Chicago Fed Survey Shows Growth Picked Up in Late February and March
The Chicago Fed Survey of Business Conditions
(CFSBC) Activity Index increased to –4 from –20, suggesting that growth in
economic activity picked up to a moderate pace in late February and March. The
CFSBC Manufacturing Activity Index rose to +23 from –19, while the CFSBC
Nonmanufacturing Activity Index increased to –19 from –21. Read more
Download this articleDownload the data
#BestChamber practices: The Plainfield Area Chamber --- The Ambassador Program --- 7 Touches to Success Membership Retention Plan Part #1/ 6 Parts
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| Tasha Kitson, Plainfield Area Chamber |
What is an Ambassador?
The Plainfield Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Club is a membership outreach and retention program designed to involve and inform all Chamber members and prospective members. Ambassadors are volunteers who, on behalf of the Chamber, make goodwill calls to encourage membership participation and actively support Chamber programs. Ambassadors generate excitement and enthusiasm through participation in ribbon cuttings, grand openings, and other Chamber networking events and functions.
Ambassadors receive points for attending and volunteering at Chamber events, assisting in bringing in new members and helping with member retention. These points accumulate to give each Ambassador the opportunity to receive Special Recognition Awards.
Interested in becoming an Ambassador?
Attend a monthly meeting! Meetings are held once a month on the first Wednesday of each month at 4:00 pm at the Plainfield Chamber office. Come see what we are all about… more information Tasha Kitson - Plainfield Chamber
Northern Kentucky Chamber Event: Annual Excellence in Education event to recognize ‘collective impact’ of contributions to education
The Northern Kentucky Education Council and the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce invite the community to attend the 2016 Excellence in Education Celebration: A Brighter Future for NKY {Powered by STEAM}.
The April 28 event will be held at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. It will recognize students, educators, and community and business leaders for their significant contributions to education.
“Our education, business and community leaders are working together every day in creative and innovative ways to ensure all students are prepared for college, work and life,” said Polly Lusk Page, executive director of the Northern Kentucky Education Council.
“We are especially proud to be able to recognize the collective impact efforts being made on behalf of education across the region.”
This year’s theme of A Brighter Future for NKY {Powered by STEAM} was chosen to highlight the focus schools are putting on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Northern Kentucky students are encouraged to think critically and take integrative approaches to real-world problems, skills that will prepare them well for when they enter the workforce.
“The creativity and drive our business community is seeing from the students coming out of our local schools is inspiring,” said David Heidrich, Chair of the Board for the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. Read more: Northern Kentucky Tribune
Greater Richmond Chamber rebrands as ChamberRVA
The change corresponds with the organization's move to new office space on the 17th floor of the SunTrust building in Richmond. The new offices, new name and new brand reflect the evolution of the chamber and its vision for the future, officials said.
"The move to our new modern office space is a reflection of our progressive and innovative values as an organization," said Kim Scheeler, president and CEO of ChamberRVA. "Our new name and logo are consistent with our inclusive approach to moving the region forward." ChamberRVA serves the Richmond region: Richmond, seven counties (Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan) and one town (Ashland).
The chamber hired Free Agents Marketing (FAM), a chamber member, to lead the changes.
"An organization's brand is not what you say it is, it is what your customer says it is," said Ken Wayland of FAM. "In this case, the community refers to us as 'The Chamber.' We decided to capitalize on that with the new name 'ChamberRVA;' our name combined with the region we serve." Read more: Henrico Citizen
New Arrival: New Castle-Henry County Chamber of Commerce 2016 Community Map
The New Castle-Henry County Chamber of Commerce 2016 Community Map is available at the New Castle-Henry County Chamber today! Thanks to Missy Modesitt, Mary Campbell and the chamber team for their help and direction putting this together!
Town SquarePublications (www.townsquarepublications.com) can help you accomplish your chamber's gloss map, directory, community guide or publication needs at no expense to the chamber. Please email John Dussman at jdussman@tspubs.com or call (847)-427-4633.
Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber Meeting gives residents chance to include Vicksburg on tourism map
Vicksburg and Warren County residents have the opportunity Tuesday to put the area on the map, literally.
Officials with National Geographic and the Mississippi River Connections Collaborative will be at the Vicksburg-Warren Chamber of Commerce offices, 2020 Mission 66, for a 10 a.m. meeting to discuss putting the area on an interactive tourism website, www.mississippi.natgeotourism.com, featuring a map of the Mississippi being developed by National Geographic that goes from the river’s headwaters in Minnesota to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico.
Tuesday’s meeting will allow people in the tourism business and residents to discuss the area’s unique culture, attractions, landmarks and activities to be included on the map. Potential visitors will be able to go to the website, call up the map, click on a specific location and see a photo of an attraction, like the Vicksburg National Military Park, Beulah Cemetery or another site.
“We need to get the word out to the people in the community, chamber members and non-members (to attend the meeting) so we can be on the map,” chamber executive director Jane Flowers said. “I’m always about putting Vicksburg on the map.”
“We need to get the word out to the people in the community, chamber members and non-members (to attend the meeting) so we can be on the map,” chamber executive director Jane Flowers said. “I’m always about putting Vicksburg on the map.”
Kathleen Bond, superintendent of the Natchez Historical National Park said the new map will be more detailed than the present one on the website.
“They’re (National Geographic) building it now,” she said. “This is going to be the last stakeholder meeting before they go to final production, and this summer there will be more meetings where they will roll out the final product.”
The attractions included on the map “have to local and authentic. It can’t be a chain and it really has to benefit that local homegrown economy. I grew up in Vicksburg, so this is a project that is near and dear to my heart.”
- See more at: Vicksburg Post
Joe Ford, Chair, Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors: Greater Lansing has history of innovative spirit
If there is one trademark that has been consistent in the Greater Lansing region through the decades, it is the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit that has served as the foundation of our growth for more than a century. Beginning in the early 1900s when a group of business leaders convinced R.E. Olds to locate his fledging car company in Lansing, the region has always found a way to be at the forefront of innovation while creating an environment for entrepreneurs to thrive.
For much of the last century, our manufacturing prowess in the auto industry served as the backbone of our regional economy. In the late 1990s, many were ready to write our region’s economic obituary as a fading ‘rust belt’ community. Our entrepreneurial spirit rose up and conquered a new challenge. Instead of losing General Motors, our region became home to the two most modern automobile manufacturing facilities in the world — producing some of GM’s best-selling vehicles. We have shredded our ‘rust belt’ image and replaced it with global leadership in advanced manufacturing.
However, we are now more than just manufacturing. Much has been made about the shift to a knowledge-based economy that would require our region to attract and retain talent for the insurance, technology, healthcare and financial services sectors. We have responded by attracting and retaining leading companies in the nation. The insurance sector alone now employs more than 10,000 people in the region.
Greater Lansing has quietly become one of the headquarters of technology and innovation — as we have more than 400 tech companies in the region. Uniquely positioned within a corridor of world class universities, new-age entrepreneurs are finding this region the perfect place to create and nurture new ideas to grow their companies.
Our region is also the proud home of one of the leading research institutions in the world in Michigan State University. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, currently under construction at MSU, reinforces our region’s brand as a world leader in cutting-edge research. Spinoff businesses such as Niowave are already helping to position the region to be a leader in the production of radioisotopes that can be used for advanced research for major medical and science breakthroughs. Read more: Lansing State Journal
Indiana Chamber to Push Forward on Road Funding, Civil Rights
Indiana Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Kevin Brinegar says the organization will continue to be active in key legislative issues all the way up to next year's legislative session. He says this year's biggest "missed opportunity" was the failure of legislation to expand Indiana's civil rights law to include the LGBT community. In an interview on Inside INdiana Business Television, Brinegar said the chamber will also continue to push lawmakers to pass long-term funding for road and infrastructure projects.
Brinegar says the $1.2 billion road and bridge funding compromise is what was "mostly realistic" for the legislature to pass during a short session in an election year. Governor Mike Pence signed the bill into law last week. The measure also includes $42 million to fund an expanded Regional Cities Initiative. The compromise funds the projects through a combination of state reserves, Major Moves dollars, tax re-allocations and money from last year's tax amnesty program. Previous proposals included gas and cigarette tax increases.
A bill that would have expanded civil rights protections to include sexual orientation died without a vote in February. Read more: Inside Indiana Business
Chamber partnership: Entrepreneurs get new boon in Wausau
College students with ideas for new businesses and ideas to solve existing business problems can now do that through a collaborative project called The Branch at Northcentral Technical College.
It's a "skills accelerator," which means it gives college students training, connections and experience through collaborative projects with other students and with businesses. The goal: develop innovative employees and entrepreneurs in central Wisconsin and keep them in the local economy.
The Branch is modeled after a similar program in Milwaukee called The Commons and the pilot was spurred and funded by Church Mutual Insurance Co. The Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce, NTC and several other colleges and community partners kicked it off Monday at NTC's Information Technology Entrepreneurial Center.
"It's here to create an environment of entrepreneurship and higher business skills and technical skills for future employees," said the chamber's President and CEO Aaron Kapellusch.
The program will educate entrepreneurs and "intrapreneurs" — people with entrepreneurial skills employed in existing companies, said Kimberly Reed, an NTC instructor in information technology and business management. "They're going to help you think of what the next step is in your business," Reed said of those intrapreneurs.
Businesses can apply to have The Branch students tackle some of their problems, she said. And as the students get to know local businesses and build connections to the community they may opt to live and work here after graduation. Read more: Wausau Daily Herald
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Town Square Publications Chamber of Commerce Membership Directories, Re-Lo Guides and Custom Maps
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
To request your publication proposal, Click here
