Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday

Yesterday, Christy Gillenwater, The Chamber’s President and CEO, wrote a post about buying local this holiday season and supporting the Bloomington economy. Three key days of the holiday shopping season are coming up in the next week, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. These days provide consumers special discounted pricing to encourage shopping, while also bringing more customers into businesses. Some of our member’s specials for these “retail holidays” are listed below:

Scotty’s Brewhouse has a promotion going on that gives customers money back for buying gift cards. If a guest buys a $50.00 gift card they will receive $10.00 back. If a guest buys $100.00 gift card they will receive $25.00 back. Guests that buy $500.00 or more will receive 30% back. In addition to this promotion they will also be running specials on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On these days, customers will receive twice as many bonus bucks back on $50.00 and $100.00 gift cards and 40% back on $500.00 or more. In addition Scotty’s is offering 25% off any products online or in-store.

Another local establishment celebrating the holiday season is Les Champs Elysees Day Spa & Salon. It is offering a 25% discount on all services, all day on Small Business Saturday, November 27th. Men’s and women’s cuts and color are available with Sasha, Kelly D, Liesel, Erin, Misty and Maeve, wax and/or facials with Jacqueline, and massages with Jeremy. In addition, Les Champs Elysees is also offering a 20% discount on gift cards. Customers may purchase a gift card towards any of our Spa and/or Salon services with a $50 value for $40. There is a limit of 2 gift cards per client, and only one gift card may be redeemed at a time.

Does your company have a special? Leave a comment and we’ll add it to our list.

Shopping Local for the Economy this Holiday Season

Last month we had the pleasure of co-hosting the 2011 Business Outlook Panel and Lunch, a presentation forecasting the economy in the upcoming year by a panel from the Indiana University The Kelley School of Business. Their forecast was, for the most part, “optimistically pessimistic.” Though my take on our local economy is more along the lines of “cautiously optimistic,” their outlook prompted me to think about our economy, and what, if anything, we can do to stimulate growth. I quickly realized, the holidays are coming up, which presents an excellent opportunity for the local economy to get jump started.

Our area businesses are geared up and ready for the holiday-buying season. Inventory stands ready, as do expectations. Nationally, the buzzwords around this year’s buying season include “lackluster” and “muted”. Such rhetoric does nothing to build consumers’ confidence nor does it encourage shoppers to venture out within their communities to celebrate all their hometowns offer. Such rhetoric doesn’t help to get the economy rolling. So while we may not be able to make a major difference in the economy nationally, we all play a role in shaping our local economy by the decisions we make as to where to make our holiday purchases. I challenge you to take an active role by consciously making the decision to stay IN Bloomington and buy local this holiday season. Continue reading →

Back to Basics: How Your Leadership Style Can Fit Any Team

The following is a guest blog from Tim Tucker, a Chamber member and franchise owner of Express Employment Professionals. All of the views and opinions expressed in this post are solely Tim Tucker’s and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. To submit a guest blog e-mail DeJohn Rose for more information.

Employees often have similar objectives: career growth, fulfillment, getting the job done. But achieving optimal results in a way that’s agreeable to everyone can be a major challenge. Goals may align, but their successful completion is partially determined by the day-to-day interactions that form individual leadership styles.

What makes a leader?

You’ve heard the saying that leaders are born, not made, but that’s only partially true. Integrity and intuition may be inherent, but people skills are sharpened through experience.

Establishing trust, resolving conflict, and being an effective listener are just a few of the many traits that can be developed through time and teambuilding. While some people’s skill sets are simply better suited for dealing with certain challenges, being able to handle diverse situations and personalities is part of most job descriptions.

Identifying your leadership style and understanding its strengths and weaknesses can help you decide what’s working and what needs improvement.

What’s your leadership style?

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) identifies three common styles: authoritarian, democratic, delegative. Beyond employee productivity, these varied approaches affect workplace ambience and morale.

Authoritarian

Strengths: Organization is the main skill of the authoritarian leader. His or her priorities are clear and employees are fully informed of expectations. These leaders work best with passive co-workers.

Weaknesses: Authoritarian leaders can be seen as micromanagers instead of team players. Neglecting to seek feedback and collaborate in a personable way can isolate peers and conflict tends to arise with differing opinions.

Democratic

Strengths: Communication and creativity are this leader’s strengths. The democratic leader wants to hear others’ perspectives and welcomes a variety of solutions. Their sense of priority allows them to focus on the details without losing sight of the main objective.

Weaknesses: Decision-making is sometimes problematic for the democratic leader. Too many viewpoints, heightened by a desire to please all parties, can complicate the process. Impartiality may also waiver as the employee becomes more emotionally connected to individual co-workers.

Delegative

Strengths: Delegative leaders instill confidence by allowing others to manage their respective tasks with minimal input. Their leniency allows for creativity and work best with those that are highly motivated.

Weaknesses: Priorities sometimes seem unclear to others, as the delegative leader is often more focused on the big picture than the details of how to accomplish it. The tendency to shirk from responsibility sometimes gives co-workers the impression that they are “on their own.” Delegative leaders can seem disengaged, which contributes to a sense of chaos.

Back to basics

Managing employees is a process unique to every organization and its corporate culture, but here are some guidelines to keep in mind:

Be flexible: Capitalize on your strengths, but be aware of others’ needs. Although you should strive to be consistent, tailor your approach in response to each employee and his or her personality.
Focus on the person, not the issue: Respect is the foundation of every great relationship. No matter what your management style, basic civility is always imperative. Remember that every employee is a human who deserves your respect; you are working with someone’s wife, father, daughter, or friend.
Find out what motivates your co-workers: Show genuine interest. Find out what they’re seeking in their current position and do what you can to facilitate their goals, whether you’re a supervisor or a peer.

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your leadership style will help your team achieve optimal results. True leaders recognize that communication is a two-way street. Seek dialogue with the people around you to find out what’s working and what you can improve. Ask for pointers from a mentor and accept that all change takes time. Work on issues gradually to become the leader your team trusts.

The Chamber’s Position on the 2010 MCCSC Referendum

The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce supports the MCCSC referendum. After surveying our members and vetting this important issue through our volunteer committee and board structure, The Chamber felt compelled to support the referendum. We must invest in the education of this and future generations of Monroe County students. Our schools need stable, reliable funds that will be used to decrease classroom size by restoring classroom programs and teaching positions.

Recent budget cuts have caused the elimination of more than 60 teaching positions; increased class sizes at all grade levels; reduced programs for the most at‐risk students; and cut district stipends for all extracurricular activities.

The Chamber has been, and will continue to be, active in discussions regarding the referendum. Following the November 2^nd vote, we intend to communicate support for monies being spent to decrease classroom size, increase the graduation rate, and funding for reform measures where appropriate. We believe that the referendum money is critical to the future of our students, our workforce and our economic vitality. Bloomington must remain competitive by investing in our schools.

For more information on the referendum, including a tax calculator, visit: http://2010referendum.info/

Chamber Launches New Tiered Membership Investment Structure

It’s all about choice…and improved membership benefits.

After careful consideration by The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, staff and the Membership Committee, The Chamber is changing the way members will invest. Like many chambers during the past decade, we are moving to a tiered dues system which provides benefits based on the investment level a member selects.

In the past, businesses joined and paid membership dues solely based on the number of employees in their organizations. This criteria is still applied but in the new structure, members choose the benefits that they want and need, then invest accordingly. The Chamber’s new “tiered” system provides increased benefits with comparable dues – plus many new benefits, even at the Classic entry level .

Why?

You’re probably wondering why The Chamber would make such a change in the way we do business. Continue reading →

Public Hearing for Section 4 of I-69 This Week

I-69 is likely to be a hot topic this week as several highway related meetings are scheduled to take place.

A public hearing is set for 5:00-9:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 26^th at the Eastern Green Middle School gymnasium. At this hearing, INDOT will present the preferred alternative route for Section 4, the stretch of highway that connects CRANE to SR 37 in Southern Monroe County. Public comment will be accepted on the Section 4 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) during the meeting and may be submitted to INDOT through September 28^th.

The Technical Advisory Committee of the Bloomington/Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) met this morning with I-69 related business on the agenda. INDOT is asking the local MPO to amend its Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) to include preliminary engineering, right of way, and construction phases for I-69 due to the 1 ¾ miles of Section 4 highway that falls within the MPO’s planning jurisdiction. The Technical Advisory Committee, tasked with reviewing the requested amendment and making recommendation to the Policy Committee of the MPO, voted unanimously in favor of the amendment. The Citizen’s Advisory Committee meets this evening at 6:30 to discuss and vote on the amendment. The Policy Committee will make its decision on September 10^th.

Getting Back in the Job Market

There’s no time like the present to lay the groundwork, start networking, and update your résumé to get back in the job market.

Research indicates that hiring trends are on the upswing. A national hiring trends survey of employers conducted by Express Employment Professionals shows commercial and clerical positions will likely see continued hiring increases for the third quarter. Express surveyed 10,181 current and former clients across the company’s more than 550 locations in the United States and Canada. Thirty-four percent of respondents plan to hire full-time light industrial positions in the third quarter, while 28% plan to hire for administrative positions. The survey also reveals that 13% of respondents plan to hire for engineering positions and 11% plan to hire for information technology positions.

According to CareerBuilder and USA Today’s latest nationwide survey of employers, 41% of hiring managers plan to hire between July and December. One in five managers plan to hire full-time employees in the third quarter. The survey showed that employers are primarily focused on recruiting for customer service, sales, and information technology positions. Continue reading →

Glaciers and Guidance Counselors

I recently had occasion to vacation in Glacier National Park. Did you know that according to recent predictions, the glaciers in the park will be completely melted by 2020? Rangers (darkly) joked with us that they’ll need a new name for the park.

But did you also know that a similar change is happening to guidance departments in public schools? A new report just released by the College Board Advocacy and Policy Center includes a startling look at what guidance counselors actually do – and don’t do – in today’s schools. As it turns out, their traditional role has melted away just as surely and inexorably as have those pearly caps on our American Alps. So much so, in fact, the title “guidance counselor” may no longer be appropriate.

Bigger Mountains = Smaller Glaciers

Let’s start with the core issue: Guidance counselors are completely overloaded. According to the report, the national average ratio of counselors to students is 467 to 1. This is actually down from a ratio of 506 to 1 in 1997.

Things are worse in Indiana, which ranks 44^th with a ratio of 543 to 1. The recommended ratio is 250 to 1, but only four states (Louisiana, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming) actually meet this guideline. But impossible caseload ratios only tell part of the story.

From Icebergs to Sno Cones Continue reading →

Imagine That! Five Ways to Put Imagination to Work for You

Last week I felt stuck, like I didn’t know what to do next. Not because I didn’t have work to do – my ‘to do’ list was a whiteboard without any white visible. It just felt like everything was equally urgent. It felt like trying to decide what to eat for lunch, but everything in the fridge is in identical shiny cans marked “to eat”.

Then my mind did a short circuit and tried a different approach. Instead of telling myself what I need to do, I imagined how I would explain to someone else what needs to be done. This slightly different way of looking at things broke up the logjam, and by Friday I was back on track.

The problem was that I was standing too close to my work, and couldn’t see how the tasks immediately in front of me fit into the larger picture. Sometimes we just need to look at the situation from a different perspective. Imagination is powerful tool for doing this, one with unlimited applications. Here are a few mental gymnastics to challenge your current mindset.

1. If you were hit by a bus…

This is the one that worked for me. Imagine you are suddenly taking a different job and have to leave instructions for your successor. What would be at the top of the list for him or her to do their first week on the job? Those should probably be your priorities right now.

This line of reasoning is also applicable to ‘succession planning.’ What things depend on you and you alone, and no one else could do them? Hopefully that last one is a short list. How about your key employees? If you lost one, how long would it take to get the next person up to speed? Is there information that would be forever lost? Healthy organizations have written procedures in place to offset this risk – does yours? Continue reading →

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