New NKY chamber chair: Stop the ‘provincialism’
David Heidrich didn’t take long to raise eyebrows after accepting the gavel as the new chairman of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Thursday night.
Sounding more like a political candidate than a business leader, Heidrich’s eight-minute speech:
■ Took on the Tea Party, saying local legislators need protection from “a small vocal minority in the next primary.”
■ Stressed the region needs to overcome “provincialism.”
■ Doubled down on the chamber’s commitment to getting a new bridge next to the Brent Spence Bridge, but said it should be part of a greater “transportation vision” for the entire Northern Kentucky region.
■ Reframed the discussion around the heroin epidemic to consider it a disease and not a crime.
■ Called out businesses to possibly give more to public works or even in taxes to get things done. Read more: Cincinatti.com
Chamber event: Madison startup BluDiagnostics wins trip to woo Silicon Valley investors
BluDiagnostics co-founder Katie Brenner will be on her way to Silicon Valley in October to see if West Coast investors are as enamored with her young company’s Fertility Finder as Midwesterners seem to be.
BluDiagnostics won the Pressure Chamber competition Tuesday evening, inching past five other businesses to win an all-expenses-paid trip to California to meet with well-heeled Silicon Valley venture capitalists and a consultation with Madison ad agency Lindsay, Stone & Briggs.
Six Madison startups each had five minutes to make a presentation and five minutes to field questions from the five judges.
BluDiagnostics is developing a device that checks a woman’s hormone levels using a saliva test. For the 25 percent of women who struggle to get pregnant, it can tell them as soon as four days in advance when they will be most fertile, Brenner said.
“Our mission is to help women understand their bodies and take control of their fertility,” she said.
One judge, Mikkel Svane, CEO and co-founder of Zendesk, was clearly impressed. “I love it,” he said. “It’s almost like magic.” Read more: Madison.com
Chamber Best Practices: Greater Fort Wayne, Inc.: Chamber and Economic Development VISION
Over the course of the past few decades, a shift has taken place when it comes to what’s important to young talent entering the workforce.
“When I was growing up it was about what you wanted to do,” says Kirk Moriarty, Director of Downtown Development at Greater Fort Wayne Inc. “For millennials and others, it’s about ‘Where do I want to do this?’”
This shift has important implications for community development strategies, putting focus not just on economic opportunities, but also what Moriarty calls “building a quality of place.”
“Our goal is to create a space, and a working environment, that is attractive to the workforce of the future,” he added. “The kind of people it’s so vital to attract.”
‘Quality of place’ is one of three key GFW Inc. objectives, designed to help facilitate the realization of a regional vision. The vision, articulated by the Regional Cities Initiative, is to grow the population of northeast Indiana from 750,000 to one million in the next ten years. This includes transforming Fort Wayne, the region’s metropolitan center, into a top 25 metro city in the U.S.
And development is underway to do just that. Specifically, Moriarty said, with the current Landing project.
“The Landing is a comprehensive redevelopment effort in Downtown Fort Wayne that looks at the last remaining vestiges of our history,” he said. “We have acquired seven buildings in order to execute an economic development project that is unified, has lasting ability, and revisits what it used to do 100 years ago -- even 30 years ago -- as a dynamic center of mercantile and entertainment.”
Over the last ten years, Fort Wayne has designed and implemented a series of significant economic development projects, moving toward what Moriarty says has always been the ultimate focus: riverfront development. And now, after putting these ‘stepping stones’ into place, Fort Wayne is in a position to move forward on plans for the riverfront.
Moriarty said that the development team at GFW Inc. is working with individual business owners to help them find where they fit into this picture -- figuratively and literally. He works to help investors find suitable space for their business.
Chamber interest: Suburban Chicago companies still find region the place to be
In spite of Motorola Solutions' decision to move its headquarters to Chicago for wider access to talent, business executives and other experts say there's no shortage of talented workers in the suburbs.
There are a number of reasons why companies seek new locations in Chicago or other areas. They can be motivated by difficulty finding skilled workers within a particular industry, a lack of convenient public transportation to the suburbs and traffic congestion leading to longer commutes, according to a new survey by the Schaumburg Business Association and Roosevelt University's Organizational Effectiveness Consulting Center in Schaumburg.
SBA President Kaili Harding points out that while Motorola will move 800 jobs to Chicago, "a substantial part of Motorola's workforce" -- 1,600 employees -- will stay in Schaumburg.
"There certainly is not a mass exodus," she said of Schaumburg, "and, in fact, we've welcomed several new businesses to Schaumburg in the past few years that moved out of Chicago." Read more: Daily Herald
#LoveVa: Chamber interest: Giant artwork to go on display to promote visitation to the Historic Triangle
WILLIAMSBURG, VA - Quirks of Art, an American Handcraft Gallery located in the City of Williamsburg, VA has been awarded a state tourism grant to install a one-of-a-kind LOVEworks sculpture as part of a state and local partnership to promote tourism. The artwork, which stands eight feet high, is part of the Virginia is for Lovers campaign and is designed to promote family-friendly vacation experiences in Virginia.
Visitors will be encouraged to take a picture in front of the artwork and share it on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, using the special hashtag #LOVEVA and #LOVEWMBG. Quirks of Art owner, Jennifer Raines and her staff will encourage photos through a photo contest, which will run until November 15th. One lucky winner will receive a scaled-down version of the sculpture as a grand prize, valued at $200.
Quirks of Art will unveil the sculpture at an event on Thursday, September 17th from 4-6PM at their location at 1430 High Street in Williamsburg. “Then she will go on the move, dancing around town until she comes back to us at the holidays. Her first stop is the week-long Spoke & Art event in Colonial Williamsburg from September 21-27th”
said Raines. “Tourism is a huge revenue generator for Virginia. Governor McCauliffe just announced that travelers spent $22.4 billion dollars in Virginia in 2014. I think that we all need to continue to focus on enhancing the visitor experience while we have them here, and sometimes all that takes is a unique photo opportunity with their family.”
The sculpture, which stands 8-feet-tall was designed by renowned metal artist, Don
Drumm of Ohio. Drumm pioneered the use of cast aluminum and contemporary
building materials as an artistic medium. In 1960, Drumm opened his own studio, and still works as a full-time sculptor, designer, and craftsman. He has designed a wide range of public, commercial and private commissions in the USA and abroad.
"Our iconic Virginia is for Lovers brand is about love - pure and simple, and has been for more than 40 years," said Rita McClenny, president and CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corporation. "We are excited to share the LOVE at locations throughout the Commonwealth where so many people can enjoy being a part of it. It reminds us that Virginia is an ideal destination for families looking to completely connect on a Virginia vacation.” Contact: Jennifer Raines, jenn@kinksandquirks.com 757-645-4366
Brookhaven - Lincoln County Chamber Event: the 41st Annual Ole Brook Festival
Lansing Chamber honors next generation of leaders
Lauren Long believes every woman, no matter what their size, should feel beautiful.
That’s the idea she had when she opened Curvaceous Lingerie in 2012, a boutique that has something for every woman.
“I just feel like we have certain battles that society creates for us as women,” said Long, whose shop is located at 513 E. Grand River Ave. “It can be discouraging sometimes to be a woman. At Curvaceous … you can be whatever you want to be in here and you can feel beautiful.”
Through her business, Long has been able to run ad campaigns to help women improve their self-esteem, which is one of the reasons she was recognized as an up-and-coming leader in Lansing during the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce’s 10 Over the Next Ten Awards on Tuesday night.
"This is the next generation of leaders in the region," said Tim Daman, president and CEO of LRCC, of the 10 winners. "They take a step above and beyond the scope of their day-to-day operations."
The awards are a way to recognize young professionals making a difference in their community outside the scope of their jobs. To be considered for the award, people must be have been in the region for at least two years, participate in community organizations and be younger than 35.
The 2015 winners are: Read More: Lansing State Journal
Chamber Publications and Maps
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