Peggy Friday was born and raised near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (home of the 6-Time Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers).  She is a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, having majored in Broadcast Communications.  Peggy served as the Associate Director for United States Senator Peter G. Fitzgerald where she was responsible for Constituent Services. 

Peggy was the Senator’s Military Liaison dealing directly with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Merchant Marines and the Reserves.  Peggy worked daily with staff at the Pentagon and active duty officers and soldiers stationed all over the world.  She also handled issues for the Senator dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs, FAA, IRS, etc.  She enjoyed serving as Fitzgerald’s Military Academy Coordinator, helping to place students at West Point, Annapolis, the Air Force Academy, and Merchant Marine.

When Senator Fitzgerald retired, Peggy took a position with the City of Rochelle, working in Economic Development.  She became the Commercial and Retail Development Coordinator and the Director of the Rochelle Regional Retail Alliance, a partnership between the City and the Greater Rochelle Economic Development Corporation (GREDCO).

On May 1, 2009, Peggy accepted the position of Executive Director/CEO of the Rochelle Area Chamber of Commerce and Business Development, offering both Chamber and commercial and retail economic development services. 
Peggy lives in Ashton and has three children Charles (19) a Sophomore, majoring in Exercise Science and a member of the Dutch Baseball Team at Central College in Pella, Iowa, Katherine (14), and Madeline (12).

pfriday@rochelle.net
Phone: 815-562-4189 Ext 2058
Fax: 815-562-4180

Stephanie grew up on a farm on the outskirts of Rochelle.  She is a graduate of Rochelle Township High School.  While she attended RTHS during her junior and senior years, she had the opportunity to attend Kishwaukee Community College through the Kishwaukee Education Consortium (KEC).  During her time at Kish she studied Business and Information Technology.

In addition to attending Kish during her senior year of high school she became an intern for the City of Rochelle.  With hopes of continuing her education in political science she felt working for the City would be a great start to her political career.  But little did she know that her true passion was economic development.  Shortly after starting for the City she found herself a permanent desk in the economic development office.  She took on the responsibilities of assisting Jason Anderson the Economic Development Director.

In the economic development office, she worked closely with the Greater Rochelle Economic Development Corporation (GREDCO) and the Rochelle Regional Retail Alliance.  The education she received from the hands on experience during her time at the City was an education that money cannot buy.  During the time of the merger between the Rochelle Regional Retail Alliance and the Chamber of Commerce, Stephanie worked in both the Chamber office and the Economic Development/GREDCO office.  When the merger was complete in May 2009, she began to work full-time for the Chamber.  In conjunction with her full-time work for the Chamber, Stephanie is in the process of continuing her education in public administration.

Because of her excellent computer and technology skills and her relationships with local media, the Chamber is proud to offer to our members free media and technology service assistance.

swhitmer@hub-city.net
Phone: 815-562-4189 Ext 2087
Fax : 815-562-4180