OPDC Chairman Noll Honored

Dominican University Awards Community Bank Chairman Martin Noll the James W. Haugh Award for Entrepreneurship and Ethics in Business

River Forest, IL – Dominican University’s Brennan School of Business presented the James W. Haugh Award for Entrepreneurship and Ethics in Business to Martin J. Noll, chairman, chief executive officer and founding shareholder of Oak Park River Forest Bankshares, Inc., the holding company for the Community Bank of Oak Park River Forest. Noll was honored during the 2009 Entrepreneurship Breakfast on Tuesday, March 10 in the university’s Parmer Hall.

Marty and his wife, Mary Lou, have been mainstays of the Oak Park/River Forest community for 30 years. He organized Community Bank of Oak Park River Forest in 1996 as a locally-owned and managed financial services institution meeting the needs of individuals, professionals, owners of closely-held businesses and not-for-profit organizations. He began his career in banking in 1965 with American National Bank and Trust Company Chicago (now JP Morgan Chase). He has also served as president and chief executive officer of Avenue Bank of Oak Park (now US Bank), vice president of The First National Bank of Chicago (now JP Morgan Chase), and president and chairman of First Chicago Bank of Oak Park (formerly the Oak Park Trust and Savings Bank).

Mr. Noll has been an active member of many local business organizations and nonprofit boards, serving as a former trustee of the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation and past-president of the Oak Park Education Foundation. He is chairman of the Oak Park Development Corporation, a founding member of the Business and Civic Council of Oak Park and a board member of the Bankers Club of Chicago. Noll also serves as president of the board of West Suburban Sentinel Corporation and is a member of the boards of Dominican University and Resurrection Health Care Foundation. He has also been a member of the board of directors of the Illinois Bankers Association.

The Brennan School of Business created the annual James W. Haugh Award to honor an entrepreneur or other principal in a family-owned business whose achievements reflect the business acumen, dedication to community and personal integrity that marked James Haugh, a member of the Dominican University Board of Trustees for 10 years and a former chairman of the board for three years.

Founded in 1977, the Brennan School of Business has developed a reputation for its focus on global business and international study, its dedication to developing students’ knowledge of entrepreneurial business practices and its commitment to business ethics. The school was named in 2006 in honor of Edward A. Brennan, the late chairman and chief executive officer of Sears, Roebuck and Co., and his wife Lois L. Brennan, an alumna of the university.