Association of Washington Business named ACCE's first-ever Chamber of Year in the State/Province category
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| From left to right: Todd Mielke, president and CEO of Greater Spokane Incorporated; Rich Hadley, AWB; Amy Anderson, AWB government affairs director; Kris Johnson, AWB president; Alisha Benson, Greater Spokane Incorporated; Lori Mattson, president and CEO, Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce; and, Katherine Morgan, executive director, Greater Spokane Valley Chamber . |
The Association of Washington Business (AWB) has been named Chamber of the Year by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) in the state/province category, becoming the first state chamber of commerce to win the award.
Finalists for the award are evaluated throughout a multi-phase application process that examines key performance areas, including net revenue and membership retention. Once a chamber is deemed qualified, the organization is assigned a category of similarly-sized competitors.
AWB won in the newly established state/province category. Other finalists included the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.
AWB’s contest entry highlighted the organization’s work establishing the AWB-Local Chamber Grassroots Alliance, which is strengthening ties between AWB and more than 60 local chambers of commerce throughout Washington, as well as its contribution to the successful campaign that sought congressional reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.
The judges also took note of the organization’s new strategic plan, its strong advocacy work in the state Legislature, and its engagement with literally thousands of members through various statewide outreach tours.
“It is a privilege to receive this award on behalf of AWB staff and our members, which include nearly 8,000 private-sector employers in a broad range of industries throughout Washington,” said AWB President Kris Johnson. “It’s gratifying to know that our efforts to serve as a convener — to bring together businesses of all sizes and from all parts of the state to make Washington a place where everyone can succeed and prosper — resonated with the judges.
“The new Grassroots Alliance is just one example of how we are working to bring together people and employers and find solutions to our state’s challenges,” said Mike Schwenk, AWB’s board chair. “We have also worked hard building new coalitions to address some of the major policy issues facing the state, including transportation, climate policy and international trade. This recognition not only affirms that we are moving in the right direction, but also reenergizes our efforts.”
AWB President Kris Johnson and Amy Anderson, AWB government affairs director, accepted the Chamber of the Year award last week on behalf of AWB in Savannah, Ga. at ACCE’s annual convention.
Plainfield Area Chamber celebrates Chamber of Commerce Week with a targeted mailer to potential members.
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CELEBRATE
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WEEK
SEPTEMBER 12TH – 16TH
Not a Plainfield Area Chamber member?
Join during the week of September 12th through the 16th and receive
$25.00 OFF your membership dues!
Already a Plainfield Area Chamber member?
Bring in a potential NEW member and receive $25.00 in chamber bucks*!
(*NEW member MUST join the week of September 12th through the 16th)
**Bring this card into the Plainfield Area Chamber of Commerce, 24109 W. Lockport Street, to receive your discounted membership**
New Castle-Henry County Chamber of Commerce 2016 Community Map
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| New Castle-Henry County Chamber |
The New Castle-Henry County Chamber of Commerce 2016 Community Map is available at the New Castle-Henry County Chamber today! Thanks to Missy Modesitt, Mary Campbell 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 guide or publication needs at no expense to the chamber. Please email John Dussman at jdussman@tspubs.com or call (847)-427-4633.
Virginia Peninsula Chamber award: JTF-CS Sailor Receives Military Citizen of the Year Award
Fort Eustis, Virginia – U.S. Navy Logistics Specialist 1st Class S. Laquita Brooks was awarded the Military Citizen of the Year for the Navy for the Virginia Peninsula in Newport News, Virginia August 18, 2016.
The award, presented by the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, recognizes service members who serve the community they live in.
The keynote speaker, Virginia Congressman Rob Wittman, spoke about how people outside the US are amazed by the helpfulness of the United States military and by the ethos they have. “We are blessed to have that,” Wittman said. “It is what makes our military great.”
Brooks, the Leading Petty Officer for Logistics and Sustainment at Joint Task Force Civil Support, says she began seriously volunteering early on in her military career.
“The very first [volunteering] I did for the Navy was when I was in (military occupational school) school at Meridian, Mississippi,” Brooks, a Jacksonville, North Carolina native, explained. “In order for us to be able to go out on the town, you had to volunteer. So of course, I wanted to do that to get out of my barracks room.” It was an experience she wouldn’t forget and started her on her path.
Brooks helped mentor youth at Doris Miller Community Center in Newport News by building students future goal plans and put together a peer pressure seminar and lectured on forward thinking for success through education.
She also helped organize the command food drive for the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank, putting together the plan and coordinating with installation agencies. She volunteered over 30 hours at the Ft. Eustis Branch of the Hampton Roads and Central Virginia USO, helping soldiers with professional development and restocking food storage bins and worked on the building maintenance and beautification operations for the facility. She volunteered at the Military Appreciation Day and Military Family Festival and the Allen Stone Braveheart Race.
Brooks learned early the value of giving back. Read More: DVIDS
The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce will host its Annual Meeting and Community Awards on Thursday, September 22, 2016 at the Monroe Convention Center. We invite our members to submit their nominations for several awards, which will be presented during the Annual Meeting.
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The 2016 Community Awards
As a member of The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, we encourage you to submit your nomination(s) for our Community Awards. This year there are ten categories for your consideration:
A full description of each award may be found on our website.
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YEA! Dearborn Area Chamber program: Metro Detroit Boy Scouts Can Now Earn Merit Badges While Launching the Business of Their Dreams
Metro Detroit area boy scouts can now earn merit badges through the Metro Detroit Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!), a groundbreaking and prestigious program that empowers young people to take control of their futures in a bold and powerful way, transforming students into CEOs of their own real businesses!
Boy scouts throughout Metro Detroit can participate in YEA! and earn up to five merit badges over the academy’s 30-week, after school program. Through YEA!, students in grades 6-12 are guided by real, local businessmen and women to pair their passions with profitable business ideas, pitch to a panel of investors, secure real funding and launch their own, fully formed, legally registered companies. Since its national inception in 2004, the Young Entrepreneurs Academy has graduated more than 6,000 students, who have launched more than 4,000 real businesses across the United States!
In addition to boy scouts, all Metro Detroit middle and high school students have the opportunity to apply for this national award winning, once in a lifetime program scheduled to begin in October, 2016. While in the Academy, students will receive all the necessary tools to launch real, legal businesses. This includes access to experts such as attorneys, accountants, business mentors and graphic designers. Students will also pitch their business ideas to an executive investor panel for the chance to earn real start-up funding, and the opportunity to compete for college scholarships at the national level!
Applications can be downloaded online at www.DearbornAreaChamber.org or can be received by calling the Chamber office at 313-584-6100. The selection process is competitive and will include a personal interview. Only 24 students will be chosen to participate in this prestigious program.
The Metro Detroit YEA! program will be held at the University of Michigan- Dearborn main campus on Thursdays from October, 2016 to May, 2017.
Contact Ron Hinrichs, Director of Events & Media Relations at the Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce at rhinrichs@dearbornareachamber.org or 313-584-6100 for more information about enrolling in YEA!
Crossroads Regional Chamber of Commerce 2016 Community Profile & Membership Directory
The Crossroads Regional Chamber of Commerce 2016 Community Profile & Membership Directory is available at the Crossroads Regional Chamber today! Thanks to Sue Reed 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.
The Bottom Line: Kentucky Chamber and Prichard Committee publish report following higher education funding symposium
Providing information about national research and the front-line experiences of other states was the focus of a recent symposium on performance and outcomes-based funding for postsecondary education in Kentucky.
Performance & Outcomes-Based Funding: Lessons for Accountable Investment for Postsecondary Progress in Kentucky was co-presented on June 29 by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.
It featured a variety of perspectives from leading experts on the funding model that will become part of Kentucky’s postsecondary budgeting process in fiscal year 2018 under a mandate included in the 2016-2018 state budget. (Under the mandate, 5 percent of the institutions’ operating appropriations in 2018 will be based on the model.)
The symposium offered information on the national context of efforts to tie postsecondary funding to results, the experiences of states that have adopted such an approach, and the challenges of deciding what results to measure and how to ensure accountability for performance. It was presented in support of the efforts of the Postsecondary Education Working Group that is to develop the model by December 1 of this year.
“Our organizations are longstanding advocates of improving the quality of education in the Commonwealth and advancing the educational attainment of all of its citizens,” noted Brigitte Blom Ramsey, executive director of the Prichard Committee, and Dave Adkisson, president and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber.
“We are greatly interested in advancing efforts that tie funding to improved outcomes and presented this symposium to provide information that we hope will be helpful as Kentucky’s funding model is developed.”
A report on the symposium is available on both the Kentucky Chamber and Prichard Committee websites and the presentations are available here.
Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce, inc. to host State of the County Address
Biloxi, MS – The Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce, Inc. will host the annual State of the County Address on August 30, 2016, at the IP Casino Resort & Spa. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. for breakfast and networking with the program beginning promptly at 8:00 a.m. This year’s event will feature Harrison County Board of Supervisors President Beverly Martin as the guest speaker.
Kimberly Nastasi, Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer stated, “State of the County Address provides a forum for education and dialogue between county leaders and the business community. The event serves as a means of networking and information.”
Tickets to the event are $35 which includes breakfast; tables and sponsorships are also available. For additional information regarding State of the County or to inquire about tickets, tables or sponsorships, please contact Kaila Moran at 228-604-0014. More information: Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber
MMAC interest: Jagler: 5 tips for exporting to China
In the view of Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, generating true wealth and value for Wisconsin requires local manufacturers to export their products out of state.
“The rest of us," Sheehy says, "are just washing each other’s socks.”
Last week in this column we explored the best practices for importing goods to Wisconsin from China.
This week, we want to look at the latest and greatest ideas for exporting goods from Wisconsin to China.
Joseph Jurken, founder and senior partner of The ABC Group LLC, a Milwaukee-based consulting company, estimates he has visited China on business more than 200 times over the past three decades. He closely monitors the trade agreements the United States negotiates with other countries and regions.
The United States had a record $365.7 billion trade deficit with China in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
However, Jurken says the “Americanization” of China provides opportunities for smart Wisconsin companies.
In most cases, Wisconsin companies aren’t able to compete on labor costs in China, but they can compete on innovation and premium brands, Jurken says.
“We have to be able to sell our products in China. People like American products,” Jurken says. “Regarding the trade deficit, the problem is not that we import too much. It’s that we don’t export enough.”
Over time, Chinese business executives have become more savvy about dealing with Americans in negotiations over price and other concessions, Jurken says.
“There are great opportunities in China, but a large challenge is that as they have become more Americanized, they understand our way of thinking better, and I think they have become tougher negotiators. They’ve gotten smarter in their negotiating skills,” he says.
Jurken has plenty of anecdotes about companies that have figured out how to prosper by exporting to China.
“It is important to not only know your products but also how they fit in the global economy,” Jurken says. “We had a client that manufactured a specialized component and sold to a multinational company. They did an outstanding job of working the engineers in the USA for approval and provided us ‘intel’ to work with the Chinese buyer. Basically it was both sides of the ocean focusing on their strengths and working in tandem. It was a huge success for our client.”
He also has seen companies that have failed in their Chinese ventures.
“It is important for U.S. companies to stay true to their business model and not be swayed by Chinese buyers to take control of the relationship,” Jurken says. “It is extremely important for the U.S. seller to remain in the driver’s seat of the relationship. It is never wise to allow the Chinese buyer to get behind the wheel.”
I asked Jurken to share five insights for Wisconsin companies interested in exporting to China:
1. Charge a fair price. “Follow the rule of supply and demand. If there’s demand for your products there, strongly consider charging a fair price as you would in any other country. Don’t drop prices because the Chinese economy is lagging. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for a premium when selling goods to a new Chinese customer.”
2. Plan around purchase orders. “Consider using firm purchase orders to get a handle on production visibility and reduce exposure to China’s economic fluctuations. It’s an attractive alternative to flexible forecasts, which can leave a company struggling with excess capacity when orders are down and not enough capacity when orders are up.”
3. Expand carefully. “China consists of multiple submarkets. Companies will do well to gain significant traction in their core markets first and then expand to others. Avoid the tendency to expand quickly in multiple submarkets, which can strain resources. When expansion is called for, select markets that are geographically proximate and look for similar demographics in customers." Read more: Journal Sentinel
Town Square Publications Chamber of Commerce Membership Directories, Community Profiles, Guides and Custom Maps
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