Joliet Chamber announces Councilman Cardenas as recipient of community leadership award

The Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry recently named Cesar Cardenas as the 2025 recipient of the Marx Gibson Community Leadership Award.

Cardenas, a lifetime resident of Joliet, received the award on March 18 at the Community Leadership School Graduation Banquet presented by the University of St. Francis, according to a news release from the Joliet Chamber.

The founder of Unidos Marketing Network, Cardenas purchased the former Steelworkers Union Hall in 2018 and converted it into 3TEN, a shared workspace hub, according to the release.

Cardenas currently serves on the Joliet City Council, Will County Center for Economic Development board, Joliet Park Foundation board, Joliet Latino Economic Development Association and the Silver Cross Healthy Community Commission, “a community-based organization which has awarded over $2.4 million in educational scholarships, workforce development, and quality of life grants to District 4,” according to the release.

He is past president of the Spanish Community Center and the Hispanic Latino Coalition of Will County.

Cardenas has been married to Rosalinda Cardenas for 17 years. They have two rescue fur babies, Peanut and Bruno Bartholomew.

During Marx Gibson’s 32-year journalism career, he held roles as reporter, editor, and vice president at Star Publications, Small Newspapers and Copley Newspapers.

Gibson served as president of the Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center Foundation from 1997 until the spring of 2000, according to the release.

He was inducted into the Joliet/Will County Hall of Pride, received the James C. Craven Freedom of the Press award from the Illinois Press Association and – in 1999 – became the first man to receive the Joliet Region Chamber’s Athena Award “for supporting women in their professional endeavors,” according to the release.

Gibson served numerous boards including the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kiwanis Club of Joliet and United Way of Will County, according to the release.

The Marx Gibson Community Leadership Award was developed in 2000, according to the release. Gibson died from cancer in 2000.

We welcome news about business developments in our communities. We appreciate hearing about local business comings and goings, new hours, expansions, and milestones in the Joliet area. If you have a tip to share for Eyes on Enterprise, email news@theherald-news.com.