Survey: Central Indiana Businesses Optimistic about 2010
Indianapolis Chamber Builds Value in the CASE for Membership
A recent survey conducted by Walker Information and the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce finds most central Indiana business leaders are optimistic about how the economy will perform this year.
The study shows that 41 percent of Indianapolis Chamber members believe the economy will get “somewhat better;” another 37 percent believe it will “stay about the same;” and, 3 percent expected it to get “considerably better.” There are some skeptical views on the economy – with 15 percent of those polled expecting the economy to get “somewhat worse,” and another 4-percent believing it will get “considerably worse.”
These results were part of an encompassing member assessment survey conducted in early December by the Indianapolis Chamber, as it explores members’ needs for programs and services they value most from one of the state’s largest chamber organizations.
With these results, the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce is embarking on a new organizational strategy and membership campaign focused at proving the value of a chamber membership through four key focus areas:
C Connecting members to improve their business opportunities
A Advocating with a common voice to improve the business climate
S Saving our members money through select programs
E Educating members to increase their ability to grow business
“The membership survey provided excellent guidance on the tools our members need most to successfully grow their businesses and build our community,” said Donna Marino, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce. “We all hope that 2010 will provide our members a strong path to economic prosperity. As a membership-focused organization, we are refocusing our efforts on CASE as a way to demonstrate that an Indianapolis chamber membership provides value far beyond their dues investment.”
The survey showed overwhelmingly that members value connecting with other chamber members. Last year, 5,700 people attended networking and educational events held by the Indianapolis Chamber and its sponsoring partners.
“My membership investment with the Indianapolis Chamber continues to drive business results for my business, Direct Delivery.” said Greg Mertz, president of Direct Delivery, a courier and delivery service. “Using the Indianapolis Chamber’s tools, resources and networking events – especially those provided in a gold membership – created more business development opportunities than I could ever imagined. The investment in my membership has paid for itself conservatively ten-fold.”
In the area of “savings,” the Indianapolis Chamber estimates that in 2009, it saved members who used its ChamberCare health insurance program between $4.7 - $9.5 million in health insurance costs, with an average annual savings of $325 per employee. In addition, central Indiana businesses and their employees who use the Chamber’s Office Depot discount program saved an additional $1 million.
The Indianapolis Chamber represents nearly 4,000 organizations in central Indiana, with an employee base of nearly 262,000 people.
About the survey:
Nearly 400 companies were represented in the survey. Of those, 68 percent were small businesses (1-50 employees), 26 percent were medium sized companies (51-500 employees) and 6 percent were larger organizations (501+ employees). Walker Information of Indianapolis collected the data between Dec. 1-18 with a response rate of 11 percent.
Tax Advantages of Membership
As 2010 begins, the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce reminds its members and potential members that a large portion of the dues, 90 percent, are tax deductible. To learn the CASE value for membership, contact (317) 464-2200 or visit www.indychamber.com .
Indy Connect To Track Public Input on Regional Transportation Plan The Central Indiana Transit Task Force today released the results of its year-long mass transit study with a request that the public spend an equal amount of time looking at the proposal before anything is taken to elected officials. The study was funded by the private sector, including the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership and the Central Indiana Community Foundation.
“Today represents the end of the beginning of our mass transit journey. We are pleased to bring this plan forward to the public for input. It is our belief that our region needs viable mass transit to grow business, enhance the region and attract human capital, but this has to be a shared belief. By engaging everyone in the planning process we believe we can arrive at a workable mass transit solution that the region can embrace,” said Roland Dorson, President of the Indianapolis Chamber. “We invite everyone throughout the region to learn more and become involved in this important discussion.”
Indy Connect: Central Indiana’s Transportation Initiative 
Indy Connect is the regional effort to gather public input on the draft transportation plan for Central Indiana. Public feedback and suggestions will be incorporated into a revised plan in late 2010 that will be presented to the public offiicals for further consideration.
Driven by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority (CIRTA), and IndyGo, Indy Connect is an unprecedented collaboration of private industry and public entities working toward a defined regional transportation future.
Visit
www.indyconnect.org to learn more. You’ll find:
- Upcoming public meetings that start next week and are designed to give residents the chance to voice their views.
- An initial draft of a transportation map, giving residents a view of the proposal for light rail, commuter rail, new bus routes and highway expansions.
- A plan overview and more.
Updates on Indy Connect will be provided in future Indianapolis Chamber communications.
From blogger Joel Reuter, VP of Communications, Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
This is a tale of two cities. Municipal cousins maybe once-removed, Indianapolis and Charlotte have received a lot of ink over the past couple of decades for their respective successes. We all know how Indianapolis became the brightest star in the Midwestern constellation, but how did Charlotte ascend so quickly and how much did they borrow from us along the way?
A 60-person Indianapolis delegation, led by Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Mayor Greg Ballard, sponsored by the Indianapolis Chamber, recently visited Charlotte to see what they have been doing right, learn from them and implement what was applicable here in central Indiana.
Charlotte has been the poster city for quick acceleration, prospering, as the Washington Post noted, like few other cities in the past two decades. More recently Charlotte has been hit hard by the financial sector meltdown; unemployment has spiked to 12%, construction on numerous projects has been halted and forlorn subdivisions look for occupants. However the foundation for their success is still there, presenting an opportunity for us to learn from them.
For the past 30 years or so many communities have come to Indianapolis to see how we achieved our success. UniGov, public-private partnerships, community before self-- all these things other communities took away from their visits to us. Charlotte came calling in 1991 and again in 2002. In the large city chamber world, these exchanges are common.
Charlotte began planning for its own success very early, taking the long view according to Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, with a 25-year economic development growth plan that featured land use and transportation as cornerstones to the strategy.
They developed the Charlotte strategy says Mayor McCrory, which focused on a city within a city featuring a safe downtown and a developed three-mile radius around that with revitalized housing stock. A thriving downtown? Does that sound familiar? As Bob Morgan, the CEO of the Charlotte Chamber will tell you, Charlotte learned a lot from us, including the value of public-private partnerships, a theme sounded over and over.
Every 10 years the plan is updated with input from civic, business, political leaders as well as the public. The plan supersedes shifting political fortunes. Another dynamic outcome from the planning: Charlotte USA, a two-state, 16-county economic development powerhouse that markets itself without concern for lines on a map, according to its CEO, Ronnie Bryant.
Charlotte’s extended kinship to Indianapolis has lured lots of Hoosiers, including the President of Penske Racing, Tim Cindric, a Pike high school and Rose-Hulman graduate, who thought he would work in or around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway someday. In fact three of the presenters who spoke to the delegation in Charlotte were transplanted Hoosiers.
Charlotte has lots of challenges going forward and will write its own story. What’s more important is how our own future unfolds.
Here is the potential outline for the next couple of chapters in the tale of indianapolis. Bob Morgan of the Charlotte chamber will tell you that Charlotte is ambitious, not to a fault but just enough to be assertively aspirational. Indianapolis needs to be equally aggressive in promoting its brand.
* Though resources are very limited, direct them to where they do the most good. Don Welsh is the still-new CEO of the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association, an industry all-star recruited from Seattle. Don and his team need the resources to promote Indianapolis, and central Indiana, to the world. Don specifically targets conventions and leisure travelers but in the process he trumpets our brand around the globe. Either directly or indirectly this benefits every Hoosier.
* Establish a 10-year, or longer, plan for central Indiana that establishes a single set of priorities for business leaders, civic and political leaders to promote. In Charlotte, everyone from the school superintendent (who runs a consolidated city-county school system) to the Mayor to the chamber president to the Charlotte USA president, said the same thing about what Charlotte was trying to do. They sing the same song, on key, from the same hymnal.
* Continue to make Indianapolis the kind of place that attracts people. We need to use the “P” word – progressive. We need strong schools including our universities and community colleges (what a terrific job Tom Snyder and his team have done at Ivy Tech), cultural amenities (kudos to Brian Payne for the Cultural Trail), continued support for our magnificent downtown (a shout-out to Tamara Zahn and Indianapolis Downtown for their great work), a mass transit plan built around economic development (a gold star to Mark Miles and CICP, and the Indianapolis Chamber, for all the work done on the Central Indiana Transit Task Force) and far, far less time spent on protecting tired-old townships and debating smoking bans (we should have passed a comprehensive ban a long, long time ago).
* Finally, expand our circle of civic engagement to include younger people, greater diversity, small businesses and regional partners.
Lets’ take our learnings to make Indy USA an even more vibrant place to live with a higher quality of life for all people. Let’s work to welcome Charlotte come back a third time because they want to write a story just like ours.
Written by:
Bill Corley, GICC 2009 Chairman & CEO Emeritus, Community Health Network
Roland Dorson, President of GICC
Dec. 2009
Members of the Indianapolis business community and the general public are encouraged to attend one of three rallies this weekend to show your support for the new Wishard Hospital.
Saturday, Oct. 31 Citizens for Wishard is hosting three rallies at the following locations.
- Cancer Survivors Park 985 Indiana Ave. – 10:30 a.m.
- City Market 222 E. Market St . – 11:30 p.m.
- Devington Plaza 6004 E. 46th St . – 12:30 p.m.
The Indianapolis Chamber has been a strong supporter of this effort, and we encourage everyone to vote early, or on November 3rd in favor of Wishard.
Vote Early at the following satellite polling places until November 1:- Center Township Health Plex 860 W. 10th St.
- Devington Plaza 6004 E. 46th St.
- Beech Grove Community/Tech Center 5249 Hornet Ave.
- Clerk's Office, City/County Building 200 E Washington St.
Weekday hours: Mon.- Fri. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Weekend hours: Sat., Oct. 31; Sun., Nov. 1; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Visit
www.wishardyes.org for additional details.
Please remember that Tuesday, Nov. 3 is Election Day. Vote at your regular polling place.
Marion County polls are open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The race is on! Indianapolis bloggers are now using social media to test the best, by voting for our favorite Hoosier blogs. If this is news to you, then you probably aren’t LinkedIn to Linking Indiana, or many other bloggers who are promoting another survey called “Top 50 Indiana Blogs.”
To weigh cast your “favorite blogs” visit:
Top 50 Indiana Blogs
Voting will end on November 11th 2009. This survey is sponsored by Indy Chamber Member Brandswag and Roundpeg.
Or LinkedIn Members can join “Linking Indiana” and take the survey at:
2009 Indiana's Favorite Blog contest
We’re pleased to see that many of our members are listed as the Top Bloggers in Indianapolis. Many are finding blogs as a way to share business information, publisize events, and network beyond those valuable face-to-face meetings.
This blog – the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s social media site – is listed. While a vote for the Indy Chamber blog as your favorite site is important to us, we really want to hear from our members about topics and white papers that help advance our ability to mobilize the business community to build economic success in central Indiana.
Have a suggestion? Please send me your thoughts…
Joel Reuter
Vice President, Communications
Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
jreuter@indylink.com
The Indianapolis Private Industry Council (IPIC), WorkOne and IndyHub have partnered to present a series of free programs geared to young business professionals. Career Compass for the Creative Class is a four-part series covering topics of interest to business professionals, ages 21 to 40, who are actively seeking new employment or looking for ways to enhance their careers in Indianapolis. More than 100 young professionals in Indianapolis attended the first event in August, titled “Brand Yourself.” The second event in the series, “Back to School”, is planned for Wednesday, Sept. 23.
“Career Compass for the Creative Class was designed to offer practical guidance and advice to young professionals who want to succeed in the workplace,” said Brooke Huntington, president and CEO of IPIC. “These events are intended to help them through the process of finding a job, seeking additional education, and branding themselves, so they can truly stand out in today’s competitive work environment.”
The second event, titled “Back to School” is scheduled for Sept. 23 from 6-8:30 p.m. at the IUPUI Campus Center. Created with young business professionals and the ever changing job market in mind, the goal of this event is to help those interested in earning an advanced degree or obtaining a certification to enhance their job search or career advancement. The event will provide insight on programs available in Indianapolis, the logistics of completing a degree while maintaining a work-life balance and opportunities for financial aid.
“Back to School” will include a panel of local young business professionals who either have earned an advanced degree or are in the process of completing their degree or certification. Representatives from Indianapolis raduate programs will also be on hand to share information and answer questions. To register, e-mail karissa@indyhub.org on or before Sept. 21. There is no charge for the event, but seating is limited.
Two more events are planned for the series and scheduled to take place in October and November. Topics will include how to rebound from a recent job loss and hot industry sectors in Central Indiana. More information is available at www.indyhub.org.
"Social Media isn't a fad it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate." Socialnomics09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8 What do you see in the video?
A lot of businesses in Indianapolis have seen a medium in which they can take hold and
thrive their business. The Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce is one such business.
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Smaller Indiana are just a few social media groups busninesses and the Chamber are realizing they can utilize for marketing and networking.
Businesses are using these social networks to contact their membership/customer base, advertise sales,post events and much more. If a busniess has an idea that it wants to get out to the global population they can "tweet" it on Twitter,or post it on Facebook. Businesses can post an event to network with Indiana businesses, to Indylink.com or Smaller Indiana, two of the social media sites that reach Indiana and Indianapolis.
This technological time that we live in now gives all businesses, no matter what size, endless opportunities to thrive and build their customer base and business network. The ability to grow in cooperation and expand the global market has never been more available to the "mom and pop" business as it has been to the large corporations as it is right now. Social Media has given businesses the sky and there seems to be no limit in sight.
More and more, I'm getting questions regarding networking events in Indianapolis. Where are they? Who puts them on? Do they work?
I can honestly say, networking events do work! I've been to many different events in Indianapolis where I have witnessed business relationships being formed. People meet, they exchange business cards they talk a few times and.... ta-da!!! Those relationships become actual business!
I love when a Chamber member comes up to me and tells me how they got three new clients at our last Power Networking event. Or, how someone ran into an old colleague at Business After Hours, and now they're going to do some consulting work for them. Or, even better, in the case of our Indianapolis networking groups program, Local Links, a group of local professionals become the best referral network someone has had in a long time!
Successes like these remind me that what the Indy Chamber is doing for Indy businesses is powerful and beneficial.
So, to answer all the questions...
Do networking events work? YES!
Who puts them on? The Indianapolis Chamber!
Where you can find out about them? indychamber.com
A quick glance at our events calendar shows six networking opportunities in the next six weeks. Whoa! That's a lot!
I hope to see you there!
It is that time of year again - back to school. Did I hear a *sigh*? With the tight economy many retailers are offering prices for school supplies that look more like 1979 vs. 2009. But businesses in Indianapolis and the surrounding area can also take advantage of some deep discounts. By being a member of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of COmmerce you can save 20-60% annually on office supplies, furniture and technology equipment thanks to the Chamber's partnership with Office Depot. Also, as a value add for employees of Chamber member companies, this same can be transfered to employees for their household and school supply needs.
Check out http://www.indychamber.com/officedepot.asp for more information and when the school bell rings - you will be ready to go!
Mayor Greg Ballard and Scott Miller, CEO of Indianapolis Economic Development are leading a delegation of business and community leaders to Brazil in search of jobs and technology to benefit the city and help grow its clean energy industry. The delegation will meet with business leaders, government officials, and researchers in São Paulo, Campinas, and Rio de Janeiro from July 27 through July 31. Brazil was chosen as the destination because of its leadership in the utilization of alternative energy, particularly biofuels, and energy conservation. Brazil became completely energy independent in 2006 and serves as a role model for countries across the globe. Want more information? Click here.
"The future of Indianapolis lies in human capital."
This is one of the points that Roland Dorson, the President of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce hit upon at the Chamber event "Breakfast with the President" which was held at the Capital Grille June 18th.
Human capital struck me as the most crucial point in the presentation. It is human capital that moves businesses to network. Human capital, is what allows businesses the ability to recognize and utilize the newest forms of technology today. Human capital is the very thing that makes the new technology that will take us into the future. It is the human equation in business that makes a city marketable. That will make networking businesses in Indianapolis possible. How human friendly is Indianapolis? What does our job market, economy, schools, neighborhoods, parks, etc look like, especially to people that do not work and reside in Indianapolis? Does the human capital in Indianapolis look appealing? It is up to us as a business community to be accountable for moving Indianapolis in a positive direction of growth.
The Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce recognizes and is utilizing their human capital, their employees and volunteers, as well as up-to-date technology for networking businesses in Indianapolis to help the city grow, helping to create jobs and a tighter knit community.
Indianapolis seems to be at a precipice of either pushing through that veil of economic uncertainty or becoming stagnate and stifled to the point of backward momentum. But, at this very moment, in these hard economic times, businesses have a unique opportunity at their fingertips. If you as a decision maker in your business recognize and attract the best possible human capital for Indianapolis it will take us into a new era of prosperity.
From the Common Goal guest blogging team, Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
One of the best things the Chamber does for our Indianapolis community is in our work to raise the Marion County high school graduation rate from 70% to 80% over a four-year period. The Common Goal program is still in its early stages, but we’re already seeing progress and we are pleased that a wide range of Indy business and community leaders have joined with educators from all Marion County school districts in this effort.
Our task force meets regularly to discuss progress and best practices of the six interventions used in the program. At last week’s meeting, we were thrilled to have the new State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Tony Bennett, join us and give his perspective on the state of education in Indiana.
Dr. Bennett wants to build bridges with local superintendents and principals and focus on solutions rather than just talk about the problems in education.
He agreed with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan that we should be for everything that kids hate. He wants our kids to be in school longer every day, every week, and every year. “Students around the world are in school a lot longer than ours and for us to catch up, education needs to look a heck of a lot different in the next 10 years. More instructional time is just a start.”
He stressed the importance of improving teacher quality and making a diploma more meaningful. “The way we train teachers to teach kids and get a meaningful diploma will take a different type of teacher than today.”
He discussed tackling the reading issue – that if we don’t, we will continue to fall further behind, and the math issue – he suggested another year of math in high school.
Finally, he talked about our school boards and the need for folks from Indiana commerce to run for school board seats and for employers to encourage this level of participation from their employees.
Dr. Bennett’s discussion was enlightening and his passion for education was obvious. It was also good that our Common Goal Task Force was able to share our goals and progress with the state’s education leader. Common Goal is definitely becoming a more widely known program, which will likely increase its chances for success.
The meeting marked the first full year of Common Goal multiple intervention activities. All of the interventions were highlighted, but several key messages were delivered, including Graduation Coaches and their immediate impact on students this past year in several locations. There are 11 graduation coaches working in nine high schools in Marion County. The mentoring program and the plan to bring the management “inside” the Chamber for the coming school year were shared. There is a goal to provide better communication and partnering with the program going forward. The summer internship program, administered by Indiana INTERNnet, was highlighted with 41 at-risk students participating this summer. Summer interns are provided jobs with Common Goal providing the funding to the employer and to the student.
It was a great meeting and a great way to close out the school year. Of course, there is always something happening with the Indy Chamber and with Common Goal. Look for our next Common Goal quarterly e-newsletter at the end of June on our Indy Chamber Web site at www.indychamber.com . I’ll try to blog more soon.
Business at the Brickyard, presented by Office Depot, is in less than a month! On Wednesday, July 22, the Brickyard Crossing will be full of attendees, volunteers and staff all enjoying a day full of great golf, great food, and great opportunities to form valuable business relationships.
I was just out at Brickyard Crossing today to finalize some details, and the BYC staff is
really looking forward to this event. It's always nice to see people besides myself excited about one of the Chamber's great business networking events! And, because I know how hard the BYC staff has to work the day of the event, I'm grateful they look forward to it each year.
Past attendees already proclaim that Business at the Brickyard is the premiere business golf outing in the Indianapolis Community. Personally, I think Business at the Brickyard is one of the best events in Indy period!
It's going to be a lot of work for the next four weeks, but it will be worth it!
I hope to see you there!
From guest blogger Mark Fisher, Director of Government Relations, Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
Legislature at Crossroads as House Democrat Budget Heads to Republican-Controlled Senate
The Special Session of the Indiana General Assembly kicked into high gear last week as Senate Republicans prepared their version of the state budget one day after the House passed a 1-year budget on a 52-48 party-line vote.
In a series of contentious, drawn-out Ways and Means hearings, the House managed to craft a 1-year budget that included a school funding formula that protects school districts with declining enrollment, while capping the expansion of charter schools to one new school per year, per district—effectively jeopardizing the state’s ability to compete for billions of dollars in federal Race to the Top stimulus grants.
In addition, the same committee managed to load on enough partisan amendments and pork into HB 1002, the bill addressing the CIB shortfall, that the bill’s author, Ways and Means Chair Bill Crawford (D-Indianapolis) withdrew the bill before a vote, thus putting the ball in the Senate’s court for consideration.
In response, the Senate Republicans offered their own version of the budget Friday afternoon that restored the budget to the traditional 2-year form, removed the caps on charter schools, reworked the school funding formula to balance the needs of districts with increasing and decreasing enrollments and included a solution to the CIB funding shortfall (though it included adding state representation to the CIB, the proposal did not include merging entities as proposed by Governor Daniels).
While the two budgets seemed far apart, many legislators seemed rather optimistic that a compromise could be reached and a budget would be sent to the governor before the June 30 deadline. All this has some speculating that a deal is in the works between House Democrats and Senate Republicans to pass something before the deadline regardless of the governor’s wishes.
A deal notwithstanding, the Senate leadership has ordered the drafting of a continuing resolution authorizing the governor to keep the doors open and lights on of state government if a budget is not passed by next Tuesday (something that has not happened in 140 years). The Senate reconvenes Monday afternoon to consider amendments to the budget, which is expected to pass the Senate Tuesday, with conference set for later this week. If a deal is struck, the legislature could adjourn as early as Thursday. If we are at square one, expect a long, hot summer of discontent at the Indiana Statehouse!
Find out How a Bill Becomes a Law
From guest blogger Mark Fisher, Director of Government Relations, Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
The Indiana General Assembly is entering a Special Session to accomplish in three weeks what they could not accomplish in four months: craft a state budget.
Facing a $1 billion+ budget shortfall, the major points of contention in the budget will be:
- 1-year budget (favored by House Democrats) vs. traditional 2-year budget (favored by Senate and House Republicans and Governor Daniels)
- Changes made to the school funding formula
- Use of Federal Stimulus dollars, particularly for school funding
- Proposed caps on charter schools and restrictions on school choice tax credits
- Extent to which the state will rely on its $1.3 billion surplus
- A proposed solution to the Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board (see the overview below)
Overview of CIB proposal:
- The Capital Improvement Board (CIB) and Marion County Building Authority (MCBA) will be integrated into a new entity, which will operate the 13 facilities within their jurisdictions
- The city will provide a credit backup (moral obligation) to cover the debt service reserve account for the CIB. The state will provide a secondary back up moral obligation to the city’s moral obligation.
- Revenue increases from increasing three taxes previously proposed: hotel, admissions, rental car, and from an expanded Professional Sports Development Area (PSDA)
Proposal does NOT include:
- Alcoholic beverage tax
- Gaming
- PSDA expansion beyond the estimated tax revenues from the new JW Marriott
- Food and beverage tax
Additional information can be found here: http://www.in.gov/gov/files/Press/060409_CIB.pdf.
With Senate President Pro Tem, Sen. David Long (R- Ft. Wayne), clearing the docket of any issue not directly linked to the budget (read: gaming), expect a long fight over the allocation of scarce resources. It is a race against the clock, and your Chamber advocates will be there every step of the way.
Follow the action through our weekly Legislative Updates found here: http://www.indychamber.com/governmentAffairs.asp.
From guest blogger Melissa Todd, Director of Communications and Real Estate, Indianapolis Economic Development, Inc. www.indianapoliseconomicdevelopment.com
Are you searching for a new career opportunity with an Indianapolis Business? Here's an event in Indy that you may want to attend. The Indianapolis Career Fair 2009, sponsored by Mayor Ballard, on June 23 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium. More than 40 employers offering as many as 675 jobs have already signed up to participate and more are signing up every day!
In addition to meeting with employers, you can attend workshops that will provide some business education - everything from honing interview skills to taking advantage of new job search techniques to applying for financial aid for education. All of the details are available at www.indycareerfair09.com.
If you’re a business in Indianapolis, with open jobs, I hope you will also consider participating. It’s not too late for employers and job seekers to register!
About IEDI
Indianapolis Economic Development, Inc. is Marion County’s local economic development organization. IEDI is dedicated to providing business attraction; existing business retention and expansion; and location services in Indianapolis/Marion County, serving as a catalyst for capital investment and quality job growth.
I haven't been to an Indiana Fever game in a couple of years. I'm not sure why not because I really enjoyed myself the last time I went. The women were quite impressive and I remember thinking to myself that these women were not only amazing athletes, but also strong business women in Indianapolis who care about their community. I'm going to a game this year.
The Indianapolis Chamber is teaming up with the Indiana Fever and Mayor Ballard to win supplies worth $25,000 for a Reading & Learning Center for our community. Our goal is to sell a combined total of 10,000 tickets to five Fever games. If we sell the most tickets out of all the WNBA teams, the Reading & Learning Center supplies are ours. And we need them. As well, each ticket sold helps support Common Goal, the Chamber's initiative to raise graduation rates in Marion County. A win, win for all. The details are below:
Game dates:
Sunday, June 7 at 7 p.m. vs. Minnesota
Friday, June 12 at 7 p.m. vs. Los Angeles
Saturday, June 27 at 7 p.m. vs. New York
Friday, July 17 at 7 p.m. vs Atlanta
Thursay, July 30 at 7 p.m. vs. Connecticut
Ticket costs:
Club level $14 ($4 back to Common Goal)
Lower level $20 ($6 back to Common Goal)
To buy tickets:
Head to FeverBasketball.com and click on the Inspire Indy link. Follow the prompts and remember to use the special offer code: INSPIRE. *Please note that you must purchase your tickets in advance from this website to be counted toward our goal.
I'm going to a game this year. Why would I not go? I'm not only raising money for an important cause and supporting Indianapolis women in business, but I'm going to have a good time! I'm taking my friends and making a night of it. Does anyone else want to join me?
See photos of the Inspire Indy press conference with Fever player, Katie Douglas and Mayor Ballard.
Read about how these Indianapolis women in business are helping to shape our community.
In today’s changing economic climate, businesses in Indianapolis must develop innovative and creative ways to attract customers to help drive commerce.
It’s become quite apparent to me within the last couple of weeks that marketers are becoming a lot more aware of the messages that are being conveyed online via users of social media networks. As many of you may or may not know, the Indianapolis Chamber has recently taken that to the next level, utilizing social networking applications to promote Indianapolis Business development with tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and our own IndyLink.
Using tools like Twitter and IndyLink, the Chamber has been able to provide our members with a more diverse and up to the minute status report of new Chamber members, releases from those same members, or the Chamber itself.
In closing, I would like to encourage all businesses big or small in the greater Indianapolis community to take advantage of social networking sites to help get the word out about your product or service.
The Indianapolis Chamber does A LOT of events in Indy each year (70+!). And, the Events Team gets to see a lot of different event venues. (BIG thank you to our members who host these events for us!)
The Indy Community is lucky. We aren't stuck with just hotel ballrooms or membership halls when it comes to planning events in Indianapolis. There are a bunch of really unique venues in town!
As we move forward in planning events for 2010 and 2011, I'd like to know: What is your favorite place to attend and/or host an event at?
Ever since my first Indianapolis 500 experience, I have been hardcore, majorly in love with the Month of May in Indianapolis. Heck - I became so enamored with it, I ended up working in the racing industry for a year or so!
Once May arrives on the calendar, I personally think one of the best places for business in Indianapolis is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. From corporate suites to hospitality days, there is a lot of business being done at the track. In fact, I could recently have been overheard exclaiming, "I love the track! It's like one, big networking event!" (And we all know how much I love networking events in Indianapolis!)
Business professionals in Indy are lucky to have such a unique venue to entertain clients and colleagues. And, the city of Indianapolis benefits from having the world's largest, one-day sporting event in its backyard.
Are you interested in learning more about the great networking and hospitality benefits involved with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
Find out more here. The Indianapolis Chamber is proud to have the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as one of its long-time members. And, keep your eyes peeled for more information about the Office Depot Day at the Track taking place on July 24! We'll be networking - Chamber style!
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