Wednesday, April 23, 2014

NEIdeas - A Good Idea from a Business in Detroit, Hamtrack or Highland Park Could Get Your Business a Share of $500,000; Why I #lovemychamber Little Rock, Arkansas - Part 3 of Three; The Coming Jobs and Skills Shortage: A $300 Signing Bonus at this McDonalds; Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotation (New Program Development)

NEIdeas - Rewarding Ideas for Business Growth - 
Open to Existing Businesses in Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park. 
A great idea can help a good business grow.  NEIdeas is a program that celebrates existing businesses in Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park – rewarding those with the best ideas for growth. NEIdeas will reward a total of $500,000 in cash awards to over 30 existing businesses in 2014.
NEIdeas has two types of awards, the $10k Challenge and the $100k Challenge - but the program is about more than just the money. NEIdeas is about connecting small businesses to the resources they need to grow. Over 54 small business support organizations in the City of Detroit are ready to help make your idea a reality. What’s your idea? Maybe it’s as ambitious as Berry Gordy’s Motown or maybe it’s as simple as one more barbershop chair. Whether you sell records or cut hair, bake bread or brew coffee, fix cars or build computers – sometimes you just need an extra hand to grow.
NEIdeas will begin accepting applications on May 8th.
NEIdeas is a program of the New Economy Initiative (NEI) and the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM), operated with assistance from Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC).
NEIdeas: Rewarding Ideas for Business Growth is made possible through the support of foundations and corporations. Funders to date include:
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (Detroit)
Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation (Southfield)
Ford Foundation (New York)
Hudson-Webber Foundation (Detroit)
W.K. Kellogg Foundation (Detroit)
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation (Miami)
The Kresge Foundation (Troy)
McGregor Fund (Detroit)
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (Flint)
Skillman Foundation (Detroit)
The William Davidson Foundation (Troy)

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Why I #lovemychamber Little Rock, Arkansas - Part 3 of Three

What's in it for Chamber?

Right at 75% of our over 2,000 members have 25 employees or less. But there's strength in those numbers. From single proprietorships to the largest employers in the region and the hundreds in between, when business speaks with one voice, the public sector cannot ignore the private.

As a private, member-supported, 501(c)6 organization, the Little Rock Regional Chamber receives no dedicated public funds. Therefore, none of the Chamber's work on behalf of the business community and region would be possible without our members' annual, sponsorship and economic development investments. Investment in the Chamber is not a charitable contribution, but a legitimate business development expense.

Our competition is not El Dorado, Jonesboro or Northwest Arkansas. It’s Dallas, Nashville and Oklahoma City. In order to effectively compete, we must marshal our resources with a strong, unified and broad-based business community.

What's in it for Region?

As America, and indeed the world, emerge from the greatest economic challenges in generations, the strength, diversity and resilience of our Central Arkansas economy cannot be taken for granted.

For the second year in a row, the Brookings Institution named the Little Rock region's economy America's fourth strongest. And yet, only one organization goes to work every day focused on leading the economy of the region, without regard to political, geographic or historic boundaries. For the Chamber, like your business, it's all about the marketplace – one million people within a 50-mile radius, experiencing and building unique communities and neighborhoods, but united by a common, globally recognized brand – Little Rock.

The results are historically unprecedented. In the past seven years, the Chamber has had a direct role in the creation of over $1.55 billion new capital investment, over $459 million new annual payroll, and over 12,000 new jobs. Put simply, when you do business with an employee of Welspun, LM Wind Power, HP or Caterpillar, or any number of other companies, your investment in the Chamber helped create that opportunity.

Here are just a few of the highlights our members' investment has accomplished in the past seven years:

Locations
Welspun
Saint-Gobain
Caterpillar
Schulze & Burch
HP
LM Wind Power

Retentions/Expansions
Dillard's Internet Fulfillment Center
Southwest Power Pool Headquarters
Windstream Headquarters
Allied Wireless Communications Headquarters
Dassault Falcon Jet Expansion

Advocacy
Campaign for Little Rock's Future
Little Rock Technology Park Authority
Issue Nos. 2 (Usury) and 3 (Super Project Amendment)
Amendment 82 (Super Project)

Talent Development
Arkansas Production Alliance (arfilm)
Create Little Rock (Young Professional Talent Initiative)
Arkansas River Cities Sports Commission
Leadership Greater Little Rock

Join the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce today by contacting Graham Cobb, (Chief Operating Officer), 501.377.6007.

The Coming Jobs and Skills Shortage: A $300 Signing Bonus at this McDonalds

While much of the rest of the country struggles under a recession and a 6.7 percent unemployment rate, North Dakota’s unemployment rate has remained steady at 3.3 percent; unemployment in Dickinson in March was 1.8 percent. The hiring crunch has put companies in competition to attract workers. McDonald’s offers a $300 signing bonus in addition to a $11 an hour starting salary for its food prep and crew team, according to their website. The Taco Bell off of Highway 22 boasts “top wages” on its billboard. Read more: Prairie Business


Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotation (New Program Development):

 " If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.
Thomas Watson, founder of IBM 


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