Good morning Chamber world! Today is going to be a GREAT day!
Call for Applications: $25,000 award: 2015 James Tyree Emerging Business Leadership Award
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The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and Mesirow Financial are pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the 2015 James Tyree Emerging Business Leadership Award.
The
winner of the 2015 Tyree Award will receive $25,000, compliments of Mesirow
Financial, and business services from the Chicagoland Chamber. The open
application period extends throughout the month of March.
Qualified
applicants must meet the following criteria:
• Operate within the six-county Chicagoland metropolitan area
• Be in business for a minimum of two years
• Demonstrate substantial growth over the past two years
• Generate revenues of at least $500,000 but less than $10 million
• Have five or more employees
• Be active in local civic or philanthropic initiatives
Click here for more information or to apply for the
award. • Operate within the six-county Chicagoland metropolitan area
• Be in business for a minimum of two years
• Demonstrate substantial growth over the past two years
• Generate revenues of at least $500,000 but less than $10 million
• Have five or more employees
• Be active in local civic or philanthropic initiatives
1,100 expected to hear Virginia Beach mayor deliver state of the city address at Hampton Roads Chamber event
Mayor Will Sessoms will deliver the annual state of the city address this afternoon at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
More than 1,100 people are expected at the event, hosted by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. The speech often includes an economic development announcement as well as updates on city accomplishments over the past year and goals for the future. Read more: PilotOnline.com
Chamber line-up: Speakers, schedule set for One Southern Indiana's Pearls of Wisdom program
One Southern Indiana has set the schedule and lined up the speakers for this year's Pearls of Wisdom program.
In the program, prominent businesswomen discuss their careers, and then volunteer "table facilitators" lead table discussions to identify the key points from the speaker's remarks.
Here's the schedule for the year, according to a news release:
- Wednesday, March 18: Cathe Dykstra, chief possibility officer, president and CEO of Family Scholar House Inc.;
- Wednesday, June 17: Karen Lawrence, owner, Camp Hi Ho;
- Wednesday, Sept. 16: Ingrid Hernandez, president, Ingrid Design LLC;
- Wednesday, Dec. 2: Pam Bennett Martin, president, Bennett & Bennett Insurance Inc.. Read more: Louisville Business First
Grand Rapids Chamber event: U.S. Chamber warns about regulatory onslaught
While the short-term economic outlook is promising, concerns loom about the long-term economic future of the United States, Doug Loon, U.S. Chamber of Commerce vice president, told members of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce Monday.
Loon said last year’s mid-term elections sent a signal to Washington that voters were tired of gridlock. And, although early signals showed a willingness to get things done, there now are signs of a return to obstructionist politics.
There are other troubling signs.
Unemployment numbers have declined since the Great Recession, added Loon, but the 5.2 percent unemployment rate masks an underlying problem – “marginally attached” persons who are unaccounted for in the unemployment rate. These individuals are the chronically unemployed – those who have left the workforce long-term and are therefore not counted in unemployment numbers.
“We have the lowest labor participation rate since 1978,” said Loon, adding that the nation needs more jobs, higher incomes, lower deficits and debt and more wealth as a nation.
What happens on the political front remains to be seen, however, U.S. Chamber advocates are promoting a multi-pronged approach to return growth to a more robust 3-plus percent from the 2014 anemic level of 2.2 percent.
The Chamber’s agenda includes action along several fronts that executives contend are vital to future growth: energy, trade, infrastructure, regulation, taxes and entitlements, immigration and education reform. Read more: BusinessNorth.com
The Lake Zurich Area Chamber of Commerce hosts the largest Chamber expo in Lake County
The LZ Area Chamber of Commerce will
host it’s 23rd Annual Business & Community Showcase on Saturday, March 14,
2015 from 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Lake Zurich High School Field House, 300 Church
Street, Lake Zurich. The SHOWCASE is the largest, FREE expo open to the public
in Lake County.
The 2015 Showcase will feature
nearly 90 local businesses and community organizations that will display,
demonstrate and provide advice on products and services to help you welcome in
Spring. Family entertainment includes the ever-popular Dave DiNaso’s
Traveling World of Reptiles, Lake Zurich Park Dept. Dance, Varo the Police Dog,
In Motion Dance Company, Payaliya Dance Studio, Storytelling by Amanda Bloom,
Trilogy School of Performing Arts, and Face Painting and balloons by VeraNik.
A Free courtesy van provided by Ela
Township will transport families from the various school parking lots to the
SHOWCASE front door and back to their cars. Concession will be provided
throughout the day by the LZ Bear Boosters.
The ever-popular SHOWCASE Bingo
will offer attendees a chance to win a free iPad! by locating all the
participating booths. Everything but the food is FREE!
Chamber speaker: David Rowlette to Speak at Business Babes Meeting
Topic: How Babes can get Engaged in Berea’s Chamber
Guest Speaker: David Rowlette, Executive Director of Berea Chamber of Commerce
About the Presentation: David will go over the following points: 1. History of the Berea Chamber of Commerce; 2. Benefits of Chamber Membership; 3. Chamber Projects and Activities; 4. Opportunities to get Involved.
About the Speaker: Mr. Rowlette was born and raised in Berea, Kentucky and is a 5th generation Berean. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Education and a M.A. in Education from Eastern Kentucky University. He taught in the colleges and universities in Louisiana, Illinois and Kansas for ten years before returning to Kentucky in 1995. He worked in Frankfort as Director of Education and Training and the Executive Director of a quasi state agency and economic development initiative throughout the Patton administration.
David currently serves as Executive Director of the Berea Chamber of Commerce, a position he has held for ten years. David is a master craftsman of fine furniture and won a national contest sponsored by Stanley Tools as a high student. He and his students have won national and international recognition for their work. David is married to Sandy Childs Rowlette, a Deputy Clerk in Kenny Barger’s office at the Madison County Courthouse. He is the father of three beautiful children: Matt an 8th grader at Foley Middle School, Leanna, a senior at Eastern Kentucky University and Sarah, who is the Director of Communications for the Kentucky Retail Federation in Frankfort.Read more: BereaOnline.com
Chamber banquet speaker looking forward to being back in Kennett, Arkansas
A native of Rector, who has a long list of associations from the Rolling Stones to Bill Gaither, is the featured speaker as this year's Kennett Chamber of Commerce Banquet, March 16, at the American Legion Building. Bill Carter is looking forward to being in Kennett. "As a kid, we went to Kennett for everything. Rector didn't have that much. You went there to eat. In high school, we were always going over there to run around. It was a bigger town. I was practically raised in and out of Kennett," he said, speaking by phone from his home in Nashville.
Carter has worn a lot of hats: Secret Service agent, politician, lobbyist, security consultant to famous rock and roll artists, artist manager and television producer. The member of the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame attributes most of his success to growing up in northeast Arkansas. "I'm so grateful for having been born in Rector, Ark. It's one of the poorest areas of Arkansas, and in the country. I had uneducated parents. My folks never owned anything in their life. The only car they ever had, my brother gave to them. They never owned a house, and yet I look back on the things I got from them and Rector. I'm forever grateful. I never forget that and the things I got from Rector." Read more: Daily Dunklin Democrat
Chamber support: Gautier votes to support hotel-motel tax for coastwide tourism efforts
Mayor Gordon Gollott and the Gautier City Council threw its support behind a resolution that would add a two-cent sales tax on hotels and motels in Jackson County in support of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Regional Convention and Visitors' Bureau.
Gautier was one of Jackson County's four municipalities to be considering the measure. In a unanimous vote following a motion by Councilwoman Mary Martin, seconded by Councilman Casey Vaughan, the mayor and council agreed to support the county's resolution to ask for a local and private act to enable the measure.
Ocean Springs also voted to support the resolution Tuesday night.
The resolution will require a 60 percent favorable vote to pass and would be on the November general election ballot if the Mississippi Legislature approves.
"Now we can talk about the Gulf Coast in one breath," said Councilman Hurley Ray Guillotte. "A united effort is a great thing."
Jackson County has been a member of the MGCRC&VB for two years but unlike its sister coastal counties has not been contributing financially.
Gollott said the additional sales tax would not cost the citizens of Jackson County any tax dollars, but would be a cost only to those using local hotels and motels.
Carla Todd, executive director of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, attended the meeting and asked the mayor and council for its support.Read more: GulfLive.com
Chamber interest: Wisconsin's Apostle Islands ice caves to reopen Thursday morning
The Lake Superior ice caves in northern Wisconsin will reopen Thursday morning after temporarily closing because of a winter storm.
The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore said Wednesday that the ice caves near Bayfield would reopen at 7 a.m.
About 12,000 people visited the ice caves along the south shore of Lake Superior since they opened over the weekend. But the National Park Service feared high winds and blowing snow from this week's winter storm could make the ice leading to the caves unsafe.
However, the park warned that an expected warming trend could cut off access again. Highs in the 30s and 40s are expected from Friday into next week. For more information, visit the park's Facebook page at facebook.com/apostleislandsnationallakeshore or call the 24-hour "Apostle Islands Ice Line" at 715-779-3397, Ext. 3. Information can also be found on websites for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (nps.gov/apis), Bayfield County Tourism (icecaves.org) and Bayfield Chamber of Commerce (bayfield.org). Read more: TwinCities.com
Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotation: (Leadership)
"A leader's job is to develop committed followers. Bad leaders destroy their follower's sense of commitment" - Dean Smith, North Carolina basketball coach and one of the most widely respected coaches in America. 96.6% of his student-athletes earned their degrees.
