Happy Monday, #Chamber World! It's going to be a GREAT week!
#FamousChamber of Commerce Quotations: (Tourism)
Tourism Is the first date of Economic Development - Bill Geist - Zeitgeist
Mattoon in Motion to hold community town hall
Mattoon in Motion wants to invite the entire community to the Town Hall meeting in the Bock Gym of the Mattoon Area Family YMCA on March 8 from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Groups will be unveiling six unique programs and goals for our community. Many business leaders, Chamber members, educators, students and civic leaders have spent countless hours over the past 6 months volunteering to help make this project successful and improve the quality of life and long-term success of our community.
As a reminder, the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce worked together with the Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation to find ways to help Mattoon prosper in the future. Through this collaboration we were able to succeed in getting the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University to select Mattoon as one of only three communities included in their Management and Planning Programs Involving Nonmetropolitan Groups (MAPPING) program. The Mattoon Chamber of Commerce and other original committee members recruited a cross-section of over 80 residents to take part in the initial planning meetings last fall. The committee's goal of the MAPPING program was to identify areas that can benefit from an organized effort on behalf of a diverse mix of citizens from high school students up to retirees in improving the quality of life in our community.
The six groups have been working hard on developing programs that will enhance Mattoon community's ability to nurture youth, embraces parks and recreation, and focus on high quality housing. The groups are also developing programs that include a thriving workforce, a robust economy, and regional promotion of our area through tourism.
The first project of the Workforce in Motion group involved over 400 businesses who were asked to complete a survey via e-mail regarding their facility’s ability to attain and retain their employees in today’s environment. The group was seeking information to help these businesses with the challenges they face with workforce issues now and into the future. They emphasized that the data will provide insight into what initiatives and partnerships are needed to help them succeed and the greater Mattoon area to prosper. The group received 140 responses which statistically is a great response rate of nearly 30%. The group's goal is to share this data with all the area businesses and educational institutions to form working partnerships and build relationships. The group is still studying the data and will have the results available at the Town Hall meeting.
The Town Hall will have presentations of all six groups along with some entertainment and tastings from local eateries. The bands Motherlode and The Legend 27 will be proving music prior to and after the main presentations. We will have free food samplings from 19th Street Dairy Queen, Don Sol Mexican Grill, Hunan Fine Asian Cuisine, Kep's Cooking, and Mark's My Store. Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken has graciously donated their signature sweet and unsweetened teas for the event. County Market is donating bottled water as an additional beverage option.
Please join us to learn what plans are in place to facilitate the continued growth and prosperity of Mattoon. Source: Journal-Gazette and Times Courier
Ed Dowd is the executive director of the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce.
Lafayette County third fastest growing county in Mississippi
Since the 2010 U.S. Census, Lafayette County has gained more than 6,811 residents, which resulted in a 22.76 percent increase, making it the third highest percentage growth in the state, according to estimates released Thursday morning by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The population projection for Lafayette County by July 1 is 54,374, which is a 1.07 percent gain from the 2016 projection estimates.
The Census Bureau conducts a census every 10 years, with the next Decennial Census scheduled for 2020. Population estimates are released on an annual basis as a way to reflect changes in the population, taking into account census data along with other sources, such as vital statistics on births and deaths.
Oxford and Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jon Maynard said the growth percentage is a little down from last year, which showed projected 1.48 percent growth from 2015 to 2016.
“We’ve been steadily growing since the mid-80s at an average of a 2 percent growth rate each year,” he said Thursday. “That is a sustainable rate. It may waiver a percent point, but it remains about the same.”
While the percentage number doesn’t change drastically each year, the number of people moving into Lafayette County grows.
“One or 2 percent of 50,000 is more than 1 or 2 percent of 20,000,” Maynard said.
Maynard said the city of Oxford, Lafayette County and the University of Mississippi have been working together to help meet the demands of the county’s growth, which is projected to hit a population of 57,197 by 2020. Read more: Oxford Eagle
St Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce 2017 Regional Profile and Membership Directory
The St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce 2017 Regional Profile and Membership Directory is available at the St. Cloud Area Chamber today! Thanks to 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.
Brewery and arts center host ‘Crafts with Craft Beer’ event
It’s hard to believe that snow sprinkled campus last week, leaving JMU students miffed that spring is scheduled to arrive. While it seems Harrisonburg has yet to adhere to the season, locals can take matters into their own hands and create colorful, spring-themed paintings at Restless Moons Brewing.
Restless Moons Brewing is hosting its first Crafts with Craft Beer event this Sunday in collaboration with the Village Arts Center. Jeffrey Moon, the owner of the brewery, opened his business in November 2017 and renamed it in February — changing it from Wolfe Street Brewing to Restless Moons Brewing — and has taken advantage of the vibrant art scene in Harrisonburg.
“I definitely like working with the artist community,” Moon said. “We get [musicians] in here every month and we got a local artist to do our mural ... It all comes back to us liking the people we work with.”
Moon, though not an artist himself, was inspired to hold an art class at the brewery after meeting with Dawn Murray, a member of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce, as well as the owner of The Village Arts Center in Broadway, Virginia. Murray introduced herself to Moon while visiting his business and gave him information about her art center. Once Moon realized he wanted to have more artistic events in his brewery, he knew just who to call.
After becoming a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Murray has been active in the local business community. She spent the majority of her years being employed by someone else so opening her own business was a tough transition. However, with the support she’s received from other local businesses, she knew that she made the right decision.
“I’m really passionate about a different type of networking,” Murray said. “Not where you just get together and talk for a few minutes about your business, but where you really support one another.” Read more: The Breeze
Kenosha Expo expands health, finance, real estate offerings
From martial arts demonstrations and roof repair to lung screenings and robotic surgery, the Kenosha Expo offers fun and food for thought.
Some 130 exhibitors shared their wares and wisdom Saturday at the 27th annual Kenosha Expo Health and Home Show at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Student Activity Center Fieldhouse. The expo continues 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.
“In general the expo is designed to promote (Kenosha) chamber members but it is open to non-members,” said Lou Molitor, president and CEO of the Kenosha Area Chamber of Commerce.
Health fair enhanced
Whereas some years have been more home-repair heavy, Molitor noted that this year the health fair aspect has been enhanced.
Wondering what your lungs might look like after smoking a pack a day for several years? Cancer Treatment Centers of America offers an up-close-and-personal look at a real pig’s lung that has been put through the disease process post-mortem. (It’s blue-gray and cold and wet to the touch). For contrast, the exhibit also has a healthy lung and an air pump to compare their functional capacities.
On the lighter side, attendees can hop in the driver’s seat of the da Vinci Xi Robotic Surgical System to remotely manipulate surgical tools in the gut of a plastic model patient.
Debuted at Aurora Medical Center in October, the da Vinci’s 3-D vision and robotic technology impressed those who gave it a whirl.
“This is just amazing; I don’t know how they do it,” said JoAnn Sirocchi of Kenosha. “It’s nice to see what (the doctors) might be doing to you.” Read more: Kenosha News
Bowling Green Area Chamber's SCK Launch initiative spreading to other cities
When the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce pioneered the Southcentral Kentucky LAUNCH program to help middle schoolers learn about career opportunities, little thought was given to expanding the program beyond the Bowling Green area.
After all, the LAUNCH acronym stood for Learning About Unique and New Careers Here, seemingly making the initiative parochial by definition.
But now, thanks to some federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funds that went unused in other Kentucky communities, the chamber is spreading the word with an evangelist’s zeal.
Chamber Chief Operating Officer Meredith Rozanski and Education and Workforce Director Sandra Baker have visited the chambers in Frankfort and Paducah, helping them get similar programs started in their communities.
“The state had some additional (WIOA) funds that had been returned,” Rozanski said. “They called and asked about us going to Frankfort and Paducah. We were excited to work with them.”
Rozanski explained the chamber is using $78,339 in leftover WIOA youth funds to purchase career pathway posters and curriculum kits to be used in Frankfort and Paducah middle schools. That money will also pay for helping the chambers in those two communities organize events similar to the SCK LAUNCH Experience that brings businesses and local eighth-graders together for a large expo that is the culminating event of SCK LAUNCH.
The WIOA windfall also included $80,000 that will be used to purchase the Franklin Covey Employability Skills Courses for all five Warren County high schools and another $70,600 to be used for redesigning the SCK LAUNCH website to include production of videos about the various local business sectors.
Both the local enhancements and the outreach to other communities seem to be the natural next steps for SCK LAUNCH, created as an outgrowth of the chamber’s The Leader in Me effort that brought the curriculum, based on the late Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” to all local elementary schools. Read more: Bowling Green Daily News
Town Square Chamber Publications: Valparaiso Chamber: Promises made, Promises kept!
Note from the Valpo Chamber
I want to thank you for an outstanding map which you produced for our Valpo Chamber.In my 43 years as a CEO in the Chamber Field, it was the smoothest project I have ever seen done. You made all the deadlines, your print quality and cartography was second to none. And of course you paid us in exactly the time frame you said you would so we could count the Royalty Check towards our current year revenue.
Life is very good when dealing with Town Square Publications.
You have the right of first refusal to do our next map. You are a great partner for our Chamber. We are living proof that a printed map is still very much in demand by both advertisers and consumers.
It would be my pleasure to recommend Town Square Publications as a firm Chambers and Tourism Bureaus should use when considering a printed Map or other print publications.
Rex G. Richards, CCE
President
Valpo Chamber of Commerce
Mayor Mark Krentz Delivers Message of Hope at La Porte's State of the City 2018
Just a stone’s throw from La Porte Courthouse’s historic longstanding bell tower, the Greater La Porte Chamber of Commerce hosted the State of the City meeting at Best Western on Friday afternoon.
For Rita Mrozinski, President and CEO of the La Porte Chamber, the afternoon wasn’t as much of a meeting as it was a celebration, one that encapsulated the essence of a united La Porte community.
“The community as a whole needs to give itself a pat on the back, because it takes a whole community to get things done,” said Mrozinski. “We just stand behind each other and we do what’s best for our children, our grandchildren, businesses, and everyone in the community.”
Drew Geese, the Marketing Director at the La Porte Chamber, agreed with Mrozinksi, adding that there was a unique energy in the air at this particular State of the City - perhaps due in part to the presence of new Mayor, Mark Krentz.
“Every year we feel like the city is really innovative and does great things, and tonight is a great way to highlight that, along with all the things to look forward to in the community,” said Geese. “I think this year in particular is exciting because we do have a new mayor, and it’s always nice to see a new and fresh perspective.”
That anticipation was indeed felt throughout the banquet hall, and materialized as a hush over the crowd overtook the banquet center when Mayor Mark Krentz took the podium. In a moment, the buzzing conversations gave way to a speech that encapsulated the tremendous achievements that the city has seen as of late.
However, before listing off milestone after milestone the city has seen and accomplished - from TransPorte boasting the first 100% alternative-fuel fleet in the state, to the Waste Water Department’s completion of the Ridge Street sanitary sewer replacement project, to the revitalization of the city’s downtown’s facade - Mayor Krentz expressed his humility and gratitude toward the work of previous La Porte mayor, Blair Milo. Read more: LaPorte County Life
The Coldwater Area Chamber of Commerce moved quickly and named Quincy native Cayden Sparks as its new Executive Director.
Chamber Chairman President Quinn White made the announcement Thursday that Sparks will replace Nicole Steele who resigned Feb. 2 to take a job in the Ludington area. Sparks, 27, of Coldwater, graduated from Quincy High School before earning his Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from Western Michigan University.
For the past three years he has been a Small Business Consultant for the Southwest Michigan Small Business Development Center in Kalamazoo. A portion of his job included delivering workshops to local economic development centers and chambers, of which he has presented to Branch, St. Joe and Calhoun Counties in years prior.
At the SBDC he assisted more than 25 entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams of small business ownership by facilitating business plan development, aiding loan package creation and helping with entity formation “Cayden’s enthusiasm and extensive knowledge in small business will serve as a tremendous asset for both chamber members and the surrounding community ” said White.
Since 2005, Sparks has also been part-owner of Sunset Cove Resort and Campground in Quincy. Read more: The Daily Reporter
Town Square Publications Chamber Membership Directories, Maps and Community Profiles: The best in the U.S.
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 chamber publication or map proposal, contact Town Square Chamber Proposal Or you can call John Dussman ar 847-427-4633.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.