Missouri Chamber president visits Carthage
Local business representatives enjoyed a unique opportunity Thursday with the Carthage Chamber of Commerce.A presentation was held at the Broadview Country Club with distinguished guest Missouri Chamber President and CEO Daniel Mehan, of Jefferson City, Mo.
He spoke primarly on the Missouri Chamber’s “2030 Initiative,” which is a 15-year plan for the state of Missouri’s businesses to grow, in turn creating more jobs and bettering the lives of all Missourians. Read more: Carthage Press
Pete Ricketts addresses Lincoln Chamber of Commerce
Campaigning may be over, but now it's time for Governor Elect Pete Ricketts to get down to business.
At the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce's monthly Face the Chamber luncheon Wednesday, Ricketts made clear three main goals for once in office: property tax relief, growing the economy and improving educational outcomes for children.
"We have lots of opportunities in the state for our kids who want to go into career vocational training, who want to go into skilled labor force," he said. "We just need to make sure they're getting the opportunity to get that education to be exposed to that at an early age."
With Ricketts as the honored guest at the luncheon, the event saw one of its largest turnouts. One question asked was how Republicans and Democrats plan to move forward together.
2014 OCCE Outstanding Chamber Staff Award goes to Sarah Jane Johnson
Ada Area Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Sarah Jane Johnson is the winner of the 2014 Outstanding Chamber Staff Award from the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Executives.
The award was presented last week at OCCE’s annual conference in Oklahoma City.
Johnson has been at the Ada Area Chamber of Commerce for two years, coming from the Miami (Oklahoma) Area Chamber where she served as executive director. “Sarah Jane has organized, planned and carried out new programming that has moved the Chamber of Commerce to the forefront as the leading business organization in our community,” said Chris Feiler, chairman of the board for the Ada Area Chamber of Commerce. “Sarah Jane understands the significance of partnership and that success comes from all entities working together for the greater good of Ada.” Read more: The Ada News
Area lawmakers hear Indiana Chamber's 2015 legislative priorities
Area legislators and business leaders got a chance to hear the Indiana Chamber of Commerce's 2015 legislative priorities at a forum in Portage on Wednesday.Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, said budgetary issues will likely dominate the next legislative session, as the legislature will be writing its biannual budget in 2015.
"There will be over 1,000 bills introduced," said Vince Griffin, vice president of energy and environmental policy for the Indiana chamber. "Are there 1,000 creative ideas out there? Probably not."
On that note, here are some issues the chamber would like to see addressed in 2015:
* Education -- "Is there anything more important than education?" Brinegar asked. To that end, the Chamber of Commerce supports public investment in preschool, so low-income families can give their toddlers a leg up in their educational careers. "We believe it's important to close what I call 'the preparation gap,' " Brinegar said.
Indiana, however, is one of the few states without publicly funded prekindergarten, though it does have a five-county pilot program underway (Lake County is one of the five). Brinegar said the chamber was disappointed by Gov. Mike Pence's recent decision to reject an $80 million federal grant for early education.
The chamber also wants the state superintendent changed from an elected to an appointed position. "The current situation is untenable," Brinegar said. "If you have any doubts of what I'm saying, watch any Board of Education meeting." Read more: NWITimes.com
Chamber Heart: Feeding South Dakota to open expanded food pantry
Feeding South Dakota will kickoff a $1.2 million community fundraising campaign Friday with the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce.
The nonprofit plans to use the money to open an expanded food pantry adjacent to its warehouse on North First Avenue, which will allow it to help more hungry people, and do so more efficiently.
“This is timely for several reasons,” said Dan Murphy, chairman of the Feeding South Dakota Community Appeals Campaign. “The food pantry is small and tired, and there’s a tremendous opportunity to centralize the operations in the existing facility, to connect both, and to give our clients a much better shopping experience to meet the needs of their family.” Read more: Argus Leader
Michigan Chamber CEO Blasts Film Subsidies as a 'Boondoggle'
The House Commerce Committee has approved legislation to extend Michigan’s film incentive subsidy program indefinitely. Senate Bill 1103 was advanced Wednesday on a 10-7 vote as four Republican committee members joined six Democrats in support of the measure. The bill now goes to the full House, where a vote is expected soon.The Republicans who voted yes were: committee chair Rep. Frank Foster, R-Pellston; Rep. Wayne Schmidt, R-Traverse City; Rep. Dale Zorn, R-Ida; and Rep. Gail Haines, R- Waterford. Rep. Foster lost his GOP primary re-election bid in August and Rep. Haines is term limited, so neither will be back next year. Reps. Schmidt and Zorn have both been re-elected to the Senate.Michigan Chamber of Commerce CEO Rich Studley blasted film subsidies during withering testimony in which he called the program a “boondoggle,” and argued that extending it would indicate a Legislature with upside down priorities. The leader of the influential state business group pointedly observed that the millions of taxpayer dollars spent on film subsidies would be better employed fixing roads. Read more: Michigan Capitol Confidential
Chamber of Commerce president wants control of Fayetteville (Arkansas) Advertising &Promotion Commission
Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce president Steve Clark said he wants the chamber to run the Advertising and Promotion Commission when longtime executive director Marilyn Heifner steps down in January.
Commissioners are set to narrow the field of applicants for the job at their next meeting on Monday, Nov. 10, and Clark said he hopes the chamber is one of the finalists.
Clark said he knows a contract with the chamber would be out of the ordinary for Fayetteville, but noted two nearby cities that have partnerships similar to his proposal.
The Springdale Chamber of Commerce works with the Springdale commission through a contract with the city, and the Rogers A&P Commission contracts with the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce to unify those communities’ efforts in economic development. Read more: FayettevilleFlyer.com
Leadership Ames: Cyclone City: Auction of Creative Cyclone Statues
Cy has been all over town this fall. Now the five of the 31 total Iowa State Mascot statues are going to be auctioned off. On December 4th five of the statues will be auctioned at the Ames Chamber of Commerce Business after Hours. The event will be held at the Iowa State University Alumni Center, the bidding starting at 6:45 PM.CyclONE City was launched as a project of Leadership Ames, a group designed to help mold future leaders of the community, run by the Ames Chamber of Commerce. The group commissioned artists from Ames and around Iowa to come up with creative designs for Cy.
“When we had the preview party we had 30 of the statues lined up outside the alumni center, that created a big buzz,” said Makenzie Heddens one of the Tri-Chairs of the event. “Once they started popping up around town we had more people ask about the statues.” Read more: WHOTV.com
University Receives Beautification Award from Richmond Chamber of Commerce
Ongoing campus beautification efforts at Eastern Kentucky University have caught the attention of the surrounding Richmond community.
At the recent annual awards banquet of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, EKU received one of two Bernease Walters Beautification Awards presented by the Chamber. The Chamber noted that since Michael Benson became EKU president in August 2013, more than two dozen campus improvement projects have been initiated. Several involve making the campus more pedestrian friendly and maximizing green space. Read more: EKU.com
Montgomery Chamber, Village to Host Annual Christmas Tree Lighting
Montgomery’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, in front of Village Hall, 200 N. River St.This is a free event for the entire community and is hosted jointly by the Village of Montgomery and the Greater Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce (GMACC).
The event will kick off as students from local grade schools decorate the Village Christmas tree with handmade ornaments, followed by the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus in fire trucks with sirens blaring. After the lighting of the Christmas tree, children can visit Santa inside the Village Hall while everyone enjoys musical numbers performed by the students outside on the Park District’s Sound Stage. Free hot cocoa and cookies will be provided throughout the evening by the GMACC. Be sure to dress for the weather and bring your camera! Read more: Montgomery Patch
Friday: 157 Rules for Executive Success in Organization Management (and your Chamber of Commerce) by Patrick McGaughey
RULE
#28 - Always have votes lined up before
the board meeting
HuffPost Tech
HuffPost Tech
