Good morning Chamber World! It's going to be a GREAT day!; NKY Chamber Event: Annual Excellence in Education event to recognize ‘collective impact’ of contributions to education; Greeley chamber plans alumni event for leadership graduates; 2015 Peninsula Executive Leadership Forum (PELF) - Tuesday, May 10th; Kernersville Chamber of Commerce: Business Education and Training Event; Chamber interest: Investment in Antioch Theatre is paying off, officials say; Door County Room tax provides marketing for tourism; Indiana Chamber to Push Forward on Road Funding, Civil Rights; Chamber Chuckle - Wacky Wednesday Weirdest Chamber Requests; Chamber event: Tickets available for Taste of Ocean Springs; Town Square Publications Chamber of Commerce Membership Directories, Community Profiles, Re-Location Guides and Custom Maps

Good morning Chamber World! It's going to be a GREAT day!

NKY Chamber Event: Annual Excellence in Education event to recognize ‘collective impact’ of contributions to education

The Northern Kentucky Education Council and the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce invite the community to attend the 2016 Excellence in Education Celebration: A Brighter Future for NKY {Powered by STEAM}.

The April 28 event will be held at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. It will recognize students, educators, and community and business leaders for their significant contributions to education.

“Our education, business and community leaders are working together every day in creative and innovative ways to ensure all students are prepared for college, work and life,” said Polly Lusk Page, executive director of the Northern Kentucky Education Council.

“We are especially proud to be able to recognize the collective impact efforts being made on behalf of education across the region.”

This year’s theme of A Brighter Future for NKY {Powered by STEAM} was chosen to highlight the focus schools are putting on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Northern Kentucky students are encouraged to think critically and take integrative approaches to real-world problems, skills that will prepare them well for when they enter the workforce.

“The creativity and drive our business community is seeing from the students coming out of our local schools is inspiring,” said David Heidrich, Chair of the Board for the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. Read more: Northern Kentucky Tribune

Greeley chamber plans alumni event for leadership graduates

GREELEY — The Greeley Chamber of Commerce will host a breakfast in May for graduates of its leadership program.Since its founding in 1984 as Leadership Greeley, the Greeley chamber’s Leadership Weld County has developed more than 850 emerging leaders in the community.

Tim Terrentine

Graduates of the program are sought after for leadership roles in civic and nonprofit agencies, in addition to providing leadership within their own organizations. Now, the chamber invites all graduates to attend a breakfast program “refresher.” Co-sponsors for the event are the city of Greeley’s ACE program and Bank of Colorado.

Nationally known speaker Tim Terrentine will speak to alumni on “What Leadership Requires.”

Terrentine is president of the Kalamazoo, Mich., Chamber of Commerce, and executive vice president of Southwest Michigan First. He consults with businesses and individuals — from Fortune 100 companies to small businesses. Read more: Biz West

2015 Peninsula Executive Leadership Forum (PELF) - Tuesday, May 10th

The Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and Thomas Nelson Community College collaborate in the presentation of the Peninsula Executive Leadership Forum. 

This forum provides an opportunity for top level executives from throughout the Commonwealth to to share their insight on corporate strategy and what is shaping their business decision-making today. 

Mission: to foster dialogue that inspires and motivates excellence in leadership. More Information: Virginia Peninsula Chamber

Kernersville Chamber of Commerce: Business Education and Training Event

Join the Business Education and Training Committee as they host their second seminar of the year sponsored by State Farm Insurance-Dennis McNeil. They have invited three local professionals to discuss their marketing strategies. Lisa Bugg from The Collegiate Shop, Robert Bunch from SE Logo Wear and Jennifer Jinnette from Servpro are looking forward to sharing their tips and secrets on marketing their unique brands. 

RSVP to  Taylor DuBois to reserve your seat now! 

Chamber interest: Investment in Antioch Theatre is paying off, officials say

The language of a local law establishing an entertainment tax to help revive the old Antioch Theatre shows a commitment from village leaders to save the ailing structure, and some uncertainty about doing so.

However, a year after a $750,000 renovation, made possible in part by a village-backed 75-cent per-ticket tax, the investment has met expectations.

"It's working exactly as planned," said theater owner Tim Downey, an investor who owns another building downtown. "About 40,000 people attended movies last year. That was more than adequate to make the loan payment."

According to the village, Downey has repaid $29,858 on the 10-year note, with all monthly payments on time and in full.

Deteriorating and in danger of being shuttered, the venue at 378 Lake St. reopened after an extensive renovation in February 2015. The updated version has 168 seats on the floor and another 50 seats in the balcony of the main theater, as well as a former adjoining shop converted to a 29-seat boutique showplace. Improvements that included new seats, restrooms, carpeting, facade and marquee were made in the style and flavor of the 1920s and `30s.

"The community has been supportive from Day 1," theater General Manager Cindy Kottke said. "Once they come, they come back. They're in awe of what's been done here."

Moviegoers are greeted and served drinks and snacks from staff behind a small counter immediately inside the entrance.

"I love it. I think that it's awesome being in a small town with a small-town theater. It's more personable when you come in and you actually talk to people here and know who is here," Antioch resident Rebekah Krueger said. "I just love this community in general, and having this here is just a bonus to it."

Downtown supporters say the project has increased foot traffic, which can benefit shopkeepers and restaurants, and has set an example for recent renovations at other Main Street businesses, such as Dairy Queen and Polson's Natural Foods.

"You've seen a good amount of investment in downtown this past year," Downey said.

While hit movies such as "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" helped draw patrons to the refurbished theater, new facilities, the nostalgia factor, reasonable prices and other factors have attracted many first-timers, who have become repeat customers, he said.

"For this market, it's a great little theater," Downey said. "It's a combination of many things."

That's also good news for the village, which continuously is trying to protect and enhance its Main Street. Like many small communities, Antioch long ago said goodbye to the pre-mall glory days and has to figure out ways to maintain consumer interest.

"It's almost it's own story," Mayor Larry Hanson said of the village's first action of this nature. "A private partnership investment someone took on with a little support from the community can be done."

The structure was built in 1919 as the Majestic Theatre, a live performance house, and it was converted and renamed the Antioch Theatre five years later. The venue never was a grand movie palace, but a simple building that had become a fixture downtown for generations of residents and visitors.

Deteriorating conditions and slumping attendance had put its future in jeopardy when Downey posed the idea of remodeling and upgrading the building and its facilities, including a conversion to digital equipment.

To do that, he invested $300,000 of his own money, secured $200,000 from the village, found four core sponsors to contribute $150,000 and raised the balance through sales of engraved sidewalk stars.

The ordinance establishing the ticket tax noted the village board "wholeheartedly" supported the concept of reviving the theater in order to draw patrons downtown and provide other benefits. Leaders also found "with a degree of reluctance" that advancing the funds for this "one unique instance" was in the public's best interest.

"It's fun to report my confidence in the community and the community's confidence in me has paid off," Downey said.

The decision to support the theater has been the right one, according to Trustee Mary Dominiak, who is the village board's liaison for economic development. She said it supports the recently adopted Community Vision plan and has contributed to a "growing interest to renovate existing businesses."

Barbara Porch, executive director of the Antioch Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the renovated theater is a "vital part of our historic downtown," that is helping other businesses by bringing people to the area. Read more: Daily Herald

Door County Room tax provides marketing for tourism

Working together is better than working alone with it comes to tourism marketing in Door County, and there are statistics to prove it.

Since the Door County Tourism Zone Commission (DCTZC) formed in 2009, there has been a 20.51 percent increase in filled rooms, which equates to over 90,000 more stays, according to Commission data. Between 2009 and 2014 visitor spending in Door County increased by over $56 million.

It might be surprising to learn that tourism was declining in the mid-2000s in Door County. As this is a place of natural wonders, the arts, shopping, dining and outdoor recreation, Door County seems like an obvious choice to stay for a weekend or week or month for that matter.

Noticing the decline of visitors and overall tourist spending, the Door County Strategic Marketing Coalition had a study done with a consultant, which indicated the county needed a large marketing push to get people back to the Door. To have a comprehensive marketing initiative, funds are necessary.

Modeling the Sturgeon Bay area's room tax, the DCTZC formed and in 2009 all 19 Door County municipalities adopted ordinances to impose a 5.5 percent tax on transient lodging. "Transient lodging" is defined as rooms rented in hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts, through AirBnB, Vacation Rental By Owner or any place where people stay for less than 30 days.

The funds from this room tax are broken down into three parts: 66 percent is distributed to the contracted tourism entity (the Door County Visitors Bureau), 30 percent is given to the municipality where the lodging location is and 4 percent is used for Tourism Zone administrative expenses.

“Each municipality is part of the Door County marketing plan,” said Kim Roberts, DCTZC administrator. “They each benefit from expanded exposure, and more people are paying attention to the county as a whole.” 

The Tourism Zone collects and distributes the funds, but to eliminate the opportunity for fraud, the Tourism Zone works with Kerber Rose Accounting and Schenk for accountability and audit services.

DCTZC chair Josh VanLieshoult said on the bottom line, with a more central tourism marketing strategy and funding, the average room and occupancy rates should continuously increase.

“No business has the capital to put $3 million into marketing, and the Door County Visitor Bureau has reach across the nation,” VanLieshout said.

Roberts said with more targeted marketing more people come to the peninsula, benefiting businesses outside of lodging including the dining sector, retail and campgrounds.

The Tourism Zone is a great partner of the DCVB, as they are the enforcement of the room tax legislation, ensuring proper permitting and collection and payment of the tax DCVB President and CEO Jack Moneypenny said.

“They do the heavy lifting for us to make sure those tax dollars are collected to market the county,” Moneypenny said.

He said prior to 2007, DCVB’s marketing budget was $200,000 and was primarily made up of membership dollars. Today the marketing budget is about $2 million.

“The tax gave Door County the marketing boost we needed,” Moneypenny said. “It helps us to find new visitors to try Door County to see if this is a good place for them.”

In addition, DCVB puts 11 percent of the 66 percent of funds received from the tax into the Strategic Community Partnership Fund (SCP), which is allocated for local marketing entities like the Sturgeon Bay Visitors Bureau and the Egg Harbor Business Association.

The SCP was formerly known as the Community Marketing Fund, and was made to create a bridge for alternate funding for municipalities that already had a room tax and had money ingrained into their communities, Moneypenny said.

The city of Sturgeon Bay had a room tax for 10 years running before all of the Door County communities joined the Tourism Zone and implemented the same room tax.

Mariana Gibson of the Washington Island Chamber of Commerce said the town of Washington gives the Chamber half of its tax monies to promote the Island. Last year they received about $10,000 and noted that occupancy rates increased between 2014 and 2015.

“Before the room tax, it was very hard for us, and now we can do more than print fliers,” Gibson said.

Some new aspects to their marketing includes ads in Midwest Living Magazine and a new Chamber website with mobile capabilities. In addition to their regular advertising in local media publication, the Chamber also went to represent the Island at Canoecopia, a conference in Madison for paddling sports enthusiasts.

“It’s really helped our Chamber, when you get that extra money, you can find good things to do with it,” Gibson said of the Tourism Zone and room tax. Read more: Green Bay Press-Gazette

Indiana Chamber to Push Forward on Road Funding, Civil Rights

Indiana Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Kevin Brinegar says the organization will continue to be active in key legislative issues all the way up to next year's legislative session. He says this year's biggest "missed opportunity" was the failure of legislation to expand Indiana's civil rights law to include the LGBT community. In an interview on Inside INdiana Business Television, Brinegar said the chamber will also continue to push lawmakers to pass long-term funding for road and infrastructure projects.

Brinegar says the $1.2 billion road and bridge funding compromise is what was "mostly realistic" for the legislature to pass during a short session in an election year. Governor Mike Pence signed the bill into law last week. The measure also includes $42 million to fund an expanded Regional Cities Initiative. The compromise funds the projects through a combination of state reserves, Major Moves dollars, tax re-allocations and money from last year's tax amnesty program. Previous proposals included gas and cigarette tax increases.

A bill that would have expanded civil rights protections to include sexual orientation died without a vote in February. Read more: Inside Indiana Business

Chamber Chuckle -  Wacky Wednesday Weirdest Chamber Requests

Do you have whale watching there? (Shawano County, Wisconsin)

Chamber event: Tickets available for Taste of Ocean Springs

The Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce -- Main Street -- Tourism Bureau has tickets for the annual Taste of Ocean Springs Food & Wine Festival on May 12.

The festival showcases Ocean Springs restaurants and will be held under the oaks at the L&N Depot Plaza downtown.

Participating restaurants will provide samples of their best food, and music will be provided by Caution Swing Bridge. Tickets are $50 per person, while supplies last and available at the chamber office, 1000 Washington Ave.

Details: 875-4424 or www.oceanspringschamber.com/taste  - Read more here: Sun Herald

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