Publications & Sites 
Evanston chamber bash to honor two
Updated: January 29, 2013 6:58PM
Longtime Evanston business person John J. Cahill, and Eugene Sunshine, senior vice president for business and finance at Northwestern University, are in line for awards from the Evanston Chamber of Commerce at the group’s meeting next week.
Cahill, president of John J. Cahill, Inc., will be honored as the chamber’s 2013 Business Person of the Year, and Sunshine, will receive the group’s Community Service/Non-Profit award at the meeting to be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, at 27Live, the city’s new entertainment-restaurant venue at 1012 Church St.
Cost of the event is $45 per person, including appetizers and a special one-night only Chamber drink. The event is open to the public. For more information contact Elaine@evchamber.com for reservations or call 847-328-1500, Ext. 22.
Cahill, a former Chamber Board member, heads the oldest family-owned plumbing, heating and cooling business in the state of Illinois. The company was founded in 1890 and has built a legacy of excellence based on trust and service. He is proud that over 20 of his current and past employees have worked for the company for more than 30 years.
A supporter of many Evanston and North Shore charitable groups, he serves on the advisory board of the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, the Grandmother Park initiative and the Business Advisory Council of Mental Health America of the North Shore.
Sunshine has been with Northwestern for 16 years. He is the chief business, financial, administrative and personnel officer and the principal advisor to the Northwestern president on non-academic affairs. He came to Northwestern from The John Hopkins University where he served in a similar role for 10 years.
He had previously been the state treasurer of New York and has special expertise in energy conservation and budget implementation. A member of the Chamber’s executive committee for many years, Sunshine indicated that it helped him get to know the businesses in Evanston from the inside.
“There was an openness I appreciated,” he said.
New Board members will be formally voted upon at the celebration. Dick Peach, general manager at Dempster Auto Rebuilders, has been slated as president. Other officers include President/Elect Rebecca Berneck of Apogee Strategies/Officeheads; Ingrid Stafford, associate vice president/treasurer at Northwestern University and Steve Hagerty, president of Hagerty Consulting who will serve as past president.
