Last May, Joplin, Mo. was hit by a devastating tornado which left a 10-mile-long path of destruction. More than 500 businesses were destroyed or substantially damaged. In a recent interview with Southeast Missouri’s Business Today, Rob O'Brian, president of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, says that "most were prepared for typical Midwest storm damage, but not for a tornado of that magnitude."

Today, nine months later, with about 85 percent of Joplin’s businesses open and operating, Rob O’Brian and Nathan Brown, insurance producer at W.E. Walker-Lakenan, LLC in Jackson, Mo., spoke with Business Today and shared disaster preparedness tips for businesses. From recovery insurance advice to data back-up suggestions,the article provides good information for your members.

The award recognizes organizational excellence in chambers of commerce and is based on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s accreditation process for local chambers. It highlights accomplishments in the areas of leadership/governance, finance, advocacy and membership development.

“This recognition is further testament to the influential work of The Chamber,” said Jeff Rea, president and CEO of The Chamber. “Although we are membership-based with more than 1,100 member businesses representing 90,000 employees, our strategic vision focuses on issues and initiatives that positively impact the area economy. We represent the interests of business, providing leadership and influence to move our community forward,” said Rea. “This recognition means we are doing the right things and people are paying attention.”

So what's next for Jim? During his retirement he plans to work as a consultant part time in the areas of his greatest interest—strategic planning, sustainable development and fund-raising.
 
In his eight years with the chamber, he has made a tremendous impact and will leave behind quite a number of accomplishments. Constructing Waco’s “first green chamber building in America” has been one of the most visible accomplishments of his time at the Chamber, but he indentified many other successes by the chamber, its volunteer leadership, staff and public and private sector partners, including:

• Attracting 20 new companies and 40 expansions by existing firms; 5,314 new jobs, 3,190 jobs retained and $740 million capital invested in projects assisted by the chamber’s economic development staff;

• Developing and implementing a master plan for the Waco Industrial Foundation business parks including $6.8 million invested in new infrastructure and $6 million to acquire additional property to accommodate development.

• Making urban development a chamber and community priority; projecting a billion dollar decade downtown; defining Greater Downtown and making the case for a 40-year plan and 100,000 people living and working downtown; and advocating for smart growth and sustainable development.

• Advocating for official standing in the permitting process for coal-fired electric generating plants in Greater Waco that contributed to TXU’s decision not to build the plants.

• Establishing the Community Development division to engage members and staff in education, workforce and a range of quality of life initiatives.

• Matching 40 business mentors with 115 Waco Independent School District students during five years, and all of the seniors in this program have graduated and gone to college.

• Reviving the One Book One Waco community-wide reading program and supporting a variety of efforts to reduce poverty and hunger here.

• Growing the sports luncheon series to average 1,100 in attendance at each event; starting the TriWaco triathlon which attracted more than 900 runners in 2011; and increasing participation in the Starburst Junior Golf Classic to 1000 boys and girls annually on nine courses.

• Starting a quarterly magazine, weekly electronic newsletter, monthly television program and eight websites to promote chamber programs and to help change perceptions about Greater Waco.

• Increasing the Chamber’s annual budget from $1.5 million in 2004 to $3.3 million in 2012; enlarging the organization’s professional staff from 13 to 21; and raising $5.9 million for annual operations in seven all-volunteer Total Resource Campaigns.

The Chamber has formed a search committee to begin a nationwide search for a new president and CEO of the chamber.

ACCE's newest official corporate sponsor and partner is Infintech, a chamber-friendly, debit and credit card processing company that can save the average chamber 40% on its credit card processing costs. Here are some interesting facts about this new member of the ACCE family:

• CEO Ryan Rybolt had his first job as an intern with one of the greats in the chamber field, John Williams, who headed the Cincinnati chamber for many years.
• More than 80 chambers & associations have already embraced this company and are finding considerable success with it.
• The Infintech program will permit chambers to earn sizeable amounts of non-dues revenue as their members use Infintech for their credit card processing needs.
• Infintech is in the top 1 percent of its industry in customer satisfaction levels.

Contact Ryan and his team to find out more at (513) 395-9495 or send an email.

January was a big month for one chamber president.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proclaimed Jan. 25 as Jerry Roper Day in Chicago. But it didn’t stop there.

Later that evening, Jerry Roper, the Chicagoland Chamber’s president and CEO, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant support and dedication as a founding member of Chicago Gateway Green. The organization is devoted to greening and beautifying Chicago’s expressways, gateways and neighborhoods. In celebration of his service as the organization’s chairman for a decade and for his contributions to Chicago Gateway Green over the past 25 years, an expressway garden at the Kennedy/Edens Expressways Junction was named the "Gerald J. Roper Gateway."

Roper was honored for his extensive civic involvement throughout Chicagoland, as well as his contributions to the region's leading business and entrepreneurial communities. As the president and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce for 18 years, Roper has been a spirited leader and advocate for small businesses and entrepreneurs in Illinois. During that time, the chamber earned 5-star accreditation from the U. S. Chamber of Commerce for its sound policies, effective organizational procedures, and positive impact on the region’s business climate.

Click here to see a video montage of Jerry Roper played at the event. Click here to see a video tribute from Mayor Daley.

Tired of the same old annual report format? Consider this idea from the Saratoga County (NY) Chamber of Commerce. This month they released their 2011 annual report video. It is the first time the chamber produced a video version of their annual report, and it replaces the traditional printed piece. Check it out below.

Produced by Modern Mix Marketing.

Ever go on a vacation and wish you could stay forever? Well, South Carolina's Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce would love to have you make that dream come true—in Myrtle Beach. Starting this spring, the chamber will also aggressively market the area as a good place to live. In a recent article about the chamber's real estate marketing campaign, Diana Greene, the chamber's executive vice president of membership programs and services, said, "When we started looking at what we've been able to do on the visitors side, we thought what can we do in this community to assist on the real estate side, because obviously, it's been hit really hard and we just want to do everything we can to help."

The campaign, which has been in development for over a year, will go beyond just providing relocation information. It includes all the marketing big guns—a new website, TV commercials and printed material—to push the idea of buying property in the area. The campaign will stress things like the area's low cost of living and low taxes, but also softer factors that don't often show up in marketing brochures: the friendliness of the people, volunteer activities, cultural opportunities, and the ease of opening a small business.

The Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce has been named Outstanding Chamber of the Year by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Executives (MCCE). The award recognizes excellence in local Minnesota chambers and is based on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce accreditation process for local chambers, focusing on accomplishments in leadership/governance, finance, advocacy and membership development. Judges commended the chamber on its work in Minnesota, including its advocacy on trnasportation issues and local government aid programs. With more than 2,000 members, the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber is the largest local chamber in North Dakota and Minnesota.

The Palm Beach Post reports that a planned merger of two chambers of commerce in Palm Beach County, Florida's largest and richest per capita, is pretty much wrapped up except for choosing a new name for the merged entity. What that name will be is of some concern to several other chambers in the county.

At the end of this month, one of the most accomplished figures in the profession and our association is stepping down. When Dick Fleming came to St. Louis in 1994, the chamber had an annual budget of $3 million, no cash reserves and a meager economic development program. Now the Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA) has a $10 million annual budget, healthy reserves, a robust multi-year ED funding campaign, a seasoned professional staff and a full range of regional economic development and national marketing activities. 

Here are just some of the awards, accolades and accomplishments for RCGA under Dick’s tenure:

· Twice named by Site Selection Magazine as one of the Top Ten Economic Development Organizations in North America.
· Chamber-led center city revitalization effort helped stimulate nearly $5 billion in new downtown area investment.
· “Perfectly Centered, Remarkably Connected” regional brand won the Public Relations Society of America’s top national award for non-profit branding.
·  Development of the region’s transportation infrastructure including metro light rail and a new Mississippi River bridge.
·  Multiple ACCE Communications Excellence Awards for St. Louis Commerce magazine and other RCGA publications

One could also mention their bi-state regional public policy coalition Forward Metro St. Louis, the new downtown sculpture garden, mixed use development around  Busch Stadium, the cluster supporting Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences and it's incubator/lab space CORTEX, establishing St. Louis as a hub for China Eastern Air Cargo, and on and on...

Dick raised the bar for the St. Louis region, but also for ACCE. Few individuals have done more for the association in its 100-year history, and nobody has done more over the past decade. Dick stepped in to chair the organization in 2005 after leading the Metro Council. He also took on the lion's share of our fundraising efforts in 2002. He continued his role in resource development throughout his association involvement. He was a champion of ACCE's expansion into economic development concerns, and helped the association link up with new allies including the Climate Prosperity Project and Partners for Livable Communities. As chairman of our affiliate, the Alliance for Regional Stewardship, Dick helped establish the John Parr Award for Business-Civic Commitment to Regional Leadership.

From his time as CEO of the Metro Denver Chamber to his time as a HUD official in Washington, D.C., to his start in economic development in Atlanta, Dick has been a leader in business/community advancement. We wish him all the best in the next phase of his career. But he won’t get away just yet. We’ve asked Dick to remain in his role as chair of the Alliance for Regional Stewardship through August. If we're fortunate, he'll continue to advise us for years to come.