CertifiChecks Update

As many of you know, the Princeton Chamber and Chambers of Commerce across the country discovered that CertifiChecks, Inc., the company which administered gift certificate programs for Chambers and other organizations, ceased operations as of February 26, 2009 and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 13, 2009.

The Princeton Chamber had stopped using CertifiChecks on February 1, 2009 and began a new local gift certificate program because we were not satisfied with their services.

When we became aware of the CertifiChecks problem on February 27, the Princeton Chamber took immediate action. We notified all members to stop taking the CertifiChecks, and encouraged them to send the certificate holders to the Chamber office. We also reimbursed, in full, any Chamber Members who had taken CertifiChecks prior to the initial notice. Then we provided a public notice, asking everyone to bring any outstanding CertifiChecks to the Chamber Office by May 1, 2009.

Once we had all of the outstanding CertifiChecks, the Chamber Board of Directors could assess the damage done to our community by CertifiChecks.

CertifiChecks gift certificates in the amount of $9930 have been turned in to the Chamber office. The Chamber Board is committed to be responsible for 100% of the value of these CertifiChecks. We ask for your patience while the Board attempts to raise these additional dollars. At this time we are committed to reimbursing everyone but we do not know where the funds will come from or when they can be paid.

If you can help the Chamber find the funding for this reimbursement, or can step forward to help us through this financial challenge, the entire area will appreciate your generosity and community spirit. We assure you that if we are awarded any money in the bankruptcy case, it will be used to repay those that have helped.

The Chamber is in the process of preparing a claim in the amount of $9930 against CertifiChecks’ bankruptcy case in an effort to reclaim the money.

As we noted above, the Princeton Chamber had already switched to a new, locally-managed Gift Certificate program as of February 1, 2009. We encourage you to use our new Gift Certificates to continue to encourage local purchases.

For further information, please feel free to contact Erika at the Chamber office at 815-875-2616.

Sincerely,


Erika Robbins
Executive Director, Princeton Chamber of Commerce

Rex D. Conger
Chairperson, Chamber Board of Directors
President and CEO, Perry Memorial Hospital