Michigan City: Many reasons to celebrate Chambers of Commerce; Heard at the Chamber meeting: Elk Grove to spend $500,000 on industrial park marketing campaign; Sheboygan County chamber news: Young professionals honored at Next Wave ceremony; Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce recognizes small businesses; Gulf Coast STEM professionals encourage women business leaders; Chamber news: Governor Beshear announces rehab for Kentucky Ave. in Paducah; Chamber interest: Michigan Voters Reject Tax Increase To Fund Roads, Bridges; Arkansas ESGR representatives attend North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce luncheon

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

Michigan City: Many reasons to celebrate Chambers of Commerce

Mayor Ron Meer offically proclaimed next week to be Chamber of Commerce Week in Michigan City. The following, submitted by the MC Chamber's Ann Dahm, was excerpted from an op-ed by Chris Mead, senior vice president of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives and author of "The Magicians of Main Street: America and its Chambers of Commerce, 1768-1945".
The U.S. would be almost unrecognizable if the million acts of 7,000 local chambers could somehow be removed from its past. Here are a few reasons why we've forgotten what chambers have done and continue to do:

1-They tend to avoid taking credit. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn't matter who gets the credit."

2-They don't have overt power and so they must share credit for accomplishments with those who have the final say, even if the project was the chamber's idea.

3-Individuals, not groups, capture our attention.

4-Chambers, by design, start things and spin them off. Many festivals, transportation projects, and civic improvements began at chambers but went on to be managed by other groups. Years later, we forget where it all started. Read more: The News-Dispatch

Heard at the Chamber meeting: Elk Grove to spend $500,000 on industrial park marketing campaign

Elk Grove Village will spend $500,000 on a six-month advertising campaign to lure businesses to its industrial park, which the village says is the largest contiguous one in the country, Mayor Craig Mayor Johnson said Thursday.

Johnson, in his annual state of the village address to the Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce, said the campaign is meant to counteract other states' efforts to steal businesses. It will include television and radio ads on many stations, as well as a print component and billboards.

"Elk Grove is going to hit the whole market across the board," he said. "We're going on a full-force attack."

The commercials will tout Elk Grove as "Beyond Business Friendly" and as a great place to make things. It will highlight the village's location at a transportation hub that includes railroads, interstates and O'Hare International Airport. Read more: Daily Herald

Sheboygan County chamber news: Young professionals honored at Next Wave ceremony

More than 130 young professionals and community business leaders gathered at Pine Hills Country Club last weekend for this year's Next Wave Awards ceremony.
The Sheboygan County Chamber and Coastal Young Professionals Network presented the awards to recognize Sheboygan County professionals' business success, collaboration with community partners and personal achievement.
The top winners this year included Rockline Industries' Paul Griffin (Coastal Volunteer of the Year), IQ Print Media's Dustin Turicik (Entrepreneur of the Year), Dynamic Inc.'s Trevor Irish (Top Young Professional of the Year) and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center's Amanda Salazar (President's Award).
Next Wave Award recipients included Derek Muench (Shoreline Metro/City of Sheboygan), Gina Covelli (Lakeland College), Dr. Jenny Brault (Sheboygan Pediatric Associates, S.C.), Casey Pennington (Cargill Malt), Emily Vetting (Sheboygan County), Foua Hang (Lakeshore Technical College), Nathan Volkomener (Huberty CPAs and Trusted Advisers), John Reitz (Better Life Chiropractic and Wellness), Krista DeRocher (When You're Away, LLC.), Dominic Vicchiollo (Viking Electric Supply) and Caitlin Brotz-McNitt (Olivu 426). Read more: Sheboygan Press








Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce recognizes small businesses



The Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce recognized five small businesses Thursday evening at Phase 2 in Lynchburg.
The businesses were presented awards in five categories. Integrated Technology Group won for business and professional services; Gleaning for the World for non-profit; Lynchburg Ready Mix for industry and manufacturing; bloom by Doyle’s for retail; and Jersey Mike’s Subs for restaurant and overall small business of the year for 2015.

About 24 businesses were nominated by chamber members, who individually were reviewed by eight committee members who gave the businesses a number score and then averaged their results together.
Bob Day, a retired commercial banker from BB&T Bank and part of the committee to review the award applicants, said the nominated businesses were sent a questionnaire. The criteria, he said, was business success, community leadership, innovation, employee satisfaction and retention and customer service.
The most difficult part of that process, he said, was some businesses didn’t send their questionnaire back, missing out on a chance to reap the winnings.
The 27th Annual Small Business Awards gave $4,000 in an advertising package to each small business. That amount is the “largest advertising package administered in the history of this program,” said Mari White, who hosts Lynchburg’s Morning Show and the event. Read more: Lynchburg News & Advance






Gulf Coast STEM professionals encourage women business leaders


Businesswomen across the Coast came together Friday morning to promote and empower the female leaders here in South Mississippi. Women Entrepreneurs hosted a forum featuring the Center for Women in Business in hopes of attracting and developing more leaders in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.
Almost every hand went up when asked about having some of the apps that are known for changing our world.
"If you have a Steve Jobs iPhone, put your hand up. If you have downloaded Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook app, put your hand up. How many of you have Lars Rasmussen's Google Maps on there," Natalie Masri, with U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Center for Women in Business, asked the crowd of women.
One thing these apps have in common, they were all created by men. This forum promotes and empowers women business leaders to achieve personal and professional goals that could one day get them recognized for the next big technological trend.
"Today, we're hoping to expose STEM to those in the audience, but also to those who brought their daughters so they can encourage them to know that there's a sustainable career field out there," Kimberly Nastasi, with the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce, said. Read more: WLOX.com



Chanmber news: Governor Beshear announces rehab for Kentucky Ave. in Paducah


Governor Steve Beshear today announced a project that will accomplish two important goals in Paducah – the badly needed rehabilitation of a mile of Kentucky Avenue, coupled with the relocation of water, sewer and gas lines that run at a shallow depth beneath the street.
Gov. Beshear said the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is aiming to put the project out for bids in January. Meantime, the cabinet is working with the local government and the affected utilities to determine the cost and scope of relocations.
“Our engineers in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet saw this as an opportunity to accomplish two goals with one project and have worked closely with the city and the utility companies to carry it out,” Gov. Beshear said. “The end result will be a much-improved, mile-long section of Kentucky Avenue whose needs go far beyond what the public is able to see on the surface.”
The project area is 1.01 miles long, between Kentucky Avenue’s intersections with Otis Dinning Drive and Walter Jetton Boulevard. The plan is to remove the old asphalt and replace it with full-depth concrete pavement. Curbs and gutters also would be reconstructed to improve drainage.
At the same time, utility lines for Paducah Water Co., Paducah-McCracken Joint Sewer Agency and Atmos Energy Co. would be relocated. Read more: Kentucky.gov






Chamber interest: Michigan Voters Reject Tax Increase To Fund Roads, Bridges

Michigan voters in a special election on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted down Proposal 1, an amendment to the state's constitution that would have increased the state sales tax to fund transportation infrastructure.
Of nearly 1.8 million Michigan residents who voted, 1.4 million -- 80 percent -- voted against the amendment, according to the Office of the Michigan Secretary of State.
Proposal 1 would have increased the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent, raising $1.3 billion for roads, according to Michigan’s nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency. It would have raised an additional $600 million in revenue to the state for other purposes, such as an increase in the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit.

Proposal 1's defeat at the polls was a loss for Gov. Rick Snyder (R), who pushed for the measure as a way to fund improvements in the state's transportation infrastructure.
Responding to the results on Tuesday, Snyder committed to finding an alternative solution to the state's infrastructure problems.
"While voters didn’t support this particular proposal, we know they want action taken to maintain and improve our roads and bridges," Snyder said in a statement. "The 'relentless' part of relentless positive action means that we start anew to find a comprehensive, long-term solution to this problem."












Arkansas ESGR representatives attend North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce luncheon





Arkansas Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve was the guest of the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce at their quarterly luncheon May 1. There were more than 200 Chamber of Commerce Members in attendance.
Arkansas ESGR State Chair Jane English and volunteer Normal Gilchrest were also in attendance. ESGR Administrative Support Technician Richard Green was the guest speaker. He addressed the group on the use of the Guard and Reserve during the past 25 years and the importance of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. A Statement of Support was presented to the Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President, Ashley Hight. Read more: ESGR