the August 2023 | Volume 36 | No. 8
of the rockford business community
INVESTMENT IDEAS FOR BUSINESS OWNER ERNA COLBORN
FINDING THE RIGHT BENEFIT PROGRAM PARTNER MIKE ROCHE
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A lifetime of mentors
YLC SEEKS NEW MEMBERS FOR 2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR The Chairman and Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council (YLC) promotes the development of diverse young leaders in our community by providing experience with how government works. The goal is to build the leaders of today and retain the leaders of the future.
Collaborations in leadership
By Andrew Wright, Rockford Chamber of Commerce Robert “Bo” Chaney is exactly the sort of guy you’d want to take advice from. Tall and neatly put together in his Rockford Fire dress uniform, he’s gregarious from the moment you meet him, and his friendly demeanor immediately puts you at ease. His natural charisma suits his role as recruiter for the Rockford Fire Department, which puts him in a position to help aspiring first responders find their place serving the Rockford community. A significant part of Chaney’s job is getting young people interested in
careers serving their community. For Chaney, the best way to develop that interest is to model that spirit of service for the next generation. “You’ve got to be unselfish. If you’re selfish, you can’t help anybody else,” Chaney said. This philosophy explains why Chaney is an active leader with 815 M.A.A.G – the Minority Access Achievement Group that serves Rockford’s minority youth. Growing up as an inner-city kid from Chicago, Chaney was introduced to a whole different world when he came to Rockford and married his wife, a member of the well-known Box family. His father-in-law, Horace Box, represented the sort of mentorship that Chaney now emulates. “You’d see [Horace Box] go to work at Box’s Restaurant, then to work at Auburn High School. You’d see his brother
Charles, the mayor of Rockford, doing important work for the city. These men of importance, in charge of things, showed me a different pathway than what I knew in Chicago,” he said. Chaney’s mentorship work with 815 M.A.A.G. helps future Auburn graduates connect with recent graduates to learn what life after high school is really like and what resources are available to them. “When these recent students come back and talk to their younger peers, you could hear a pin drop. They’re telling the truth about how their life changed after school. They’re becoming the next generation of mentors,” Chaney said. 815 M.A.A.G. conducts a complete needs analysis to see what the kids need to achieve success – information, encouragement, financial support – and creates a resource bank for them to tap (continued on page 14)
• Interest in learning more about leadership, public policy, community health and local government.
By Andrew Wright, Rockford Chamber of Commerce
Join the Chamber on Social Media
The Voice is online at rockfordchamber.com
Teachers, principals, coaches, community leaders, elected officials or anyone who works with youth are also encouraged to nominate students.
• Winnebago County sophomores or juniors in high school (returning YLC members may be seniors).
Kyle Scheele and the Viking funeral
THE VOICE IS PUBLISHED BY
Students who want to join the YLC for next year can apply now by completing the application on the Winnebago County Health Department website publichealth.wincoil.gov/getinvolved/ylc/.
Students must meet the following requirements:
Setting fire to the past
One of the most important skills that innovative business leaders have is the ability to set aside previous successes and look at the problem with fresh, new eyes. In other words, they’re willing to set fire to the past and start over. When Kyle Scheele was about to turn 30, he asked his wife if she’d be on board with throwing a Viking funeral for his 20s, gigantic blazing ship and all. “I genuinely thought I wanted her permission on this, knowing that I’d need to stop working for about two weeks, gather the materials and assemble a giant cardboard ship,” Scheele said. “She could tell better than I could how into this idea I was. She could see something about the way I reacted to this project that I couldn’t see myself.”
YLC members participate in interactive educational sessions, special events, group community projects, and youth advisory meetings with discussions. These events are often attended by Rockford Mayor Thomas McNamara, Winnebago County Board Chairman Joe Chiarelli and other civic leaders.
• Able to attend at least 11 of 15 YLC meetings.
Scheele’s 30th birthday could’ve been a bonfire. “My parents had suggested a bonfire, and having some people over,” he said. When he rolled the ship onto the rural property his parents owned, the ship had become a gigantic art project, complete with dragon head and tail, cardboard scales, and a cardboard cargo script that read “My 20s” on the deck. He and his friends fired Roman candles at the craft, sending the effigy of that decade into the sky floating on ash and embers. The filmed project gained attention on the internet. Scheele heard from scores (continued on page 15)
• Self-starters with the potential to develop into future leaders of our community. Applications and nominations will be accepted until September 18, 2023. Please direct application or nomination questions to prevention@ publichealth.wincoil.gov, or call council facilitator at (815) 720-4346. Check out the Youth Leadership Council on Instagram (ylc_815) or visit publichealth.wincoil. gov/get-involved/ylc/ for more information.