Logan County Chamber of Commerce
ryancraig@loganchamber.com
Above is your invitation to the 7th Logan County Chamber of
Commerce Annual Women in Business Luncheon. The theme this year is WOMEN IN HOMETOWN HISTORY and the featured
speaker is Evelyn Richardson.
Evelyn dropped by the office today and told
me just a little about what she was going to speak about and if her speech was
the only thing we were going to do next Thursday, Sept. 3, starting at 11:30
a.m. at the Logan County Extension Facility, then it would be more than worth
it. We have had a big block of tickets sold, but we want a sell-out, so woman
or man, you should want to come out and celebrate what women have done (hint:
It’s a lot!) for the Logan County business community.
Also, and I can’t say this enough, we will
have a nacho bar. A NACHO BAR, PEOPLE!
There are many ways to reserve your spot, but
we need you to do it by 10 a.m. next Tuesday morning (Sept. 1). You can email Assistant
Director Amanda Baker at amanda@loganchamber.com
or call 270-726-2206, and since we now can take credit cards for events, you can
do it all without having to leave the place where you are reading this!
Thanks to our sponsors for this event: Logan Eye Care Center, Country Wide
Realty, Creative Canvas by You/The Loft and the Russellville Electric Plant
Board.
Let’s get as many as we can out to the
luncheon to hear what I know will be (literally) an historic event … and, to that nacho
bar.SIGN UP YOUR DAUGHTER, GRANDDAUGHTER NOW FOR QUEEN’S PAGEANT
There is less than a month before the kick-off event of the 2015 Logan County Tobacco and Heritage Festival and we are looking for the best, brightest and most beautiful young ladies Logan County has to offer to participate in the Festival’s Queen’s Pageant, sponsored by the Logan County Chamber of Commerce, Trophies to Go, Amtech, Shaker Realty and Pioneer Credit.
The Pageant will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 24 at the deGraffenried
Auditorium and we hope to have a stage full. The pageant is open to all
high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors who are residents of
Logan County. The cost is $25 and you can pick up the pageant application form
at the Logan County Chamber Office. The
deadline to apply is Sept. 18.
The big news this year out of the pageant is
that we raised the scholarship money to
$1,000. So, that means the winner gets roses, a tiara and a good chunk of
change toward her education!
FIRST SOUTHERN BANK COFFEE AND NETWORKING
There will be a Coffee and
Networking event on Sept. 9 at First Southern Bank, located at the new
Russellville location, from 7-8:30 a.m. Be there or be a plane figure with four equal
straight sides and four right angles!
STRATEGIC PLAN HAS BEEN SET
In an important step that took months of
planning and hard work, the Logan County Chamber Board of Directors has
finalized the Chamber’s Strategic Plan. A big thanks to those who helped, gave
advice and listened to the drafts (there were many) before we settled on the
document. Now, just because we’ve written one and adopted it doesn’t mean it is
to be placed on a shelf and gather dust, this is a living document subject to
change, addition, subtraction as it becomes our guide from day-to-day over the
next three to five years.
Here is the Chamber’s Strategic Plan:
LOGAN COUNTY CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE STRATEGIC PLAN
MISSION STATEMENT:The mission of the Logan County Chamber of Commerce is to promote and develop strong businesses, and foster a more vibrant economy through leadership, education, governmental affairs, and community development, resulting in a better quality of life for all Logan Countians.
VISION PLAN:
- To support and inform our membership and
be attentive to the needs of those we serve.
- To be a champion of Logan County
businesses and to recognize and publicize innovation, success and growth
of those businesses.
- To collaborate with the business
community, local, state, and federal governments, and other like-minded
organizations in accomplishing growth, and sustainable economic goals.
- To enhance our quality of life.
LOGAN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE STRATEGIC GOALS
GOAL ONE —
MEMBERSHIP SERVICE AND DEVELOPMENT
Objective: To
recruit 20 new members each year (approx. 8 percent growth) with a retention
rate of 94 percent of the current membership. This should give the Chamber 2-4
percent (depending on renewals) net membership growth each year. Also, the
Chamber should have a better membership public relations campaign for renewals
instead of just sending out renewal invoices each year.
Strategies:- Seek ways — such as TV, radio and other
media (print, electronic and social) — to make the Chamber more visible to
the membership and to Logan County.
- Look for more member-added benefits for
those who belong or are considering joining the Logan County Chamber of
Commerce. Such benefits would be listed in a prominent place and given
directly to members and would include items such as the weekly newsletter,
an annual report, the Size-Up tool for business growth, promotional
services such as advertising for events or the promotional videos and be
an advocate and source of legislative (local, state and national)
information, etc.
- Continue new, more aggressive policies put
in place earlier this year by the board which give a ribbon-cutting
celebration to all new or expanding businesses regardless if they are
members of the Chamber or not. Also, the use of 1-year celebrations for
new business support and Coffee (or Tea) and Networking for existing
businesses. At some point the Chamber should consider a quarterly
networking event with a well-known guest speaker and invite the public to
the event as well as the membership.
- The Executive Director will continue
visits of membership and will support the new Ambassador Visitation
Project which is underway.
GOAL TWO — DEVELOP
AND IMPLEMENT A RETAIL INITIATIVE FOR RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION IN LOGAN COUNTY
Objective: To
seek, find and help develop retail for Logan County. Working alongside a
committee selected by the board of directors, the executive director will put
in place an initiative for retail recruitment and retention.
Strategies:
·
Gather as much information as possible from
metrics (such as Size-up) and other sources provided by the TVA and the ICSC
(International Council of Shopping Centers) and local sources to develop strategies
for retail recruitment for Logan County.
·
Scout, recognize and map out possible sites for
retail development in Logan County. Keep a database with as much information as
possible with each site.
·
Through metrics, identify and approach key
retailers who have interest in Logan County or have placed retail in similar
markets.
·
On TVA consultant’s advice, executive director
to visit Chattanooga (largest Gigabit City in the South) and find ways to
recruit small tech businesses to only Gigabit City in Kentucky — Russellville.
Actively recruit small, upcoming game, software designers and programmers to
join a modified “Gigabit” incubator in Russellville to help develop a miniature
high-tech conclave in Russellville.
GOAL THREE — EVENTS
AND PROMOTIONS.
Objective: To
continue to build the Chamber and Member profile through events and various
promotions.
Strategies:
·
Continue to facilitate, promote and build upon
the past successes of the Annual Tobacco and Heritage Festival.
·
Continue to have Annual Dinner to celebrate
membership and the accomplishments of the business community in Logan County.
·
Continue to have Women in Business celebration
each year.
·
Continue to plan, facilitate and promote
Leadership Logan each year.
·
Implement, facilitate, evaluate and promote Youth
Leadership Program (2015-2016 Class will be inaugural year).
·
Continue to promote events though all means
available: Our newsletter; daily on the Chamber Chat TV show with Chamber membership
on EPB SmartTV3; monthly program on WRUS; and in articles in the newspaper.
GOAL FOUR — DEVELOP
AND IMPLEMENT NEW PROGRAMS
Objective: To
develop and implement new programs to give the membership and Logan County
services such as advocacy, business development, workforce development, education,
and Chamber Membership interaction/relations.
Strategies:
·
Educational programs (such as customer service
and business development training seminars).
·
Advocate for E-911 reform concerning billing on
cell phones. Counties are showing massive loss of funding as more and more
people get rid of land lines. We feel the issue affects government, citizens
and businesses in higher costs for the most basic of services.
·
Millennial interviews: A series of intense
interviews with Millennials to determine what Logan County needs to retain and
attract a younger, more skilled workforce. (Estimated completion by spring
2016.)
·
Work on completing last phase of “Baseball Park
Initiative” with white paper to be completed and recommendations made to the
public. (Estimated completion by October 2015.)
·
To develop using graphics, information and a
story format a product to help membership retention. The product would be
released with and as part of the annual invoices.
·
To continue to help support, publicize and
promote the Shop Local programs throughout the year, especially the Shop Local
Sunday program following Thanksgiving in late November each year.
—
That is all for this week. Hope to see you at
the Women in Business Luncheon next Thursday!
Ryan
