New Chamber Head Sandoval Expanding on Longtime Mission
New Illinois Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Lou Sandoval.
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Lou Sandoval, the new President and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce is in his first week at the organization. Sandoval spoke to The Illinoize Tuesday.
Sandoval has spent his career in varying industries, from pharmaceuticals to yacht sales to technology consulting, all of which, he says, have prepared him for an advocacy role like the Chamber.
“I was [brought up] with the belief that business needs to advocate for its self interests,” Sandoval said. “As a business owner and ambassador for the industry, I could speak directly to the impact that adverse legislation might have on [businesses.]”
Sandoval says he has started and sold five businesses and understands the issues facing business.
“Whether a business is a small business or a whether it’s a large corporation, I fully understand some of the encumbrances on the legislative end of things,” he said. “I get the pain points.”
The Chamber has lost some political influence in the past decade, especially as Democrats have gained supermajorities in both the House and Senate. The Chamber PAC reported about $28,000 in the bank at the end of September.
“We’re going to be working with pragmatic political leaders that are pro-business,” Sandoval said. “I think what you’re going to see is a change in how we have done things in the past. We’re going work with anyone who is pro-business and anyone who is pragmatic.”
Unlike the Chamber’s previous two leaders, Todd Maisch, who passed away in June, and Doug Whitley, who retired in 2014, Sandoval is not a longtime Statehouse denizen, which he says allows the organization to refocus some of its priorities.
“I get the legislative process, but I think we need to empathize with our members,” he said. “What you’re going to see in this chapter of the Chamber is a very member-oriented organization that looks at what the businesses of today need. Advocacy is a very important component of that, but I think what you’re going to see is an extension above and beyond what the Chamber has done in the past.”
Sandoval will continue to reside in the Chicago area and split time in Springfield. He says he plans to make expanding the Chamber’s footprint in the northern half of the state a priority of his job.