The 2022 movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once” has absolutely nothing to do with Pekin except that the title seems to describe Amy McCoy. Everywhere you look, on any given day, you are likely to find the executive director of the Pekin Chamber of Commerce bringing people together and working to make Pekin the best it can be.

Not only that, but you are also likely to see her actively involved in organizations and promoting causes that illustrate her passion for service and helping others. 

But Amy’s highly visible and active role in promoting the community is a far cry from where it was when she started in her position in March 2020, “just before the world shut down.”

She describes it as a frustrating and trying time as businesses struggled to survive and the local economy ground to a halt. But Amy is not one to let obstacles get in the way of progress.

“It was a terrible time to start working with the business community,” she admitted. “There was a lot of frustration, but I was just the messenger, and I think folks understood that.” Under her leadership, the Chamber became the primary resource for information from the state and worked with the City of Pekin to help business owners complete grant applications to pay the bills and stay afloat. 

Five years later, the majority of businesses weathered the storm and there is now positive economic activity all over the city. Amy is still leading the way with a wealth of experience and an ability to look at both sides of a situation and bring people together.

“I’m a people person, I just love being around people,” she said.

Although not a Pekin native, Amy has called Pekin home for the past 27 years. She describes her position with the Chamber as her third career. Just out of college at Western Illinois University she was a juvenile probation officer in McDonough County, then moved to Pekin and spent 25 years in the insurance industry. She is married to Mike and has three adult daughters who lived most of their lives in Pekin, graduated from Pekin High School, and have their own successful careers. She said she is especially proud that they have grown up to appreciate what the region has to offer.

Amy said the mission of the Chamber of Commerce is simple: Create opportunities for business to succeed in Pekin. Because success looks different to every business, the Chamber offers a variety of programs and resources, from business development and promotional opportunities to networking events, the annual R. David Tebben Leadership Academy, and the Pekin Marigold Festival.

This year will be Amy’s 20th year of involvement with the Marigold Festival, first as a volunteer committee member and now as the Chamber’s top executive. If those five days in September were the only time someone visited Pekin, she would be satisfied that they were seeing “one of the best things about our community.”

The way Amy sees it, Pekin is “a big small town” with much to offer businesses and residents. “Pekin is small enough to work with you and connect you with the people you need to know and large enough to have the employees you need to make your business go,” she said.

For residents and visitors, Amy said Pekin has beautiful neighborhoods, affordable housing, beautiful parks, and fantastic schools. It is a safe community with a small-town feel: “A great place to work and live and play.”

Amy said, “We are very focused on the positive things happening in Pekin, focused on making sure businesses feel welcome and that they have the support they need to be successful.”

In addition to managing the day-to-day activities of the Chamber, Amy can be found serving on boards and actively participating in causes across the region. This year marks her 22nd as a runner in the St. Jude Memphis to Peoria Run. She cooks a meal every month for families and staff at the Ronald McDonald House in Peoria and has served in leadership roles with the Kiwanis Club of Pekin, the Dragon Aquatics Swim Team, and Pekin Main Street. She is a past board member and current volunteer for Camp Hope and serves on the St. Jude Gala committee.

Amy is a graduate of the Pekin Area Chamber Leadership Academy and a member of the Class of 2009 Peoria Area 40 Leaders Under Forty. In 2017, she was honored as one of 25 Women in Leadership by the Peoria Chamber of Commerce and WEEK TV, and has received many other recognitions for her community service work.

The executive director is excited about the part she is able to play in Pekin’s future. “I believe we should all speak positive and be positive about where we live,” she said. “Love where you live. Embrace where you are and do all the things in all the ways you can to make life the best it can be for you and your family and your community.”

Asked to consider her legacy in Pekin, Amy said, “I am naturally a positive person, and I hope that’s what people will appreciate about me some day.”