The Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce and Industry Board of Directors elected four officers to its six-member Executive Committee for 2013 during their regular monthly meeting Nov. 20.

Elected by the Board of Directors to one-year Executive Committee terms were:

• Chairperson—Paul Koch, Partner and General Manager at Larry Roesch Chrysler Jeep Dodge (200 West Grand Avenue) since 1988
• First Vice Chairperson—Julie Miller, Office Manager and Paralegal at Patrick T. Sheehan & Associates, Attorneys at Law (314 North York Street), since 2000
• Second Vice Chairperson—Dee Longfellow, Editorial Coordinator for Rock Valley Publishing, publisher of the Elmhurst Independent (240 North West Avenue)
• Treasurer—Michael Himmes, Assistant Vice President, Commercial Banking, at MB Financial Bank since 2010

Koch, Miller, Longfellow and Himmes will be joined on the Executive Committee by Immediate Past Chair Jennifer Speaker, owner of SMB Advantage Group (188 Industrial Drive, Suite 214), and ex-officio member John Quigley, Chamber president and CEO since 1999.

Koch will work closely with the Chamber staff and oversee the policy-making work of the Chamber Board and its four standing committees:  Marketing, Membership, Ways and Means, and Governmental Affairs.

Miller, Longfellow and Koch will chair the Marketing, Membership and Ways and Means committees, respectively, while Quigley chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee.

Paul Koch

Paul Koch, Partner and General Manager at Larry Roesch Chrysler Jeep Dodge since 1988, is a first-term elected director who was first appointed to the Board in 2009 to fill a vacancy.

As first vice chairman, Koch chaired the Marketing Committee in 2012.  He also has served on the Governmental Affairs Committee since 2010.

Larry Roesch Family Auto Group was a major sponsor of Elmfest during the 2000s.

Prior to joining the Larry Roesch Family Auto Group, Koch served at R.R. Donnelley and Sons and Sargent and Lundy as a mechanical engineer.

Koch serves on the Board of Governors at Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare and as coach/manager for the Elmhurst-based Chiefs Hockey Club, and is a past president of the Kiwanis Club of Elmhurst.

A 1979 graduate of Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, Koch holds a Bachelor of Science degree (1984) from Northeastern University in Boston in mechanical engineering.

A former Elmhurst resident, Koch has resided in Bensenville for 21 years.

Julie Miller

Julie Miller, Office Manager and Paralegal at the IRS law firm of Patrick T. Sheehan and Associates Attorneys at Law since 2000, is a former Elmhurst College student intern who served one term as a director (2007-10) and then was appointed to the board in 2011 to fill a vacancy.

As second vice chairman, Miller chaired the Membership Committee in 2012.  She also has served on the Ways and Means Committee since 2008 and previously served on the Elmfest Steering Committee for seven years.

The law firm sponsored the Chamber’s Inaugural Duck Race in 2011 and was an Elmfest sponsor, and her husband (Patrick Sheehan) is a former member of the Chamber’s Board.

Her roles at the law firm include staff supervisor, building manager, human resources administrator, advertising/marketing director and accounts payable/receivable manager.

Miller interned at the Chamber during her senior year at Elmhurst College, while she completed work on a Bachelor of Arts degree (2000) in Government and Urban Studies.

An 11-year member of the Elmhurst Jaycees (chartered as the Junior Chamber of Commerce), Miller has served as the organization’s membership vice president and secretary, and is a member of the Distinguished Service Award Committee, including long-time chairman. She is also a member of the Elmhurst Newcomers and Neighbors Club, a nonprofit club for women.

She has lived in Elmhurst for 14 years.

Dee Longfellow

Dee Longfellow, editorial coordinator for Rock Valley Publishing, publisher of the Elmhurst Independent, is a first-term elected Chamber director who previously served on the Board (1988-89) and Membership Committee while representing the Holiday Inn Elmhurst.

As treasurer, Longfellow chaired the Ways and Means Committee in 2012. She also has served on the Governmental Affairs Committee since 2010.

Longfellow also is the former program director for the Northwest and Schaumburg Association of Commerce and Industry, a regional chamber where she planned the annual gala, golf outing, job fair and other special events.  Prior to NASCI, she ran her own public relations and marketing company for small businesses and individuals.

Longfellow is a founding board member, past president (1997) and former publicity chairman of the Elmhurst Children’s Assistance Foundation, and a former member, publicity chairman and newsletter editor of the Elmhurst Lions Club.

Longfellow is a graduate (B.A.) of Augustana College in South Dakota.

She is a resident of Bensenville and former Elmhurst resident (1985-97).

Michael Himmes

Michael Himmes, assistant vice president of commercial banking at MB Financial Bank, is a second-term elected director and the fourth former Elmhurst College student intern to be elected to the board since 2004.

Himmes worked on such major Chamber events as Elmfest and the annual meeting/silent auction during his service as a JOBPATH Program intern (2002-03).

His resume includes five years at Harris in multiple positions, including relationship manager, business banking, and one year at Citadel Investment Group as a settlement specialist.

Himmes is a member of the Elmhurst Jaycees, including service as secretary.

A summa cum laude graduate from Elmhurst College with a bachelor of arts degree as a finance major and economics minor, Himmes has participated in the Center for Professional Excellence Shadow Program since 2008.

He is a 30-year resident of Villa Park.

Jennifer Speaker

Speaker is among only seven female board chairmen in the chamber’s 90-year-plus history, all of them since 1982, but the fifth since 1999.

Preceding Speaker were Virginia “Ginny” Harmon (1982) of Unique Travel Service, Nancy Phillips (1988) of York State Bank, Gloria Duarte (1999) of Café Las Belles Artes, Cathy Bajkowski (2003) of CB Health Insurance, Dare Messina (2006) of L.W. Reedy Real Estate and Debra Klosterman (2007) of Guaranteed Rate.