Chamber Executive Ongoing Education Weekly New Idea: "Never Eat Alone and Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time" by Keith Ferrazi; Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce looks to refocus with new CEO Chris Hembrough; Chamber Best Practices: Hundreds of Dollars in Gift Certificates Hidden in Holland & Zeeland, Michigan; Chambers as Leaders: Heart of Wisconsin Chamber project: Resource center has items for nonprofit use; Minnesota Dakota County biz briefs: Chamber to hold trade seminar; Siouxland Chamber, Siouxland Initiative to study labor market; Is Customization the Future of Education? Q&A with eduCanon Founder Ben Levy; Business.USA.gov Resource Tool; Chamber Checklist: What's available through your chamber?; Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotations: (Attitude): Deborah Day

Never Eat Alone and Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time 

by Keith Ferrazi

Do you want to get ahead in life? Climb the ladder to personal success? The secret, revealed by master networker Keith Ferrazzi, is in reaching out to other people. As Ferrazzi discovered early in life, what distinguishes highly successful people from everyone else is the way they use the power of relationships -- so that everyone wins. In Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi lays out the specific steps – and inner mindsets – he uses to reach out to connect with thousands of colleagues, friends, and associates. People he has helped and who have helped him.
The son of a small-town steelworker and a cleaning lady, Ferrazzi first used his remarkable ability to connect with others to pave the way to a scholarship at Yale, a Harvard MBA, and several top executive posts. Before he was out of his thirties, he developed a network of relationships that stretched from Washington's corridors of power to Hollywood's A-list, leading to him being named one of Crain's 40 Under 40 and selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the Davos World Economic Forum.Read more: Keith Ferrazzi

Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce looks to refocus with new CEO Chris Hembrough

The five-year, $5.1 million Quantum Growth Partnership campaign to create and keep jobs in Springfield remains on track in year three, according to just-released figures from The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce. Approximately $1.8 million was raised and spent in the first year. The campaign is on track to raise $870,000 this year.

In his first week on the job last week, chamber president and CEO Chris Hembrough said he also is encouraged that Q5, as the campaign has become known, held on to a base of 100 business “investors” who are paying for the economic development initiative. Read more: The State Journal Register

Chamber Best Practices: Hundreds of Dollars in Gift Certificates Hidden in Holland & Zeeland, Michigan

The West Coast Chamber of Commerce will hide hundreds of dollars worth of West Coast Cash throughout Holland & Zeeland today. West Coast Cash is a gift certificate redeemable at several participating retailers. The event was created as a way to support these local businesses. Clues to the locations of each one will be revealed this morning at 9 a.m. through the "Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce" Facebook page.  Read more:  WOOD Radio

Chambers as Leaders: Heart of Wisconsin Chamber project: Resource center has items for nonprofit use

A Heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce Leadership project is taking hold and ready for its first use Aug. 23 at Wild Horse Saloon and Banquet Center in Kellner. FishFest 2014, which benefits the South Wood County Humane Society and Love Lights, will be the first nonprofit event to use items from the Community Fundraising Resource Center. The center will provide items including a dunk tank, raffle drum and tents for the annual benefit. Read more: WisconsinRapidsTribune.com

Minnesota Dakota County biz briefs: Chamber to hold trade seminar

The Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce and Allthatstory America will host an exporting seminar for businesses interested in learning more about the South Korean market from 9 a.m. to noon July 24.

The event will be held at the Eagan Fire Safety Center, 1001 Station Trail. The seminar is sponsored by the Minnesota Trade Office in association with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. Read more: Star-Tribune

Siouxland Chamber, Siouxland Initiative to study labor market

The Siouxland Chamber of Commerce and Siouxland Initiative have partnered with Iowa Workforce Development’s Regional Research Bureau to complete an update to the laborshed employment study for the Siouxland tri-state region.
The analysis will study the potential labor force from which regional companies draw their employees based upon commuting patterns in the surrounding region. The study will also assist existing and potential new businesses in better understanding the areas from which Siouxland draws its labor force. Read more: Sioux City Journal

Is Customization the Future of Education? Q&A with eduCanon Founder Ben Levy

It’s difficult enough to innovate in an industry that’s already forward thinking. But how do you bring change to a sector that’s known for entrenched bureaucracy and its resistance to reform? That’s a question that Ben Levy, the founder and chief executive of eduCanon, is uniquely qualified to answer. Levy and his company hope to fundamentally transform teacher-student interactions in the classroom and beyond by using interactive video lessons. And where countless other businesses have tried and failed, eduCanon is finding success. Levy started building the technology platform while teaching students as a Teach for America (TFA) corps member in the San Francisco Bay Area. Read more: Free Enterprise

Business.USA.gov Resource Tool

JUST LAUNCHED!  Yes, Virginia (and Kansas, Illinois, Arkansas and the rest of the states and U.S. territories), there is ONE website where you can find free government programs, grants, events and advisors near you! BusinessUSA has just launched our newest website feature, the State Resources Portal. Together with the other local resource tools on our site, American businesses can find local resources, events, and business assistance centers in their state. Try it today! Click the State button at the top of the Business.USA.gov Home Page or click on the following link: Federal Government Programs, Grants and Loans By State

Chamber Checklist: What's available through your chamber?
Business Contacts
Business Directory Referrals And Phone Referrals
Listing on Website
Chamber Directory Advertising for Members Only
Participation in Chamber Committees
Voice in Communities Growth
Tourism Information
Monthly Newsletters 
Business After Hours Networking
Coffee Corner Networking
Joint Advertising
Chamber Media Discounts
Brochure Distribution
Welcome Packet (Residence)
Welcome Packet (Businesses)
Weekly Newspaper Column
Weekly Radio Show
Opportunity to have Insurance Benefits
Support to the Community, Businesses,
Schools and Civic Organizations 

Source: A Midwestern Chamber

Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotations: (Attitude):

“If you are unclear about what attitudes you adhere to, you will have a difficult time evaluating which ones are not serving your highest good.”
― Deborah Day

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