Wisconsin Report from the Statehouse: Correcting the Record on the Dark Stores Theory; Illinois State Senator Michael Connelly and State Representative Grant Wehrli to Receive the Champion of Free Enterprise Award; Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce 2017 Community Profile Guide; Jasper to Receive Indiana Chamber’s 2018 Community of the Year Honor; Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce 2017-2018 Community Guide & Membership Directory; Congressman Dan Kildee To Speak At Bay Area Chamber Of Commerce Leading The Way Luncheon; Frank J. Kenny: Announcing the Chamber Pros Webinar Series; Economy, development puts Hattiesburg in league with other thriving mid-size cities of the South; Guidebook offers information on local area; Mayor Sherman Lea highlights collaboration in Roanoke State of the City address; Town Square Publications Chamber Membership Directories and Community Profiles: The best in the U.S.

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



Wisconsin Report from the Statehouse: Correcting the Record on the Dark Stores Theory

Written by Cory Fish

“Dark Stores” became a popular populist rallying cry during the last legislative session. The prevailing narrative, that “big businesses” are shifting their tax burden onto homeowners, resulted in two of the most heavily debated bills of the legislative session. The only problem, the narrative is false.

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue’s own data shows that over the last ten years the statewide property tax burden has shifted from homeowners to businesses by approximately 3-percent. Businesses are paying a larger portion of the property tax than they were ten years ago.

The real story is that a decade ago, some tax assessors and local officials decided to adopt a novel, and illegal, property assessment theory to target businesses with tax increases. When businesses challenged these illegal tax increases in court and won, these very same tax assessors tried, and failed, to get the Legislature to pass two bills to legalize their illegal actions. Now local governments are spending millions of taxpayer dollars on campaign ads, PR firms, and lobbyists to cover up their actions by selling the bills as a fix to a “loophole.”

Assembly Bill 386/Senate Bill 292 (AB 386) would have allowed tax assessors to value occupied property higher solely because of its occupancy. For example, if you had two homes identical in every respect except that one was occupied and one was vacant, the occupied home would be valued (for tax purposes), and taxed, more than the vacant one. No rational buyer would pay more for the occupied home than the vacant one. The idea is absurd on its face. The fair market value of each property would be the same, but this legislation would increase the assessed value and thus the property taxes for the occupied home.

Assembly Bill 387/Senate Bill 291 (AB 387) would have allowed tax assessors to value and tax financial agreements, contracts, and other things of value that are “inextricably intertwined” with a property. This bill targets the value of financing agreements that help businesses open or grow. Tax assessors want to add the value of those agreements to the value of the building and land when determining the amount of property tax you owe. If this were applied to a residential home – which it could be because of the Wisconsin constitution’s uniformity clause – your local government could raise your property taxes because you took out a mortgage. However, property taxes would not be hiked on your neighbor who bought the same exact house but had the means to purchase it with cash.

These pieces of legislation would result in tax increases on businesses through no fault of their own. Increasing the tax assessment on a property based on occupancy as AB 386 would do or based on financing as AB 387 would do does not reflect economic reality. The business will not have expanded, improvements will not have been made to the property, and the neighborhood will not have become more attractive to the market. In short, the market value will not have changed – just the tax bill. Arbitrarily increasing property taxes is bad for Wisconsin.

WMC ranked these bills as two of the ten worst bills for business introduced this session. We believe these job killing tax increases are bad public policy.

First, these bills are a solution in search of a problem. As stated above, the statewide property tax burden has steadily shifted from residential property to commercial and manufacturing property over the last decade. This legislation would cause that disparity to become even wider.

Second, the Wisconsin Constitution’s Uniformity Clause will spread these tax increases to all property taxpayers. The state constitution requires all property to be taxed in a uniform manner. There is not an exception that allows small businesses, manufacturers, and residential properties to be taxed differently from “big box” retailers. All businesses and residential properties will be roped into abiding by these new property tax assessment laws, which will increase their property tax burdens.

Finally, the legislation creates uncertainty and will lead to more litigation. The legislation creates uncertainty because it changes bedrock rules of property assessment that Wisconsin has followed for decades. Local governments and property owners will both attempt to clarify the new law through more litigation.

Higher taxes and more litigation is not the kind of change Wisconsin needs. WMC is a strong supporter of the reforms taken place over the last seven years that make Wisconsin a more competitive place to work and live. Let’s not go backwards now and raise taxes on job creators and working families.

Cory Fish is the Director of Tax, Transportation, and Legal Affairs at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. He can be contacted at cfish@wmc.org.


Illinois State Senator Michael Connelly and State Representative Grant Wehrli to Receive the Champion of Free Enterprise Award

Naperville, IL. (September 21, 2018) – The Illinois Chamber and the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce will award Illinois State Senator Michael Connelly and State Representative Grant Wehrli the Champion of Free Enterprise Award on September 26, 2018 at the NACC Legislative Forum at 11:30 A.M.


“While most Illinois lawmakers continue to provide lip service to the need for pro-growth reforms, these 47 lawmakers are committed to supporting and defending Illinois employers throughout the State.” said Todd Maisch, President and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

In order to receive the award, a senator or representative must have received an average of 85 percent or better voting record over the previous two Illinois General Assemblies. Voting records are based on a legislator’s votes on measure the chamber deems important to the state’s business community.

“Local residents and businesses alike benefit from their commonsense approach to growing our tax base and reducing impediments to free enterprise.” said Colin Dalough, Director of Government Affairs and Business Development of the NACC.

About the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce


The Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce is the largest suburban Chamber in Illinois with an active membership of 1,200 organizations of every size and from every sector. The NACC promotes economic growth and advocacy in and around the Naperville area. For its efforts in promoting free enterprise and the business community, the Chamber has been recognized with 5-Star Accreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an honor bestowed on only 1 percent of Chambers, out of the nearly 7,000 in the nation. Visit www.naperville.net




Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce 2017 Community Profile Guide

The Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce 2017 Community Profile Guide & Membership Directory is available at the Greater Belleville Chamber! Thanks to Wendy Pfeil and the chamber team for their help and direction putting this together!

Belleville IL Community Profile 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.


Jasper to Receive Indiana Chamber’s 2018 Community of the Year Honor 

Embracing “the Jasper Way” in business, education and quality of life pursuits has earned Jasper the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 Republic Airways and Lift Academy Community of the Year award.

Jasper’s rich German heritage and manufacturing history remain the lifeblood of the community. But its success also is dependent on its ability to look ahead and adapt.

Approximately $200 million in current projects – primarily public-private partnerships – is propelling the city forward. Among those initiatives:

• The Parklands of Jasper: a 75-acre major urban renewal endeavor featuring two miles of walking trails (including a multi-purpose path), three ponds (all connected by elevated pathways), The Pavilion (an indoor public event space seating 160 people), an adventure play area, musical playground and more.
• Thyen-Clark Cultural Center: new facility that will house the Jasper Community Arts and Jasper Public Library.
• Jasper River Centre: a $30 million mixed use development along the Patoka Riverfront. It will include a new hotel and redevelopment of a former factory into 70-plus apartments, retail/office space and public areas.

Jasper Mayor Terry Seitz comments on the Community of the Year designation’s significance: “To be named the (Community of the Year) recipient is a culmination of years of vision, planning and execution by hundreds of people. We are indeed honored.”

“Strong public-private partnerships are at the cornerstone of community success,” says Indiana Chamber President Kevin Brinegar. “Jasper leaders have demonstrated the ability to work together for many years and residents have strongly contributed through their immense pride in their city. Jasper is most deserving of this recognition.”

The celebration of Hoosier success at the Indiana Chamber’s 29^th Annual Awards Dinner, presented by Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, on November 13 at the Indiana Convention Center will include presentation of three additional awards: Dynamic Leader, Government Leader and Business Leader of the Year. The winners of those awards will be announced in the next three weeks (September 11, 18 and 25, respectively).

J.D. Vance, author of #1 New York Times best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy and focused on supporting business development in the Midwest, will keynote the Awards Dinner. Purchase tables of 10 or individual tickets at www.indianachamber.com/ad or by calling Nick at (800) 824-6885.

Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce 2017-2018 Community Guide & Membership Directory

The Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce 2017-2018 Community Profile & Membership Directory is available at the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber today! Thanks to Jon Maynard, Pam Swain, Rosie Vassalo and the chamber team for their help and direction putting this together!

Oxford Mississippi 2017-2018 Community Guide & Membership Directory

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.

Congressman Dan Kildee To Speak At Bay Area Chamber Of Commerce Leading The Way Luncheon

The third “Leading the Way” Speaker Series Luncheon will be held on Wednesday, October 17, 2018, with Congressman Dan Kildee as the featured speaker. This event will be held at Bay Valley Resort & Conference Center. Registration is at 11:00 a.m. and the program begins at 11:30 a.m.
Born and raised in Flint, Congressman Dan Kildee is a lifelong Michigander. In Congress, he has worked to bring people together and get real results for Michigan, including:
• Fighting Blight in Michigan: In just his first term, Congressman Kildee secured hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds to help strengthen neighborhoods, raise home values and make communities safer by removing abandoned houses across Michigan, including in Flint, Saginaw and Detroit.
• Getting Real Aid for Flint Families During the Water Crisis: During the water crisis in Flint, Congressman Kildee worked tirelessly to bring much needed relief to Flint families. He led the fight – bringing Democrats and Republicans together in Congress – to pass legislation to bring over $100 million in federal funds to the city to aid in its recovery. And he worked across the aisle to pass laws to prevent a similar crisis from happening in the future. Lastly, he worked with the Obama Administration to secure additional hundreds of millions to help Flint recover, including Medicaid expansion, funding for new jobs and nutritious foods.
• Protecting the Great Lakes from Nuclear Waste: Congressman Kildee is leading a bipartisan initiative to prevent a Canadian company from permanently burying nuclear waste less than one mile from the Great Lakes.
Before being elected to Congress, Congressman Kildee co-founded and served as the president of the Center for Community Progress, a national non-profit organization focused on urban land reform and revitalization.
Congressman Kildee resides in Flint Township with his wife, Jennifer. They have two children, Kenneth and Katy. Dan’s oldest son, Ryan, and his wife Ginger are the parents of their first two grandchildren, Caitlin and Colin.
“The Bay Area community is excited to hear from such an experienced member of Congress,” said Ryan Tarrant, Bay Area Chamber President & CEO. “With the new developments and economic progress being made in Bay County, it will be beneficial to hear Kildee’s take on current and future federal legislation affecting the region.”
The Leading the Way Luncheon is open to the public. Chamber members are $25 per person, future members $40 per person and table of eight for $190. To register call the Chamber at 989.893.4567 or visit baycityarea.com.

The Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1882, is a private, non-profit business organization with nearly 800 members that provides programs to assist local businesses grow and prosper. The Bay Area Chamber of Commerce joins area businesses and the community for the economic growth and well-being of the entire Bay Area. Contact: Ryan Tarrant (989) 893-4567.

Frank J. Kenny: Announcing the 

Chamber Pros Webinar Series

Through industry surveys and feedback from our recent free training on the Chamber Road Map to Social Media Success, you told us you wanted this training.

Check it out at https://chamber.frankjkenny.com/cpws

Enrollment is now open!

#ChamberProsWebinarSeries

Economy, development puts Hattiesburg in league with other thriving mid-size cities of the South

After Hurricane Katrina sent developer Rob Tatum packing from New Orleans back to his native Hattiesburg in 2005, Tatum started working on a real estate deal at home – renovating some historic buildings downtown into loft apartments.

As Tatum and his brother, Craig, began renovations, they kept finding traces of the century-old Tatum legacy in Hattiesburg: “It was really cool when we started demo-ing the buildings,” Tatum said. “We started finding lumber from my great-great-grandfather’s lumber mill, and it was stamped ‘TATUM LUMBER CO.'”

So Tatum repurposed the wood into furniture for his own house as he refurbished the buildings themselves into loft apartments.

Now, the city’s economy depends primarily on the University of Southern Mississippi, which has over 2,000 employees, and Forrest General Hospital and Hattiesburg Clinic, which together hire some 5,500 people. More distantly, there is also the military post Camp Shelby at the city’s southern edge.Sitting in the lobby of the Hotel Indigo, which opened earlier this year in Hattiesburg’s District at Midtown, Tatum represents the newest chapter of Tatums to remake the landscape of the city. Nestled amid the Midtown development’s new shops, restaurants and apartments, the themed boutique hotel pays homage to the city’s beginnings as a transit and timber hub. The lobby looks like a green and gold train car; the rooms contain portraits of the Tatums’ great-great-grandfather W.S.F. Tatum, a Hattiesburg mogul of the early 20th century whose profitable logging and railroad ventures led to stints as town mayor.

The mixed-use Midtown development, which sits across the street from the USM campus, aims to better bridge USM and the hospital, but also to recenter development back in the city proper – against the conventional wisdom, as mayor Toby Barker puts it, of building west down the I-98 corridor. 

Once a plot of university land featuring a shuttered, tornado-damaged dormitory, the Midtown development represents a $35 million investment and some 250 jobs, per Area Development Partnership executive vice president Todd Jackson, to a city of some 47,000 people that has been touted in the news as a “beacon of tourism” and a leader in job growth in recent years. Read more: Mississippi Today

Guidebook offers information on local area

A guidebook offering information to new residents of Mason County is available through the Maysville-Mason County Area Chamber of Commerce.

According to Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Vicki Steigleder, the guidebook presents information on tourism and economics.

“We have these for people who are visiting/moving to Mason County or businesses who are trying to bring potential employees to the area,” she said. “It’s good information to have. Before I moved to Kentucky, I had to go to the (Department of Motor Vehicles) to renew my license, but when I moved to Kentucky-you don’t do that here and when you move state to state, you understand that everyone does things differently, so you want to have this kind of information available.”

According to Steigleder, the book features information on employers in the county, as well as tourism information, including places to see, shop and eat. There are photographs of events in the community.

The guidebook will be available at local hotels, the tourism office and the Chamber of Commerce building. There is also a .pdf copy on the Chamber of Commerce website.

“It’s an ongoing book that we update about every three years, but it provides good information on what Maysville and Mason County has to offer; the quality of life here, and we want people to pick them up. It’s there even for current residents of the area, if they want to find out more about what is happening in their community,” she said. Read more: Ledger Independent

Mayor Sherman Lea highlights collaboration in Roanoke State of the City address

Collaboration and working together are two of the keys to continued success in the city of Roanoke, Mayor Sherman Lea said during his State of the City address Thursday.

"We're committed to making this city and the quality of life the best it can be," Lea said.

Lea highlighted the city's accomplishments in the past year, including new development in downtown Roanoke, affordable housing and other investments along the city's Melrose-Orange corridor and a commitment to education and work readiness.

"We're at a good point right now," Lea said. "The city is doing well and I'm looking forward to a brighter future."

Dr. Rita Bishop, superintendent of Roanoke City Public Schools, and Bob Cowell, Roanoke city manager, also spoke to community and business leaders during the breakfast hosted by the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce.

"The aspects that we talk about and that the mayor highlighted -- they mean a lot to a business in deciding whether they're going to grow their business in this region," said Joyce Waugh, chamber president and CEO.

Much of the mayor's address focused on the partnerships and programs that local agencies and nonprofits, city schools, and area colleges and universities have participated in to contribute to the area's growth.

"We have development," Lea said. "People are coming into the city. The city is growing. We're going to have some more exciting information about the train, Amtrak and what we want to do. I can just see things are happening."

He said it's important that everyone is included in the city's growth.

"We've had a lot of discussions about poverty and things in our community," Lea said. "We're addressing those. We're going forward with our community block grants, especially in those targeted areas."  Read more: WSLS.com

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