The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce is inviting interested parties for lunch and conversation on creating business and government synergies to achieve progress on shared community goals on Tuesday, April 4th, 2023 at the Fountain Square Mall Ballroom located at 101 W. Kirkwood Ave. in Bloomington for “Community Conversations: Working Better, Together.”
 
“This important discussion will underscore that our best outcomes as a community will occur when businesses, local government, and non-profit service providers are working in tandem to achieve shared goals that can propel Bloomington and Monroe County forward,” said Eric Spoonmore, the Chamber’s President & CEO.
 
Facilitating the program will be Margie Rice who is an experienced municipal attorney and recent facilitator of the Monroe County Community Justice Response Committee. Rice will outline challenges associated with important local issues related to housing, criminal justice reform, and the convention center expansion project. A panel discussion will follow featuring perspectives on the role of elected officials, the business community, and public health organizations to focus on strategies for achieving meaningful progress on goals for the community. 
 
Details on the Community Conversation. Doors open at 11:00 am with lunch beginning at 11:30 am. The cost to attend is $15 per Chamber member and $20 for non-members. A panel discussion featuring perspectives on judicial reform from members of our community will be moderated by Margie Rice. Panelists will include Penny Githens (Monroe County Commissioner), Liz Grenant (Justice & Mediation Center), Allison Howland (IU Center for Collaborative Systems Change), Ruben Marté (Monroe County Sheriff), and Eric Spoonmore (Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce). 

Register Here: https://web.chamberbloomington.org/events/CommunityConversations%20-2280/details
​

Here's a great idea that covers eight counties in Southern Indiana.
The Maverick Challenge is a high school business planning competition for high school students in Southern Indiana that aims to further develop the innovative spirit of our region by reaching out to high school students and showing them viable career opportunities through entrepreneurship.

The program began in 2008 and has awarded well over $100,000 in prize money to students.
If you are a student and have thoughts or dreams of one day starting your own business, this Challenge is for you.  If you are interested in participating in this competition, visit the registration page.
The curriculum is designed to prepare students for the statewide pitch competition, Innovate WithIN, where students have the opportunity to collaborate with world-class innovators and compete from prizes such as such as $25,000 in seed funding, up to $10,000 in tuition to any Indiana college, and additional prizes worth $5,000.

What a fun training opportunity that One Southern Indiana will offer in February!

The best Super Bowl commercials share some key ingredients. Join us as we unpack classic Big Game spots (and a few new ones) to see how you can apply their tactics to your own social media, email, website, print, direct mail, billboards and more. One Southern Indiana's next WiseUp! Sales & Marketing event on February 16th from 3 - 5 p.m. Learn secrets, tricks and tips you can use to get more from your own marketing, even on the smallest budget. We will be at Harry's Taphouse in Jeffersonville, with time for networking before and after, plus a cash bar for all your favorite gametime beverages. If you need to make your marketing work harder, this is the event for you! But space is limited, so register today!
The WiseUp! Sales & Marketing Series is sponsored by Idealogy Marketing + Design and Fifth Third Bank.

Event: Secrets of Classic Super Bowl Ads
Date: Thursday, February 16, 2023
Time: 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. (includes presentation and networking)
Place: Harry’s Taphouse
130 W Riverside Dr, Jeffersonville, IN 47130
Cost: $10 for members; $35 for nonmembers
Register:  http://ow.ly/kXfF50MEpPb

The Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce their annual Career Exploration Fair for all juniors and seniors of Richmond High School, all county schools and new this year, National Trail High School. Students will participate in 2 workshops before getting to spend time on a job fair floor to learn more about local businesses and the career pathway. Employers who attend must send a representative to the Career Exploration Fair training, held on February 4th at 10am. With the increase in participating schools and that we are now including juniors, the Chamber is telling employers to plan for 1500 students to participate that day.
For more information, reach out to Melissa Vance,  President & CEO of the Chamber. 

Here is a program coming up this week in Hamilton County and info was found on the Noblesville Chamber website.

With bordering states legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, the patchwork of laws that exist, and federal law that still criminalizes marijuana, many employers are left wondering what they can prohibit and test for in the workplace.Gibson and Barnes & Thornburg LLP have resources to help you tackle this issue.
Attendees will hear perspectives from safety compliance, human resources professionals and an employment law attorney on:

• How to manage the evolving risks related to your drug and alcohol policies;
• How state laws legalizing recreational or medical marijuana impact your policies and practices;
• The process of developing practical policies and practices to address these issues; and
• Different state laws that have legalized marijuana, focusing on Midwest states.

This topic could be duplicated and hosted by Chambers across the state to assist employers dealing with this issue.  For more info, reach out to Bob DuBois, IOM, President of the Noblesville Chamber, with questions.

Work smarter. Not harder. Join forces with neighboring peer chambers for joint programming & events. This idea is led by three different chamber leaders from three different counties coming together for something unique!
The Westfield Chamber of Commerce, Tipton County Chamber of Commerce & Zionsville Chamber of Commerce are partnering for the 2nd Annual Hoosier Chocolate Fest!
Chocolate demonstrations from some of the best in the region, including chocolate winemakers, mixologists and bakers, will be available.
Get your tickets today at hoosierchocolatefest.com! #indianachocolate #hoosierchocolatefestival #sweettreats

Here's an idea for a great marketing e-mail for your business community. Joe Morris, Executive Director of the Daviess County Chamber, created this marketing piece to introduce elected officials at the federal & state levels with a quick link button to make it easy for members to contact elected officials.  For more information, contact Joe Morris at [email protected].

What a great way to celebrate successes from 2022 with this simple Top Ten list that the staff at the Columbus Area Chamber included in their newsletter this week. Cindy Frey is the President of the Columbus Area Chamber and a great peer resource to reach out to with questions.  

How are you telling your chamber's story celebrating successes from last year? Send samples from your Chamber to ICEA so that we can share with your peer network.