Cubs owner Tom Ricketts at suburban multi-chamber luncheon Jan. 27; Chamber Best Practices: Conway Program gives preschoolers better chance; Apply at chamber: Washington County (Virginia) offers competitive business challenge with more than $10,000 in prizes; Bowling Green chamber news: Region, Kentucky seeing job growth; Chamber economic news: Klohs drives economic development through strategic planning, rigorous measurement; Chamber asset: 7 national parks in Nebraska, Iowa pour more than $23 million into local economies; Missouri Chamber: State faces economic challenges; South Dakota chamber president to speak at legislative luncheon; Chamber challenge: 9 key issues facing the 2015 Minnesota Legislature; New Year's Resolution Quotation: Mark Twain

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts at suburban multi-chamber luncheon Jan. 27

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts will talk about the state of his ball club at a multi-chamber luncheon, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at Avalon Banquets, 1905 E. Higgins Road, Elk Grove Village. Ricketts will be introduced by Daily Herald sportswriter Barry Rozner. Tickets are $35 and the deadline to sign up is Jan. 20. Must pay before event. Call (847) 398-3730 or visit rmchamber.org. Source: Daily Herald

Chamber Best Practices: Conway Program gives preschoolers better chance

Dr. Charlotte Green of Conway Public Schools believes all children should have an equal start, and so she founded Arkansas Preschool Plus.

Housed at Conway Adult Education, the small nonprofit organization provides professional development for pre-kindergarten teachers, support for parents and teaching materials. The organization was founded in response to the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce Conway 2025 initiative, which determined private daycare centers needed more support so all children could access a quality preschool experience. Arkansas Preschool Plus exists through a partnership between the Conway Public Schools and the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce. It also receives some funding from the United Way of Central Arkansas. Read more: Log Cabin Democrat

Apply at chamber: Washington County (Virginia) offers competitive business challenge with more than $10,000 in prizes

The Town of Abingdon, the Washington County IDA, Highlands Union Bank and several participating partners of Virginia Highlands Small Business Incubator, have announced the second annual Washington County Business Challenge.

The Business Challenge program is an ambitious business plan competition designed to attract entrepreneurs with new technology, value added agriculture, outdoor recreation and retail/support service businesses to locate their start up or to expand their existing business within Washington County. (1) One start up and (1) one existing business will win $5,000 each towards implementing their winning business strategy. Read more: SwVAtoday.com

Bowling Green chamber news: Region, Kentucky  seeing job growth

The region will likely have a stronger economic year in 2015 than 2014.
Kentucky is on the road to economic recovery, with last month’s jobless rate dropping the most it has in more than 30 years. Warren County and the surrounding counties have also seen positive growth that will likely continue, according to Ron Bunch, president and chief executive officer of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We’ve been really fortunate in our area to have economic development over the past several years,” Bunch said.
Warren County’s November unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, Bunch said. The chamber announced nine economic development projects this year, creating 653 new jobs. Although it’s good that jobs are open in manufacturing and more jobs are opening in health care, Bunch said there’s still work to be done for unemployed and underemployed people in our region. Read more: Bowling Green Daily News



Chamber economic news: Klohs drives economic development through strategic planning, rigorous measurement

Birgit Klohs’ career has been full of many firsts.

Before ever joining The Right Place Inc., Klohs led a team of West Michigan executives on the first organized foreign trade mission to her native Germany, which landed a commitment from Behr Industries to invest in building a plant on 7 Mile Road in Comstock Park.

When Klohs excitedly agreed to serve as president and CEO of The Right Place in 1987, she effectively became the first woman executive to lead an economic development organization in the state of Michigan, and one of only a handful to do so across the country at that time.

She continues to add to the ever-growing list of firsts as Klohs was selected by a panel of judges to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the inaugural MiBiz Best-Managed Nonprofit Awards program.

For people who’ve known and worked with Klohs over the years, her career feats come as no surprise.

“She’s established herself as the dean of economic development officials,” said Milton Rohwer, the former president of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, the founding executive leader of The Right Place and one of Klohs’ closest mentors.

- See more at: MI BIZ

Chamber asset: 7 national parks in Nebraska, Iowa pour more than $23 million into local economies

The Niobrara’s scenic river designation has a huge economic benefit to Valentine, a north-central Nebraska community of 2,700, said Dean Jacobs, executive director of the Valentine Chamber of Commerce and Cherry County Tourism.

“There’s no question that having the Niobrara National Scenic River here as part of the national park system helps. It’s probably our biggest tourist draw,” he said.

The Park Service report attributed $2.9 million in visitor spending in the Valentine area to the Niobrara National Scenic River in 2013. Spending by nearly 72,000 visitors supported 40 jobs.

“We do a lot of marketing to get the word out about the river,” Jacobs said. “There are a lot of outdoor recreation reasons to come here, but Valentine is known for the national scenic river.” Read more: Omaha.com

Missouri Chamber: State faces 

economic challenges

Missouri's Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducted its first regional initiative in Cape Girardeau on Thursday to discuss the state's future.

Nearly 20 people gathered at the Drury Lodge to hear Karen Buschmann, vice president of communications at the state chamber, and Ted Abernathy, leader of the initiative, speak about their findings.

The initiative is part of the chamber's "Missouri 2030: An Agenda to Lead," which is formed around discussing Missouri's sustainability and how business leaders intend to help the state become a leader in economic growth over the next 15 years. Abernathy cited a recent survey of more than 1,000 employers.

Missouri's job growth from 1994 to 2014 increased 12 percent, he said, while its manufacturing jobs have fallen 29 percent. The number of 25- to 44-year-olds remaining in the state fell 6 percent during that period. Read more:  Southeast Missourian

South Dakota chamber president to speak at legislative luncheon

The Government Affairs Committee of the Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce will preview the 2015 South Dakota legislative session at a noon luncheon on Jan. 9 at the Ramada Convention Center.

David Owen, president of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will speak. Read more: Aberdeen News



Chamber challenge: 9 key issues facing the 2015 

Minnesota Legislature

 With a more than $1 billion surplus, state legislators say the prospect of a government shutdown over the 2016/2017 budget is unlikely.

But it's not going to be a cakewalk, either. That $1 billion may seem like a lot, but it only barely covers spending increases under current law — and there are plenty of people and groups competing for a piece of this relatively small pie for what they argue are deserving issues.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and House Republicans are already tempering expectations, saying that spending increases — if there are any — will likely be small. And legislators should expect to see spending cuts in some areas as well.

With a billion-dollar cushion, Gov. Mark Dayton says that he won't propose a general tax increase but will propose new revenue to pay for transportation projects.

Meanwhile, House Republicans say they want to cut taxes to make the state friendlier to business. That's a position held by the powerful Minnesota Chamber of Commerce as well, which has suggested reducing the corporate tax and lowering taxes for businesses that pay through their income tax filings. Read more: Minnesota Public Radio News


New Year's Resolution Quotation: Mark Twain



"New Year's Day now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual." -- Mark Twain