Good morning Chamber World! It's going to be a GREAT day!
Valpo Chamber and Indiana Commerce heads pitch Northwest Indiana in Chicago
Moving a business to Indiana can result in big cost savings, Secretary of Commerce Victor Smith told a crowd Wednesday at the Real Estate Publishing Group's Commercial Real Estate Forecast in Chicago's Loop.
How big?
Hoist Liftruck, which recently relocated its forklift manufacturing operations from Bedford Park to East Chicago, told Smith it expected to save $1,000 a year per worker on workman's compensation costs alone.
"Do the math," Smith said. "With 500 workers, figure out how much accumulated cash that would add to a balance sheet over a decade. That's generational money."
Indiana currently has the second lowest workman's comp expenses in the nation but should have the lowest next year, after Indiana paid $320 million into it, he said.
Smith, the Northwest Indiana Forum and other local economic development officials spoke at a private luncheon, which was attended by dozens of developers, site selectors and commercial real estate brokers. They had just listened to Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and others at the conference event itself, which attracted hundreds of real estate developers from all over Chicagoland.
Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce President Rex Richards talked up his city, highlighting how it recently won Google's eCity award, landed a $270 million Pratt plant, and has $2 million in cash reserves.
"(Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner) talked earlier about how he was trying to build that culture," Richards said. "Well, we've been living that culture." Read more: NWITimes
Rapid City Chamber supports Daugaard education package
The Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors voted this week to endorse Governor Daugaard's plan for improving state aid to education which includes increase funding for teacher salaries, incentives to encourage school district efficiency and innovation and new measures that will improve accountability to taxpayers. The proposal reflects many of the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Education that released its findings and recommendations last fall. The resolution of support emphasizes sustainability of funding as an important component of the Chamber's support to address South Dakota's lack of competitiveness in the region in recruiting and retaining quality teachers. "A qualified teaching workforce is critical to our community and the quality of education opportunities for our children," said Bill May, Chairman of the Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and CEO of Black Hills Surgical Hospital. "Uncompetitive teacher wages were identified in the findings of the Blue Ribbon Task Force as one of the main factors threatening our ability to attract teaching talent and it is time our state, in cooperation with local school districts, does something about it." He emphasized the important role Rapid City's education system plays in the recruitment of businesses and employees to the region and in the quality of our workforce. May said that increased funding for education is broadly supported by the membership and outlined the following areas of support for the Governor's proposals:
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Chamber sponsor: Lowndes Leaders group tours Columbus AFB
The young men and women of the Lowndes Young Leaders got to tour the Columbus Air Force base on Tuesday morning.
The kids got to talk to pilots and learn about how they train. They even got to ride on a few of the training simulators.
One of the members of the group described how valuable the experience was for him.
“I think it’s very great. It’s been a great experience to know what pilots go through, to be able to fight in the Air Force and protect our country and thing things that they go through like training and classes is wonderful. It really puts you in a different perspective on how they’re trained,” said Robert Woodard.
The Lowndes Young Leaders are sponsored by the Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, and Mississippi University for Women.
- See more at: VTVA.com
Elgin Area Chamber celebrates growth in 2015
Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce officials highlighted the group's successes Tuesday during their annual luncheon at the Grand Victoria Casino.
Permits were issued for nearly 457,000 square feet of new manufacturing space in 2015, a 15 percent increase from 2014, with an anticipated 1.1 million square feet of new development slated this year, officials said.
The Elgin Development Group, an independent arm of the chamber funded by the city, helped bring Zilber Property Group, a Motorola facility and The Fabricators & Manufacturers Association to Elgin, they said. No mention was made of any businesses that left in 2015.
EDG's annual "Manufacture Your Future" exhibit last year included a "Manufacture Like a Girl" component to encourage young women to consider careers in manufacturing.
Elgin's retail vacancy rate was 8.2 percent, which is lower than Naperville, St. Charles and Schaumburg, officials said. The city's unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in November, better than the same month in 2014, with nearly 54,000 people employed, or a gain of nearly 3,000 since January 2015, officials said.
The chamber's latest figures show it had 580 members representing 20,100 employees in the Elgin area. Read more: Daily Herald
The Fox Cities Regional Partnership, a division of the Fox Cities Chamber, and presenting sponsor, JPMorgan Chase, will host the Economic Outlook Breakfast from 7-9 a.m. Feb. 9 at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel.
The featured speaker is Anthony Chan, Ph.D., Chief Economist, JPMorgan Chase.
Chan will provide insights into critical economic indicators and proven strategies for leveraging economic forecasts. In addition to Chan, Manny Vasquez, vice president of the Fox Cities Regional Partnership, will reveal the results of an annual local economic outlook survey, conducted by the Partnership, covering issues such as employment, availability of qualified workers, sales growth and volume, net profits and salaries for the previous year.
Registration is now open. Individual tickets are $35 for Chamber members or $45 general admission. Tables of 10 are also available at $300 for Chamber members or $400 general admission. To register, visit bit.ly/eob2016 or call 920-734-7101. Read more: PostCrescent.com
A northern Michigan winter event that draws thousands of people from all over the country tips-off this weekend. It's called Tip-Up Town and volunteers were busy taking phone calls and getting ready for it at the Houghton Lake Chamber of Commerce.
"It's last minute preparation, so this is always a crazy time," Kim Akin, Houghton Lake Chamber of Commerce executive director, said. "It's so nice for me to have about 25 people that I can call that will do whatever we need done. I have so many people behind me that I think we'll be great and everyone will have a great time."
Tip-Up Town is an annual winter event that includes ice fishing, ice sculpting, a family fun tent, and lots of outdoor winter activities. There are more than 200 volunteers in the community who will be helping out at the event. One of those volunteers is Mari Lou Mackenzie. She has a full-time job but has been giving around 20 hours of her time a week the past three weeks towards helping out for the event.
"A lot of hours, but it's fun," Mackenzie said. "Get to meet a lot of people. I think it keeps the town going for the winter." Read more: Up North Live
“Being new to the community and knowing literally NO ONE, I needed a way to meet people in the area and introduce myself to the business community. The Chamber was a great way to do just that. Over the past several years, some of my best clients are a direct result of connections I’ve made through the Chamber, and membership continues to be a profitable experience.”
Yuki Northington, Owner
Social Chair
#BestChamber Practices: Hancock County Chamber Testimonials
“Being new to the community and knowing literally NO ONE, I needed a way to meet people in the area and introduce myself to the business community. The Chamber was a great way to do just that. Over the past several years, some of my best clients are a direct result of connections I’ve made through the Chamber, and membership continues to be a profitable experience.”Yuki Northington, Owner
Social Chair
See more chamber testimonials: Hancock County Chamber
Batavia Chamber of Commerce 2016 Community Guide & Membership Directory
The Batavia Chamber of Commerce 2016 Community Guide & Business Directory is available at the Batavia Chamber today! Thanks to Holly Deitchman and the chamber team for their help and direction putting this together!
Town SquarePublications (www.townsquarepublications.com) can help you accomplish your chamber's gloss map, directory, community profile or publication needs at no expense to the chamber. Please email John Dussman at jdussman@tspubs.com or call (847)-427-4633.
Greater Lynchburg Chamber executive and guide: Clarence Arthur Middleton, Jr
Clarence Arthur Middleton, Jr. (“Art”) passed away at Lynchburg General Hospital on February 6, 2016 after a brief illness. He was born on December 10, 1923 and is survived by Pollyanna Booth Middleton, his loving wife of 69 years.
Art was born in The Plains, Virginia to Clarence Arthur Middleton and Matilda Wilkison Middleton, both of whom pre-deceased him. He is survived by his brother Douglas Middleton and was predeceased by his sister, Jacksie Jane Grimmett, and brother, George Wilkison Middleton.
Art graduated from Mars Hill College and entered the Army in 1933. He fought bravely with the 102nd Infantry Division in France and Germany and was awarded a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart. He returned to the States after the war and married Pollyanna. He enrolled in The University of North Carolina and received his B.S. in Commerce in 1948. He earned a Masters Degree from the University of Richmond in 1964.
Following work in Richmond with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and the Governor’s Office Division of Industrial Development, he relocated his family to Lynchburg, Virginia to serve as the Executive Director of the Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce. He guided the Lynchburg Chamber through a period of tremendous growth from 1969 until his retirement in 1987. Read more: Prince William Times
Town Square Publications, a division of the Daily Herald Media Group, is a national chamber custom publishing group that specializes in developing partnerships by producing high-quality print and digitally integrated publications along with other added value programs dedicated to creating relevancy for local chambers of commerce and other membership focused organizations interested in raising non-dues revenues.
Town Square Publications parent company, Paddock Publications, has over 100 years’ experience of print product development and dedicated customer service in communities throughout the Midwest. Our experience allows Town Square Publications to offer you attractive royalty and non-dues revenue share streams, provide direct distribution of your custom designed printed publications, including digital and mobile integration, and all with the quickest turn-around times available in the industry. Town Square also offers multi-media maps in both print and online formats, both with our No-Cost guarantee. More information: Town Square Publications
Chambers of Commerce and member focused organizations serve as a valuable resource in the local marketplace. The networking opportunities and representation with a wide variety of diverse businesses in your community is the catalyst of a successful organization. For further information about Town Square's publishing partnership with chambers of commerce and our No-Cost guarantee and Earned Revenue Share Program, To request your publication proposal, Click here
Town Square Publications Chamber of Commerce Membership Directories, Community Profiles, Re-Location Guides and Custom Maps
Town Square Publications, a division of the Daily Herald Media Group, is a national chamber custom publishing group that specializes in developing partnerships by producing high-quality print and digitally integrated publications along with other added value programs dedicated to creating relevancy for local chambers of commerce and other membership focused organizations interested in raising non-dues revenues.
Town Square Publications parent company, Paddock Publications, has over 100 years’ experience of print product development and dedicated customer service in communities throughout the Midwest. Our experience allows Town Square Publications to offer you attractive royalty and non-dues revenue share streams, provide direct distribution of your custom designed printed publications, including digital and mobile integration, and all with the quickest turn-around times available in the industry. Town Square also offers multi-media maps in both print and online formats, both with our No-Cost guarantee. More information: Town Square Publications
Chambers of Commerce and member focused organizations serve as a valuable resource in the local marketplace. The networking opportunities and representation with a wide variety of diverse businesses in your community is the catalyst of a successful organization. For further information about Town Square's publishing partnership with chambers of commerce and our No-Cost guarantee and Earned Revenue Share Program, To request your publication proposal, Click here
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