Future Wisconsin Summary & Report; #FamousChamber Of Commerce Quotations: (Be happy!) :); Carol Stream Chamber of Commerce Industrial Round Table on Workforce Development Plan "Shark Tank" Partnership; IACCE 2018 Chamber of the Year Jefferson County Chamber Community Guide; Gov. Phil Bryant farewell at chamber event: See video and photo gallery; April Power In Partnership To Feature Ceo Of Discovery Park Of America And Youth Lead Graduation; Two Virginias Chamber of Commerce holds graduation for its leadership program; The new economy: McDonald challenges chamber to consider the future of digital economic development; Detroit Regional Chamber's Sandy Baruah: Business community 'amenable' to Whitmer's 45-cent fuel tax hike; Town Square Publications Chamber Membership Directories, Maps and Community Profiles: The best in the U.S.

Happy Friday #ChamberWorld! Have a GREAT weekend!


Future Wisconsin Summary & Report

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce released a report showing the breakdown of our state's workforce challenges in an effort to define the challenges and consider solutions.

The report identified these in six areas: attracting and retaining talent, upskill of existing workers, improving career pathways, promoting apprenticeships/internships and work-based learning for students, promoting career awareness, and reaching disconnected groups. Read the Report 



#FamousChamber Of Commerce Quotations: (Be happy!) :)

'And what's the point of changing when I'm happy as I am?' - Paul McCartney





Carol Stream Chamber of Commerce Industrial Round Table on Workforce Development Plan "Shark Tank" Partnership

The Carol Stream Chamber of Commerce Industrial Round Table: Workforce Development was created in October 2018.  The Round Table has been meeting monthly with our manufacturer members, industrial members and business leaders  focused on creating local solutions to the workforce challenge.  As a result of our meetings we have partnered with Stratford Middle School, Jay Stream Middle School to participate in their Shark Tank Program.  Eighth grade students in the Information and Media Literacy program have the unique opportunity to create and market a product to their peers.  This year two real life entrepreneurs will be judging the final 5 teams; Steve Romanelli, COO/VP of Core Pipe Product and Steven Shei, VP of Innovation and Strategic Planning, Prince Castle are judging.  In addition Lizzie Bertness, Design Engineer, Prince Castle has been serving as a consultant to the students and teachers. 

Students collaborate in small groups to envision a useful invention or product, create a physical version of the invention and finally market to classmates with posters and commercials using learning tools available on District-issued laptops.

For the first round students will choose the winning projects within each IML class.  For the culmination of the Shark Tank each class’s winning group from both middle schools will present their product to our local business leaders at Stratford’s Innovation Center.

The business leader “Sharks” will receive product pitches from the students, ask questions to determine which group will receive the most “investment funding”. 

The May 15^th Shark Tank takes place at Stratford Middle School’s Innovation Center from Noon – 2:30pm. 

This event is the result of a strong partnership we have with our business leaders and education leaders in Carol Stream.

Miriam Iwrey, CEO

Carol Stream Chamber of Commerce
150 S. Gary Ave, Carol Stream IL 60188
630.665.3325

info@carolstreamchamber.com www.carolstreamchamber.com
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IACCE 2018 Chamber of the Year Jefferson County Chamber Community Guide   

The Jefferson County Chamber Community Guide  is available at the chamber of commerce today! Thank you to Philip "Mike" Beard and the Chamber team for their help and direction putting this together! 

Jefferson County 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.


Gov. Phil Bryant farewell at chamber event: See video and photo gallery
The Mississippi Economic Council, the state's chamber of commerce, held its annual luncheon Thursday celebrating 70 years as an organization.

The event honored high-achieving high school students and featured live music and a speech by Gov. Phil Bryant. Bryant, who noted this will be his last speech at the luncheon as governor, said he's glad to be wrapping up his second term as governor. Bryant joked he's looking forward to being "homeless and unemployed" come January. See video: Clarion Ledger

April Power In Partnership To Feature CEO Of Discovery Park Of America And Youth Lead Graduation

The April 11^th Power in Partnership breakfast of the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce will feature Scott Williams, President and CEO of Discovery Park of America, and the graduation of the Youth LEAD Class #8 participants. The breakfast will be held on Thursday, April 11, at 7:30 a.m. at the Julian Carroll Convention Center. Caring People Services is the sponsor. 

Discovery Park of America, located in Union City, Tennessee, is a 100,000-square-foot museum sitting on a beautifully landscaped 50-acre heritage park that welcomes hundreds of thousands of guests to the region every year. 

Previously, Williams served as president and COO of the Newseum in Washington, D.C. where he managed many of the activities taking place in a seven-story museum on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol. Williams earned his degree in journalism from the University of Memphis, then held positions in a variety of organizations, eventually landing at Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. for 12 years.  There he managed annual events like Elvis Week, the Elvis birthday celebration and the Graceland Christmas lighting, while contributing to initiatives like the Elvis Cruise, the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest, the Elvis Cirque du Soleil show, Viva Elvis and the Elvis Broadway play.

He is currently working on his third book, “Forgotten Stories of West Tennessee.” In 2017, Williams' published his second book, “An Odd Book, How the First Modern Pop Culture Reporter Conquered New York," while his first book, "The Forgotten Adventures of Richard Halliburton: A High-Flying Life from Tennessee to Timbuktu," was published in 2014. 

The breakfast will also feature recognition of 34 local high school students who recently completed the Youth LEAD program coordinated by the Leadership Paducah Alumni Association.

Below are the details of the breakfast:
           

When: Thursday, April 11, 7:30-8:30 a.m. (note one week later than usual)

Where: Julian M. Carroll Convention Center

Speaker: Scott Williams, President/CEO of the Discovery Park of America

Sponsor:  Caring People Services

Special Recognition:  Youth LEAD Graduation

Cost: $15 for members, $25 for non-Chamber members

Two Virginias Chamber of Commerce holds graduation for its leadership program

 The Two Virginias Chamber of Commerce held a graduation for its leadership program on Wednesday.

It was the twentieth graduating class. During the five-month program participants met twice a month to tour local businesses and manufacturers in Tazewell and Mercer counties, even taking a trip to the capitol in Charleston.

The program has the goal of fostering leadership by providing a lens into the community. And don’t be surprised if you see some of the graduates being more active in the community now. Graduate Kristin Conner said, “Being born and raised in Mercer County, never left, I didn’t know half of what I know now. So, it’s just been really good to see what our economy flourishes from, where we need to go. And I’m happy to say that I want to be a bigger part of the community.”

Former West Virginia Senate President Bill Cole was the keynote speaker at the graduation. Cole said, “This is truly about it’s about giving back as much as anything. So it was a great opportunity to be up here with a great bunch of successful men and women that just finished a good program. They learned a lot about our area that they didn’t have a clue about.”

The graduation was held at the Greenrbier in White Sulphur Springs. Read more: WVVA.com

The new economy: McDonald challenges chamber to consider the future of digital economic development

Success in today’s digital economy requires a combination of entrepreneurial ideas, talent and capital, but it’s that last element that local communities and Indiana must do better at in order to thrive, said the head of one of the state’s leading technology companies.

Ideas are free and plentiful, and talent abounds, but venture capital is the vital oxygen for fueling the fire and allowing the creative ideas to grow, ClearObject Inc. CEO John McDonald, the keynote speaker at the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce’s 110th annual meeting, told a crowd of about 425 people on Thursday at The Commons.

Indiana lags in venture capital development, ranking 27th nationally, and behind nearby states such as Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan and Wisconsin, McDonald said.

“It starts with money and pooling resources,” McDonald said. 

McDonald, a 1995 Purdue University graduate, has advocated for statewide policies that foster entrepreneurship as a economic strategy.

His message was pertinent to Columbus, which ranks well for innovation but poorly for entrepreneurial support, said Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Frey. Consequently, the city has embarked on a joint community partnership with Bloomington to develop an entrepreneurship-minded culture and infrastructure in south-central Indiana.

Columbus and Bloomington joined with Elevate Ventures, a venture development organization, last October on a three-year, $2.5 million partnership called Velocities. It will utilize an entrepreneur in residence to help startups and assist with needed early stage capital.

“It’s an opportunity not only for us, but the state of Indiana,” Frey said.

McDonald said the digital economy, which has evolved from agrarian, industrial and transportation economies, is growing rapidly because of an explosion of data that makes products and services “smarter” and capable of doing more — often making current products and services obsolete in a short time.

He noted that a company such as Uber has capitalized on data to change the traditional model of taxis and rental cars as a means of fee-based transportation.

Read more: The Republic

Detroit Regional Chamber's Sandy Baruah: Business community 'amenable' to Whitmer's 45-cent fuel tax hike

There's a "growing split" between the state's business community and Republicans who control the Legislature over the need to dramatically raise taxes to fix Michigan's crumbling infrastructure, Detroit Regional Chamber CEO Sandy Baruah said Thursday.

After interviewing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on stage at a chamber luncheon about her proposed 45-cent gas tax increase, the Detroit chamber's chief executive said business interests are increasingly at odds with longtime allies in the GOP-run Legislature after lawmakers passed an "insufficient" $1.2 billion road funding plan nearly four years ago.

"I think that there is growing split between, I would say, the Republican legislators and the business community," Baruah told reporters. "The business community is becoming much more amenable to the 45-cent gas tax to solve the roads problem."

Republican legislative leaders have scoffed at Whitmer's plan, with House Speaker Lee Chatfield calling the tax hike a "nonstarter" and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey arguing "cannot absorb a 45-cent increase in the gas tax" phased in over a year.

Baruah's comments mark the first time the Detroit chamber has closely aligned itself with the new Democratic governor on her signature policy issue of fixing Michigan's rapidly-deteriorating roadways and bridges. Read more: Crain's Detroit

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

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 aT 847-427-4633.