Located in a former bank, the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce aims to promote, represent, educate and communicate with businesses and groups in DeKalb.

The chamber is made of organizations and community members that work to better the DeKalb economy through each of their four goals.

Many busy days at the chamber consist of answering phone calls and working on projects – such as arranging information packets at the drop of a hat – or organizing a business-to-business expo in advance, or assisting those who come in.

“It’s fun, it keeps you going,” said Debra Armstrong, coordinator for the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

There are 575 members representing almost 11,000 people in the area.

Members of the community, retail businesses, manufacturing businesses, education, government, service clubs, nonprofit organizations and churches are all included in the Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s not just retail,” said executive director Chuck Siebrasse. “It’s a vast array of different business.”

The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce can also help someone get information on how to start a business or to get information about state-level bills regarding retail or manufacturing.

The state-wide Chamber of Commerce sends out surveys to get information from individual chambers.

“The Chamber is the information center for the businesses,” Siebrasse said.

While the Chamber is here to help businesses, it’s the businesses’ responsibility to help bring business into town, said chamber member Ash Patel from the Holiday Inn Express.

Communication between the Convocation Center and the chamber allowed news of the Sugarland concert to be sent all over Illinois through the Northern Illinois Tourism Bureau and the State Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“At Sugarland, there were actually some people there from Norway,” Siebrasse said.

A candidates night in late March at the Egyptian Theatre will allow candidates running for positions as aldermen, in the school district or in the park district to talk about issues going on and the positions they are running for, Siebrasse said.