Howell Area Chamber of Commerce welcomes new Chamber President after lengthy search
The Howell Area Chamber of Commerce is excited to welcome new Chamber President, Janelle K. Best to the Howell community. Janelle currently serves as the Executive Director of the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce, a position she has held since January of 2015. Previous Chamber President, Pat Convery, retired earlier this year after over 15 years as the organization’s President & CEO and with over 26 years collectively with the Howell Chamber.
The search for a new Howell Chamber President was a national search, with emphasis on finding a candidate with Michigan and Great Lakes roots. The national search included the team-efforts of Organization Dynamics, LLC, a national firm out of Denver, CO, advisors to business-led non-profits as well as the direction of a search committee made up of dedicated, long-term Howell Chamber members and friends, including Search Committee Chair, Ashley Prew (Prew Law, P.C. of-counsel for the Law Offices of Casey D. Conklin), Don Cortez (First Impression Print & Marketing), Mike Hall (Cobb-Hall Insurance), Jeanne Clum, and Trevor Brooks (Laurex Real Estate and The UPS Store).
The strategic search for a new executive leader led to many candidates, but Janelle Best stood out with her leadership and dedication within a local chamber and community resulting in increased revenue, membership numbers and new successful events. She is passionate about her local community as a member of the Clarkston Community Education Advisory Board, My Habitat Clarkston Steering Committee, Community Awards Committee, Hunger Walk Committee and Clarkston State Bank Back Roads ½ Marathon Committee. Janelle was also named as one of Oakland County’s Elite 40 under 40 in 2018.
Janelle graduated from Clarkston High School and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from the International Academy of Design and Technology. Her career at the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce began in 2013 when she was hired as Economic and Workforce Development Coordinator. In 2015, Janelle accepted the position of Executive Director and worked to increase revenue and chamber membership. Earlier in 2018, Janelle obtained an express graduate status from the Institute of Organization Management, a designation recognized and respected within the chamber and non-profit industries.
Janelle Best’s first day as President of the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce will be Monday, October 22, 2018.
“Janelle is an experienced chamber leader. I am confident in her ability and believe she will be excellent CEO to lead the Howell chamber in the future.” offered Jeff Rey, (Express Employment Professionals), chair of the Chamber’s board of directors.
“I also want to extend my sincere gratitude to everyone on the board and executive committee for their input and guidance over the last several weeks. Further, we are all deeply appreciative to those serving on the search committee. We are indebted to each for their expertise, careful consideration, diligence and patience with the succession plan process over the last six months along with Kim Esper who faithfully served as interim President,” commented Jeff. More: Howell Area Chamber
Chesterton branding team looking for input on future of downtown
The town's new branding leadership team is looking for opinions on the future direction of the downtown, from both residents and visitors.
"We want to know what they will support, what will drive them to the downtown and drive them to stay longer," said Lorelei Weimer, executive director of Indiana Dunes Tourism, which formed the team last year along with the Duneland Chamber of Commerce.
The survey, surveymonkey.com/r/chesterton, asks a variety of questions from how often someone visits to what kind of shops and activities are desired and whether or not the taker would support the town pursuing a quiet zone for frequent trains passing through the downtown.
The survey, Weimer said, is the latest effort of the Chesterton Branding Leadership Team.
Weimer and chamber president Maura Durham formed the team, made up of various town and business leaders, about a year ago.
Durham said they had been getting calls about businesses leaving Chesterton and from other businesses interested in settling in the town.
"We realized we didn't have a vision for what the downtown should look like," she said, adding she called Weimer, then dusted off a previous branding report which essentially gave her an idea of "what could and should we look like."
"Essentially we found a gold mine," said Durham, who put together the leadership team. Read more: NWI Times
Marion Chamber of Commerce seats new executive director
The Marion Chamber of Commerce has a new face at the helm.
Karen Mullins of Benton attended her first chamber luncheon as the new executive director, replacing Dalus Ben Avi, who left to take a position with Centerstone.
Mullins was the executive director of the Benton/West City Chamber for the past three years. She said Ben Avi approached her in July, asking her to consider applying for the position.
"I went through the interview process and enjoyed learning about their mission and organizational goals," she said. "My background, history with nonprofits, and chamber experiences met their needs for the position and an offer was made."
Mullins is a graduate of Benton High School. She earned a B.A. from DePauw University and a M.A. from Purdue University.
While living in Indianapolis, Mullins worked for the local PBS/NPA affiliate. She returned to Benton in 2012 and worked for several local businesses prior to her position with the chamber in 2015.
"This is different from the Benton/West City Chamber," said Mullins.
That organization tends to host large public events that serve the community while drawing in visitors.
"Every chamber is organized differently, and this job reflects that difference."
Mullins said Marion's membership is larger, so their projects and events reflect the variety within the membership.
She said with a full event calendar already in place, she doesn't foresee any big organizational changes right now.
Mullins noted that the chamber will host a legislative summit in late August and will partner with other regional chambers for the "Shop Southern Illinois" program, geared to promote locally based shopping during the holiday season.
"I am very thankful for my time with the Benton/West City Chamber," she said. "I will miss the members that I have gotten to know over the past three years. I look forward to working with the new director on regional chamber project that will help businesses across the area." Read more: Marion Republican
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.
ADP advantage: What's the future of solar power in the Pine Belt, as two local solar farms mark their first year?
The sun is beating down on a 90-degree day at Mississippi's largest solar farm — a 52-megawatt facility located off Mississippi 42 in Sumrall.
The sun's rays are vital to the operation of the facility, which provides electricity to Mississippi Power customers. It has generated more than 12.6 million kilowatt hours since June 2017 when it opened.
That amount powers about 8,000 households, with the energy from the enterprise going wherever the demand is. All Mississippi Power customers benefit from it.
The amazing thing about the farm is that it also runs on the sun's energy.
"It's all self-powered," said Tony Smith, Mississippi Power Renewable Projects manager, as he stands near a row of panels. "The solar charges a battery during the day that turns the panels at night."
Smith looks out over hundreds of acres of polycrystalline panels — 215,000 in all. Solar panels contain photovoltaic cells, made from silicon, that transform incoming sunlight into electricity rather than heat. ”Photovoltaic” means electricity from light.
The panels sit on 600 acres of carefully vetted land.
"The developer chose this site based on the topography," Smith said. "Very important was the availability of large tracts of land that had the topography that would work.
"It also had to have proximity to the Mississippi Power grid."
Sites with low dust, low flood- and low-erosion-risk are ideal, along with level, non-rocky and non-sandy terrain. One of the biggest hidden costs of a solar farm can be the distance required to connect to a grid. Sites within about half a mile of the grid are best.
Most importantly — the land has no trees to shade the panels. Shade — as one can imagine — is death to a solar energy system.
The solar farm was the result of a group effort. Origis Energy developed the project, and Mississippi Power is the power purchaser under a 25-year agreement. As is traditional in the industry, Origis Energy sold the facility to D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments, which now owns the property. DEPCOM Power built the facility.
Tax generator with no downside
Several officials have joined Smith on this summer day for a tour of the farm. Lamar County Supervisor Dale Lucus is one of those on hand. The solar plant is in his district, and he welcomed it when it was first introduced.
For Lucus, the facility is a tax generator that has no downside.
"The big thing you're seeing is the safety of having this in your county," he said. "There's no noise, no lights at night, nothing to explode — it's totally green."
The environmentally-friendly nature of solar is one of its benefits, as is its renewable nature — the sun will be around for millions of years. But its reliance on the sun is also a downside.
"The output of this plant could reduce itself significantly in a matter of minutes based on cloud cover," Smith said.
As it marks its one-year anniversary, the Sumrall facility has had some weather issues.
"The past months have been a bit cloudier than expected," said Christopher Thuman, asset manager with M.S. Solar 2 LLC, which operates the facility. "But when you adjust for weather, we've been operating as expected."
Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Nate, as well as a surprise snowfall in December, contributed to a little less sunshine than anticipated, but it wasn't anything too detrimental.
"The Southeast is a good place (for solar)," Thuman said. "Out West, it's flat, it's desert, it's sunny every day, but our company is doing a good bit of development in the Southeast.
"The weather in general is good. I think in the next couple years, we're going to see a lot more interest in the Southeast."
Several officials have joined Smith on this summer day for a tour of the farm. Lamar County Supervisor Dale Lucus is one of those on hand. The solar plant is in his district, and he welcomed it when it was first introduced.
For Lucus, the facility is a tax generator that has no downside.
"The big thing you're seeing is the safety of having this in your county," he said. "There's no noise, no lights at night, nothing to explode — it's totally green."
The environmentally-friendly nature of solar is one of its benefits, as is its renewable nature — the sun will be around for millions of years. But its reliance on the sun is also a downside.
"The output of this plant could reduce itself significantly in a matter of minutes based on cloud cover," Smith said.
As it marks its one-year anniversary, the Sumrall facility has had some weather issues.
"The past months have been a bit cloudier than expected," said Christopher Thuman, asset manager with M.S. Solar 2 LLC, which operates the facility. "But when you adjust for weather, we've been operating as expected."
Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Nate, as well as a surprise snowfall in December, contributed to a little less sunshine than anticipated, but it wasn't anything too detrimental.
"The Southeast is a good place (for solar)," Thuman said. "Out West, it's flat, it's desert, it's sunny every day, but our company is doing a good bit of development in the Southeast.
"The weather in general is good. I think in the next couple years, we're going to see a lot more interest in the Southeast."
Becoming an emerging region
Solar is a growing industry in the Southeast. Ten years ago, solar was scarce in Mississippi. Now, Mississippi Power has three partner-owned solar plants in its generation mix, including the Sumrall facility.
A solar plant at the Naval Construction Battalion in Gulfport — a partnership with Hannah Solar and the U.S. Navy — has generated 12.6 million kilowatt hours since June 2017.
A facility in Hattiesburg just marked its first anniversary. It's a partnership with Silicon Ranch and has generated nearly 9 million kilowatt hours.
In August 2017, Mississippi Power and Silicon Ranch received approval from the Public Service Commission to construct and operate a 52.5-megawatt facility in Lauderdale County. It is scheduled to open in December 2019.
Meanwhile, Silicon Ranch has 14 other solar facilities online or under construction in this state. There is also another solar farm in Sumrall — a 52-megawatt partnership between Origis and Cooperative energies that has been operating since December.
Matt Beasley, chief marketing officer with Silicon Ranch, expects even more growth to come.
"The weather in south Mississippi is one of the better regions in the Southeast for solar resource," he said. "We're going to get better generation for the same investment.
"Because of the solar resource that is available and the economics are so much better today than even a couple years ago in the Southeast — it's just becoming an emerging region."
Beasley said the potential is huge, as outlined in a report by Shell.
"Every scenario they ran — solar became the most dominant energy source on the planet," he said.
Calling itself the solar hub
Chad Newell, president of Area Development Partnership, said the area is becoming a magnet for solar power.
"With a total of approximately $300 million in new solar farms, generating over 150 megawatts of green energy on 1,500 acres of property, Greater Hattiesburg is a solar leader here in the Gulf South," he said in an email. "It is also nice for Greater Hattiesburg to be known as a green community, which is attractive to many major corporations that have corporate responsibility and sustainability as part of their overall mission."
Beasley agrees the abundance of solar power in the Hattiesburg area makes it attractive to new businesses and residents.
"For a community like Hattiesburg to be able to call itself the solar hub — it's a tool in the tool box to recruit industry," he said. "To have clean, low-cost, renewable power benefits all Mississippi Power ratepayers." Read more: Hattiesburg American
City of Ridgeland Chamber of Commerce 2016/2017 Community Map
The new City of Ridgeland Chamber of Commerce 2016/2017 Community Map is available at the City of Ridgeland Chamber today! Thanks to Linda Bynum, Sandy Baas 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.
Greater Reston Chamber Business Focus
Nearing the end of our 35th year, the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce is more focused than ever to serve as the catalyst for business growth and entrepreneurship along the Dulles Business Corridor and western Fairfax. This borderless region is thriving and growing which requires you to expand your marketing arm. Business Focus is that vehicle designed to give our members a chance to talk about their business accomplishments.Our most recent segments featured Chair Charlene Wheeless of Bechtel, MaryEllen Elie of Interactive Health and Dr. Bob Earley of Generations Medical Aesthetics
Members can view Business Focus on Reston Community Television RCTV28, Reston Comcast channel 28, Fairfax Public Access channel 10 or on Verizon channel 1981. Being a guest on this show is a benefit of your membership. If you would like to have your company featured on Business Focus, please contact Tonia Chagnon.
Bullitt County Chamber of Commerce 2017 Community Map
The Bullitt County Chamber of Commerce Community Map is available at the Chamber today! Thanks to Helen Hill, Anita Stump 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.
Bullitt County KY Chamber map
New Veterans Business Outreach Center to Serve Kentucky
A Veterans Business Outreach Center just opened in the region. The VBOC will provide entrepreneurship training and counseling to transitioning service members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and military spouses or survivors living in KY & TN.
For more information, click here.
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Eligibility & ParticipationBasic Life and AD&D Ultra® PlanGroup Size: 10+ or more enrolledEligible Employee: 20 hours per week or as deemed by employe and acceptable to WMC/Aetna More information available here: WMC Insurance This Midwestern state is pulling out all the stops to attract vets likes youGetting out of the military and wondering where to go next? How about America’s Dairyland? Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced today the state will spend $1.9 million on a nationwide marketing and social media push to transitioning service members and veterans looking for their next place to live and work. “As our dedicated members of the military prepare to return to civilian life, they are looking for the best place possible to start a new career, raise a family and enjoy an outstanding quality of life. We are going to make a strong case that Wisconsin can meet all those needs – and more,” Walker said in a news release. The campaign will run through June 2019 and will include social media and online ads, as well as personal engagement with veterans. State officials and employers plan to travel to more than a dozen military bases to sell transitioning service members on the Midwestern state known for its badgers and cheese-headed football fans. These efforts begin next week at Camp Pendleton in California and continue in Washington, North Carolina, Hawaii, Missouri, Texas, Georgia, Germany and Japan. While there, officials will participate in transition summits hosted by Hiring our Heroes, a veteran hiring initiative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and attend other employment events for military spouses. The roll-out also includes a new military occupation specialty code search tool on WiscJobsForVets.com and a new blog targeting transitioning veterans and their family members. The push is part of a larger $6.8 million campaign to address the state’s current and future workforce demands. Read more: Military Times Town Square Publications Chamber Membership Directories and Community Profiles: The best in the U.S.
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