Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber Celebrates 29 Years of Leadership, Announces 2017 Class; Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce Releases Results from Annual Chamber Member Economic Survey; Frankfort: Brand new day; From the Greater Elkhart Chamber: Tax incentives invite both businesses and debate; Petoskey Chamber's strategic plan gets board OK; 4 key points from the Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce Year in Review; Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and Mayor Kathy Chiaverotti highlight Muskego Area Chamber State of the City;

Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber Celebrates 29 Years of Leadership, Announces 2017 Class

            Oxford, Miss. ‑‑ The Oxford‑Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce kicked off its 2017 class of the Leadership Lafayette program in January and will run through September. The program began in 1988 and celebrates 29 years of leadership with this year's class. 

            “I am very excited about this year’s program,” said Torie White, Leadership Lafayette chair.  “They are a remarkable group, and we anticipate the work they will do through their projects will enrich our community. We are also eager to see them use their skills to get involved in different facets of the community beyond the program.”

            The 2017 class includes: Cade Austin, Baptist Memorial Hospital; Betty Bloom, Bloom Again/Dignity.PERIOD; Jody Burnett, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church; Jake Campbell, Winchester Ammunition; Brooke Gobert, Trustmark National Bank; John Hopkins, Cspire; Kelly Huckaby, Mississippi Federal Credit Union; Medora Justice, Hardy Reed/Univ. of Miss; Chloe Lloyd, Ed Maxwell, Watkins, Ward and Stafford; Jerad Myers, Turner Law, PLLC; Lauren Pace, FNB Oxford; Henry Paris, HomeFirst Mortgage; Ben Pinon, Magnolia Montessori School; Justin Ramsey, BancorpSouth; Rixter Sharpe, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Diagnostic Center; Sha’ Simpson, North Mississippi Regional Center; Afton Thomas, Southern Foodways Alliance at Univ. of Miss; Cobie Watkins, University of MS Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Alex White, University of Mississippi; Ryan Winters, Oxford Police Dept.; Brandi Young, Grace Realty Group.

           

            This nine-month course is designed to ensure the continuity of leadership in the Lafayette‑Oxford‑University community. The class training builds community leaders through shared knowledge, skills and experience. The program emphasizes developing leadership skills through activities promoting community awareness, team building and project development. 

            Objectives of the Leadership Lafayette Program are to: (1) Identify potential community leaders; (2) Develop individual leadership potential; (3) Acquire knowledge about community and current issues in Lafayette County; (4) Create dialogue and rapport among participants and current community leaders; (5) Provide opportunities to network with alumni of prior Leadership Lafayette programs; and (6) Promote a sense of “community” through shared efforts benefiting the local community.

            “The Leadership Lafayette steering committee has been diligently working on details of the program, planning the sessions, speakers and agendas,” said Pam Swain, Leadership Lafayette program administrator and Senior Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce.  “These volunteers have been through this program and similar programs and have spent countless hours ensuring that each session is of great value and interest to the class.”



Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce Releases Results from Annual Chamber Member Economic Survey
For the ninth consecutive year, Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce member enterprises cite “Economic Growth & Vitality” as their top public policy interest – and half of those enterprises plan to add jobs in 2017 – while business confidence remains steady in the response to the chamber’s fifteenth annual member economic survey.

The Annual Chamber Member Economic Survey, which takes an annual reading from the leading representatives of chamber enterprises, offers an insight index into chamber members’ economic and policy concerns. The survey responses came in over January until February 3, 2017. The 2017 Chamber Member Economic Survey was coordinated by the chamber professional staff.

The continued positive national and local economic indicators show in the chamber survey response: 50 percent of the 2017 Chamber member enterprise survey responded that they plan to add jobs; only slightly under last year’s 55% level. Forty-six percent of chamber enterprises anticipate holding level on jobs.

Regarding profitability, 70.6 percent of chamber member enterprises expect to see growth in 2017; slightly up from the 70 percent who anticipated growth last year. This year continues to show some of the highest confidence levels since the years leading up to and following the “Great Recession” (2007-2009).

Chamber members were also asked to rank from a list of 20 public policy issues those they “…think will have the greatest consequences on the future economic vitality and quality of life of our greater Charlottesville region.” Read more: NBC 29




Frankfort: Brand new day

The Frankfort Area Chamber of Commerce has done the community a huge service with development of a unified brand for promoting Frankfort to the state, nation and world.

Folks surely will quibble with colors, shapes and other details of a logo unveiled during Friday’s annual chamber meeting and dinner. Opinions about such things are a dime a dozen, and our readers began offering them the minute we put the logo on our website over the weekend. The chamber should encourage citizen feedback and might even find in the critiques a detail or two to tweak and make the final product even better.

Count us among those who like the logo and accompanying slogan, Kentucky Distilled. The brand suggests, accurately, that Frankfort is the essence of Kentucky, rich with resources both natural and manufactured, including a signature spirit consumed and admired around the world.

Noticeably absent is the Capitol dome — or any reference to the state capital, for that matter. The omission is intentional, branders explained, noting an anti-government sentiment in Kentucky and beyond. We take the point, especially around Kentucky, where folks associate Frankfort with political shenanigans, the place where bad legislation passes and needed change is obstructed – certainly not the place to go for fun.

For non-Kentuckians, Frankfort’s status as a state capital can be a drawing card. Most learn about our city for the first time in high school civics class when memorizing state capitals — a short list of 50 places nationwide that is unique its permanence. Thousands of other communities can only dream of being on it. Time will tell whether Frankfort is wise to downplay such a distinction.

Unquestionable is the value of a consistent brand when trying to attract visitors, new residents and jobs. That was the overriding goal a few years back when the chamber began the conversation with community partners, leading first to a branding committee, then to use of a Nashville consultant with expertise in such endeavors. Read more: State Journal

From the Greater Elkhart Chamber: Tax incentives invite both businesses and debate

Should these conversations take place at City Hall or Statehouse?

By Kyle Hannon

Elkhart County has it all. Low taxes. Great business climate. Productive workforce. Low cost of living. Charming president of the Chamber of Commerce. What other incentive do we need to attract more people and industry to move here?

Remarkably, some people aren’t convinced to spend millions of dollars on a development just because we are worth it. They would like to see the community spend some money on infrastructure. Or maybe they would like a break on their property taxes for a few years.

Besides, if we aren’t willing to spend some money on their proposed development, they can easily take that development to another community that will welcome them with open arms and an open pocketbook. I hear Iowa is nice this time of year.

So starts the annual debate about incentives. How much can local governments use to attract new companies to town, or to entice an existing company to expand, or to keep an existing company from relocating to a different community? And, how much control should the state legislature have over these local issues.

Right now, the main tools local governments can use are tax abatements and TIF districts. In Elkhart County, we refer to tax abatements as tax phase-ins, because that is a better description. Let’s say Barney’s Baking Factory is thinking about coming to town. He will bring a new industry that will employ hundreds and pay good wages. Based on the amount of investment and number of jobs, a community could tell Barney that he won’t have to pay any property taxes his first year. The next year he only has to pay 25 percent of his property taxes. Eventually, he will be paying full taxes like everybody else. That’s a tax phase-in.

With a TIF, you can capture the increment. Believe it or not, this is the way people talk in community development circles. TIF stands for tax increment financing. Let’s say Barney’s Baking Factory would locate in a TIF district. Instead of a tax phase-in, Barney wants road and sewer improvements. Right now, the property where Barney wants to build is an abandoned lot that is generating zero property tax dollars. With Barney’s Baking Factory, the lot will generate $25,000 each year in property taxes. The community can use the annual $25,000 to run a sewer line to the company and develop an intersection in the road. In that way, Barney is paying for the public improvements to benefit his property. Read more: South Bend Tribune

Petoskey Chamber's strategic plan gets board OK

The Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors recently approved a strategic plan for the organization, one that aims to address area workforce challenges and extend programming to promote positive business practices.

Plan approval came during the chamber’s annual meeting Jan. 31 at Stafford’s Bay View Inn. The plan is broken down into five areas, with three internally focused and two focusing on community initiatives.

“Workforce is the biggest challenge facing area businesses and organizations,” said chamber president Carlin Smith. “It’s a global problem that we’re not going to solve, but hopefully we can provide tools for area businesses to help them attract and retain quality employees.”

Smith emphasized that this is something the chamber can’t do alone and will look to work with other area leaders to address some of the key challenges such as workforce housing shortages and transportation.

Board member Ashley Whitney spoke to the chamber’s board about an initiative called Thriving Petoskey that started in 2016. The initiative embraces the conscious capitalism movement and the chamber hopes to guide chamber members toward more positive business practices as a way to strengthen our community.

“It’s now time for the chamber to move from the learn-it phase to the lead-it phase of Thriving Petoskey,” Whitney told the board.

As part of its strategic initiative, the chamber will roll out webinars, a keynote event, and other programming to help motivate businesses to function in a more socially responsible way. They will also find ways to promote those businesses who are practicing Conscious Capitalism.

Internally, the chamber will re-structure its board meeting schedule to have less meetings so they can focus more time on strategies. Efforts to reinvent the way the chamber approaches membership recruitment and retention as well as event planning will also be major areas of focus for the organization.

“We’ve used the phrase ‘if it ain’t broke, break it’ many times when thinking of these strategies,” said chairman of the board Tom Adams. “We’re a great chamber of commerce, but there is always room to be even better.”

Smith presented to the board the chamber’s annual report which showed a net membership growth of 12, and a net financial growth of just more than $13,000.

“We ended the year with 787-members, which is the highest end-of-the-year total in my 14-year tenure,” Smith said. Read more: Petoskey News

4 key points from the Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce Year in Review

Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce executive director Joni Hunt speaks to area business leaders Wednesday during the IVAC Year in Review breakfast business seminar.
While enjoying bacon, eggs and coffee early Wednesday, local business and community leaders learned about the state of business in the Illinois Valley when Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce held its Year in Review Breakfast Seminar in Peru.
Executive director Joni Hunt said she had accomplished all the things she set out to do in 2016 and said if anyone had any questions to reach out to the chamber.

“I may not have the answer, but I have 350 people I can call and somebody is going to have that answer,” she said. Here are four key things to take away from the breakfast.

No. 1: A new PR guide
Everyone at the breakfast received a copy of “Advantage,” the new public relations guide by IVAC. Hunt said 2,500 copies were in circulation with plans for more. She said the magazine was, in part, the result of a tour of businesses in the region.
“The reason I did that was because I wanted to know what it was like to do business in the Illinois Valley,” Hunt said. “A consistent theme from that discussion was that some folks were having trouble with recruitment … We hope that this helps those folks achieve their goals.”
The guide includes information on housing, health care and recreation in the area, alongside information about economic development.
No. 2: By the numbers
Hunt reported that there were 22 ribbon cuttings in 2016. “That’s more than we’ve had in the last five years combined,” she said. IVAC also hosted 56 events in 2016 and expanded its social media presence, Hunt said.
“We have 30 percent increase in our Facebook followers,” she said. “It’s on our agenda every single day at IVAC. Hunt also reported there had been six showings at the Hennepin steel plant and several offers submitted, but so far none had been successful.
No. 3: New Members
IVAC board president T.J. Templeton reported that the chamber now has 350 members.
“What does 350 members mean to the chamber?” he said. “It wasn’t that long ago that we were in the low 300s or maybe in the high 200s. We’ve come a long way since then.”
The chamber has grown by 58 members in fewer than two years, Templeton said.
Hunt said it was the achievement from 2016 that she was most proud of.
No. 4: Future Plans
The chamber plans to focus on leadership development in the coming year for its members, Hunt said. It would focus on creating new programs and enhancing the existing ones.
“We want to create a positive work in environment in the Illinois Valley. We want people excited about everyone’s success in here. It’s contagious,” she said. “When we have investors looking in our area and they can feel that positive energy … That’s how we win, that’s how we have an edge.” Read more: News-Tribune

Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and Mayor Kathy Chiaverotti highlight Muskego Area Chamber State of the City

Muskego Area Chamber of Commerce is honored to have Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch as guest speaker during the State of the City Breakfast on Wednesday, March 22, 2017. The annual breakfast includes Mayor Kathy Chiaverotti and guest speakers offering insights regarding the impact of economic development at the city, county, and state levels. This engaging event allows business members and citizens the opportunity to hear first-hand what is happening locally and how it affects their community. The Chamber is proud to partner with many organizations and city officials to create a prosperous and vibrant destination community. More information: Muskego Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism