Morton Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council
 
Morton Matters Newsletter
 
October 2015
Sponsored by
In This Issue
Trick or Treat Main Street
Festival Follow Up
Chamber 101
MIX
October Leap Session
Business Briefs
Morton Community Prayer Breakfast
Community Foundation
Save the Date
October 6

October 22

October 27
Welcome New Chamber Members
Chamber Calendar
Join Our List
Join Our Mailing List
Chamber Board Members
Bill Aupperle, Past Pres.
Jamie Durdel
Nick Esser
Nick Graff
Jenna Grimm
Lindsey Hall
Barbara Heer
Shelly Hunt, Sec./Treas.
Mary Jane Johnson, Pres.
Darren Martin, Vice Pres.
Aaron Miller
David Mills
Tyler Petersen
Alissa Williams
David Zern
150% Club

A.C. Counseling & Family Servces

Aaron Miller, Real Estate Broker

Ackerman Farms

Alltrust Financial Management

Barb Heer, Broker

 Baymont Inn & Suites

Benckendorf & Benckendorf PC

Billy Daniel Excavating

BodySound Massage Therapy

Brandon Wood Retirement Center

Carius Dairy Queen

Childers Door Service of Central IL

China Dragon

CMFS Group

ClearPath IT Solutions

Colby Natural Health

Core Construction

Country Financial

Cracker Barrel

Craig H. Barley

Crossroads Concrete

Culver's of Morton

Dave Bailey Plumbing

David Mills CPA LLC

David W. Kinsinger DDS

DSM-H LLC

Edward Jones Investments - Allan Hart

Elevate Church

Engaging Excellence

Engineering Design & Development

Farm & Fleet of Morton

Focus on Eyes

Frontier Communication

Grimm Bros. Trucking

Heartland Bank & Trust

Heartland Chiropractic

Heartland Veterinary Clinic

Hometown Title Inc.

Illinois Business Financial Services

Iron-A-Way

JA Roecker Architecture

Jay Fox Insurance

Jim Maloof Realtor

JIm Yordy

Keach Architecture

Kennel Lake Sportsmen's Club

Kmart

Knapp Johnson Funeral Home

Kuhl Insurance

L & F Electric Inc.

Laurus Strategies Financial Services

Lennie's Quality Meats

Libby's Pumpkin

Lighthouse Buick GMC

Liquor Station

Lowell Schroeder, Realtor

Marie Fisk, Realtor

Markley's Pest Elimination

Massage with Pauline

Maxine's on Main

McDaniel Plumbing Co.

McDonald's of Morton

Merlin Birky

Midstate College

Mike Murphy Ford

Mike Yordy Excavation & Land Improvement

Millennia Professional Services

Mohr & Kerr Engineering

Morton Animal Hospital

Morton Buildings

Morton Capital LLC

Morton Collision Repair

Morton Dental Center

Morton Knights of Columbus

Morton Machining LLC

Morton School Dist. 709

Nelson Global Products - Morton North

Oak Lawn Estates

OIC Group

Old Smokey's BBQ

OSF Center for Health -Morton

PC Doctor

PAAR

R.A. Cullinan & Son

Ranson & Ranson Dental

Reading, Rhyming & Romping

Redhead Graphic Design

Reliant Auto Glass

Renewal by Andersen

Riverview Senior Living Community

RMH Foods

Robert Schnarr

Roecker Consulting Engineers

Schooners of Morton

Stephens Electric

Sumer Wellness & Spa

Tazewell Floor Covering

TCRC

The Avenue

The Iona Group

The Prassas Co.

The Whisler Agency

Thomas E. Davies PC

Touch of Wellness Chiropractic

TriCounty Mower

Trillium Staffing Solutions

Web Services

West Central IL Building & Construction Trades

Wm. Aupperle & Sons

Yinlun USA
Trick or Treat Main Street!
A Spooktacular Event in Downtown Morton
The Morton Chamber of Commerce will once again be hosting a spooktacular event aimed at bringing families to Downtown Morton to shop, eat and Trick or Treat!

Our third annual Trick or Treat Main Street will be held on Friday, October 30 from 3:00-6:00 pm. The Best Decorated Business will receive a traveling trophy and a Chamber advertising package worth $500. The Best Costumed Employee will receive $50 in Chamber Checks.

The Chamber encourages all downtown Chamber Member merchants to participate in this event by staying open until 6:00 pm that evening, handing out candy, and offering a special activity, menu, or sale at your business. Please register your business using the link above if you would like to participate so we can promote your business.
Festival Follow Up
Thank you to all of our members and others in the community who helped make 2015 another great year for the Morton Pumpkin Festival! The support we receive is what has allowed this to become such an amazing community event. We are already at work on next year, which will be the 50th Morton Pumpkin Festival! 

If you haven't already done so, we'd love to hear your feedback. Please take a moment and complete our Festival survey. 
Chamber 101 
chamber101
Tuesday, October 6
Noon - 1:00 pm
Morton Chamber
FREE for Chamber Members

This one hour, informal get together includes a review of free member services, promotional opportunities, and our events and programs.  We encourage all new members, new managers, and current members who would like a quick reminder of their member benefits to join us! This is also a great opportunity for businesses who aren't currently members to learn more about the advantages of being a part of the Morton Chamber of Commerce. This FREE session includes lunch. 
Morton Information Exchange
Wednesday, October 14
7:30-9:00 am
Morton Chamber
FREE for Chamber Members

One of the greatest assets of the Chamber and the business community in Morton is the wealth and diversity of business expertise. MIX will capitalize on those assets by creating peer-to-peer/mentoring groups of 6-8 individuals.The Chamber launched MIX in August with our first peer-to-peer networking group, focusing on marketing and promotion. Future groups will focus cash management, marketing and other topics. 

If you are interested in joining this next MIX group or a future group, please contact Chamber Executive Director Brian Anderson (banderson@mortonillinois.org or 309-263-2491).
October LEAP Session: Internet Marketing
Tuesday, October 27
8:00 - 9:30 am
Morton Chamber 
FREE for Chamber Members

Ever wish that sites like Google and Facebook were helping your company be more profitable? If so, you aren't alone - it can be a real challenge for business owners and managers to stay on top of everything they need to know to put together an effective Internet marketing plan.

Presenter: Tammy Finch of Web Services Inc.
Business Briefs
A room designed to give long-term residents at the Center for Prevention of Abuse a quiet place to read a book, study or use the computer got a makeover recently, thanks to Bradley University's Alpha Chi Omega sorority. The room, called "Juanita's Wings", is located in The Center's long-term housing.

The Great American Popcorn Company of Morton is now open at 126 South Main Street. Gourmet popcorn is made daily. Also offered are hand-dipped premium ice cream, fudge and chocolates.

The Morton Public Library is pleased to announce it now offers faxing service. As well as sending faxes, patrons can also receive faxes at the library. The charge is the same for both services, at $1 per page. To fax a document simply come to the library's circulation desk for assistance. 
Morton Community Prayer Breakfast
The 2015 Morton Community Prayer Breakfast will be on Wednesday, October 7, at the Ashland House. Guest speaker is Mark Whitacre, an Ivy League Ph.D. who is considered the highest-ranked executive of any Fortune 500 company to become a whistleblower in U.S. history, and was responsible for uncovering the ADM price-fixing scandal in the early 1990's. Whitacre's story is an inspirational story of faith, hope, redemption and second chances. 

Tickets are $20 each and may be purchased at any of the three Morton Community Bank branches in Morton, or online, or by downloading the order form and mailing it in with payment. 
Community Foundation News 
On Saturday, October 17, 2015, the Morton Community Foundation will present the 5th Annual "Oktoberfest" fundraising event.  Over the years, this event has been an overwhelming success, and is a highly anticipated fundraiser for the community. 

For more information and tickets, please go to the Morton Community Foundation website.