Hampton Roads Chamber: Join Us for the Military Recognition Reception Keynote Speaker: Portsmouth Mayor John Rowe: Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce 2017 Business Directory and Resource Guide; Kent Wood, Traverse City Area Chamber: A good first half — but much left to do; Chicago Southland Chamber: Workforce Optimization Team Exploring; Marshfield Young Professionals, BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation, WEDC and NEWaukee announce $2,000 pitch event winner; Kentucky Chamber event: Three technologies UPS is using to get ahead; Chamber interest: Take a break from sales tax; Shelby County Chamber of Commerce Announces HireMe Shelby County Career Connector; Town Square Publications Chamber Membership Directories and Community Profiles: The best in the U.S. Friday: 157 Rules for Executive Success in Organization Management (and your Chamber of Commerce) by Patrick McGaughey (Chamber Mentor)

Good morning #Chamber World! Have a GREAT weekend!

Hampton Roads Chamber: Join Us for the Military Recognition Reception Keynote Speaker: Portsmouth Mayor John Rowe


The hardworking men and women of the military are an important part of our region. To honor these outstanding individuals, the Hampton Roads Chamber holds two receptions each year to pay tribute to military personnel from local commands. These receptions provide an excellent opportunity to network with members of the armed forces community. This year, the Honorable Mayor John L. Rowe, Jr. of Portsmouth Va. will be the keynote speaker at the August event. Mayor Rowe, a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Virginia Military Institute is deeply rooted in the military community. He proudly served in the United States Army as a commissioned officer in the Army's Infantry branch.


The Hampton Roads Chamber works to be an inspiring ignitor, powerful economic partner, and impactful advocate for our members. The local military presence in Hampton Roads is a powerful economic partner for our region and we believe acknowledging the inspiring and important work of our service members and advocating on their behalf is of the utmost importance. Join us in honoring them for their outstanding service.

Military Recognition Reception

Date: Friday, August 11, 2017

Time: 3:00-5:00pm
Where: Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel

777 Waterside Dr.

Norfolk VA 235102102

Contact: Shannon Curtin
scurtin@hrchamber.com; 570-854-1882






Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce 2017 Business Directory and Resource Guide

The Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce 2017 Business Directory and Resource Guide is available at the Virginia Peninsula Chamber today! Thanks to Mike Kuhns, Suzy Johnson and the chamber team for their help and direction putting this together!

Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce 2017 Business Directory and Resource Guide

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.







Kent Wood, Traverse City Area Chamber: A good first half — but much left to do

Halftime is an important segment of many sporting events. It’s an opportunity to re-assess your team’s strategy coming into a contest — figure out what’s worked and what hasn’t — and make necessary adjustments in hopes of prevailing at the end.

The summer season marks the half time of the political year, as lawmakers head home to their districts to talk about their first-half accomplishments and look to what’s ahead. It’s also an opportunity for organizations like the Traverse City Area Chamber and its partners at the Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance to review its legislative priorities for the year, check what’s been tackled and re-focus on what still needs to be done.

In terms of accomplishments, it was good first half for the Chamber and the Alliance.

Sticking to its “one size does not fit all” playbook — a business-policy strategy gladly co-opted by our first-term Congressman Jack Bergman that he’s taken to Washington — northern Michigan’s business community ground out several accomplishments in the first part of 2017 (“grind” being the operative term because of the extensive time and effort needed to keep these issues on Lansing’s front burner).

They included the Michigan Thrive bills creating transformational brownfields to help re-develop abandoned and contaminated properties. It was a major accomplishment as Alliance partners worked closely with our region’s lawmakers to re-shape the legislation to make it viable in the smaller communities that make up Northern Michigan. It also has legislators thinking about right-sized solutions that can be effective throughout Michigan’s diverse landscape, and not just major metropolitan areas to the south.

We also helped convince lawmakers to reinstate the "2X" per-pupil funding formula to close the state funding gap for a large majority of our area’s school districts. It was a major accomplishment, as was the increase in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education dollars needed to build our future regional workforce. Another $1 million was secured for the popular Skilled Trades Training Fund used by several area employers to train new employees.

The Chamber also pushed to successfully finalize the multi-year process for funding Northwestern Michigan College’s 21st Century Innovation Center. Read more: Record Eagle

Kent Wood is the Director of Government Relations for the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce and Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance. Contact him at kentw@tcchamber.org

Chicago Southland Chamber: Workforce Optimization Team Exploring

REAL WORLD CAREER EXPERIENCES – EXPLORING

The Chicago Southland Chamber is pleased to share this invitation as endorsed by our Workforce Optimization Team. Currently, we are planning an Exploring Cultivation Discussion to further our mission to enable local youth to pursue education and training in our area so that they may be qualified to be the future employees that our members seek. We will be joined by Andy Pierce, the local director of the Exploring program and a commissioned professional in the Boy Scouts of America.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR YOUTH OF THE SOUTHLAND

The Cultivation Discussion is being held to illustrate how Exploring can be an investment opportunity for companies, schools, agencies, service clubs, and other local organizations. One of the many benefits that Exploring can offer is preparing future interns and employees for your workforce. It is also a way for you to help the Southland’s most precious resource: OUR YOUTH.

             

EXPLORE CAREERS

Exploring is a co-educational, hands-on career-orientation program for high school-aged students - both young men and young ladies. Students learn about possible careers through one or more the program’s 12 exciting career fields. Exploring is an affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America.

 WHY EXPLORING

Exploring provides exciting activities and one-on-one mentorship for youth looking to discover their future. Whether you’re a local organization looking to strengthen the community or a young person wanting to uncover the possibilities of your future, Exploring is a great place to start.

             

JOIN US:

Chicago Southland Chamber

Wednesday, August 9th

Saint Xavier University - Orland Park Campus

18230 Orland Parkway

Orland Park, IL

8:30am - 10:00am

R.S.VP. to Heather at heather@chicagosouthlandchamber.com

Marshfield Young Professionals, BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation, WEDC and NEWaukee announce $2,000 pitch event winner

A retro-themed classic garage (former home to Hudson’s Classic Grill) in Marshfield was the site of five business pitches Wednesday night. The winning pitch, Tapped, took home $2,000 to advance their business idea.
HATCH is a community-based startup pitch platform that aims to convert strong “napkin” ideas into business plans that launch new companies. Partnerships across the state made this fourth HATCH event a success, bringing together the Marshfield’s Young Professionals, Brightstar Wisconsin Foundation, NEWaukee, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
Local organizers chose to highlight the 12 N Central Ave Building, for the event. This garage themed building provided the perfect backdrop for an event focused on perfecting those napkin ideas. The garage saw a sold out crowd of 100+ people. Audience members had the opportunity to vote for their favorite pitches. In addition, a panel of local judges deliberated on the winning pitch. Jurors were: Brenda Dillenburg – Marshfield Campus Dean, Mid-State Technical College; Mark Nelson –  President, Microscopy Innovations LLC; Michael Agarwal – CIO, Prevention Genetics; David Meissner – Retired Business Owner; Karen Olson – Business Development Director, Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Central Wisconsin SCORE Administrator; and Todd Sobotka – Managing Director at BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation.
The winning pitch, Tapped, offers flavor infused, natural maple syrups. Jeremy Solin and his family own a maple farm where they harvest the maple syrup through traditional tapping methods and then infuse the syrup with flavors including- espresso, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and red pepper. Tapped is being offered as a substitute to simple syrups and plain maple syrups throughout various coffee shops and bars in Wisconsin. Read more: UrbanMilwaukee.com

Kentucky Chamber event: Three technologies UPS is using to get ahead

UPS is "a technology company with trucks," according to Matt Capozzoli, vice president of flight operations for UPS Airlines.

Capozzoli spoke yesterday during the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce's annual Business Summit, which took place at the Galt House.

During the appearance, Capozzoli discussed three technologies the company is using.

The first was the company's WorldPort air-cargo sorting hub in Louisville. The operation, which has more than 155 miles of conveyors, uses scanners and other tech to move the average package in and out of the sort in less than 15 minutes.

“That’s pretty quick,” he said.

Capozzoli also spoke about the company's on-road integrated optimization and navigation system — ORION, for short. It uses fleet telematics and algorithms to develop and evaluate routes for the company's drivers.

Finally, he spoke about Roadie, an Uber-like service through which private passenger vehicles and drivers are used to deliver packages. The company received funding from UPS, as the Atlanta Business Journal reported in 2015. Capozzoli described it as an experiment for the company and a service that it's very interested in monitoring.

He also addressed startup culture during the appearance. He was speaking about how the company has a culture that strives toward self improvement and finding new ways of doing things.

“You've got to think like a startup," he said. "You’ve got to be hungry. You’ve got to be lean,” he said.

UPS is Louisville's largest employer, with more than 22,000 workers. In addition to WorldPort, the company has a ground-cargo sorting operation, called Centennial Hub, which is being expanded. It also has a large Supply Chain Solutions campus in Louisville. Louisville Business First

Chamber interest: Take a break from sales tax

The back-to-school sales tax holiday in Mississippi is upon us.

As of 12:01 a.m., shoppers are entitled to a tax exemption on purchases of qualifying clothing and footwear made through 11:59 p.m. Saturday.

The “holiday” is a temporary period when sales taxes are not collected or paid on purchases of specific products and or services. In the Magnolia State, that’s a 7 percent savings.

Officials with the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce are hopeful shoppers will head out today and save money during the tax-free holiday.

“The Chamber strongly encourages our community to visit our many local clothing and shoe stores this weekend to take advantage of the Mississippi’s tax-free days on all shoes and clothes,” said program director Katie Nations. “Even if you’re not buying school clothes, shoppers of all ages can benefit from the tax-free incentive and get some great deals.”

Some of Debbie Smith’s customers at Judy’s II wait until this designated weekend to shop for back-to-school items.

“It’s always good for me,” she said. “I think people put off buying until then. Seven percent isn’t a lot, but it helps.”

Smith said she combines a back-to-school sale with the tax-free event to give customers an added incentive to shop.

“We always have a very busy weekend,” she said. “I’ve had several come in an look and they’re going to come in when they don’t have to pay tax on it.” Read more: Daily Leader

Shelby County Chamber of Commerce Announces HireMe Shelby County Career Connector

The Shelby County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce a new, valuable service to our community and members. The process of applying for jobs with Shelby County Chamber members has been simplified by a new program called HireMe Shelby County.

Any individual who visits www.hiremeshelbycounty.com or the Chamber’s website
(www.shelbychamber.net) can submit a resume or job history information. This information will be
forwarded to participating member business. There are over 30 participating businesses that include,
but are not limited to, Indiana Grand Racing and Casino, Ryobi Die Casting (U.S.A.), Inc., Major
Health Partners, Knauf Insulation, and NSG Group.

This new member benefit allows for a more centralized location for our Chamber member businesses and job seekers to be connected.

This service is FREE to those submitting their information.

It is that easy! Anyone looking for a job can simply submit their information and the Chamber will share it with multiple companies in Shelby County. Submit your resume today.

www.HireMeShelbyCounty.com

Contact: Courtney Chapella, Member Engagement and Events Coordinator, Shelby County Chamber of Commerce - 501 North Harrison Street Shelbyville, IN 46176 - (P) - (317)398-6647/(F) - (317)392-3901 Email: courtneychapella@shelbychamber.net

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

Friday: 157 Rules for Executive Success in Organization Management (and your Chamber of Commerce) by Patrick McGaughey (Chamber Mentor)

RULE #72      Schedule orientations every quarter.

Bedford Area (Indiana) Chamber of Commerce is looking for a new President; Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executives Certification and Awards given to local chambers; Legislatively Speaking, Kevin O’Keeffe, Bolingbrook Area Chamber of Commerce; Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce focuses on minority businesses, leaders; Madison County Chamber Partnership: Law Enforcement Appreciation Week Set; Bob Crum to step down as leader of regional commission to take post in Hampton Roads; Chamber interest: Madison's Airfares Highest Among Top 100 US Airports; Chamber partnership: Leadership Arkansas; Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotation: (Attitude)

Good morning Chamber world! Today is going to be a GREAT day!

Bedford Area (Indiana) Chamber of Commerce is looking for a new President

 The Bedford Chamber Board of Directors has announced that the search is now underway to fill the President vacancy. 

 

The job description can be found on the Bedford Chamber's website. The deadline for the receipt of resumes is Wednesday, May 13, 2015.  Interested applicants should email a resume and cover letter to the Search Committee: search@bedfordchamber.com.  All correspondence will be done electronically and all candidate information will be held as confidential.   The Strategic Development Group (SDG) is the consulting firm guiding the search.

 

For additional questions, please visit the Bedford Chamber's website or email search@bedfordchamber.com.

The Bedford Area Chamber Board is looking for a dynamic and visionary leader - so please share this opportunity with all of the talented people you know who may be interested in running a Chamber in beautiful Southern IN. Source: ICEA

Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executives Certification and Awards given to local chambers

At the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executives (KCCE) last week, the organization designated four chambers in the state as Kentucky Certified Chambers. This new designation is a peer reviewed, best practices certification awarded to chambers who meet nationally benchmarked criteria on internal organization, processes, financial controls and service to members. The four chambers that were honored with this designation were Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, Kyndle (Kentucky Network for Development, Leadership and Engagement), Murray-Calloway County Chamber of Commerce and the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce. The Kentucky Certified Chamber program is the third of its kind outside of the U.S. Chamber Accreditation. It helps chambers analyze the policies and procedures they have in place as well as best practices in multiple areas. It also gives executives an additional tool to examine the inner workings of their organization and involve the board with this process.
KCCE also named Brad Schneider with Kyndle as the 2015 Executive of the Year. Knowledgeable and trustworthy; sees the big picture as well as small details; sincere and interested in promoting the chamber industry and mentoring. He has leadership and the ability to move people to collaborate. These are just some of things said by those nominating Brad.He is a board member with KCCE and has not missed a conference since he got started in the industry seven years ago.This past year has been a pretty significant year for Brad:

*he was the guiding force behind the creation of Kyndle – the new combined chamber and EDC that servces Henderson, Union, Webster and McLean counties
*was able to maintain an 85% retention rate through the merger and end the first fiscal year in the black
*he maintained a prominent leadership role with C-Link (catalyst for completion of I-69)
*he worked closely with Christy Gillenwater at Southwest Indiana Chamber to form BridgeLink for the building of I-69’s Ohio River bridge
*and he worked with Murray State to establish a satellite SBDC office within the Kyndle office

Brad is a true professional and always available to help anyone. It is with great pleasure that KCCE announces Brad Schneider as 2015 Executive of the Year. Read More: Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executives


Legislatively Speaking, Kevin O’Keeffe, Bolingbrook Area Chamber of Commerce

On Wednesday April 15, I joined several other Executive Directors of West Suburban Chamber of Commerce’s as we traveled to Springfield for the Annual Employer Action Day. We had a full day worth of speeches, meetings and lobbying and were able to meet with Governor Rauner, Senate President John Cullerton as well as Senate Minority leader Christine Radogno and House GOP leader Jim Durkin.

Among the issues that were paramount to Chamber Execs was the proposed Transportation for Illinois Coalition or TFIC Capital Bill. The Illinois Chamber along with many other local Chambers are working towards a state capital bill. Together we have identified that Illinois transportation needs annual investment of at least $1.8 billion a year.

To address this need, TFIC has come up with a proposal that funds the infrastructure work. The proposal would provide $1.39 billion in ongoing maintenance funding each year for improvements over a five year time frame.

The proposal includes the following revenue sources:

• Increase in the motor fuel tax
• Increase the general sales tax rate by .1% and capture for transportation
• As well as other fee increases

As of now Governor Rauner and legislative leaders have indicated that they want to do a capital bill however no language has been introduced that contains any of the components of the TFIC proposal.

Another high priority of chambers as well as businesses across the state is Workers Compensation legislation. Currently the discussion is primary cause. What this legislation does is establish a primary cause standard for determining whether the workplace contributed/caused the injury. It defines the scope of “traveling employee” to “employment related travel” or whether the injury occurs while actively engaged in the duties of employment. What this states in layman’s terms is it switches the burden of proof as to whether the employee got hurt on the jobsite or while outside of work. Currently, in most cases the employer has to prove that the employee did not get hurt in the workplace, whereas the proposal brings the burden of proof more on the employee. The Illinois Chamber and Chambers across the state support this legislation. I am going down to Springfield on April 22 to talk to state legislators about this legislation.

*All Worker’s Compensation bills are being held in committees pending negotiations.*

At the conference, Governor Rauner spoke about the need for a constitutional amendment in regards to pension reform which he hopes to put on the ballot for the November 2016 election. This is just in the infancy stage and I will give you more information as I find out more.
In the meantime I am representing you and would welcome any input that you have. We are restarting our Governmental legislative committee in May and if anyone would like to be on the committee which would meet once a month, please contact me at kokeeffe@bolingbrookchamber.org. This is a very important function of Chamber of Commerce’s these days and I would appreciate your input.

Kevin O'Keeffe
Executive Director
(630) 226-8420

Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce focuses on minority businesses, leaders

Like many small business owners, Lon Aguilar started Promesa Logistics as the owner and sole employee.

Aguilar was honored by the Michigan West Coast Chamber Wednesday, April 22, as the Minority Business of the Year. He opened in Hudsonville in 1997 and in the past three years the delivery company has grown by more than 50 percent.

Promesa means bold promises, said Bing Goei, owner of Eastern Floral and the 2014 recipient of the award, as he introduced Aguilar. "Aguilar is the kind of businessman who believes in the promise of the firm handshake," Goei said.

The goal of Promesa was never to be the biggest, Aguilar said, but to take care of customers.

“I operate from my vehicle,” Aguilar said. “The office is not where I feel comfortable. I feel comfortable building relationships with my customers in their facilities.” Read more: Holland Sentinel

Madison County Chamber Partnership: Law Enforcement Appreciation Week Set

The Madison County Business League & Foundation will be recognizing local law enforcement with a weeklong celebration during Law Enforcement Appreciation Week May 10-16.

"We want to recognize the law enforcement officers who work unusual hours, knowing they may be in dangerous situations that could risk their lives in order to protect our homes, workplaces, schools and entire community," Jan Collins, executive director of the MCBL&F, said.

The MCBL&F has partnered with the local chambers of commerce in Madison County for the celebrations, and they are asking others interested in participating to join in, too.

"We invite our business community, schools, churches and organizations to participate in recognizing our law enforcement officers for their dedication and commitment to Madison County," Collins said.

They have spearheaded a campaign to raise funds to provide a gift from the community to each law enforcement officer in the county. Read more: Madison County Journal

Bob Crum to step down as leader of regional commission to take post in Hampton Roads

Robert A. Crum Jr. is leaving as leader of the Richmond region’s planning and transportation organizations, but he isn’t going far.
Crum, 53, announced Thursday that he has been hired as executive director of the Hampton Roads Regional Planning District Commission, which represents 17 jurisdictions just east of the nine localities he has served for 6½ years.

“Too bad for us, but good for them,” said Kim Scheeler, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Richmond Chamber, who has worked closely with Crum since they arrived in Richmond within weeks of each other in 2008. Read more: Richmond Times Dispatch

Chamber interest: Madison's Airfares Highest Among Top 100 US Airports
Because of the presence of a high number of business travelers and the low number of cut-rate airlines, getting out of Madison by plane can be a lot more expensive than flying out of Newark or the 98 other busiest airports in the land.
Of the 100 busiest airports in the country, the Dane County Regional Airport ranked No. 1 in average cost of a domestic airfare in the most recent quarter measured by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Passengers originating in Dane County -- the 84th-busiest airport in the country -- paid an average airfare of $505 from October through December, compared with the national average of $393.
The high average can be blamed on the airport's lack of low-cost and discount carriers, among other factors, including geography, or being close to airports that do have lower-cost, higher-frequency carriers, and the increasing number of business travelers, who don't usually buy economy fares, said airport and business spokesmen. Read more: Aviation Pros




Chamber partnership: Leadership Arkansas 

Leadership Arkansas is a program designed to take a statewide view of the economic and political challenges that face our great state.  Leadership Arkansas offers leadership opportunities that expand the impact of community leaders across the state. Created by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas, Inc., Leadership Arkansas builds a sense of statewide community by identifying and training individuals with the passion and commitment to become personally engaged in issues, programs and activities aimed at building a better Arkansas.
The individual contribution of Arkansas leaders is multiplied by their collective strength and enhanced by the distinct and diverse nature of the regions of Arkansas in which they reside.  The members of Leadership Arkansas are dedicated not only to their local communities, but to their statewide community. Leadership Arkansas is a unique program designed to promote statewide leadership.
Leadership Arkansas is based on the belief that individuals can expand their leadership capacities to make a difference in the state of Arkansas. Leadership Arkansas alumni and class members learn, grow and change as they go through the nine-month program, which allows them to see firsthand the challenges and accomplishments of our local communities.
The success of Leadership Arkansas to date has led to alumni members deciding to change the landscape of our state and their local communities by becoming state legislators, city councilmen, planning commissioners, etc.
Leadership Arkansas has been fortunate to have the support of the Arkansas General Assembly with the former Speaker of the House serving as class chairman and members of the General Assembly participating in the class.
Leadership Arkansas sessions include:

• annual educational, issues-oriented, nine-month class program
• seven day-and-a-half sessions held in various communities throughout the state
• Arkansas leaders who represent a wide geographic base and who have diverse backgrounds and vocations
• exposure to the many social and environmental complexities of the state
• on-site demonstrations and tours
• diverse geographical and cultural experiences
• insight into the people, places and history which influence public policies
• fun and casual settings which foster new relationships and camaraderie

Leadership Arkansas now has more than 300 alumni with a program goal of one participant from each of the 75 counties within five years.
Leadership Arkansas Class IX Selects 35 Individuals
Thirty-five individuals from throughout the state have been selected for Leadership Arkansas Class IX, a program created and operated by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce/Associated Industries of Arkansas and presented by ARcare. For a list of the 35 members of Class IX, click here.
Leadership Arkansas Class IX begins with a Retreat Session – Session I Tourism on October 5-7 at Lake Dardanelle near Russellville. Class IX sponsors include Southland Park Gaming & Racing and Walmart Stores, Inc.
Other planned sessions include:
Session II – Arkansas State Chamber/AIA Annual Meeting/Mock Legislative Session, November 12-13
Session III – Manufacturing/Workforce, December 11-12, Batesville
Session IV – South Arkansas Economy, January 15-16, 2015, Texarkana
Session V – Northwest Arkansas Economy/Education, March 19-20, 2015, Fort Smith
Session VI – Northeast Arkansas Economy/Agriculture, May 13-15, 2015, West Memphis/Blytheville
Session VII – Military/Central Arkansas Economy/Leadership Arkansas Class IX Graduation, June 18-19, 2015
The mission of Leadership Arkansas is to challenge, inform, inspire and engage current and future business leaders to enhance the economy of the state of Arkansas. Leadership Arkansas’s vision is to work to build an economically strong and vibrant state by training skilled community leaders to recognize and capitalize on economic opportunities, motivate others to act to strengthen the economies of local communities, serve as an ambassador for the economic potential and growth of the state, and promote the election and appointment of officials who understand the importance of economic growth to the state.
Leadership Arkansas comprises a nine-month class program consisting of seven day-and-a-half sessions held in various communities throughout the state. The sessions include Arkansas leaders who represent a wide geographic base and who have diverse backgrounds and vocations; exposure to the many social and environmental complexities of the state; on-site demonstrations and tours; diverse geographical and cultural experiences; insight into the people, places and history that influence public policies; and fun and casual settings which foster new relationships and camaraderie.
Leadership Arkansas has educated and engaged more than 400 alumni since its inception eight years ago. The program’s goal is one participant from each of the 75 counties within the next five years.
For more information on Leadership Arkansas, contact Susie Marks at smarks@arkansasstatechamber.com or 501-210-4206.

Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotation: (Attitude)

“Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be.”

~Marsha Petrie Sue