Chairman's Message: Excellence, Awareness, Opportunity

Duane O'Neill
Chair, Economic and Community Development Division
CEO, Greater Jackson (MS) Chamber Partnership

Excellence, awareness, and opportunity.  These are the three organizational pillars for ACCE as outlined in the 2010-2013 Strategic Plan.  In case you haven’t read the plan yet, here’s the cliff notes version.

Excellence means establishing a comprehensive body of knowledge, developing new educational programs based on vetted best practice and connecting peers around common issues.  Awareness revolves around ACCE’s new Information Office; a comprehensive and easily accessible library of resources on topics from membership dues to community demographics.  Opportunity means finding new organizational structures, resources and partnerships to adapt and thrive in a changing economy. 

This plan sets big goals for the future of our organization and the Economic and Community Development (ECD) Division has an important role to play in accomplishing those goals.  We must ensure that economic and community development concepts are deeply ingrained in the body of knowledge.  We will need to define best practices on topics from community marketing to business retention and develop new educational programs to help chambers strive for the best.  We will have to help collect resources for the new information office and forge new and deeper partnerships. 

There is a lot of work to do.  ACCE staff will shoulder a lot of the heavy lifting, but they will need support and guidance from all of us, the members and volunteer leaders.  To quote ACCE’s CEO Mick Fleming: “As an ACCE member, you are the customer, the product and the owner of this enterprise.”

To help make sure the ECD Division upholds our end of this plan, I have recruited vice chairs to help guide our work in three crucial roles.  Tara Barney, CEO of the Quad Cities Chamber, will serve as the division’s Vice Chair for Programs and Partnerships.  Joe Unterreiner, CCE, President and CEO of the Kalispell (MT) Area Chamber will take on information and education and Michael Dalby, CEO of One Southern Indiana will head up our growing body of work in entrepreneurship, business retention and expansion. The four of us, along with members of the Division Advisory Board, will be working hard over the coming year to produce resources and programming for the whole organization.  We welcome your input and will call for your help.

It is important that we do this work well because I believe the future of the chamber of commerce industry is in economic and community development.

Division Announcement: New Vice-Chairs

The ACCE Economic and Community Development Division is pleased to announce three new vice chairs to assist in implementing division goals and to help fulfill organizational objectives outlined in the 2010-2013 Strategic Plan.

Tara Barney
Vice Chair – Programs and Partnerships
CEO, Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce

Tara leads the newly merged Quad Cities Chamber, a business advocacy and economic development entity that encompasses greater Davenport, IA and Moline, IL region.  The previous organization she led, DavenportOne, won the ACCE Chamber of the Year Award in 2008.  Prior to joining the chamber profession, she was senior vice president of the Davenport Downtown Partnership where she was responsible for administering the Downtown Business Improvement District.  Tara is an Ohio native who received her B.A. from Miami University and her MPA from Ohio State.

As Vice Chair for Programs and Partnerships, Tara will work with staff and division members to organize the annual site consultant event, develop new programs and cultivate relationships with partner organizations.

Michael Dalby, IOM
Vice Chair – Entrepreneurship, Business Retention and Expansion
President, One Southern Indiana

Michael is the first President/CEO of One Southern Indiana (1SI), a business development organization formed from the merger of the area’s chamber, EDC, and a regional visioning organization.  In four years of existence, 1SI has assisted in economic development projects adding 4,100+ new jobs and $180 million in new capital investment.  Michael came to the chamber profession in 1994 following more than a decade of service in the US Air Force.  He is a graduate of the ACCE Regional Sustainable Development Fellowship.

As Vice Chair for Entrepreneurship, Business Retention and Expansion, Michael will work with his fellow vice chairs to develop new products and programs focused on promoting the role that all chambers can play in BRE and entrepreneurship.

Joe Unterreiner, CCE
Vice Chair – Information and Education
President and CEO, Kalispell (MT) Area Chamber of Commerce

Joe took the helm of the Kalispell Chamber in 1996 after beginning his career in commercial real estate development.  Under his leadership, the chamber assumed business retention and expansion responsibilities for the region and expanded the region’s small business development center.  Joe is a native Californian who earned his B.S. and MPA at the University of Southern California.   He is also a graduate of the ACCE Regional Sustainable Development Fellowship.

As Vice Chair for Information and Education, Joe will work with staff and division members to plan convention workshops and e-learning sessions, and populate the new ACCE Information Office with relevant economic development related content.

Resources Spotlight

Ready, Set, Go! Why Business Should Support Early Childhood Education
This new report, produced by the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce with funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts, sheds light on the tremendous impact that early childhood education has on the national economic security and the viability of the American dream

The Role of Local Elected Officials in Economic Development: 10 Things You Should Know
The publication from the National League of Cities, with help from IEDC, can help you build a stronger partnership with local elected officials on economic development. The guidebook outlines the “top 10 list” of things elected officials should know about economic development in order to be effective leaders.

City Vitals
Developed by Portland-based economist Joseph Cortright, in partnership with CEOs for Cities, City Vitals lays out the rationale for four dimensions of success for regions: talent, innovation, connections and distinctiveness.  The study also outlines a new set of 20metrics to measure progress in those four areas.  This report is a quick read and well worth your time.

Creating Prosperity Blog Digest

Check out these recent posts from the Creating Prosperity Blog, ACCE’s forum to discuss trends and concepts in economic and community development from a uniquely chamber perspective.

• Networks Drive Innovation
  Vivek Wadhwa of Duke University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization argues that networks of people drive innovation, not real estate development.  Check out his shortlist of suggestions.

• Emotional Attraction = Economic Growth
  According to findings from a 3 year study by Gallup, cities that elicit the strongest emotional attachment for residents also had the highest rates of GDP growth.

• Portland's Athletics and Outdoor Cluster
  Anchored by Nike, Adidas and Columbia Sportswear, Portland’s athletics and outdoor cluster includes 700 firms employing 14,000 with an annual payroll of $1.2 billion.

• Business Growth Challenge in South Dakota
  Learn about the Rapid City (SD) Area Chamber’s Power of One challenge that encourages members to create at least one new job during the coming year