Monday, September 14, 2015

Happy Chamber Week In Illinois!!; Chamber collaboration: Southwest Virginia area scouted as site for new Christmas movie; Chamber interest: Madworks Accelerator manager: Madison startup scene 'more collaborative' Talent Attraction, Retention, Development, and Quality of Life Play Key Roles in East Central Indiana Regional Cities Plan'; Young Professionals Convene to Form New Frankfort (Kentucky) Group; Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber teamwork: Plant will bring 30 new jobs and $7 million investment in Brookhaven; St. Ignace Chamber to Sell Telephone Switchboards at Boardwalk Inn;


Happy Monday, Chamber world! Today is going to be a GREAT day.

Happy Chamber Week In Illinois!!

Mayor Frank Saverino, Sr. and the village board declared in a Proclamation that September 14-18th is CHAMBER WEEK in Carol Stream.

There are 400 chambers in Illinois and many are celebrating this week in their own special way.

Here in the Carol Stream Chamber we are asking our members to VISIT and USE fellow member businesses especially this week.

Besides visiting members, we invite you to visit our NEWLY updated website and participate in our

What is a Virtual Scavenger Hunt, you ask?

We have 10 questions for you to answer by searching through the chamber website. Trust me, these answers ARE in there….you may have to dig a little. Along the way, please take notice of all the resources that are at your fingertips.

There will be three winners and three prizes. We thank our prize donors: Kabuki Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi, Carol’s Garden Restaurant, and the Chamber.

Here are the rules: Answers to this Chamber Week Virtual Scavenger Hunt can be found using the chamber website, www.carolstreamchamber.com



Chamber collaboration: Southwest Virginia area scouted as site for new Christmas movie

A Hollywood-based movie production team was in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee last week to scout for a future feature film that is set in a rural town.

The crew is developing a Christmas movie, tentatively titled “Believe,” for Threshold Visions and was in the Grundy and Bristol areas last week. Former Grundy native Ryan O’Quinn is slated to star in the upcoming film, which may begin production as early as December.

According to promotional material from the producers, the story revolves around two families from different walks of life who come together to save the annual Christmas pageant and each other in the process.

“I am very excited about the prospect of bringing a film back to this area,” O’Quinn said. “This was my home for the first 18 years and nothing can ever replace the place you grew up. The outpouring of support from the community has been unreal.”

The film is from writer/director Billy Dickson, a four-time Emmy-nominated TV director and cinematographer. The film also stars Miles Brown, who stars in the ABC television comedy “Blackish.”

“I went all the way to Hollywood to bring producers back to Grundy to shoot a movie,” O’Quinn said. “When I read the script, I envisioned the people and the setting of Southwest Virginia.”

The original location was rural Pennsylvania and O’Quinn convinced Dickson and executive producer Nelson Diaz to look at Grundy for the setting and possible film location. The latest version of the script uses the town’s real name and various locations in Buchanan County and the Tri-Cities region.

“We had a very successful scouting trip to Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee,” O’Quinn said. “All of the local gatekeepers, influencers, chambers of commerce, Film Commission and tourism people turned up and offered us access to many locations. They have really figuratively rolled out the red carpet for us every time and we are excited.” Read more: Herald-Courier


Chamber interest: Madworks Accelerator manager: Madison startup scene 'more collaborative'
The Madworks Accelerator, a Madison-based accelerator program that’s just over a year old, has already graduated at least three companies that have shown promise in early stages of development.
Last month, during Madison’s entrepreneurship-focused Forward Festival, two businesses that graduated from Madworks were tapped to participate in the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce’s Pressure Chamber event: Smart UQ, an analytics software company, and Health eFilings, a healthcare records company.
Both of those companies have closed successful fundraising rounds recently, according to Madworks’ operations manager Louis Condon. Read more: Madison.com


Talent Attraction, Retention, Development, and Quality of Life Play Key Roles in East Central Indiana Regional Cities Plan
Population stagnation and the loss of talent are critical issues that have faced East Central Indiana and the state of Indiana for decades. The Regional Cities Initiative is an opportunity for regions within the State of Indiana to collaborate, identify projects, and put together regional solutions to quality of life issues that directly relate to the attraction and retention of talent. These community-based plans are to provide a bold vision that will lead to transformational change within the Region and seek to grow the Region into a nationally-recognized destination of choice for talent and investment. To help incentivize local communities to undertake Regional Development Plans, the state of Indiana has set aside $84 million from the tax amnesty program to partner with communities in the funding and implementation of projects identified in the plans. “ADVANCE – A Vision for East Central Indiana,” is the name of the area’s Regional Development Plan (RDP) that will compete with six other Regions across the state for a slice of this funding. Read more: Muncie-Delaware County Indiana Economic Development Alliance

Young Professionals Convene to Form New Frankfort (Kentucky) Group


The Frankfort Area Chamber of Commerce brought together a group of interested individuals to form a Young Professionals Network last week to establish a mission statement and vision. It was the group’s first meeting.
More than 20 attended the meeting in the Community Room at the Paul Sawyier Library where they discussed the structure and implementation of the new YPN for Frankfort and Franklin County.
Among those attending were small business owners and representatives in fields from daycare and early childhood to the Transportation Cabinet and Educational Workforce Academy.
Members of the chamber provided insight into the development of a successful organization. Executive Director Carmen Inman and chamber member John Hibbard said the future of the network rested on the depth of its members’ involvement and ability to focus.
“Your mission is where you want to go,” Inman said. “Your vision is how you’re going to get there. You all are setting the tone.” Read more: The State Journal

Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber teamwork: Plant will bring 30 new jobs and $7 million investment in Brookhaven




American Railcar Industries, Inc. (ARI), a railcar manufacturing, repair and services company headquartered in St. Charles, Missouri, is pleased to announce plans to build a new railcar maintenance facility in Brookhaven, Mississippi. The new Brookhaven facility will be located directly on the Canadian National Railroad (CNRR) mainline and will be designed to provide expedited cleaning and light repair services to tank and freight railcars. The new facility will cost an estimated 7 million dollars to build and will create approximately 30 new direct jobs in Lincoln County. It is scheduled to be fully operational early in 2014.


ARI has operated a full service facility at Bude in neighboring Franklin County, Mississippi for almost 40 years. The ARI facility at Bude provides full service and specialized rail car repair services such as major cleaning, heavy wreck rebuilding, project repairs and interior and exterior coatings.


The Brookhaven facility is designed to provide “quick turn” repair capabilities geared towards expediting railcars back into service and will target railcars that require cleaning, light repair and industry mandated tank car requalification. ARI’s ability to provide both expedited repairs at Brookhaven and full service maintenance at Bude will position the Company to broaden its overall customer base and better serve traffic on the CNRR’s Chicago to New Orleans mainline.


ARI would like to thank the Mississippi Governor’s office, the Mississippi Development Authority, the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of Brookhaven, the Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce and the Brookhaven/Lincoln County Industrial Development Foundation for their assistance in bringing ARI to Brookhaven. (Source: ARI release)



St. Ignace Chamber to Sell Telephone Switchboards at Boardwalk Inn


The St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce is selling the two Michigan Bell manual telephone switchboards, formerly operated in St. Ignace and now displayed at the Boardwalk Inn, to a private collector in California. The chamber will keep two other stations and related memorabilia currently on display in the Chamber of Commerce lobby. The switchboards are of historical significance to St. Ignace. Read more: The St. Ignatz News

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