No, it’s not the opening line to a joke, but rather the start to a real story! The Imperial Beach (CA) Chamber of Commerce recently had an unexpected visitor come through its front door. Click here to read about a sea lion pup who made himself at home at the chamber’s offices.

In a time of sweeping budget cuts, President Obama is asking for an additional $3 billion for the education budget. During a conference call earlier this week addressing the corporate and philanthropic sectors, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan made clear the following: 1) Ongoing federal funding for education is an absolute priority; 2) Resources would be geared towards creating impact at the local level; and 3) States and communities willing to put in the work would reap the rewards.

Highlights

Pre-K:

• $75 billion for a 10-year program partnering with states to dramatically increase access to high quality pre-kindergarten. Funds would come from a 94-cent-per-pack cigarette tax.

K-12: 

• “Ladders of Opportunity:” The Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture will take a joint approach to examine and remedy entrenched intergenerational poverty.
• Teachers and Leaders Plan: A Master teacher program designed to retain top teachers who will  mentor the next generation of teachers. The administration is gearing investment towards building “networks of innovation” at the local level, focusing on communities where higher education, business, non-profit, and public education stakeholders are already engaged and invested locally in education attainment. 
• The RESPECT Project: a $5 billion initiative derived from a national dialogue among teachers will seek to reform and transform the teaching profession.
• High School Re-design: $300 million will go directly to school districts to ensure students are both college and career-ready. Funds will focus on districts working innovatively to link curriculum to the real world and helping students realize those linkages. 

Higher Ed:

• Race to the Top for higher education: $1 billion in matching funds to influence behaviors on the state and university level. The funds serve as an incentive for states’ ongoing investment in higher education, for universities to keep costs down, and for education institutions to collaborate in creating not just communities of access, but of completion.
  
  

The Bottom Line

Local buy-in will be the key to investment. Communities must be ready to work hard and ready to work collaboratively.

Information about these programs and user-friendly materials on the President’s 2014 Budget Proposal can be found here. 

For ACCE Life Member John Garman, CCE, the chamber profession truly is a life, not a career. Despite his retirement in 2003 as a chamber exec, John continues to serve by volunteering at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro (NC) Chamber of Commerce. In April, he completed his 400^th member visit. He has been volunteering with the chamber for two years, visiting one-on-one with business owners and managers to learn and report on their business needs and to improve the connections between the chamber staff and its nearly 1,400 members. In recognition of his service to the chamber and its members, John was recognized last month with the Chair's Award for Excellence, presented by the chamber’s Board of Directors Chair, Paige Zinn. 

John was born in upstate New York and earned his B.A. in history and oriental studies, and his M.B.A. in marketing and finance from Columbia University. In 2003, after completing a 30-year career as a chamber exec in communities in Indiana, Kentucky and South Carolina, he retired and served as a consultant and instructor for the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) with assignments in Russia, Bosnia, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan and Jamaica. John moved to North Carolina’s Research Triangle in 2010 with his wife, Nancy, and lives in a home built by his son. He currently serves as a trustee for the North Carolina Humanities Council.

The Myrtle Beach Area (SC) Chamber of Commerce and Orlando (FL) Regional Chamber of Commerce are celebrating big milestones this month.

On Friday, April 19, 22 past presidents of the Orlando Regional Chamber and its current volunteer leadership attended a special luncheon to kickoff the 100^th anniversary of Orlando, Inc. (Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce). The chamber will continue the celebration in September with a gala event. See the website the chamber prepared in honor of its big anniversary.

Then on Tuesday, April 23, about 500 miles north of Orlando, the Myrtle Beach Area (SC)Chamber honored its 75 years of service during an annual meeting and celebration with its membership at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. The event not only recognized the chamber, but also members who have served the community for 50 plus years.

Congratulations to both organizations!

Of course jobs and investment are key outcomes of successful economic development, but they’re not the only outcomes worth measuring.  

Listen to this webinar recording from March 28, 2013 as Mac Holladay, CCE, president and CEO of Market Street Services shares some of the innovative ways chambers and regions are now measuring economic development success.

Click to watch - ACCE Economic Trends: Economic Development Metrics

New “Discover Cuba” Itinerary Offers Americans Legal Travel to Cuba via People-to-People Cultural Travel Program

Central Holidays is pleased present an exciting new “Discover Cuba” travel program that takes U.S. travelers to connect with locals in Cuba and learn about the architecture, music, art and culture of this enchanting country.  The U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control has granted a license to provide people-to-people cultural exchange travel programs to Cuba to Premier World Discovery/CE, strategic partner of Central Holidays, enabling the company to offer this trip to U.S. travelers.

The fascinating 8-day “Discover Cuba” itinerary provides a full time schedule of activities that result in meaningful exchanges through people-to-people contact, offering insightful, cross-cultural and educational experiences at every turn.  Travelers will explore the UNESCO World Heritage site of Old Havana with the largest collection of Spanish-Colonial architecture in the Americas, the beautiful baroque-style Cathedral of Havana built in 1748, and the “Maqueta de la Habana Vieja” Museum that houses a detailed scale model of the City of Havana.  Further along, travelers visit Viñales Valley and Pinar del Rio, known for its stunning scenery, a landscape of prehistoric looking flat-top mountains or “mogotes”, tobacco plantations, caves, and rivers.  An excursion to Guanabacoa takes travelers to discover the religious diversity of this land and visit Hemingway’s Farm where the Nobel Prize winner lived with his wife for 21 years.  This itinerary features experiences that showcase the treasures of Cuba including a tour of an authentic cigar factory, tobacco farm, and rum factory as well as meals in local restaurants.  Visitors will also tour an art studio and craft market, and dance studio and interact with welcoming locals, artists and dancers.

“Adding Cuba to our destination offerings allows us to further cater to our robust family of repeat customers who wish to explore the world in the signature Central Holidays way,” said Gianni Miradoli, CEO of Central Holidays. “We are pleased to introduce this novel Cuba itinerary that brings travelers the rare opportunity to visit a fascinating country on an enriching travel program replete with cross-cultural interaction, education, and discovery.”

Central Holidays’ strategic partner Premier World Discovery / CE has been issued a specific license by The Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which authorizes registered guests of the company’s programs to visit Cuba legally. There are no applications to complete, and participation for U.S. travelers is fully authorized. Prior to departure, travelers will receive a copy of the company’s Specific License and a Letter of Authorization, which legalizes their travel to Cuba.

For additional information about the Discover Cuba travel program available through Central Holidays, please call Central Holidays at 800-935-5000 or visit them online at www.centralholidays.com. 

About Central Holidays:
Founded in 1972, Central Holidays offers superior travel programs, value and service to enchanting destinations across the globe including Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey, plus dozens of Mediterranean and European River Cruise itineraries, worldwide ski programs, as well as people-to-people educational exchange travel to Cuba!  For more information, contact Central Holidays at 1-800-935-5000 or visit their Web site at www.centralholidays.com.

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Marlene Oliver
(305) 491-0512, moliver@njccorp.com
NJC Communications

Mick Fleming, president of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, was a featured guest on the Executive Leaders Radio Show recently. He discussed  influences that led him to his career as an advocate of chambers as community leaders, competition for the ACCE leadership job that he accepted in 2001, challenges he overcame in those early days, and much more in the 12-minute interview.

The show’s profiles of business executives primarily from the Mid-East are heard on radio stations in 20 states across the country, and are available online via iTunes, radio.com and numerous other podcast directories. Listen to the interview.

How many chambers of commerce have an Emmy in their lobby? The Greater Memphis Chamber now has three for The Soundtrack Project, a series of eight documentary shorts that capture the entrepreneurial spirit in Memphis.

The Soundtrack Project began in 2010 as a partnership between the Chamber and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra to highlight both the strength of the Memphis arts community and breadth of the local small business community.

“These multimedia movements serve as both a local point of pride and as a snapshot of Memphis’s business community for a global audience,” said John Moore, president and CEO, Greater Memphis Chamber. “You really get a sense of the authentic and determined spirit of Memphis’ small business owners when you watch each video.”

Watch the videos at: http://www.memphischamber.com/soundtrack 

Headlines and opinion from around the economic and community development world...

Des Moines Goes SXSW

The Greater Des Moines Partnership was in Austin last week repping Central Iowa's start-up scene and arts/culture vibe at South by Southwest , the music, film, technology and innovation festival. 

KC's Fiber Houses

Market Street Report blog introduces readers to fiber house, the newest noun in entrepreneurship.

Not Just a four-Year College Degree

The Dayton Area Chamber and its education partners have a huge success in associate degree attainment, worker retraining, and career academy high schools. Lumina Foundation devoted an entire issue of its magazine to Dayton's work.

Market Driven Planning

Citiwire's Curtis Johnson examines how a market driven, "place-making" approach to development is paying dividends for smaller communities and big regions in Texas

Aaron Nelson, IOM, president and CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, has been named one of the best comedic story tellers for 2012 in The Monti story telling competition in Chapel Hill, N.C. His Sept. 14 performance last year dealt with a 2009 presentation he made "on the other side of the world" to the World Chambers Federation about the Chapel Hill community. Listen now.