NOTE: This "Your Turn" guest column by Chamber CEO Eric Spoonmore was published in the April 24, 2022 Bloomington Herald-Times.
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It's Your Business: Chamber encourages voting in upcoming elections, shares top priorities3/11/2022 NOTE: This "It's Your Business" column by Chamber CEO Eric Spoonmore was published in the March 11, 2022 Bloomington Herald-Times. The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce is excited to cover the candidates and issues leading up to Primary Election Day on May 3. Be sure to mark your calendars — early voting in Monroe County begins April 5, and voters will have several local, state and congressional candidates to nominate. Primary winners from each party will then run for the general election on Nov. 8, along with nonpartisan school board candidates. The chamber encourages all eligible voters to exercise their right to vote in the 2022 primary election. Voting during the primaries is a crucial element of our democracy and is an expression of what is most important to our voters. From policies to programs, and everything in between, primary elections are an opportunity to nominate leaders who will fight for what you feel is paramount to the success of the greater Bloomington community. NOTE: This "It's Your Business" column by Chamber CEO Eric Spoonmore was published in the January 14, 2022 Bloomington Herald-Times. As the voice of business in our region, the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce is engaged and involved in many areas that impact what we love most about our community. Our belief in “Better Business, Better Community” recognizes that we collectively prosper when opportunities for professional and personal growth are available to all. Our members believe that a thriving business sector is necessary for achieving the quality-of-life that residents deserve. We also believe that our best outcomes occur when businesses and government are working together to achieve shared community goals. For example, Monroe County Government and the City of Bloomington swiftly responded to the COVID 19 crisis by creating emergency financial assistance programs targeted for small enterprises. As a result, the responsive action taken by our local officials made a huge difference to small businesses who needed help the most. NOTE: This "It's Your Business" column by Chamber CEO Erin Predmore was published in the November 12, 2021 Bloomington Herald-Times. This will be my farewell column, which means that the chamber leadership search has been a success. The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce recently announced that the next president and CEO will be Eric Spoonmore, a longtime community resident, soon-to-be former Monroe County Council member, and a strong advocate for the business community. Eric will be starting in his new role on Dec. 1, and I am confident that he will do an outstanding job for the chamber and the broader community. When we moved to Bloomington 7 1/2years ago, we repeatedly experienced a strange phenomenon — when meeting new people, the conversation would go like this: Them: Hello! Me: Hi! Nice to meet you! Them: Isn’t Bloomington the best community? Me: Uh, I don’t know … we’ve just gotten here. It seems very nice. Them: It is! It is the best place to live/raise a family/work/relax/visit/ride bikes/eat. At the time, I would chuckle about this community pride. Little did I know that everyone was right. Bloomington really is the best place. I have loved my time in Bloomington, and I’d like to take a minute to thank a few people and institutions that have made our time in Bloomington spectacular. NOTE: This "It's Your Business" column by Chamber CEO Erin Predmore was published in the September 10, 2021 Bloomington Herald-Times. In 2019, the Regional Opportunity Initiatives issued a Monroe County Quality of Place & Workforce Attraction Plan. The initiative hosted a series of focus groups to develop the plan, and one of the findings included this: Minority residents do not feel the sense of welcoming community that Monroe County prides itself on. The legacy of the Ku Klux Klan in the region is remembered and felt today. Recruiters have trouble attracting diverse candidates to the region, to Monroe County and to Bloomington. One focus group member noted that Monroe County “thinks it’s more progressive than it actually is.” Others pointed to the existence of a Black community that’s small with a strong identity and said they stay here for that reason. NOTE: This "It's Your Business" column by Chamber CEO Erin Predmore was published in the July 8, 2021 Bloomington Herald-Times. By now you’ve likely heard about the amazing opportunity our community has with the availability of federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. More than $50 million collectively will be coming to the county, going to Monroe County government (about $29 million), the city of Bloomington (about $22 million) and Ellettsville (about $1.5 million). Our local government leaders are soliciting input for how to allocate these funds, which are intended to help post-pandemic recovery. I’d like to contribute a suggestion that would make a meaningful, long-term impact on our community: universal child care. We know the importance of child care in ensuring that our labor force is strong – and if we didn’t know it before, we certainly learned it during the pandemic. Parents struggled to manage their jobs while tending to children who needed attention during the workday. NOTE: This "It's Your Business" column by Chamber CEO Erin Predmore was published in the March 12, 2021 Bloomington Herald-Times. Was it really only a year ago when businesses were bracing for the pandemic tsunami and preparing to hunker down? We’ve all gone through so much during the past 12 months. Like almost everyone else, we’re beyond eager to put the pandemic behind us. You can almost feel the vibrations of pent-up energy as temperatures warm, vaccinations roll out and COVID-19 case numbers decline. As the restrictions we’ve been working under start to relax, please remember our local businesses as you make plans to get out and about in ways you haven’t done for the past year. The next two months are crucial. Many businesses count on revenues they make now in order to carry them through the summer, when things are typically slower and sales are down. That’s true in any year, but even more so as we emerge from the pandemic. For many businesses, these past 12 months have seen sales plummet. Facing a sluggish summer makes it all the more important to boost sales now, especially for businesses that cater to students. NOTE: This "It's Your Business" column by Chamber CEO Erin Predmore was published in the Jan. 8, 2021 Bloomington Herald-Times. The Success School is the philanthropic arm of the Chamber of Commerce, working in partnership with MCCSC and RBBSC to produce graduates ready for work, career and success. For 30 years, Chamber member volunteers have led career panels, elementary career fairs, job skills seminars, financial literacy classes, job shadowing, STEM and Life Science Fairs, and Reality Stores ®, exposing K-12 students to excellent career opportunities in Monroe County. Guided by the Success School Advisory Council, the programs focus on five keys: Career Exploration, Job Skills, Financial Readiness, Soft Skills and Entrepreneurship. Each program is developed to align with Indiana curriculum standards and designed to support work already occurring in the classroom. |
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