34th annual Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy conference: Detroit's economy, entrepreneurship on agenda at 'Davos of Michigan'; Doug Whitley's 13 years at the helm of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce; Lyerla to lead Neosho Area Missouri chamber; New Small Business Guide To Twitter; Who is the National Ombudsman? Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotations: (Leadership)

Some 1600 people are expected to travel to picturesque Mackinac Island in northern Michigan this week to begin the 34th annual Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy conference. The three-day event features workshops with Michigan’s top business, government and academic leaders, who will discuss ideas for entrepreneurship, STEM education and the economic transformation of Detroit and the region. Get more information: PBS NEWSHOUR

Doug Whitley's 13 years at the helm of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce
From weeding bean fields, to seriously exploring a run for governor, to becoming one of the most influential business leaders nationwide, Doug Whitley of Batavia is spending his final month as president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce after 13 years at the post. But retirement doesn’t mean he’ll quit altogether. Read more: Daily Herald Business Ledger


Lyerla to lead Neosho Area Missouri chamber

Lauri Lyerla, who began duties as the interim executive director of the Neosho Area Chamber of Commerce April 1, succeeding former chamber director Shana Griffin who resigned effective March 31, was tabbed by the board of directors Thursday to be the new leader of the association of Neosho area businesses, industries, agencies and organizations.

Eric Norris, chamber president, said the board of directors conducted a nationwide search for Griffin’s successor. Read more: Neosho Daily News


New Small Business Guide To Twitter 
Whether you want to build your Twitter strategy or expand your marketing skills, this interactive guide will let you navigate to the topics that are most relevant to your business.
View the guide. 

Who is the National Ombudsman? 

The Office of the National Ombudsman assists small businesses facing unfair or excessive federal regulatory compliance or enforcement issues such as repetitive audits or investigations, excessive fines, and retaliation.

As an impartial liaison, the Office of the National Ombudsman directs reported regulatory fairness matters to the appropriate federal agency for high-level fairness review and works across government to address those concerns, reduce regulatory burdens, and help small businesses succeed. Read more: SBA.gov

Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotations: (Leadership)

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower  

Chamber Best Practices: West Suburban Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Foundation - Project SEARCH - Special Needs Workforce Development; Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce receives awards from Kentucky Chamber; Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotation (Leadership)

High School Transition Program Serves Students With Disabilities

The goal for each student participant is competitive employment. The program provides real-life work experience combined with training in employability and independent living skills to help youths with significant disabilities make successful transitions from school to productive adult life. The Project SEARCH model involves an extensive period of training and career exploration, innovative adaptations, long-term job coaching, and continuous feedback from teachers, job coaches, and employers. As a result, at the completion of the training program, students with significant intellectual disabilities are employed in nontraditional, complex and rewarding jobs. The presence of a Project SEARCH High School Transition Program can bring about long-term changes in business culture that have far-reaching positive effects on attitudes about hiring people with disabilities and the range of jobs in which they can be successful.

Eligibility

Project SEARCH serves students with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities. Typically, these are students who are on an Individual Education Program (IEP) and in their last year of high school eligibility. The most important criterion for acceptance into Project SEARCH is a desire to achieve competitive employment.

Program Overview

Students attend the program for a full school year in the host business/hospital. The business provides access to an on-site classroom that can accommodate up to 12 students. The site is staffed by a special education teacher and one to three job coaches to meet the educational and training needs of the students.

• Once the school year begins, the first few weeks of the program are focused on new employee orientation, hands-on skill assessment, and familiarization within the business environment. Students develop a career plan which guides the internship selection process and individualized job search.
• Employment Skills Curriculum: Throughout the school year, the students work on employability and functional skills for approximately one hour of their day. Classroom activities are designed around these focus areas: Team Building, Getting Around your Workplace, Workplace Safety, Technology, Social Skills, Communication, Presentation Skills, Interviewing Skills, Money Management, Health and Wellness, Job Search Skills and Keeping a Job.
• Internships/Worksite Rotations: Through a series of three targeted internships the students acquire competitive, marketable and transferable skills to enable them to apply for a related position. Students also build communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills which is important to their overall development as a young worker. These are unpaid student work experiences-analogous to the clinical rotations that are part of every medical school or business internship program. Potential student worksites are identified through a continuous collaborative process involving the teacher, job coaches and business liaison. These internship rotations begin a few weeks after the start of the program. Students are required to interact with their supervisors via telephone and written communications to arrange a job interview to secure each rotation. A department mentor is identified at each site. The mentor interacts with the instructor, job coaches, and the student as a consistent source of guidance and feedback. Students spend approximately five hours each day at the internships including a thirty minute lunch. Working from a task list, they acquire the core skills necessary to be hired in an entry-level position at the host business site or in the community. Job coaches and department staff collaborate to provide support for students. The Project SEARCH staff delivers the training and develops job accommodations and standard work procedures. Once the students master the core skills, additional skills are layered on to improve their marketability.

The Project SEARCH High School Transition Program is a unique, business-led, one-year, school-to-work program that takes place entirely at the workplace. Total workplace immersion facilitates a seamless combination of classroom instruction, career exploration, and relevant job-skills training through strategically designed internships. Learn more here: Project Search

To get more information about Project Search, or to find out how you can join the West Suburban Chamber of Commerce in advocating for people with disabilities, please contact Chamber Program Director Katherine Leibforth, at 708-387-7550 or katherinel@wscci.org.

Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce receives awards from Kentucky Chamber

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce honored the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce with four awards during the annual spring conference in Frankfort.
The Excellence Awards included Outstanding Membership Retention for 2013, Outstanding Membership Growth for 2013, Outstanding Special Event for the Franklin Covey/The Leader In Me Dinner and Outstanding Publication for the “Business Grows Here” brochure.
The awards complement a record-setting year in economic development for the region… Read More Bowling Green Daily News

Famous Chamber of Commerce Quotation (Leadership):


“Leadership is an action, not a position.” ~ Donald McGannon
  

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