Jessica Linder Gallo believes the Greater Peoria region continues to make strides in business development and economic growth.
“We have this incredible community, and we know that it can be a great place to live, to plant roots, with a great cost of living, transportation, accessibility, things to do,” said Gallo, president and CEO of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce.
She says a focus on talent retention is among the chamber’s top objectives as the business community copes with regulatory changes and uncertain conditions stemming from tariffs and inflation.
“As a state, particularly we’re seeing an out-migration really of our emerging talent,” said Gallo. “We’re losing folks with credentials, folks who could be stepping into many of the open management and leadership jobs that we’re seeing across the region.
“So from a chamber perspective, we think talent retention is vital to keeping our businesses running right. We need people to take over companies. We need people to purchase companies. We need people to come up in these leadership roles. We need people starting businesses from scratch. That’s how you keep a region really healthy.”
Gallo has been leading the organization for just over a year now, although she devoted some of that time to another important cause: parenthood.
“It’s wild to think that it’s been a year, but I did take some time off for maternity leave and now almost have a 1-year-old as well, which is bananas,” she said. “But I would say it’s been a really good year. There has been just so much change in the ecosystem here in Peoria, and it’s led to a lot of opportunities for the chamber to really step in, I think, and be really firm in our mission to support business and really be the voice for business.”
Over the past year, she said the chamber has striven to adapt and evolve to better meet the needs of the region's business community, notably through an organizational “rebrand.”
“We wanted the look of the chamber to match the vibrancy of our membership,” she said. “We’ve invested time, more than anything, in developing new programs and new member benefits, some of which have started coming out. We have new ways for businesses to tell their story and really market themselves, put themselves out there through the chamber.”
That effort will continue over the next 12-18 months as the organization intends to launch even more opportunities.
“We’ll have additional programs for businesses coming out, things like industry round tables, executive round tables, exclusive spaces for advocacy and legislation discussions and connection,” said Gallo.
“The chamber has always been a place for people to network and connect and try and grow their business, and we’re going to continue to have those programs and add to some of that. We have discount programs for businesses to save money on things like insurance, energy, software. Just really the goal as I see it, is making the chamber that one-stop shop: If a business has a problem, call the chamber.”
Gallo said the chamber’s investments in programs such as their Community Leadership school and the Young Professionals of Greater Peoria go a long way in helping the organization achieve its goals.
She said the chamber continues to have discussions with area municipalities about making sure Greater Peoria is a business-friendly community.
“We know that businesses have rising costs across the board. They’re trying to navigate benefits for employees, new regulations,” she said. “So for us, one of our top priorities is being that resource to provide really one on one business support.
“These business owners, so many times they need to be running their business and they don’t have time to be scanning hundreds of pages of regulation, right? So that’s somewhere where we can step in.”
