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Innovative Superfund Settlement Key Factor in National Chamber Award

2 September 1999

Innovative Superfund Settlement Key Factor in National Chamber Award

    ROCKFORD, Ill., Sept. 1 -- An innovative community-based
solution to a local Superfund crisis helped the Rockford Area Chamber of
Commerce earn the 1999 Award of Excellence from the National Association for
Membership Development (NAMD).  NAMD is an affiliate organization of the
American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE).
    Among the programs submitted for review to the NAMD was a community-based
program that offers a national model for settling Superfund litigation.
Rockford's 10-square mile groundwater study zone represented 20 percent of the
city and holds 60 percent of its industrial capacity.  Local government and
business leaders, together with Chamber officials, negotiated a settlement
with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Illinois EPA that
helped the community avoid protracted litigation.  The area is now being
marketed as an Industrial Heartland Project, which will develop and finance
industrial activity in the groundwater zone.
    More than 160 industrial landowners now hold formal releases from future
groundwater liability and these are transferable to future owners.
    "The Superfund settlement was critical to the economic future of our
community," says Chamber and Council of 100 President Ryan Petty.  "Working
together with City of Rockford officials, we were able to avoid a crisis that
could have affected the community for decades.  Instead, we're looking to that
area as a catalyst for continued industrial and manufacturing activity that is
so important to our regional economy."
    The Rockford Chamber earned the NAMD award in the large chamber category,
open to all chambers nationally with annual membership dues revenue exceeding
$500,000.  The award, given annually since 1986, is the most comprehensive
recognition given in the chamber of commerce profession and recognizes
financial performance, membership programs, internal operations and
organizational mission.  The finalists also included chambers from the Albany,
N.Y. and Winston-Salem, N.C. areas.
    Past award winners in the large chamber category include chambers in
Cleveland, Detroit, Jacksonville, Fla., Cincinnati, Louisville and Atlanta.
    The NAMD, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, provides professional
development for membership professionals in chambers of commerce and related
organizations across the country.
    The Rockford Area Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization with
more than 2,000 member companies and organizations in the stateline region of
northern Illinois.  For more information, contact Wester Wuori at
815-987-8100, ext. 119.