Multi-chamber Event: Feed Your Inner Foodie During Northern Virginia Restaurant Week: MARCH 19-26, 2018; Birmingham-Bloomfield Chamber Real estate forecast event: Good demand, low supply; #FamousChamber of Commerce Quotations (from Chris Gardner, the author of "The Pursuit of HappYness"); Town Square Chamber Publications: Geneva Chamber: Promises made, Promises kept!; Frankfort secures $8M federal grant for Second Street improvements; Kernersville Chamber of Commerce 2017-2018 Community Guide; Three Rivers Chamber: Strategic Marketing on a Budget; Marion Chamber of Commerce - IDES Director Jeff Mays presentation; Biloxi Bay Chamber takes home Altus Trophy; Donnelly Works Alongside Hoosiers at Kountry Kitchen for “Donnelly Day” and Discusses Benefits of SBA/Indy Chamber Microloan Program; Town Square Publications Chamber Membership Directories and Community Profiles: The best in the U.S.

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

Multi-chamber Event: Feed Your Inner Foodie During Northern Virginia Restaurant Week: MARCH 19-26, 2018

In Partnership with the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association

Foodies rejoice! For the third consecutive year, five of Northern Virginia’s top business organizations – the Prince William, Greater Reston, Loudoun County, McLean and Arlington Chambers of Commerce – are collaborating to produce Northern Virginia Restaurant Week, which kicks off today March 19 and runs until March 26, 2018. The Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association (VRLTA) once again joins them as a partner, making it one of the largest dining celebrations in the state. The goal of this event is to draw attention to Northern Virginia’s vibrant hospitality industry, encouraging residents and workers to explore new dining options close to home or work.

Mark Ingrao, President and CEO of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce stats “Northern Virginia Restaurant Week is a week-long, dining experience taking place at a variety of establishments from fine dining to fast casual. That means that everyone can take part. Speaking on behalf of the Chamber, it’s our privilege to shine the spotlight on the vibrant local hospitality industry. Speaking as a resident of Northern Virginia, I am looking forward to exploring new dining options throughout the region. This is fast becoming one of my favorite weeks of the year!”

This year over 60 restaurants have signed up to date with more added to the website daily. Participating restaurants can be found at novarestaurantweek.com/menus. Interested local gourmands are encouraged to visit NOVARestaurantWeek.com and/or to follow Northern Virginia Restaurant Week on Facebook.

The Northern Virginia Restaurant Week partnership is once again working with OpenTable.com to provide consumers a chance to make stress-free reservations. Restaurants who are already on Open Table will be featured on a special NOVA Restaurant Week page, making it simple for consumers to find convenient options throughout the seven-day event. During the week of March 19-26, consumers are encouraged to use #NOVARestaurantWeek when dining at participating restaurants.

Signature Sponsors of Northern Virginia Restaurant Week include, Saul Centers, Reston Town Center and Potomac Mills. Platinum Sponsors include Visit Fairfax, Sushi-Zen, KO Distilling, Village at Leesburg, Gregorio’s Trattoria, Coton & Rye, Magnolia’s at the Mill and Visit Loudoun.

For more information about Northern Virginia Restaurant Week, or the collaboration between the Prince William, Greater Reston, Loudoun County and Arlington Chambers, please contact Tonia Chagnon, Marketing & Communications for the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, 703-707-9045 or ToniaC@RestonChamber.org.

Birmingham-Bloomfield Chamber Real estate forecast event: Good demand, low supply

The Birmingham-Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce hosted a real estate forecast Feb. 16 to share with local leaders, as well as members of the business and real estate communities, the state of the market in Oakland County.

Following a breakfast, chamber President Joe Bauman welcomed everyone to the event, thanked the breakfast’s sponsors and introduced the two speakers.

Dan Elsea, of Real Estate One, gave the first presentation, which focused on the housing market.

“The market was pretty good this year,” remarked Elsea. “It looked much the same in 2016 as it did in 2017. Coming out of the recession was like the water going back down after a dam breaks. The market has settled down a little. But housing responds to the economy — it doesn’t lead it — because people buy homes when they have jobs and are financially secure.”

He said that despite an improving housing market, some challenges remain.

“Right now people are staying put, and baby boomers are living in the same places longer,” said Elsea. “New construction has been too slow for demand. We expect fewer home purchases in 2018; it’s not that there’s a reduction in demand but that there’s a lack of supply. Student debt also is still a big issue when you’re looking at the whole picture of who is buying houses and applying for mortgages.” Read more: C & G Newspapers

#FamousChamber of Commerce Quotations (from Chris Gardner, the author of "The Pursuit of HappYness")

"If you want to make the team, go to the gym. If you want to own the team, go to the library." Chris Gardner, author of "The Pursuit of HappYness".

Town Square Chamber Publications: Geneva Chamber: Promises made, Promises kept!

The Geneva Chamber of Commerce has worked with Town Square Publications on several publications. Chamber maps and community profiles are well done and we are especially pleased with the quality of the printing and the paper.

Production schedules were provided when we began the projects and the schedule did not waiver from our agreement. Most importantly we had editorial control over the copy and we were able to select the photos and the subjects that are featured. We were able to proof before going to print but we rarely found errors or concerns. Communications throughout the production period were excellent.

We work hard to provide quality and outstanding service to our members. We identify programs that will be good for the business community with an additional benefit – some non-dues income for the Chamber.

We appreciate our partnership with Town Square and will call on them again for the next project.

Jean Gaines
President 
Geneva Chamber of Commerce

Frankfort secures $8M federal grant for Second Street improvements

Frankfort now has millions of dollars in federal grant money to fund major road infrastructure improvements.

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday the City of Frankfort was awarded a $7.99 million grant to fund the improvements along its Second Street corridor, which is part of U.S. 60.

"I heard from a number of constituents that this project will provide much-needed transportation improvements for residents in this South Frankfort neighborhood," Sen. McConnell said, "Local officials also informed me that these improvements will enhance safety for children who attend a local elementary school and cross the Second Street Corridor each morning.”

The Frankfort Area Chamber of Commerce says the grant will help fund improved pedestrian and bicycle access with wider sidewalks, shorter crosswalks and bike lanes. It will also improve traffic by eliminating underused travel lanes, making it easier for motorists to turn. The grant will also improve stormwater drainage and improve the connection between the state capitol and downtown. Read more: WKYT Chamber of Commerce

Kernersville Chamber of Commerce 2017-2018 Community Guide 

The Kernersville Chamber of Commerce Community Guide is available at the Chamber of Commerce today! Thank you to Chris Comer and the Chamber team for their help and direction putting this together! 

2017-2018 Kernersville Chamber of Commerce Community Guide

Town Square Publications  (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.

Three Rivers Area Chamber: Strategic Marketing on a Budget

By Sarah Flashing

Strategic marketing is key to running any business successfully. But strategic doesn’t have to mean pricey. There are lots of ways businesses of every size can experience growth while on a budget. Social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and others are resources to help build an audience and deliver your message. If you want more people to know more about your business, here are some basic strategies to get you started.

Publish great content. Every business has something to say about their product. Put information out on your website on a regular basis and see who is paying attention to your sales, events and other announcements. Blog is also a great way to keep the search engines crawling on your site searching for new, relevant content that can keep you higher in rankings!

Publish video content. Even with a basic device such as a smart phone, anyone can create video segments and upload them to Youtube, Facebook and/or a website. People want to know more about what you do – so show them!

Social Networking. Do you have a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest or Twitter? Are you wondering about Instagram, Snapchat, and Google+? No one can effectively engage followers on all of those channels, but you can find your niche audience on any of these and connect with them regularly.

Develop a customer referral program. Your best customers are probably already talking about you, but give all of your customers the opportunity to share about their great experience at your establishment. Offer current customers a free or discounted product or service for talking about you to their friends. This can work with business size referral cards or social media options. Let word of mouth work for you!

Host online contests. Keep people coming back to our Facebook page. Everyone wants to win something, so keep your followers engaged and coming back to your business.

Create eye-catching business cards and brochures. Print materials ordered over the internet have become a more affordable option for small to midsize businesses. Stop printing on your inkjet and get pro-quality materials that will knock the socks off your customers.

Engage with email marketing. Constant Contact and Mailchimp are email platform options that provide eye-catching templates and more customizable options. The big plus is that they are both free until you reach a couple thousand emails per month. Connect with your followers regularly with special deals and information from your business. Read more: Three Lakes Area Chamber

Marion Chamber of Commerce - IDES Director Jeff Mays presentation 

04/05/18
03:45 PM - 05:00 PM (Central)
Location: Pavilion
1602 Sioux Drive, Marion, Il 62959

The Marion Chamber of Commerce Legislative Affairs Committee is hosting Illinois Department of Employment Security Director Jeff Mays on Thursday, April 5 from 3:45 - 5 p.m. at The Pavilion. The presentation will include an interactive Q&A with the audience. RSVPs are required for this event by Tuesday, April 3 at noon. This event is open to members of the Marion Chamber of Commerce.

Jeff Mays was appointed as Director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) by Governor Bruce Rauner on January 12, 2015.  Since joining, Director Mays immediately focused on enhancing the agency’s services for job seekers, claimants and employers, and on making IDES the pre-eminent employment agency in Illinois.

Whether it’s connecting employers to job-seekers, helping unemployed individuals find meaningful work, providing unemployment insurance to those who are eligible, producing labor market data or protecting taxpayers from unemployment insurance fraud -- IDES impacts thousands of people each day and helps them through their challenging times.  With this in mind, IDES’ top goals are to:

• Revamp Unemployment Insurance (UI) internet and phone customer services and work towards streamlining the overall claims system;
• Improve the quality of internal processes to increase user-ability while reducing costs to tax-payers; 
• Implement the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to establish a unified planning process across core workforce programs and to better align and leverage various agencies’ federal funding streams;
• Solidify the agency’s position as the go-to resource for wage, employer and workforce participation information based on customer-driven geographies;
• Expand the agency’s automated integrity system to further reduce waste, fraud and UI abuse.

Under Director Mays’ leadership, IDES will continue to provide job services and career education to help build a stronger workforce, to underscore the benefits of the agency’s extensive wage and workforce-participation-rate database, and as Director Mays says, “do a lot of good for a lot of people.”

About the Director
Jeff Mays has extensive experience working in state and federal government and is an advocate of education and workforce development in Illinois.  Mays is a former, five-term Illinois state legislator who represented West-Central Illinois (R-96th District; 1981-1990).

He served as Co-Chair of the Legislative Audit Commission, as Minority Spokesman on the House Appropriations Committee and on the House Labor and Commerce, Executive, and Financial Institutions Committees, as well as the Select Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.  Mays also served as Special Assistant to the Chicago Regional Administrator of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

As President of the Illinois Business Roundtable, an association of corporate business leaders, Mays made recommendations on Illinois’ policy issues. Mays also served as Vice President of Human Resources and as Executive Vice President of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce. Mays holds a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in History. He lives in Quincy and prior to his appointment as Director of IDES, served as the Vice President on the Quincy Public School Board. More information: Marion Chamber

Biloxi Bay Chamber takes home Altus Trophy

Lt. Gen. Steve Kwast, commander of Air Education and Training Command, announced the community of Biloxi, Mississippi, as the winner of the 2017 Altus Trophy during a brief ceremony with AETC’s Civic Leader Group, March 8, here.

“We are all here to witness an AETC tradition, a tradition that is pretty special,” Kwast said. “This is our way of recognizing the community’s impact and relationship with our bases in AETC.”

The trophy, which is presented in partnership with the Altus Chamber of Commerce, is given to the AETC community that provides the best support to its local military installation.

Each year competitors are considered by members of the Altus Military Affairs Committee and the final decision was made by a panel of former AETC commanders.

Through its partnership and support of Keesler Air Force Base, the Biloxi Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, made up of 1,000 plus members from every sector of the economy, was selected as this year’s trophy recipient.

“The trophy sits on a base that is a solid sheet of granite that is from the mountains just north of Altus Air Force Base,” Dr. Joe Leverett, Altus Trophy committee chairman, said moments before presenting the trophy. “And this granite symbolizes the rock-solid support the communities give to the bases they support.”

Some of the accomplishments that lead to Biloxi being selected are as follows:
In partnership with the city of Biloxi, the State of Mississippi and many other local partners, Keesler AFB reached an agreement and $37 million in funding was secured for the relocation of the main gate and additional infrastructure development. Construction will begin early this year and will be funded in part by a gift from the Mississippi Development Authority.
In 2017, Keesler AFB and stakeholders from every sector of the Mississippi Gulf Coast embarked on a yearlong planning initiative to uncover areas of Public-Public/Public-Private partnership opportunities that mutually benefit the local community.
In an effort to create a smoother hurricane evacuation plan, local school districts from Harrison County and other surrounding partners formed an agreement where Harrison County will lend the Air Force use of county Government-owned buses in the case of an evacuation order issued for Keesler AFB.
Partnering with several local colleges and universities, as well as Keesler AFB, the Air Force Association and the Civil Air Patrol, the community has implemented Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics events to local schools and universities through a variety of events hosted on- and off- base.
The Gulf Coast Centurions, Biloxi Parks and Recreation, and local businesses are in discussions with Keesler AFB to initiate a local Bike Share program on base. By providing Airmen with the availability of low-cost, environmentally friendly transportation, local businesses would see an increase in business as Airmen are able to more easily access off-base activities and businesses.
As part of a long-standing partnership that spans 30 years, Keesler AFB hosted the Special Olympics of Mississippi 2017 Summer Games. The event consisted of over 3,200 athletes, directors, coaches, families, and volunteers from across the state. Read more: Air Education and Training Command

Donnelly Works Alongside Hoosiers at Kountry Kitchen for “Donnelly Day” and Discusses Benefits of SBA/Indy Chamber Microloan Program

The minority-owned small business benefitted from the loan program, which the Senator helped the Chamber expand through access to federal funding

Indianapolis, Ind. – U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly worked alongside employees at Kountry Kitchen, a small business in Indianapolis, for his latest “Donnelly Day” yesterday. Donnelly helped greet and seat guests, take orders, and prepare orders.

Kountry Kitchen has benefitted from the Indy Chamber’s Business Ownership Initiative (BOI) loan program, which helped Kountry Kitchen purchase kitchen and restaurant equipment, and make cosmetic improvements. Donnelly discussed the benefits of the loan program with Kountry Kitchen’s owner Cynthia Wilson, the Chief Revenue Officer for Indy Chamber Julie Grice, and the President of the BOI Carrie Henderson.

In 2015, Donnelly helped BOI, the Indy Chamber’s non-profit intermediary lender, gain an official Microloan designation through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). That designation provides access to federal funds and has allowed BOI to expand its lending efforts to small businesses in the nine-county area.

Donnelly said, “Kountry Kitchen is a great example of the Small Business Administration’s microlending program, which enabled the Indy Chamber to work with Kountry Kitchen to receive a loan. The loan allowed the restaurant to purchase equipment and make upgrades. I was proud to help the Indy Chamber gain an official Microloan designation, so the Chamber can lend to more hard-working small businesses, like Kountry Kitchen.”

Julie Grice of the Indy Chamber said, “Senator Donnelly and his office were very hands on to help us become SBA microlending intermediaries, which allows the Indy Chamber to provide loans up to $50,000 at low interest rates to really viable, healthy businesses to help them grow and expand. Without Senator Donnelly working with us and the SBA, this would not have happened.” Read more: US Sen. Joe Donnelly

Town Square Publications Chamber Membership Directories 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