On Friday, June 5th, 2026, The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce held its Bloomington Women in Leadership Engage event, From Support to Stability, a service project day with New Hope for Families. New Hope for Families provides shelter and early learning programs to keep families together and lift every child into a promising future. On a given night, more than 160,000 US families are homeless. In most of the country, those families are separated, but Bloomington is different. Our community’s values dictate that no local family will sleep outside, live in a car, or be separated from one another in order to be safe. New Hope for Families is the embodiment of those values. Every day, we work to be sure that every child in our community has a safe place to sleep with their family.

Participants helped NHFF make welcome baskets for their families moving into homes, reorganize their pantries, and help prepare for the Garden Walk on June 6th.

​See the photos from the event below! (Photos provided by: The Chamber & Ever Exuberant Co.) [More photos to come!]

Thank you to all the event sponsors that made this program possible!

Elite Sponsors: B97, Hoosier Country 105.1, Master Rental
Outdoor Lounge & Premier Sponsor: 98.7 The Zone
Entertainment Sponsor: CFC Properties
Partner Sponsors: Amplify Bloomington, IU Credit Union, JCBank, Let's Party Btown, Limestone Post, Monroe County YMCA, Paul Baechtold Photography, Raising Cane's, and The Production House

On Thursday, April 23rd, 2026, The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce held its Young Professionals Bloomington event, Elevate Your Edge: Emotional Intelligence for Career Success, a leadership training event led by Rusty Shields of Develefy Consulting. In today's workplace, technical skills may get you in the door — but emotional intelligence is what sets you apart. Based on Travis Bradberry's bestselling Emotional Intelligence 2.0, this interactive session explored the four core EQ skills — self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management — and how developing them can transform your professional relationships, leadership presence, and career trajectory.

​See the photos from the event below! (Photos provided by: Ever Exuberant Co.)

Elect Connect is the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce’s nonpartisan candidate engagement series, designed to connect the business community and residents directly with individuals seeking public office. This year’s event—held in partnership with Amplify Bloomington, the Indiana Uplands Realtor Association®, and BASCI—focused on candidates in the Monroe County Board of Commissioners Democratic primary race for the District 1 seat. This event was held on Tuesday, April 21st at Constellation Stage & Screen's Waldron Arts Center.

Through a combination of a moderated forum and open networking, Elect Connect creates space for meaningful, face-to-face conversations on the issues shaping our community, including housing, infrastructure, economic growth, and quality of place. The event was moderated by John Fernandez, CEO of Amplify Bloomington, and is designed to move beyond campaign messaging and foster real dialogue between candidates and the community.

As part of its role as the voice of business, the Chamber hosts Elect Connect to support civic engagement, elevate key issues, and ensure that local leadership decisions are informed by the needs of our business community. The Chamber does not endorse candidates and remains committed to providing a neutral platform for dialogue and information-sharing. See photos from the event below!

On Wednesday, April 1st, 2026, The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce held ZingTrain: Systems for Supporting Staff. The day included a mix of facilitated discussion, hands-on exercises, and guided reflection—covering everything from attracting and interviewing the right candidates to designing training systems, giving effective feedback, and choosing the right path when performance problems arise. See the photos from the event below!