Happy Monday #ChamberWorld! It's going to be a GREAT week!
Oshkosh Chamber: Leading from the Top: Critical Thinking
120 Jackson Street
Oshkosh, WI 549014714
Date & Time
May 30, 2018 - 7:30am - 9:00amLocation
Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce120 Jackson Street
Oshkosh, WI 549014714
Information & Pricing
How much time are you investing in your personal development? Things look different at the executive level. Unlike supporting roles, top level positions can offer unique challenges that may be difficult for others to understand or help resolve. You are not alone. Leading from the Top is a series of interactive workshops targeting top executives and functional leaders. These briefings focus on issues impacting leaders with accountability for enterprise performance. Join your peers in increasing your leadership performance in leading people and delivering outcomes.
Presented by the Oshkosh Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Differentiating Strategies, LLC these moderated workshops will provide participants with one to three ideas they can immediately apply to improve their executive performance.
Do your executives use critical thinking skills to resolve business issues?Is your leadership team spending time on the right topics? When conflict occurs are your conversations about issues or people?
At the top of an organization the big issues are not routine. The problems are those that are novel, large and complex. The application of past experience may not work for current topics. During these times past executive experience becomes secondary to the ability to think critically. The role of critical thinking in business is to reduce individual and organization bias to make better business decisions. Participants learn the ground rules for conducting a critical discussion of business issues and managing the accompanying conflict. We will go through how executives can have these difficult conversations using a critical approach that focuses on issues without discounting individuals.
Presented by Joe Thompson and Vicki Updike of Differentiating Strategies
A discount is available if you register for both Leading From The Top sessions. Please call 920-303-2266 if you would like to register for both sessions. Registration: Oshkosh Chamber
Chamber partnership: Registration open for Valley Businesses Give Back
Valley Businesses Give Back is an annual food and fund drive that gives Shenandoah Valley businesses the opportunity to engage in a friendly competition of who can raise the most money and collect the most non-perishable food for hungry neighbors in need.
Companies and organizations can register now through May 25.
VBGB began in 2011 and helps stock the shelves of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank during the summer months. We are grateful for the continued partnership and support of this effort from the Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce, Lexington-Rockbridge Chamber of Commerce, and Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce.
Hershey Chocolate of Virginia has taken a lead role every year since its inception, as well. Over the past six years, local businesses and organizations have donated more than 57,000 pounds of food and collected more than $28,000 for our neighbors in need, equal to over 158,000 meals.
Visit www.BRAFB.org/VBGB to register your company or organization.
#ChamberDelight: Mural on Main Street Greensburg celebrated
The long awaited third mural installment of the “#Distinctive Places” initiative for the Arts and Cultural Council and MainStreet Greensburg was officially unveiled during a ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday morning.
Greensburg Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Brian Robbins, Mayor Dan Manus, Greensburg Decatur County Chamber of Commerce Director Jeff Emsweller, MainStreet Greensburg Director Wendy Blake, Arts and Cultural Council President Mandy Lohrum as well as members of the “Cleansburg” committee and the press braved chilly winds to celebrate the mural unveiling.
Large letters spelling out “Love Grows Here” greets guests and local residents as they head east on Main Street. The new mural, painted by Zane Stats of Green Bay, Wisconsin, is permanently affixed to the western face of the Medical Cab building at 312 W. Main Street.
“I got a call for artists back in January or February of 2017 and submitted a proposal, but didn’t hear anything back from Greensburg until last fall,” Stats said. “In my design, I wanted to focus on the agricultural aspect of the town of Greensburg. I always like to use positive messages, and I believe that you can never have too much color, so we worked back and forth to come up with this final result.”
Rather than creating his latest masterpiece on the side of the building, Stats worked his magic in advance.
“I painted it in my garage, and I only have room enough to do six sheets of MDO plywood, a special artists’s plywood that resists the weather and doesn’t curl or warp. So, I did lots of math and crossed my fingers, and it all lined up. I didn’t get to see it all together and finished until we installed it on Wednesday and Thursday,” Stats said. “I spent most of yesterday doing touch-ups and giving it a good coat of polyurethane to give it a little gloss.”
Stats, a graduate of St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, earned his bachelor degree in Art and a minor in business. He works for an advertising agency traveling across the country, taking photographs of company’s products and creating marketing materials from them.
“I paint murals in my spare time for my own company, ZAS Designs,” he told the Daily News. “And I don’t do small. I only do big murals.”
The brightly colored effort was well received by those on hand Saturday.
“This thing just pops out at you whether you’re coming in off 46 or you just stop at the traffic light by 5/3rd Bank,” Emsweller observed. “This town has talked a lot about it and is really excited by it. I would love to see it at all the entrances to Greensburg. I think it’s great!” Read more: Greensburg Daily News
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.
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!
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.
Muskegon wins 'strongest town' contest
A city in the region has been named the winner of a contest to find the country’s “strongest town.”
Muskegon won the third-annual Strongest Town Contest, a bracket-based competition organized by Strong Towns, a Brainerd, Minnesota-based nonprofit community development and media organization.
Towns were considered based on nominations by Strong Towns’ members, readers and listeners, which were submitted based on a list of questions and principles.
Initial contest submissions were judged by a panel of Strong Towns staff and board members, who reduced the list to 16 towns.
The judges acknowledged Muskegon for its “strong citizen spirit,” its “wildly successful” farmers market, commitment to re-building downtown and good use of the Lake Michigan waterfront.
Throughout the month of March, the organization’s members, readers and listeners were invited to vote on matchups between the towns based on a variety of assessment tools, including podcast interviews, photos and essays.
The contest page says that although “no town is perfect,” the contest is about showcasing towns “doing their best to be strong, that have the building blocks in place to be strong towns today and in the future.”
The Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce led the efforts to recognize the city through the contest.
“Muskegon has come so far in recent years,” said Cindy Larsen, chamber president. “It is great for the residents to receive this recognition.
“Strong Towns isn’t about one project or one person. It’s about everyone chipping in to move a community forward.” Read more: GRBJ.com
Lexington leaders went to Boise to see what makes that city 'cool.' What they learned:
The delegates from Lexington, Kentucky, all 180 of them, arrived in Boise Tuesday afternoon to learn what makes Boise cool. Really. The first session in their three-day fact-finding tour was a discussion on “What makes Boise ‘cool.’”
The conversation quickly turned to growth. Of course. Because this is Boise, and, these days, every conversation seems to veer in that direction.
“You’ve probably seen that Boise is the No. 1 city in top 10 lists,” said Mike Francis, owner of Payette Brewing Co. and part of the three-person coolness panel. “We seem to be getting in national publications everywhere. It’s a good-bad thing.”
Sure, it’s been great for business. Francis was in Sacramento recently talking to a beer distributor, he said, and all of Boise's positive press coverage has allowed him to “sell more beer because Idaho is cool. We’re not just this weird redneck state.”
However, and it’s a big however, there are drawbacks. Like housing prices.
“I was at a few Cinco de Mayo parties, and the conversations were about how expensive housing is,” Francis said. “Putting Boise on the map like this has been awesome. It’s also a little scary.”
Megan Stoll, cofounder of Boise's Treefort Music Fest and another panelist testifying to the hipness level, chimed in.
“A double-edged sword” is how she described the City of Trees’ rising national profile. And it wasn’t hard to figure out which side of the blade she’s feeling now. “It kind of gets you to the point, ‘… what do I do now?’ I can’t afford to buy a house, because everything’s going for cash and above asking price,” she lamented, with a small burst of profanity, after singing the city’s praises. “My salary won’t let me afford it. … I want to see growth in Boise. I just hope that salaries go along with that.” Read more: Lexington Herald Leader
Covington County 2017-2018 Chamber of Commerce Community Map
The Covington County Chamber of Commerce Community Map is available at the Covington County Chamber today! Thanks to Marie Shoemake and her team for their help and direction putting this together!
Town Square Publications (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.
BestChamber practices: Mattoon Chamber of Commerce provides information on legislation
The Chamber of Commerce is always working on providing important information regarding legislation that pertains to Chamber members at the national, state and local level. Many small businesses don't have the time or resources to keep track of all the legislation that affects the running of their businesses. One example of this included the local 1% increase in sales tax that went into effect last July. Many of our retail and restaurant members were unaware of the tax and how to implement it without our guidance. Another example was the federal change to the I-9 form that is required to be completed by all businesses when they hire new employees for identification purposes. Failure to comply with new legislation can cost these businesses in fines and legal challenges.
The Chamber uses the services of The Illinois Chamber of Commerce which has the ability to monitor the volumes of legislation that is constantly under consideration. They are also able to take positions and advocate for businesses on key legislation that is proposed by the Illinois State Legislatures. As members of the Illinois Chamber, we are able to keep our Chamber members informed of these proposed legislative issues that could be either beneficial or unfavorable to their businesses.
Each week the Illinois Chamber provides us with a Government Affairs Report that highlights key legislative issues and the effects this will have on businesses and ultimately the public. Dean Willaredt, our legislative volunteer, helps us review the Report and navigate the bills that are proposed by the legislatures. We then disseminate the information to Chamber members to keep them informed and give them the opportunity to show support or oppose particular House or Senate bills before they become law.
The Illinois Chamber has even taken steps to help initiate legislation that helps Businesses succeed without fear of onerous regulations and potential lawsuits. This is true for businesses who utilize new technologies. Many businesses use biometric or finger print scanning technology in place of timecards or key punching employees to track their workday. Current legislation makes it difficult to even use the technology for fear of employers being fined or sued for simply keeping track of the information. The Illinois Chamber is supporting legislation that would allow employers to use the data for internal employment purposes as long as it is not used for commercial purposes.
Another example of a proposed bill under consideration that could be cost prohibitive would require hospitals to have metal detectors at each point of entry. Currently, there are dozens of proposed Illinois House and Senate Bills that relate to business regulations, infrastructure, employment law, energy and the environment, financial services, healthcare and taxes, just to name a few. The State of Illinois has challenging laws and regulations for businesses.The Mattoon Chamber works diligently to keep our members informed and advocate for their success. Read more: Journal & Gazette
The City of Ocean Springs has dubbed the month of May as ‘Food Month.’
This week, the city is holding ‘Restaurant Week’ which is an event celebrating the city’s culinary culture by offering a chance for locals and travelers to visit their favorite Ocean Springs restaurant or bar or to experience new places for the first time.
Ocean Springs has over one hundred different eateries to choose from so foodies of all kind can be satisfied.
There are even special incentives during ‘Restaurant Week’ to get people to go out and pick up their forks. Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cynthia Sutton said, “Some of our restaurants around town are having specials like half-priced appetizers, specials on some of their meals. We also have a restaurant or two that are offering new things on their menus that are just for this week. These are just fun ways to get people out to our local restaurants and taste what Ocean Springs has to offer.”
Each Friday in May, foodies will even have the chance to win free food via gift certificates from local restaurants through the Ocean Springs Chamber’s Facebook page. Read more: WXXV.com
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