The Batavia Chamber of Commerce announced this week that the this year’s 14th annual Donna Dallesasse Award winner is Harriet Parker, manager of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Waubonsee Community College.
Each year, the Batavia Chamber holds a Harvest Celebration to gather community members to celebrate one Chamber member who has displayed an outstanding commitment and dedication to the Chamber’s mission, vision, and values. This member is recognized as the annual Donna Dallesasse Award recipient.
The Harvest Celebration wll be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7 at Oscar Swan Country Inn, 1800 State Street in Geneva. The cost is $40. person which includes food and live music. Registration is required. Total attendance will be restricted because of the pandemic.
In his letter of nomination, Roman Seckel of Drendel & Jansons Law Group, a director with the Batavia Chamber of Commerce and a past-chairman of the Board, touted Ms Parker’s commitment to the Batavia Chamber of Commerce and the business community. He explained that during the pandemic, she has made an even greater impact in the business community than usual.
“It is over the last several months with COVID impacting our Chamber and area businesses, that Harriet has truly given of herself,” Seckel wrote. “Others in her position could have simply sent out links to articles or E-mail, but I cannot fathom how many hours she spent in Zoom meetings gathering information, disseminating information and otherwise sharing her knowledge with businesses who woke up one morning in a brave new world.”
Margaret Perreault, CEO and president of the Batavia Chamber of Commerce is in total agreement.
“Last Spring, when businesses shut down and the government announced various business and financial assistance, our members and the community turned to us for information,” explained Perreault. “Harriet immediately went to work, helping us dissect the mountains of information coming from many sources to determine what the business community really needed to know.
“She wholeheartedly helped my staff and I better serve the business community with these critical resources,” she added. “Harriet continues to generously share her business acumen with our members and us – I am extremely pleased with the Board’s decision to give this year’s Donna Dallesasse Award to her.”
Roman Seckel wrote about her participation on the Batavia Chamber of Commerce board of directors.
“Harriet was incredibly instrumental in her role as the chairman of the Chamber’s board of directors during the transition of leadership from Roger Breisch to Holly Deitchman six years ago,” Seckel commented. “Besides assisting the Chamber to get on firm financial footing, she helped put into place many of the practices, policies and measurements we use currently to continually gauge the Chamber’s goals and community impact.”
As to Ms Parker, she was “totally surprised” to learn she was selected for the Donna Dallesasse Award, stating, “I am very honored to be among such great company.”
Harriet, who is genuinely passionate about entrepreneurship, also serves on the Batavia Revitalization Committee organized by the Batavia Chamber. She is co-owner of HubTack, Inc., a web-based business serving land surveyors and engineers, which she started and runs with her husband, Andy. Additionally, she is on the Aurora Business Acquisition and Retention Committee, a subcommittee of the Aurora Downtown organization.
In 2011, she collaborated with community leaders to help launch the Fox Valley Entrepreneurship Center, and partners with them to refer clients to their business accelerator program. Several Batavia Chamber of Commerce members are creating their own success stories with the help of Harriet Parker. These include Bocaditos Café, Energy City Brewing, Gindo’s Spice of Life, Gun Barrel Coffee, and Limestone Coffee & Tea.
Roman Seckel put it best when he concluded his nomination letter with “the Chamber is a better organization for having Harriet involved.”
—Batavia Chamber of Commerce