Chamber Seats Directors, Elects Officers

(2019 CHAMBER BOARD CHAIRMAN JOSH BULLOCK AND 2018 BOARD CHAIRMAN MATT CEKANDER)

The Effingham County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors seated new directors and elected new officers at its annual meeting.

Elected to serve on the Board for three years are Jay Buehnerkemper, Vice President Commercial Lending, First Mid Bank & Trust; Dr. Ryan Jennings, Chief Medical Officer, HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital; Joe Knabe, General Manager, Al’s Tire Mart & Electronics; Jamie Stang-Ellis, Owner, StangArts Studio; and John Wright, President, Wright’s Furniture & Flooring. Appointed to the Board to fill unexpired terms are Mark Doan, Superintendent, Effingham Community Unit#40 and Mike Kirchoff, Financial Representative, Thrivent Financial.

(THE 2019 EFFINGHAM COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS)

Retiring Chairman of the Board Matt Cekander, Partner, Doehring, Winders & Co. LLP welcomed Dr. Josh Bullock, President, Lake Land College as incoming 2019 Chairman. Joining Bullock on the Executive Committee are Vice President Business Development Nathan Nohren, Senior Traffic Engineer, Lochmeuller Group; Vice President Membership Development Chris Tingley, President, Tingley Insurance Agency, Inc.; Vice President Workforce Development Matt Roedl, Financial Advisor, Prudential Financial; Vice President Community Development Jamie Stang Ellis; Chair-Elect Jeff Speer, Broker/Owner, RE/MAX Key Advantage; Board Secretary Matt Cekander and Treasurer Joyce Stock, Vice President of Finance, Siemer Milling Company.

(2019 CHAMBER BOARD OFFICERS)

Other Board Directors currently serving are Mike Defend, President & CEO, Crossroads Bank; Travis Bushue, President, Bushue HR, Inc.; Chris Swing, President & COO, Vantage Outsourcing; and Rachel Collins, HR Manager, Peerless of America IL, Inc.

Ex-Officio Board members appointed to serve in 2019 include Mayor Jeff Bloemker, City of Effingham; Jim Niemann, Chairman, Effingham County Board; Russ Runde, President, Effingham YBNext; Amanda McKay, Chair, Downtown Effingham Business Group; Craig Nielson, President, Effingham Regional Growth Alliance; Dawn Burrow, President, Altamont Chamber of Commerce and Rich Hartke, President, Teutopolis Community for Progress.

Honored for service on the Chamber Board were retiring directors Mel Stock, Market President, Midland States Bank; Cory Niebrugge, Contractor Sales & Design Specialist, Niebrugge Lumber Company and Kevin Dust, Sales Manager, Dust and Son.