Salina, Kansas Journal - Chamber brings it all together; Chamber event: Cheeseburger in Caseville: More than 55,000 turn out for one of Michigan's craziest festival parades; Chamber news: Indiana, Kansas, Illinois Kentucky and Michigan showing excellent economic growth above 3.0%; Jeremy Stratton, the President of the El Dorado Arkansas Chamber of Commerce: Helping Our Entrepeneurs and Small Businesses; Chamber news: Illinois Governor Quinn Announces $5 Million Capital Investment in Kankakee Community College; Chamber Partnership: Northern Kentucky River Cities Prepare to Show Off Assets, Possibilities to Legislators; Chamber Meeting: OKC Schools Superintendent Challenges Business Leaders To Step Up; Two Iron Range professionals to serve on Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Board; City, Fulton Missouri Chamber reach agreement; U.S. Automotive Suppliers Webinar Sept 10: Meet with prominent business executives in the Mexico automotive industry; Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotation (Attitude)

Construction work is beginning on the Kansas State University-Bulk Solids Innovation Center. If you drive past 607 N. Front St., you will see groundwork progressing for this new research center. Bulk solids are any dry powders or granules such as flour, grain, chemicals and plastic pellets. Industry uses them as raw materials in most of the manufacturing plants around the world, and they have regular problems when they need to convey the materials or get them to flow consistently out of silos or hoppers. Imagine, for example, your dismay at breakfast if your donut manufacturer's powdered sugar had stopped flowing in his bakery, or if your coffee tasted lousy because the beans had been broken to pieces before they were roasted.Industry has the need to reduce problems and improve their efficiencies when handling bulk solid materials. Salina is uniquely suited to address this need because of our combination of cooperative university, industry and government entities. K-State Salina will lead the student and business education aspects, and K-State's campuses in both Salina and Manhattan will use this center for research. We have great local companies that manufacture valves and conveying systems for this industry and sell them globally. And our city, state and federal governments have provided vital support for the project.
But despite the need and Salina's unique ability to meet the need, this project would not have happened without the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce's ability to coordinate all of these entities and get them to work together. This is one of the strengths of our local chamber -- they knew the right people at the correct level of every entity and were adept at getting them to work in the same direction. Read more: Salina Journal

Chamber event: Cheeseburger in Caseville: More than 55,000 turn out for one of Michigan's craziest festival parades

More than 55,000 revelers donned festive hats, beads and tropical attire for the Parade of Tropical Fools on Wednesday, Aug. 13, as part of the 16th annual Cheeseburger in Caseville festival.

The parade, considered a highlight of the 10-day event aimed at channeling the vibe of Jimmy Buffett, included about 90 floats from businesses, organizations, political candidates and families. Read more: M Live

Chamber news: Indiana, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan showing excellent economic growth above 3.0%

Quarterly Gross Domestic Product by State, 2005–2013 (Prototype Statistics)

Published August 20, 2014 BEA News , GDP , GDP by State Leave a Comment
Tags: BEA, Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP by state

• The quarterly GDP by state prototype statistics for 2005-2013 provide a more complete picture of economic growth across states as they evolve from quarter to quarter.

Get more information: Bureau of Economic Analysis


Jeremy Stratton, the President of the El Dorado Arkansas Chamber of Commerce: Helping Our Entrepeneurs and Small Businesses

Check this out!  We often receive inquiries from our local companies and entrepreneurs who are seeking help to expand and/or start a business.

Startup El Dorado Entrepreneur Resource Center is the first of its kind in South Arkansas.  SEERC's (http://www.startupeldorado.com/#) mission is to connect entrepreneurs with critical resources that are needed to launch or grow a business.  They provide entrepreneurial resources such as information on business permits and licenses, business planning, marketing, funding and more for a successful business.

In addition to Startup El Dorado Entrepreneur Resource Center, the Arkansas

SourceLink website (http://www.arksourcelink.com) provides small business owners and entrepreneurs with links and connections to the resources that are needed to be successful. Information can be found on the following areas:

• Marketing                        
• Grants and Incentives
• Starting a business
• Legal aspects for small business
• Accounting/finance
• Small business funding sources 

Arkansas SourceLink is a part of the Arkansas Capital Corporation Group.  Arkansas Capital (http://www.arcapital.com) is known for providing small business lending.  They have more than 1,100 loans to Arkansas Companies totaling over $450 million.

For more information, please contact Aaron Harris, the Entrepreneurship Coordinator at Arkansas SourceLink at 501-374-9247, or harris@connect-arkansas.org.

Chamber news: Illinois Governor Quinn Announces $5 Million Capital Investment in Kankakee Community College


New Addition to Train Students in Green Energy and Other Emerging Technology Fields

Governor Pat Quinn announced a $5 million state investment to build the Advanced Technology Education Center, a 21,000 square-foot addition at Kankakee Community College (KCC) that will enhance learning opportunities in green energy and other emerging technologies. The project will also create construction jobs and drive local economic growth. Today's announcement is part of Governor Quinn's agenda to ensure that all people have access to a quality education. Read more: Economic Alliance of Kankakee County

Chamber Partnership: Northern Kentucky River Cities Prepare to Show Off Assets, Possibilities to Legislators

Some Frankfort power players will be wined and dined in Northern Kentucky, and then a day's worth of brags and wants will be laid out for them.
Some of Northern Kentucky's most influential people have been busy practicing together for the occasion, gathering upstairs at Southbank Partners, eye level with the World Peace Bell, going over notes and making sure their timing is perfect.
The Kentucky General Assembly's Appropriations and Revenue Committee will officially conduct one of its traveling sessions in Covington on August 28 and local leaders are seizing the opportunity on what they call "Developer's Day", a chance to show off the positive developments happening in the cities of Covington, Newport, Bellevue, Dayton, Ft. Thomas, and Ludlow. Read more: River City News

Chamber Meeting: OKC Schools Superintendent Challenges Business Leaders To Step Up

The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce hosted its State of the Schools today, where Neu spoke candidly about the need to improve schools. And business leaders were listening.
“It's the last critical step for our city to be the best place for us to live and for our children to stay, to hire as business. So for businesses to be successful, we really and truly need businesses to step up and support our education reform now,” said Teresa Rose with the OKC Chamber of Commerce. Read more: News9.com

Two Iron Range professionals to serve on Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Board
Two Iron Range professionals with ties to the mining industry on the Iron Range will serve on the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
Larry Sutherland, general manager at U.S. Steel-Minnesota Ore Operations in Mountain Iron, was recently elected to the board. He is a resident of Grand Rapids.
LaTisha Gietzen, vice president of environmental, governmental and public affairs at PolyMet Mining in Hoyt Lakes, was recently re-elected to the board. She is a resident of Mountain Iron. Read more: Hibbing Daily Tribune

City, Fulton Missouri Chamber reach agreement
The city of Fulton and the Chamber of Commerce have reached an agreement on replacing former Chamber Director and Tourism Director Heather Bennett, and separating the two departments from the previously combined partnership.
After nearly two months of discussion, the Fulton City Council agreed to a $13,500 stipend for at least one year to the Chamber, with a second year allocation still available pending a review of its operation under the control of a new executive director. Read more: Clinton Herald

U.S. Automotive Suppliers Webinar Sept 10: Meet with prominent business executives in the Mexico automotive industry.

This B2B forum enables you to self select target OEMs and Tier 1 & 2 suppliers for private, pre-arranged business development meetings. This is a unique forum you won’t want to miss.

Why Attend? Maximize your time over 2 days through pre-arranged 1-on-1 meetings with purchasing, operations, supply chain reps of participating OE and Tier 1 suppliers. Confirmed participants include:Ford – General Motors- Audi – BMW – Bosch – Continental -– Honda –Mazda – Nissan – Siemens – Toyota – Volkswagen

• Mexico is in the top 5 of the world’s largest automobile exporters and still expanding
• In 2011 light vehicle production reached historical records with 2.55 million vehicles, and more than 48 car and light truck models
• Mexico’s auto/truck manufacturing base includes 22 manufacturing plants


WEBINAR - Learn more about Selling into Mexico’s Automotive Supply Chain and Automotive Meeting Queretaro on Sept 10 and Oct 29 @ 11:00 EST.

Discussion features:

• U.S. Embassy, Mexico City, Automotive Specialist
• Tier 1 Supplier operating in Mexico
• Past Automotive Meetings Queretaro participant
• Advanced Business Events, organizer of the program

Register for the Webinar! http://1.usa.gov/1mKCajL
Date: Sept 10 and Oct 29 at 11 AM EST; 8 AM PST
Cost: NO CHARGE
Venue: Your Computer
Automotive Meetings Queretaro
February 23-25, 2015

Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotation (Attitude): 

“Replace the word can’t with can. Know that you can, believe that you can, and know with ALL of your heart that you will. You will succeed in spite of any obstacles that may try to hinder you! There’s so much power in having a positive attitude, positive mindset, and positive outlook.”
― Stephanie Lahart

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