By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – One of Illinois’ business leaders has died. Todd Maisch, 57, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, passed away Wednesday evening at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St Louis. He had been on leave from the chamber for a good part of this year because of an illness.

Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) issued a statement Thursday afternoon:

“Todd Maisch was a fierce advocate for Chambers and job creators around Illinois, as well as a devoted friend to me and our caucus.  On behalf of the Illinois House Republicans, we extend our deepest condolences to Kim, their two boys and the many he has touched over his many years of service and friendship. He will be missed!”

McCombie’s predecessor as the House’s top Republican, Jim Durkin, His relationship with Maisch goes back before Maisch’s Chamber days, when he was on House Republican staff.

“This is a Democratic-controlled state, where the influences of the labor unions are stronger than the business sector,” Durkin said in an interview, “but Todd was able to figure out a way to bridge the gap and always did that very well by working with labor and bringing labor and management together to find a common ground on a lot of thorny issues that we would deal with on a regular basis.”

Maisch, married and the father of two, had been with the chamber since 1994 and its leader since 2014.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].