In a few weeks Springfield will welcome the Ohio Women’s Bowling Association conference and annual tournament.

 And I mean “Welcome” with a capital “W”. 
This conference and 13-weeks of tournaments will infuse nearly $1 million into our local economy, thanks to the more than 5,000 bowlers who will be attending the conference and competing in the weekend tournaments.

You might be surprised to know that the tourism industry is our largest employer – with about 4,500 individuals dependent upon visitors for their livelihood. So you can see why this is a huge win for our community.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau began working with the OWBA about three years ago to encourage them to bring their conference and tournament here. The CVB created a custom package for organizers, helped them with the arrangements, gave them a free overnight site tour package and agreed to pay for the lane monitors if the tournament came here.

Of course none of this could have happened without local OWBA members, such as Vickie Sibole, Springfield district WBA president, who were huge cheerleaders for Springfield and worked with the CVB to make the right connections and customize the package to make it attractive to organizers.

Thanks to Vickie and the other local representatives, more than $900,000 will be infused in our economy from the tournament, the hotel rooms, food, etc.

Regional and state conferences and events like these provide unlimited potential for us, especially since we now have additional conference space at the Hollenbeck-Bayley Creative Arts and Conference Center downtown.

If you belong to an organization that holds regional or state events, conferences or annual meetings, Chris Schutte or Kelly Mori at the CVB would love to meet with you about bringing that event to Greater Springfield.

You can contact them at CSchutte@greaterspringfield.com or KMori@greaterspringfield.com

You can also visit us on our  Facebook page.

Have a great Chamber day!

Shortly after taking office last year, the governor’s office created the Common Sense Initiative (CSI) to help eliminate unnecessary regulatory road blocks for Ohio businesses and businesses that might be looking to locate here.
In July, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor appointed Dan Young, CEO of Young’s Jersey Dairy, to serve on the nine-member Small Business Advisory Council – established to advise the governor’s office on the adverse effects of government regulations on Ohio’s small businesses.

The SBAC meets quarterly to review regulations that could be considered excessive, duplicative or create costly barriers to small and growing Ohio businesses. The committee’s goal is not to eliminate regulations but to help remove unnecessary barriers while still protecting the health and safety of all Ohioans.

Before CSI, businesses were notified of new regulations after the fact and oftentimes as a small item in the newspaper. Now those regulations must meet a list of criteria, seeking input from representatives for business owners who would be affected by the bill or law before it is enacted.

One example of that success was announced in December, when an Avon Ohio company stated it was expanding, thanks in part to the CSI’s action to repeal an old Ohio law that prevented the company from being competitive with neighboring states.

Custom Culinary, which includes wine and beer in some of its sauce recipes, was bogged down by a 1930s law that required manufacturers to purchase alcohol additives through retail outlets (at retail prices) instead of at wholesale.

The company faced a possible downsizing because of its inability to compete with its competitors in other states. The law was repealed this year and the company announced it will expand its facility and add 17 new jobs,

Young, in partnership with the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, is reaching out through the chamber’s legislative committee to local businesses for suggestions on bills or regulations to bring before the Small Business Advisory Council.

Any local business that would like to suggest a review of a specific bill or regulation may contact Dan Young at danyoung@youngsdairy.com.

Please limit your email to specific bills or regulations for the SBAC committee to review.

More information about the Common Sense Initiative can be found at www.governor.ohio.gov/CSI.

Have a great Chamber day!

We were all saddened to hear the news that one of our community’s strongest advocates passed away just days before Christmas.
Jim McGregor, vice chairman of McGregor Metalworking Companies, died Tuesday while traveling home from a business trip.

Jim was a very influential business owner and a true leader, not only on a local level, but also on a state and federal level, winning many awards for leadership and training.

He had been a strong advocate for small businesses and manufacturing and served on the President’s Manufacturing Council in the Bush and Obama administrations.

He was a former member of the chamber board and generously supported the arts and other community related initiatives and projects. For that, his company was presented the chamber’s first Golden Leaf Award in 2007.
He was especially passionate about education. When the Springfield City School District failed three times to pass a levy to rebuild its school buildings, it was Jim who engaged the business community to rally behind the cause and help the schools pass the $160 million levy in 2006.

It is safe to say that Jim McGregor had been a part of almost every big project or important initiative that has happened in Springfield over the past couple of decades. You simply don’t replace a person like that.

We are thankful for the time that Jim spent around the table on behalf of many trying to get a deal done to help move the community forward!

I will miss seeing him around the chamber board room table, in his workout clothes every other Monday morning debating the issues of the day and trying to figure out how to move us forward.

That is the Jim McGregor I remember. He will be sorely missed.

Our condolences to Nancy and the entire family.

Visitation is today from 4 to 7 p.m. at Richards Raff and Dunbar Funeral Home, 838 E. High St.
A memorial service will be held Tuesday, at 11 a.m. at Christ Episcopal Church, 409 East High St.

As we come to the end of another year, it’s good to spend some time reflecting on the past 12 months.

Unfortunately though, many of us spend the majority of that time berating ourselves for the things we would have, could have, or should have done.

I propose that this year, we turn that  on its head.

I’ll start things off with Greater Springfield’s “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” list for 2011:

Here it goes:

• We would’ve saved a lot of time, energy and sleepless nights if we hadn’t built the National Road Commons last year. But we went ahead and did it, creating a beautiful downtown green space that will be a catalyst for downtown redevelopment as we go into 2012.
• We could’ve given up on trying to encourage companies like Thirty One Gifts and others to expand their operations in Springfield. But we pursued them anyway and as a result saw them bring more than 1,000 new jobs to our community and hope to many families.
• We should’ve realized it would take a lot of extra work to get the Buy Springfield program off the ground. But with the leadership of Monte Zinn and the collaboration of dozens of local businesses and sponsors, we’ve seen this program grow to where it is going to make a significant economic impact in our community.

Now it’s your turn to make your list:

For example:

• Could you have taken shortcuts with your company this year but decided instead to do the right thing for your employees or employer and yourself?
• Would you have enjoyed sitting on the couch and watching hours of television every evening, but decided instead to push yourself out the door to exercise?

• Should you have known it would be hard work to give excellent customer service this year but gave it anyway and saw your business grow?

As we enter this week of gift giving, I hope you’ll give yourself the gift of forgiveness for what you didn’t get done this year.  Spend time with your family and count your blessings.

You’ll have plenty of time to start a new list in 2012.

From our Chamber family to yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Does where you shop really matter?

If you ask Springfield business owner David Garrett he’ll respond with a resounding “yes.”

The owner of Garrett Jewelers is celebrating his 30th anniversary as a small business owner in Springfield. In a newspaper article this week, he credited his success to one thing: Loyal customers. In other words, customers who have made it a conscious choice to spend their money where they live, work and play.

That’s why we believe the Buy Springfield program is so important – especially during this holiday season.

Our local businesses- both locally owned and national chains – need our support. They provide jobs for our neighbors, sales tax revenue for county services and property tax revenue for our schools.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that over the last few weeks we’ve been getting the Buy Springfield message out in a big way, thanks to some great local businesses that are helping to sponsor our billboard, television and newspaper ad campaign. Other businesses are showing their support by proudly displaying the Buy Springfield window clings and posters in their place of business.

If you’ve yet to pick up your free window cling, stop by the Chamber offices this week at 20 S. Limestone St.
If you would like additional Buy Springfield materials, such as free tent cards and posters, call the Chamber at 325-7621.

And don’t forget – receive a significant discount on your newspaper, radio and television business ad by asking for a “Buy Springfield” discount.

By keeping our Holiday shopping dollars in our community, we can help keep our local economy strong.

Have a great Chamber day!

Visitors to Saturday’s Holiday in the City celebration will have a chance to see our two newest downtown retailers: Itsy Fits children’s boutique and Dollar Days General Store.

The General Store, which is going into the renovated first floor of the historic Bushnell Building, will open just days before Saturday’s free holiday celebration. The store will carry a wide variety of items including party supplies, balloons and gifts

Brother and sister team, Scott Wiseman and Felicia McAfee said they are excited to open their business in the former Wren Department store site where their parents shopped when they were children. We’re happy they’ve decided that location as well and welcome them to the downtown.

Itsy Fits is located at 10 N. Fountain Ave., just two doors down from Gourmet Gift Baskets. Owned by husband and wife, Adam and Holly Overholser, the upscale baby and children’s boutique is the area’s only Mud Pie and Ruffle Butts retailer.

Adam spoke to me about doing something downtown about a year ago so it’s great to see the next generation stepping up and making it happen.

I hope you’ll stop in and check out these two new stores, as well as the temporary pop-up shop, Running with Scissors, in the Heritage Center. I’m sure you’ll be as excited as I am to see new stores invest in our downtown.

Afterward, take some time to enjoy the other sites of Holiday in the City, such as the Vintage Christmas Village, SantaLand, carriage rides and more.

And of course you’ll want to stick around for the arrival of Santa, the grand illumination of downtown and the grand finale by Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks.

Center City Association’s Holiday in the City is a great gift to our residents. I hope you’ll take advantage of it. You’ll be glad you did.

Have a happy Thanksgiving and a great Chamber day!

Congratulations to Jeff Wyler Springfield Auto Mall for being awarded the 2011 Chamber Gold Leaf Award during Thursday’s Golden Leaf Gala, held at the Hollenbeck Bayley Creative Arts and Conference Center.

The Golden Leaf Award was formed by the Chamber Board five years ago to give special recognition to those chamber member companies and their leaders who are making a difference by their outstanding contributions both to the Chamber and to the Greater Springfield community around them.

This year we were happy to honor CEO, Jeff Wyler, the Springfield Auto Mall and its general manager Jay Lawrence, for doing just that! They have been the presenting sponsor of the Chamber’s Open for the past four years and have been very instrumental in advancing the Buy Springfield campaign.

They have also been very involved in helping numerous local non-profits and charitable organizations. Through their “Care It’s For Kids” program, the dealership supports Clark County Juvenile Court programs that are helping our area’s challenged children…kids that are victims of abuse or neglect…kids that have, or might, commit criminal offenses… kids that don’t, or may not have the parental support that is so important in their young lives.

Project Jericho, the Arts, Community Mercy Foundation, Nehemiah Foundation and the Heritage Center are just a few of the additional programs they support. They also provide vehicles for numerous local events and for the last eight years have provided mentors for local school children.

We’re happy that Jeff Wyler has chosen to do business in Springfield and we’re thankful the dealership has also chosen to do some good in Springfield. You can watch a video of the Care It’s for Kids here. Photos from the Golden Leaf Gala can be found on our Facebook page.

Have a great Chamber day!

Recently, David Zak, now former VP of Economic Development at the chamber, and I had the opportunity to visit China with a group from Chamber Explorations.  Our chamber partnered with the national travel planner to offer the community a chance to see China at almost half the normal cost.  The trip was eight days on land and included roundtrip airfare and 5 star accommodations in three major Chinese cities.

We flew from Los Angeles to Beijing (a city of 25 million people) and spent the first three days  there.  We stayed at The Marriott at the City Wall, which was the largest Marriott property in the world in 2008, with 1,336 rooms built for the Olympics.  We visited places like Olympic Village, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  We also visited one of the eight wonders of the world -The Great Wall!  David and I were two of the four in our group to make it to the top.  Chairman Mao’s famous quote can be seen at the base and says, “He who doesn’t reach the Great Wall isn’t a true man.”  The view was spectacular!  That is definitely one place that everyone should put on their bucket list.

The American Chamber in China
While in Beijing, David and I met with the CEO of the American Chamber and a top business attorney who both specialize in helping US companies do business in China.  During our conversation they outlined what the opportunities and challenges are for China as the country moves forward economically.  The opportunities are:

Fastest Growing Economy in the World
Top Worldwide Destination for Foreign Investment since 2002
2nd Largest Economy in the World after USA
Projected to be #1 Economy in the World by 2015
80% of US Companies doing business in China are Successful

The challenges facing China are:

One-Child Policy
Food Safety
Pollution
Corruption
Poor Schooling
Weak Legal System
Currency Manipulation
Inflation

Cranes everywhere
In China the natives call their national bird “The Crane”.  There is so much construction of skyscrapers and high rises that the skyline is littered with as many as 30 to 40 cranes in a given city.  Because of the Olympics coming to Beijing in 2008, the government simply tore down the old and built new.  And they did it in a huge way.  They brought in architects from all over the world to design top-of-the-line structures that the world has never seen before.  In certain areas, the skyline in both Beijing and Shanghai is magnificent.

We traveled from Beijing to Shanghai (2 hr. flight south) and then took a tour bus three hours farther south to Hangzhou to visit the famous Westlake and tea plantation.  It was a beautiful autumn day for a boat ride (80 degrees) with the city of 6 million people on one side and the mountains on the other.  We spent the night at a Crowne Plaza Resort and visited the last remaining Buddhist temple the next morning before heading back to Shanghai.

In Shanghai one night before David and I took a side excursion to Xian, we took a cab to the bund area to see the night skyline and visit the tallest building in Shanghai.  Once inside (not an easy thing to do), we were able to work our way up to the 94th floor to take some amazing pictures of the beautifully lit skyline of Shanghai. Shanghai is known as the Pearl (or Paris) of the East and boasts between 18 to 20 million people.  It truly is a site to see!

We left early the next morning (4 a.m.) for the airport to fly two more hours each way to Xian to see the Terracotta Warrior Museum and to visit the last City Wall in China that is 45 feet high, 60 feet wide and 10 miles square with a park and mote around it.  We definitely enjoyed the time at the museum, as well as our bike ride on the city wall.  However, it was a 16 hour day by the time we got back to our hotel in Shanghai.

Getting Shainghai’d
Our last day in Shanghai began with an American breakfast buffet at the Renaissance hotel, 25th floor with the rest of the day spent trying not to get shanghai’d at the Bazaar, which is a huge shopping area with street vendors in the Bund area.  We shopped “man style”, negotiating the best price we could on the various gifts that we wanted to bring home.  If you ever get the opportunity to go, it is a blast!  I have never had so much fun shopping for things I was not even looking to buy.  Whether it was trying to buy a Rolex watch we called Rolox, a Burberry of Shanghai bag, or a Louis Vuitton(ee) wallet, we had a great time!

As Forrest says, “That’s all I have to say about that!”  It was a great trip at a great price point for the community.  I hope that you will be able to take advantage of any future travel opportunities through Chamber Explorations that we might offer in the future.  If you want to see some great photos of the trip that I just described, simply go to this link on the web:

Have a great Chamber day!

As we all know, funding for our local governments has shrunk in this economy and is likely to shrink even more as the state continues to tighten its belt.

While we can’t do much about state funding, we can help bring in more dollars to our county without spending a penny more than we do now.

It’s called “Buy Springfield.”

When we spend our money for goods and/or services in Greater Springfield (which includes all of Clark County) that sales tax goes to our county government, paying for essential services such as the Sheriff’s department and the court system. That applies to whether the business is locally owned or a national chain.

So if we moved just some of our shopping from out of town to a local businesses, we can increase our county income without spending more.

We have a lot of opportunity here: Last year, for every $100 earned in Clark County, only $77 was spent in the County. Greene County, on the other hand, brought in about $112 for every $100 earned, thanks to out-of-town shoppers.

I’m not saying we can never enjoy a shopping trip out of town. But if each one of us just moved, even $10 a month from out of town to local, the impact would millions of dollars. The actual estimate is $6.8 million a year.

Christmas shopping is just around the corner.  I hope you’ll check out our local stores first, before you head out of town or on the Web.  If they don’t have it in stock many of our stores will ship your item to your home at no cost to you. And, according to our largest retailers, the more we shop here, the more inventory they will be permitted to carry.

It’s just another way we can pull together to make our community an even better place to live work and play.

Have a great Chamber Day!

Both of the CVB’s websites – www.VisitSpringfieldOhio.com and www.ECOSportsCorridor.com – have been named as finalists for the award.

The CVB previously received RUBY awards in 2009 for our Visitor’s Guide, and in 2010 for our website.