a part of the changes and developments in the community, help the businesses be as successful as possible and celebrate the joy and success with them. That is what a community bank is all about, and Republic Bank of Chicago emulates that.”

Regarding her service as the BDC board president, Salemi said she intends to use her influence to create innovative ways to meet the needs of the business community and the city of Berwyn overall. Salemi will keep an open-door policy in working with the BDC board and staff as they continue to develop and execute new projects.

Salemi is particularly excited about this summer’s rollout of Berwyn Shops, an incubator space designed to help entrepreneurs take their business to the next level. Salemi wants to be an advocate for surrounding communities that may like to bring a similar project to their towns.

“Berwyn adopted this concept from Batavia, Illinois, and we hope to be able to influence surrounding communities to do the same,” Salemi said. “With the help of our talented, highly motivated, and committed board and staff, we’ll be able to show others how to implement this in their own communities.”

To learn more about the Berwyn Development Corp., visit whyberwyn.com.