Author Archives: Bloomington Chamber Staff

Why Worksite Wellness Programs are Important

The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce’s Healthy Business Bloomington recognition program was created to support the development and expansion of organizational policies conducive to healthier employee lifestyles.  Each week more businesses are showing interest and the program is growing in popularity at an incredible rate but this raises an important question – why?  Why are worksite wellness programs important and what’s in it for the employer?!

For the last half of a decade, healthcare costs and spending has been increasing at an incredible rate.  Healthcare spending doubles every 10 years!  If this trend continues one could expect many small businesses to fold due to their decreasing margin of profit associated with increased healthcare costs.  Fortunately, worksite wellness programs can step in here and prevent that from happening.  Nearly 75% of medical costs (about 1.8 trillion dollars/year) are caused by chronic diseases – like heart attacks, stroke, cancer, diabetes and arthritis.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic diseases are… “among the most common, costly and preventable of all health problems in the U.S.” Continue reading →

Print: The Original Wireless Communication

The following is a guest blog from a Chamber member. In no way does it represent the views or opinions of The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. To submit a guest blog e-mail drose@chamberbloomington.org for more information.

For many years, the paper industry has been criticized with environmental claims of deforestation, excessive energy consumption, and crowding landfills. The exact opposite couldn’t be truer. Paper from today’s world comes from renewable resources. It not only is recyclable and biodegradable, but paper is even responsible.

Misleading claims of deforestation has generated a negative image for paper and aided the digital age into an up-roaring. Paper is composed of cellulose fibers, generally coming from trees, but that should not automatically mean they are destroying the forests of our world. It is in the paper manufacturers’ best interest to ensure sustainability for the longevity of their business. In fact, did you know according to the USDA Forest Service four million trees are planted daily in the United States? Of that, 1.7 million trees are planted by the paper and wood products industry. Once trees are harvested, the sustainable forestry practices ensure several more trees are planted, or regenerated naturally in their place. Continue reading →

The MCCSC Referendum and Lessons from the Past

With a school referendum on the horizon, it’s a good time to go back and review the results of the last Monroe County Community School Corporation referendum back in 1999.  However, comparisons with previous elections are tricky.  And there are important differences between the current situation and the one faced in 1999.

This time the referendum will be in response to major cuts in education funding, whereas the one in 1999 would have provided additional resources such as longer school days and more support staff.  It’s also a different kind of election.  1999 was primarily a municipal election including races for city council, city clerk and mayor.  The 2010 election will include many different county offices, townships, state legislature, U.S Congress, three school board races, and perhaps most unusual, a constitutional amendment to limit property taxes. Continue reading →

Bloomington Chamber Calls on City to Rescind Arizona Boycott

The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce issued a statement today, urging the Mayor, City Clerk, and members of the City Council to rescind the City of Bloomington’s boycott of Arizona businesses.

“To date, The Chamber has been contacted by more than 40 individuals, most of whom have expressed their intent to discontinue support for business and tourism in the Bloomington area,” said Christy Gillenwater, Chamber president and CEO. “Moreover, several of our members are receiving similar calls that customers will boycott their business until the city removes its boycott on Arizona. The action taken by city officials has become damaging to local businesses.”

The City’s boycott stems from controversial legislation passed by the Arizona state legislature regarding immigration. “To be clear, The Chamber has no position on Arizona’s legislation nor do we intend to engage in discussion regarding the Arizona immigration bill,” explained Gillenwater. “Our concern is about our local elected officials calling for an economic boycott of another state and the price being paid here at home in Bloomington.”

Gillenwater stated, “The Chamber is committed to serve and protect businesses in our community. We believe that action was necessary to advocate for our members and to hold our local officials accountable for acting in the best interest of the local community.”

Statement:

The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce urges City officials to recognize that the actions they engage in have the ability to impact residents, businesses, nonprofits, community Continue reading →

Bypass Expansion Bids Opened, While I-69 Ahead of Schedule

Over the last couple of weeks, the state has made significant announcements regarding road work that will be taking place in the area over the next few years. On May 19th , INDOT opened the bids for the long awaited State Road 45/46 Bypass expansion, and on the same day, Governor Daniels announced an accelerated schedule for I-69 that will bring the highway into Monroe County by 2012, several years ahead of schedule.

For more than 20 years, the state and the community have discussed widening the often congested and avoided bypass. The Chamber has also made the project a priority, particularly to enhance 21 st century job creation as Indiana University works to build its technology park at 10 th and the Bypass. Through this important initiative, our community can strengthen its position as a leader in technology and bio and life sciences, harnessing IU-led research to bring innovative products to the market through public and private sector partnerships. In addition, the expansion will clear the way to more efficiently bring consumers to the growing College Mall area as well as businesses along and near the Bypass from SR 37 on east. This project is a great ‘win’ for the community, particularly during a time when many states are forgoing road improvements and the construction industry is ailing from the economic downturn. Chamber member Milestone Contractors was awarded the nearly $22 million dollar contract. Continue reading →

Getting Students Excited About the Real World

If I could boil down the mission of The Chamber’s Franklin Initiative into one sentence, I would say it’s about providing real-world experiences that get young people excited about their future.

Our Franklin Initiative volunteers make this happen.  What better organization to provide real-world career learning than a Chamber of Commerce?  With connections to hundreds of businesses and thousands of people representing virtually every possible career field, The Chamber is uniquely positioned to play this important role.

This was a great year for FI.  Reality Stores, career fairs, company tours, employment fair, classroom speakers, service learning, mock interviews, WorkKeys testing – all these activities use the magic of real world experiences to spark interest in preparing for life as a working adult. Continue reading →

Utilizing The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Website

Next week I will enter my fifth month of working for The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. In my short time we have made great strides improving the look, content and capability of our website. However, all that progress means nothing if our visitors and users don’t know what we have to offer. Whether you’re a Chamber member, resident of Bloomington, or visitor from out of town, The Chamber website can help you with many of your needs.

  • Business Directory- The Chamber sends out a print business directory once a year, but for a real-time directory, our website is the place to go. When you visit our site you can click one of the various links on the front page to take you to the directory, or search it directly with the Google Site Search located in the upper right hand corner. If you decide to go to the directory page you can search by organization name, category, or choose from a list of all of the categories.
  • Coupons- The Chamber website features an excellent coupon section. There is both a public and members only section featuring coupons that can be used for discount on great products such as a visit to Beams Health and Wellness Spa or Zumba classes at BloomZum Dance Studio. You can download the coupons by following this link, or visiting the Chamber Website and clicking coupons on the right side. For Chamber Members, you can also post coupons to your business. All you have to do is go into the members only section and click add coupon, or call or e-mail us here at the chamber with the information and we can post it for you.
  • Job/Internship Board- Another seldom used, but excellent resource is our job/internship board. Under the employment tab on The Chamber website, businesses can post open positions which anyone can see.  Just like the coupon section, businesses can either post the jobs themselves through the members only section, or they can contact us at The Chamber to do it for them. Many individuals looking for jobs view The Chamber’s site, and unlike other job posting services, ours is free.
  • Members Only Section- The final section I will detail is the Members Only section. As I explained earlier, this is a member’s portal to post coupons or jobs/internships. There are a lot of other capabilities through this section as well. You can sign up for events, update your profile information, and look at your referral report. A referral report is one of the most valuable tools for a Chamber member. It detail how many people have seen your companies listing in the directory, how many times it’s been clicked, and how many people have mapped the location. This is a great tool to use to make sure your maximizing your membership investment.

For more information, or help using any of The Chamber’s online features please e-mail me at drose@chamberbloomington.org. We’d also love for people to start using the comment section below, so if you have any ideas to improve our site and its functionality please post.

Monroe County Comprehensive Plan Returns

This Thursday, May 13th, the Monroe County Plan Commission will listen to public comment regarding the recently updated Comprehensive Plan draft from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Monroe County Courthouse.

For the better part of this year, the Plan Commission has been reviewing and discussing public comments made on the initial draft as well as offering their own edits and ideas for how to address subjects such as the subdivision of rural property – one of the more contentious issues of the plan.

A new 182-page version of the document (not a red-lined version of the first draft) was made available to the public in late April, and a public open house was held May 5th to view and informally discuss the final draft. Continue reading →

Five Ways to Instantly Polish Your Stage Presence!

Everyone takes the stage sooner or later, whether to accept an award, make a presentation, lead a workshop, or speak at the microphone at a government meeting.  What can you do to look like a pro when it’s your turn?

Last month I attended more events and presentations than usual, including:

  • Four student presentations for the BHS North Senior Project Night
  • Bill Polian at a fundraiser/luncheon for the Boys & Girls Club
  • The MCCS Foundation fundraising kickoff event
  • SCIHRA’s April meeting
  • The SPEA Service Corps end-of-year reception
  • Tom Roman speaking to graduation coaches
  • My own presentation at the Dropout Prevention Summit and to the American Legion

That’s a wide range of public speaking talent.  Although many speakers were polished, each event included at least one instance of an easily preventable audience distraction during transition points between speakers.  I’m not talking about content, and my purpose here is not about how to write and deliver a compelling speech.  Rather, there are some little things that everyone can do to immediately improve their stage presence during transition: Continue reading →

Kudos to Business Expo 2010

It is an annual tradition with a 25 year history of offering businesses an opportunity to showcase their wares to Monroe County.  This year was no exception to the excellent one day, B2B trade show that Business Expo has always been known for.

The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce vendor booth experienced steady traffic throughout the event.  It was great visiting with current and potential members, plus the general public as they strolled by.  Many attendees were pleased to learn of the new and extensive menu of programs and events The Chamber has scheduled this year.  They also had the opportunity to learn about the augmented benefits Chamber membership has to offer with the new Membership Investment Level model.

The BIRA sponsored Taste of Expo was a good example of “the best in local food”.  Plus it was tasty.  That was obvious with the plates of food being devoured all around.

This is the part of the Expo that really draws a crowd.

I met new contacts, potential business members and was able to re-connect with others that I have not seen in awhile.  That is what the Expo is all about.  Again, kudos to Business Expo 2010 for a job well done.