Jamie Medlock Named Indiana Chamber of Commerce Executive Of The Year; Brighton (Michigan) chamber nabs top state award; Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce Counts Successes at General Assembly; Illinois Chamber event: Governor Rauner Speaks With Illinois Business Community; Wausau Region Chamber: Workforce Hub will help connect business, education; Hope/Hempstead County Chamber presents annual honors; East Mississippi Business Development Corporation Business and Community Showcase; Agriculture Commissioner to Address Richmond Chamber of Commerce; U.S. Chamber: Creating opportunity: Engineering Success for Women in STEM; Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotation: (Innovation) - Will Rogers

Good morning Chamber world! Today is going to be a GREAT day!



Jamie Medlock Named Indiana Chamber of Commerce Executive Of The Year


Bedford Chamber President Jamie Medlock was named executive of the year by the Indiana Chamber of Executive Association.
In addition to Medlock bringing home the top honor, the chamber received top honors for its strategic plan, for "passing the torch" (recognizing its young professionals group) and for innovation (noting its work with the Bedford Half Marathon). Read more: WBIW.com

Brighton (Michigan) chamber nabs top state award

The Greater Brighton Area Chamber of Commerce took home a top state award for promoting tourism and collaboration.
The Brighton chamber received the 2015 Governor’s Award for Innovative Tourism Collaboration Monday evening at the Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism, held at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids.
The chamber received the award for organizing Brighton’s Farm to Table Experience, which brought awareness to local and state agriculture. The event, held in September 2014, also educated the public on tourism created through farmers’ markets.
Only three awards in innovative tourism were given out to organizations in the state.
“I was thrilled that we received the award,” Brighton chamber president and CEO Pam McConeghy said. Read more: Livingston Daily Press & Argus

Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce Counts Successes at General Assembly

Preserving funding for the future Interstate 64 widening project on the Peninsula? Check.  

Maintaining protection of Hampton's Langley Air Force Base encroachment program? Check.  

These two key issues identified by the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce's Public Policy Committee as priorities were funded in the recently concluded 2015 General Assembly session.

But a third issue that was a priority for the committee, a study evaluate the best corridor options for a fixed-guideway transit plan in Newport News and Hampton, lacked support from the House of Delegates and wasn't included in the General Assembly budget conference report.

Susan Gaston, a member of the Chamber's Board of Directors and chair of the Public Policy Committee, said it was a good year overall for the Chamber and its members at the General Assembly. The funding for the I-64 widening proposal was preserved and the money for the Langley encroachment program was also delivered. 

But Gaston bemoaned the rejection by the House of Delegates of the fixed-gateway study.  

The funds would have been used to analyze the potential for public transportation in Newport News and Hampton around high-growth, high-density areas such as Oyster Point, City Center and Peninsula Town Center, Gaston said. The Senate funded the plan but the House did not, killing the proposal.

"There is simply a philosophical difference between the two leaderships on how transit should be funded," Gaston said. "We were looking at a study being funded. Maybe when there's a little more in the pie to go around we may be successful. My theory is to keep pressing it and we might get to where we need to be."  

Yet Gaston remained pleased with the results, particularly the protection of the transportation funds for widening I-64.

Honing in on key issues

There are myriad issues the Public Policy Committee could tackle at the General Assembly, from economic development, to tourism, to energy, to veterans, to right to work, Gaston said. The Public Policy Committee honed in on a few issues or legislation where members thought they could be effective and helpful to the Penin- sula delegation and the Chamber membership, she said.

March 2015

With a focus on transportation, the biggest message to the General Assembly was "don't let your foot off the gas" in regard to trans- portation, in particular the efforts to widen I-64 on the Peninsula, Gaston said.

"We were fearful of a money grab and that they would take revenue earmarked for I-64 widening and push it somewhere else," Gaston said. But the funding for the project remained secure.

"We didn't hear one peep about efforts to undo it," Gaston said.

Langley Air Force Base

Another success story was state funding to match state dollars with local funding from the City of Hampton to ensure the viability of Langley Air Force Base. This comes through the purchase of adjoining properties in what is called the Clear Zone and Accident Potential Zone; the Zone avoids civilian encroachment and ensuing conflicts that have plagued other bases such as Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. Langley will receive $250,000 in FY 2016. 

Read more HERE.  

Illinois Chamber event: Governor Rauner Speaks With Illinois Business Community

Gov. Rauner making his last stop on the Turnaround Tour Wednesday, meeting with the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

The governor telling the pro-business crowd he wants to push to change regulations to increase job growth throughout the state. Among the changes: workers compensation reform and changes to union regulations.

Rauner says those changes and others would also help improve the state's infrastructure and make Illinois a more competitive state for businesses. The Governor is sticking with the same message he's been promoting since he was on the campaign trail. Read more: WICS.com

 

Wausau Region Chamber: Workforce Hub will help connect business, education

In January 2014, leaders of the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce came together to discuss the pressing issue of workforce development in north central Wisconsin. Regional employers continue to report a variety of challenges related to finding — and retaining — a qualified workforce to fill the jobs in the region. While discussing this issue, it became apparent that one key solution is to keep the young people who grow up and attend K-12 schools in north central Wisconsin in our local economy after graduation; however, a strong centralized platform for coordinating the means to do so was lacking.
These discussions resulted in the development of the Workforce Hub, an exciting initiative aimed at establishing long-term, meaningful collaborations between local education systems and area businesses. Under the guidance of the Wausau Region Chamber, a select group of volunteers have been meeting monthly for over a year to discuss issues and solutions related to workforce development in the region. The group includes representatives from business, secondary and higher education, government and workforce development organizations. One of its first tasks was developing a comprehensive directory of programs currently offered that support business and education partnerships in the region. While the list was impressive, it was far from exhaustive and helped to identify what else is needed to create and expand a strong local economy. Read more: Wausau Daily Herald


Hope/Hempstead County Chamber presents annual honors


The Hope/Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce honored a college administrator and a high school journalism teacher as its citizen of the year and educator of the year for 2015.
The 2015 Educator of the Year, Kay Rider, and the keynote speaker for the evening had something in common fitting the theme for the annual Chamber banquet, “Wild About Hope;” and that was Bears—that's right, bears. Steve “The Wild Man” Wilson, a 35-year veteran of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, keynote speaker, and enjoys being photographed with bears and Rider is photographer and teacher of journalism at Spring Hill, where the bear is the mascot.
The Educator of the Year was announced by University of Arkansas Community College at Hope Chancellor Chris Thomason. Read more: Hope Star



East Mississippi Business Development Corporation Business and Community Showcase


The EMBDC Business and Community Showcase will take place Wednesday, April 29th.  Early registration is Wednesday, April 15th.  To participate in the event please complete the attached brochure and return to the EMBDC.  

The EMBDC invites its members to nominate (or self-nominate) a small business person who has excelled in our community for the Small Business Leadership Award.  A committee will select the winner and the award will be presented at opening ceremony of the EMBDC Business and Community Showcase on Wednesday, April 29th. Nomination forms are due into the EMBDC office no later than Monday, April 6th, at 5 p.m.  Read more: EMBDC - Chamber of Commerce

 

Agriculture Commissioner to Address Richmond Chamber of Commerce

Agriculture Commissioner James Comer will be the keynote speaker at the Richmond Chamber of Commerce Business at Noon Luncheon on Friday, March 20, from noon-1 p.m. EDT at the Eastern Kentucky University Center for the Arts, 521 Lancaster Avenue, Richmond, Ky. Read more: Berea Online



U.S. Chamber: Creating opportunity:

Engineering Success for Women in STEM

The math is pretty simple. Demand for workers with skills in science, mathematics and engineering is growing, yet nearly half of the population is pursuing degrees and careers in other fields.
Women still remain underrepresented in STEM fields, even as companies seek more and more qualified workers.
This was the topic du jour on March 19 as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Center for Women in Business held its 4th annual summit, which featured panels of female entrepreneurs and speeches from executives from Lockheed Martin and Stella & Dot.
The summit coincided with the release of Reaching the Full Potential of STEM for Women and the U.S. Economy, a report that outlines the demand for STEM jobs and the role of women in those sectors.
“If you have workplace diversity, you have the best talent,” said Bob Moritz, chairman and senior partner with PwC, who offered keynote remarks. “If you have the best talent, you have the best performance. There’s a business case for the need to bring more resources into STEM.”
The Numbers
The growth in STEM jobs is projected to be 17.4% between 2012 and 2022, representing nearly 3.1 million positions. Moreover, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says 3 million more workers will be needed just to replace current workers. This comes at a time when women are graduating from college more frequently than men. Read more: Free Enterprise

Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotation: (Innovation)

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." (Will Rogers)