40 Under 40 winners: Different ends of age spectrum, similar goals

By Melissa Westphal

BusinessRockford.com

The community responded when the Rockford Chamber of Commerce decided to honor young leaders this year. More than 100 nominations, all worthy of recognition, were submitted.

After paring down that list, the chamber hosted its Forty Leaders Under 40 reception last month. The Register Star took a look at both ends of the list, highlighting the youngest and oldest winners of the awards.

David Sidney is the youngest recipient at 25. He’s an urban planner who returned to Rockford after college and continues to be involved in the community, as he has since high school.

Tim Storm, CEO of FatWallet.com, slipped under the awards deadline at 39. He turned 40 last week and says a priority for the region is recruiting and retaining young talent.

‘A lot of potential here’
Sidney was surprised by his nomination for the Forty Under 40 awards. He was nominated by a former co-worker, Jennifer McInnis, and a friend, attorney Ann Dempsey.

“David has a passion for making Rockford better,” Dempsey said in her nomination letter. “He acts on this desire for positive change by sharing his talents and skills in strategic ways to leverage his impact.”

At the time he was nominated, Sidney worked as a land planner for Buckley Land Planners. He graduated from Auburn High School in 2001.

Sidney now works as a principal planner at Gary Anderson & Associates in Rockford, where he does site planning for large and small-scale lots and project coordination. The company also focuses on historic preservation, new construction, and industrial and commercial work.

He first studied architecture at the University of Illinois at Champaign but discovered urban planning along the way and switched his major.

He attributes his motivation to early involvement in school and church and encouragement from his parents, Roosevelt and Peggy Sims.

“I was raised that you are a giving person,” Sidney said. “I kept finding passion toward communities, how they come together and who makes them. I’m trying to figure out my path. ... There’s no science to it.”

Sidney said he sensed a need to return to Rockford upon graduation.

“I wasn’t sure why, but I felt really that the community drew me into urban planning,” Sidney said. “It is growing, and there’s a lot of potential here.”

His professors in Champaign would note how Rockford is strategically located between Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison and had the benefits of the Rock River.

“It’s really so true, with the great topography and the cool buildings downtown,” Sidney said. “That all makes us a good place to be.”

Sidney thinks he’ll stay in Rockford for a while, saying the city “has a special place in me.” He wants to focus on projects in the downtown area and revitalization of the South Main Street corridor. He also recognizes the need for future work on the U.S. 20 bypass heading west to Freeport.

“At the same time we think about how to revitalize downtown, we should think about in 10 years revitalizing Mulford or Perryville roads,” Sidney said. “It has a life cycle. We can see it marching down State Street. Who knows where we’ll be? A healthy Rockford means every quadrant has important economic factors.”

Not a one-man show
Storm jokes that he’s too old to talk about his Forty Under 40 award.

He turned 40 on June 5, and his co-workers stuffed his office with 2,000 green, purple and black balloons. You can see proof of the prank on YouTube (below the story).

Even talking about his award, Storm drops the “we” word when describing the company’s success. FatWallet negotiates discounts with major retailers and then passes part of the savings to members who shop at those stores online. Storm is a Harlem High School graduate, and the company opened a new office this year on the former site of the Wagon Wheel resort in Rockton.

“We’ve done some good things in the community, and we’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in the past few years,” Storm said. “I’m not much into personal awards, but I do look at this as an endorsement of what we’ve been able to do as a company in this area. The reality is that this isn’t a one-man show. The success is through the efforts of everybody’s work.”

Storm hopes the award will attract job applicants. He said recruiting and retaining young talent is a priority for the region.

His FatWallet co-worker, Laura Pagles, nominated him for the award.

“FatWallet.com is a long-standing, well-respected publisher within the industry,” her letter reads. “Merchants and fellow publishers consider Storm to be a pioneer.”

Storm said relocating allowed the company to take a good look at its future and him to evaluate his leadership role.

“Seven months ago, a survey of employees would have shown that communication is a challenge,” Storm said. “So far this year, everybody in the company is involved in a daily huddle for a few minutes so people know what the tasks are for the day, and there’s so much more information out there.”

FatWallet has 42 employees now, and that number will grow to 47 soon, Storm said. The company invests in local sports teams like the Rockford RiverHawks and the Rockford IceHogs to promote entertainment and activities for young professionals and families.

“We look for things to support that help make the community a better place to live,” Storm said. “Younger professionals are coming back, and they’ve been in a college town where they like going to events. It’s something that impacts the quality of life.”

Staff writer Melissa Westphal can be reached at 815-987-1341 or mwestpha@rrstar.com.

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YouTube: FatWallet.com employees prank CEO Tim Storm

 

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Forty Under 40 award recipients
Chandler Anderson, 38, owner of Icon Development Group

David Anderson, 37, president of Spring Creek Development Co.

Lisa Anderson, 31, assistant vice president of preferred services at M&I Bank

Nicole Baxter, 37, manager of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 gearbox program at Hamilton Sundstrand

Conor Brown, 29, government affairs director, Rockford Area Realtors

LaVonne Brown, 33, director of client experience at Savant Capital Management

Mary Cacioppi, 35, director of economic development and business attraction/retention/expansion for the village of Roscoe

Luan Dean, 39, co-owner of Lula’s Vintage Boutique

Russ Dennis Jr., 36, vice president for Leading Edge Hydraulics

Jeremy DeWeerdt, 38, lead pastor at Rockford First Assembly Church

Earl Dotson Jr., 38, deputy administrator for the Winnebago County Board chairman’s office

Lisa Frost, 38, artist and teacher, owner of Lisa Frost Studio

Mike Hakanson, 38, vice president and Realtor/homebuilder/developer for Gambino Homes

Amanda Hamaker, 38, chief operating officer for the Girl Scouts of Rock River Valley

Shane Hartje, 37, CEO of 1st Step Mortgage

Emily Hartzog, 31, community relations officer for the Rockford Public Library

Jorge Herrera, 31, assistant vice president of commercial banking at JPMorgan Chase

Jeff Hultman, 35, senior vice president and division manager for JPMorgan Chase Bank

Cedric Johnson, 25, community relations specialist for the American Red Cross

Dustin Kaap, 35, Ram Air turbine engineer for Hamilton Sundstrand

Ian Linnabary, 34, partner and attorney with Reno & Zahm

Brendan Maher, 37, partner in litigation group for WilliamsMcCarthy

Bill Miller, 39, assistant vice president, regional HR manager for Associated Bank

Melissa Miller, 39, commercial broker, associate for Century 21 Country North

Larry Morrissey, 38, Rockford mayor

Amy Ott, 38, deputy director of administration and finance for Chicago Rockford International Airport

Jennie Pollock, 35, deputy managing editor, Rockford Register Star

Peter Provenzano, 36, CEO of SupplyCore

Bharat Puri, 35, director of finance and development for First Rockford Group

John Quinn, 38, vice president, health-care philanthropy practice for the Furst Group

Antonio Ramirez, 27, associate program director of youth and teen development at the YMCA of Rock River Valley

Brent Scott, 32, vice president of commercial banking for JPMorgan Chase Bank

David Sidney, 25, principal planner for Gary Anderson Associates

Paul Sletton, 30, owner, chef for Brio, Cru and Jackson’s

Shari Snyder, 35, assistant vice president of consumer lending at Belvidere National Bank

Joe Sosnowski, 31, Rockford alderman, vice president of commercial real estate for Buckley Real Estate

Tim Storm, 40, CEO of FatWallet.com

Holly Swanson, 33, general manager for Total Living Network (TV51)

Tonya Thayer, 36, executive director of Habitat for Humanity

 

 

 

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