BOTKINS — The leadership role of the Sidney-Shelby County Chamber of Commerce is to help its members achieve a higher level of success in the community.
“Through the years the purpose at the chamber has remained very straightforward,” said President Jeff Raible Thursday night during the annual dinner and awards ceremony. “Our charge everyday is to help our members achieve a higher level of success. The methods we employ to accomplish this are threefold. One, we offer visibility enhancement programs to strengthen our member’s presence in the marketplace. Two, we offer affinity style programs to help our members save money on their ordinary operating costs. And three, we sponsor employee development programs to help our member companies and their employees make better decisions.”
In 2015, he said, the organization sponsored the fifth Chamber Business Expo that featured 92 member exhibitors and was attended by more than 600 patrons.
“We co-hosted 11 business networking events attended by more than 1,100 folks from your organizations. In addition, we participated in nine member ribbon-cutting, grand-opening and groundbreaking ceremonies,” said Raible.
The chamber’s annual gift certificate sales surpassed $127,000 this past year. The buy-local program helps keep Shelby County dollars in the cash registers of local business community and members.
The 2015 edition of Discover Shelby County magazine was met with favorable reviews. The 2016 edition is currently in production and should be ready in mid-May.
Chamber members collectively saved more than $1.5 million through participation in the member affinity programs. Those programs include Workers’ Comp Group Rating Program, DPL Energy Savings Program, Shelby County Safety Council Participation Incentives, and discounted group health insurance member benefit with Medical Mutual and a group dental insurance discount with Superior Dental.
“Added to our member benefit repertoire last year was a discount for chamber members through Shredit document destruction services. I’m told by Shred that the rate offered our members is 40 percent off their standard pricing and by far better than anyone outside of our membership can secure, so I hope you’ll take full advance of that in securing your business records,” said Raible.
The chamber hosted a number of seminars and workshops this past year attended by more than 500 member employees.
“In addition we helped 250 of your employees on a monthly basis stay up to date on best practices related to Workplace Safety, Human Resources Management, LEAN Enterprise fundamentals, General Manufacturing, and Food Manufacturing processes. Collectively these councils conducted more than 40 lunch and learn style workshops last year,” he said.
The Chamber Foundation in 2015 was able to fund 22 grant applications totaling more than $22,000. These grants were issued to member schools and other education focused entities throughout the county. Included in this funding were significant grants to the Workforce Partnership of Shelby County and the Shelby County Libraries capital campaign.
The chamber also assisted 10 member companies with the purchase of automatic electronic defibrillators though a discounted incentive plan.
“In 2015 the Sidney-Shelby County Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 70th anniversary. Believe it or not, the origin of our organization is actually traceable back to the late 1800s, but as an incorporated entity, we began in 1945,” he said.
“In this our 71st year, things have started off quickly. Already this year we have participated in our two member ribbon-cutting ceremonies, which we hope will set the tone for additional grand openings and business expansions as the year progresses.”
Upcoming chamber events include:
• Four workshops organized by Marketing Essentials dealing with online marketing presence. They will be held in March, April, May and June.
• Annual Economic Outlook Luncheon in May, sponsored by Mutual Federal Savings Bank.
• Annual Legislative Update with elected officials in September.
• Possible Violence in the Workplace seminar.
“Also, you may be interested to know that we are currently in production with our partners at NKTelco to produce a small series of community videos showcasing the quality of life in Shelby County and highlighting the business opportunities here,” said Raible. “Imagine if you will our Discover Shelby County Ohio magazine transformed into a two-part series of three- to four-minute videos formatted for primarily online viewing.”
The chamber is also home to the Sidney Visitors Bureau and Downtown Sidney Business Association (who are transitioning to a new brand this year, Sidney Alive). These entities operate under separate budgets, but their goals and objectives are very much consistent with the chamber’s making this alliance a very efficient and effective one for our community.
“The synergy of these three organizations coupled with that of the Sidney-Shelby Economic Partnership and the Workforce Partnership of Shelby County truly make our office a one-stop shop for most anyone looking to do business in or visit Shelby County,” said Raible.
In 2015 , the chamber welcomed 33 new members into the organization and concluded the year with a total membership of 522 organizations doing business in Shelby County.
In 2015, the chamber enjoyed a 93 percent membership-retention rate and a new-member retention rate of 71 percent.
