Bloomington Chamber of Commerce
  • Membership
    • Business Directory
    • Become a Member
    • Benefits of Membership >
      • Interested in Membership
    • Levels of Membership
    • Member Portal & Materials >
      • Member Login
    • Chamber App
    • Connect Bloomington
    • Member Resources
  • Events & News
    • Signature Events >
      • Educator of the Year Nominations
      • WEB Nominations
      • Showcase Bloomington Exhibitor Page
    • Chamber Events Calendar
    • Sponsorship
    • Member News
    • Multimedia Gallery
    • Chamber News
  • Initiatives & Resources
    • Bloomington Women in Leadership
    • The Success School
    • Young Professionals Bloomington >
      • YPB Steering Committee
    • Business Resources
    • Job Board
    • Community Calendar
  • Advocacy
    • Advocacy Matters Updates
    • Legislative Agenda
    • Local Government
    • Advocacy Resources
  • About Us
    • Contact Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Press & Media
Member Login | Join Us!
Member Login | Join Us!

Chamber News
Press Releases & News Updates

It's Your Business: Chamber encourages swift action on economic development initiatives

5/16/2022

0 Comments

 
NOTE: This "It's Your Business" column by Chamber CEO Eric Spoonmore was published in the May 16, 2022 Bloomington Herald-Times.
Picture
Last week the Bloomington City Council unanimously approved a 51% increase to the local income tax rate that applies to all Monroe County residents. The tax increase will generate about $14.5 million in new annual revenue to fund additional economic development initiatives proposed by Mayor John Hamilton that address climate change preparedness, equity and quality of life, public safety and essential city services. Under the new local income tax rate, Monroe County government will also receive a new annual influx of $9.5million and the town of Ellettsville will receive roughly $1 million in new annual revenue.

While the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce did not support a 51% increase to the local income tax rate, we did support new revenue that would provide the needed resources to fully fund our public safety and law enforcement services as well as certain enhancements to public transit services. The Chamber calculated that these investments would cost Monroe County taxpayers $7 million or about half of the amount that the city of Bloomington ultimately approved.

About the income tax: Bloomington City Council OKs countywide income tax hike. Here's how much it will cost you.

Now that the local income tax debate has been settled, the Chamber looks forward to working with local elected leaders to ensure that these investments deliver strong dividends for the residents, workers, and businesses of Monroe County.

Among the mayor’s newly proposed economic development investments that is of particular interest to the Chamber is the creation of an East/West express transit route that would serve the Park 48 education and employment hub located on West Third Street. Area employers such as Cook, Baxter, Tasus, KeHe and their employees would benefit greatly from these expanded transit options. Ivy Tech’s Bloomington campus and the students it serves would also benefit immensely. The Chamber encourages elected leaders to act swiftly with the new income tax revenue and commit to making an East/West express transit route a reality for our community.

The Chamber of Commerce also agrees that critical, new public safety investments must be made at both the city and county levels, and we strongly supported generating new revenue for this purpose. The most fundamental role of government is to provide for the safety and welfare of its residents. With an influx of new income tax revenue on the horizon, local leaders must commit to fully funding our public safety operations across the full spectrum of services. These public safety investments are essential to the welfare of our citizens and vitality of our businesses. The Chamber of Commerce looks forward to working with elected leaders and community members to support innovative solutions that will match existing public safety challenges with the trained experts who are best equipped to solve them.

Don't forget the convention center
While on the topic of new economic development investments for our community, let’s also not forget the tremendous untapped potential of an expanded downtown convention center and the economic benefits it will bring to our area and region. In 2017 a countywide food and beverage tax was passed for the purpose of expanding the existing
Monroe Convention Center. Over $12 million has been collected to support the construction and expansion project, but sadly no progress has been made since. The Chamber of Commerce continues to advocate for meaningful progress on the convention center expansion plans, and we look forward to the transformative boost it will bring to our local economy. Let’s make this the year that local officials work together on the convention center expansion project for the benefit of the greater community.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Chamber News

    This blog contains press releases, other news updates from the Chamber, news articles and radio interviews featuring interviews with the Chamber and team members,  and much more!

    All press releases have been sent out to community organizations and news agencies. Downloadable version of these press releases are available at the end of each blog post.

    ​
    For media inquires, please contact Director of Communications & Events, Kaytee Lorentzen.

    ​Categories

    Categories

    All
    Advocacy Matters
    Annual Meeting & Community Awards
    Appointments And Staff Updates
    Best Places To Work
    Bloomington Women In Leadership
    Board Of Directors
    Business After Hours
    Business Outlook
    Chamber Insider Update
    Chamber In The News
    Community Conversations
    Connect Bloomington
    Convention Center
    Diversity Equity And Inclusion (DEI)
    Educator Of The Year
    Elect Connect
    Equity
    Event
    Federal Focus
    Futurecast
    Glass In The Afternoon
    Golf Scramble
    Guest Column
    Health & Business
    Hometown Hero
    Honors & Awards
    ICEA
    It's Your Business
    Legislative Preview
    Local Government
    News Articles
    Partnership
    Podcast Interviews
    PPE
    Press Release
    PrimeTime Business Expo
    Public Transit
    Radio Interviews
    Showcase Bloomington
    SMART Business Summit
    Success School
    Ten Under 40
    Valor Awards
    Video
    Women Excel Bloomington
    Young Professionals Bloomington

    Archives

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020

    RSS Feed

    Sign Up For News
Contact Our Team | Business Directory

Our Chamber

​The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce provides leadership through member engagement, business advocacy and civic partnerships to strengthen our community and business environment.

Main Contact

421 W 6th Street, Suite A | Bloomington, IN 47404
[email protected]
(812) 336-6381

Office Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 9:00am - 500:pm
Friday: 9:00am - 3:00pm
Trust Center
​
Media Center
Speaking Requests

There is a no refund policy for events.  If you need to reassign your ticket to another person we will be happy to update our attendance list. Thank you.

Chamber Info

About Us
Board of Directors
Contact Our Team

Chamber Resources

Business Directory
Chamber Events Calendar
Member News
Chamber News
Membership Application
Member Login
Business Resources
Picture
Copyright The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. All Rights Reserved.
  • Membership
    • Business Directory
    • Become a Member
    • Benefits of Membership >
      • Interested in Membership
    • Levels of Membership
    • Member Portal & Materials >
      • Member Login
    • Chamber App
    • Connect Bloomington
    • Member Resources
  • Events & News
    • Signature Events >
      • Educator of the Year Nominations
      • WEB Nominations
      • Showcase Bloomington Exhibitor Page
    • Chamber Events Calendar
    • Sponsorship
    • Member News
    • Multimedia Gallery
    • Chamber News
  • Initiatives & Resources
    • Bloomington Women in Leadership
    • The Success School
    • Young Professionals Bloomington >
      • YPB Steering Committee
    • Business Resources
    • Job Board
    • Community Calendar
  • Advocacy
    • Advocacy Matters Updates
    • Legislative Agenda
    • Local Government
    • Advocacy Resources
  • About Us
    • Contact Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Press & Media