BOTKINS — The highlights of the Sidney-Shelby County Chamber of Commerce’s accomplishments were touted by President Jeff Raible during Thursday evening’s annual dinner and award ceremony at the Palazzo in Botkins.
“Every day I have the pleasure of working with some of the greatest people in the world. If you haven’t had the chance to get to know these folks yet, I highly encourage you to do so. They are not only terrific individuals, but they can also be a valuable resource for you and your organizations,” said Raibel.
Those employees include Dawn Eilert, chamber vice president, and Cheri Dalton, director of finance and administration. Also sharing office space with the chamber is Mike Dodds, executive director of the Sidney-Shelby Economic Partnership, Deb McDermott, director of the Workforce Partnership of Shelby County, and Rachel Meyer, administrative assistant for both the Sidney-Shelby Economic Partnership and the Workforce Partnership of Shelby County.
“Why belong to a chamber of commerce?” asked Raible, rhetorically. “As you might expect, we get asked that a lot. Well, according to the Shapiro Group in Atlanta, when consumers know a business is a member of the local chamber of commerce, they are 51 percent more likely to be aware of the business; 57 percent more likely to think positively about the business and 63 percent more likely to purchase goods and services from the business.”
To best serve all members, the local chamber utilizes any or all of three distinct strategies to meet their needs, he said.
“One, we offer high-impact, low-cost visibility enhancement programs to strengthen our members’ presence in the marketplace and the community. 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 the employees of our member organizations make better decisions,” he said.
“Relative to visibility enhancement initiatives in 2017, we cohosted 14 business networking events attended by more than 1,100 individuals from your organizations. In addition, we had the honor of leading four, member ribbon-cutting, grand opening, and ground-breaking ceremonies,” Raible said.
In August, the organization hosted Chamber Expo, a business showcase and job fair for the benefit of members. There were 91 member exhibitors, with 50 of those organizations participating in the job fair.
“In total, we estimate nearly 400 patrons attended to learn more about the Shelby County business community,” said Raible.
The 2017 edition of Discover Shelby County magazine in both print and electronic formats was met with very favorable reviews this past year, he added. The 2018 edition is in production now and will be in circulation by mid-May.
The chamber’s annual gift certificate sales last year surpassed $93,000. The “buy local” program helps keep Shelby County dollars in the cash registers of the local business community and more specifically in the coffers of chamber members, Raible noted.
“Included in our menu of cost-saving programs this past year were two attractive opportunities with NKTelco: A discount for data and telecommunications business services at your company and a rebate for residential cable TV and Internet services at the homes of your employees. Newly offered in 2017 were discounts on video production services with NKTelco, as well,” he said.
In terms of employee-development initiatives, the chamber hosted six seminars and workshops that included two active shooter seminars and four digital marketing seminars.
“Last year, we assisted 300 of your employees on a monthly basis stay up to date with best practices in the arenas of workplace safety, human resources management, LEAN Enterprise fundamentals, general manufacturing, and food manufacturing processes. Collectively, these special interest councils conducted more than 40 lunch-and-learn-style workshops this past year. That’s an average of more than three workshops per month,” he said.
In March, YPconnect was launched as a way to network young professionals in the Shelby County area and to strengthen their bonds with the local business community. Today YPconnect has more than 125 followers. They have been meeting on a monthly basis for either morning or late afternoon gatherings; however, plans this year look to move their meetings to primarily a noon to 1 p.m. time frame.
“Thanks to your generosity, the Chamber Foundation last year was able to fund 22 grant applications totaling more than $21,000,” he said. “These grants were issued to member schools and other education-focused entities throughout Shelby County. Included in this funding were significant grants to the Workforce Partnership of Shelby County and the Shelby County Libraries capital campaign. It is our continuing belief that better prepared students in the classroom will one day translate to higher performing employees in the workplaces of our members.”
In this its 73rd year of operation, the chamber has many items planned for 2018, Raible said.
“In March and June, we have organized two workshops to be led by digital marketing experts and chamber members Marketing Essentials. The first will focus on the best practices of blogging and the second, search engine optimization. Attendance at one or both seminars is sure to help companies increase sales,” he said.
In the spring, the chamber will collaborate with the Sidney-Shelby County YMCA to deliver the annual Economic Outlook Luncheon. May 7 is Sidney-Shelby Chamber Night with the Dayton Dragons.
In the fall will be the Chamber Breakfast Update with elected officials.
“So all in all, the year 2017 was a good one on many levels,” said Raible.”Last year we welcomed 25 new members to the organization and concluded the year with a total membership of 517 organizations doing business in Shelby County.
“In 2017, the Chamber enjoyed a 93 percent membership retention rate and a new member retention rate of 76 percent. Both averages compare favorably to national metrics for chambers of our size. You may also be interested to know that the Dayton Business Journal ranks the Sidney-Shelby County Chamber as the seventh largest in the Dayton region, and, with the exception of Springfield, ours is the largest chamber in the Dayton region north of Interstate 70.”
The incoming board of directors, along with those leaving the board, were recognized.
The 2018 board of directors include chairman D. Jay Baird, Emerson Climate Technologies; first vice chairman Phil Gilardi, On-Point Concepts; second vice chairman Stacy Pettit, American Trim: treasurer Mary Lou Smock, Lacal Equipment; immediate past chairman Josh Koltak, Faulkner, Garmhausen, Keister & Shenk.
Board members are Paul Dentinger, Honda of America Manufacturing; Makayla Goins, Kah Nursery; Nancy Luce, Upper Valley Career Center; Ryan Nichols, Superior Aluminum Products; Margo O’Leary, Wilson Health; David Richard, US Bank; Josh Ross, Ruese Insurance Agency; Jeff Schlater, Ferguson Construction Co.; and Kent With, Hi-Grade Oil Co.
Outgoing board members were Chris Brown, Brown Industrial; Bonnie Goffena, Esacpe to Panache Salon and Spa; Cindy Hellman, Money Concepts Financial Planning Centre; Paul Kindle, Plastipak Packaging; and Jamie Wurster, US Bank.
