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 Weekly Feature
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THE LATEST LOCAL ECONOMIC NEWS
The most recent Economic Dashboard for Muskingum County area shows that unemployment was 7.3% in March, which is a slight drop from 7.7% in February. The current rate in Ohio is 5.4%. Also, home sales year-to-date are 60% above the same period in 2015. Retail sales dipped by 10% in March, while new car and truck sales rose significantly. For the complete dashboard visit the Chamber website. The dashboard is a set of current local economic indicators produced by the Chamber, the Muskingum County Library System and iTrack, LLC.
In national economic news, Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2016, according to the April 28 advance or first estimate by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. This follows a growth rate of 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015. According to Investopepdia.com, Gross domestic product is one of the primary indicators used to gauge the health of a country's economy. It represents the total dollar value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period - you can think of it as the size of the economy.
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Business Resources & News
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LOCAL DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE
The Port Authority has issued an updated demographic profile for Muskingum County. It includes statistics such as population change, average earnings, employment by industry, commuting patterns and more. The full report can be found at the Port Authority website.
SMALL BUSINESS RULE RELIEF BILLS INTRODUCED
It's no secret that government issued rules can have a severe impact on small businesses. For nearly a year, the Ohio Small Business Council (OSBC) has been working on ideas aimed at improving the state agency rule-making and rule-review process. Based on suggestions from OSBC members, two pieces of legislation, Senate Bill 303 and House Bill 503, were recently introduced.
Visit the Ohio Chamber website for more information.
VIOLENCE IN YOUR WORKPLACE
Bethany Hayes, an investigator or the Muskingum County Prosecutor's Office, provided a riveting presentation this week at the Safety Council meeting about how to respond to a crisis at your business involving a violent attack. As a follow up that may help those who could not attend, here is a New York Times article advising you what you should do if this ever occurs.
TRAINING FUNDING AVAILABLE
Job training funding is currently available from OhioMeansJobs-Muskingum County. Participation in this program - appropriately called On-The-Job-Training (OJT) - is simple. You agree to hire eligible employees and OhioMeansJobs will reimburse you up to 50% of their wages for up to 3 months, or a possible 6 months with an extensive training plan. There is minimal paperwork, quick turn-around for approvals, and employers make all the hiring decisions. More information is available at www.zmchamber.com, or you can contact contact Justy or Debbie at 740.454.6211 or email [email protected] or [email protected].
6 WAYS TO SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM YOUR COMPETITION
What makes you different from your competitor? Why should a potential customer give you the time of day when they already have too much on their plate? There's a reason why customers don't see value in salespeople, because to be quite blunt, most salespeople don't bring value. To many customers, there's zero difference between salespeople and, therefore, it doesn't matter who they deal with. If you sell in a commodity-oriented business or an industry with a lot of competition, you must stand out. You must stand out to give the customer a reason to want to buy from you and, more importantly, a reason why they should refer you to others. Read more from Mark Hunter at The Sales Hunter Blog.
ZIKA VIRUS AND OUTDOOR WORKERS
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advising employers to redouble their efforts to protect workers-especially those whose jobs are outdoors-from the Zika virus. the CDC is urging all organizations that employ outdoor workers to be aware of the risks of exposure to Zika through mosquito bites and to train workers on how to best protect themselves. Read more on the SHRM website.
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Chamber Updates & Services
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NEW COMMUNITY PROMOTION VIDEOS
A series of brief videos has been produced by our Convention & Visitors Bureau and we think you will enjoy them. The first has been released on social media and you can view it at
https://youtu.be/gmmj8jP9kUU
. The remaining three promotional videos will be released in the coming weeks.
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
The Zanesville Jaycees are seeking young business people
who want to get involved in their organization and its many civic projects. The Chamber and the Jaycees have a unique and close partnership - the local Jaycees organization was founded in 1920 as the "Junior Chamber" (or J.C. which evolved into the term Jaycees) to serve as a complement to our Chamber of Commerce. Learn more at
http://www.zanesvillejaycees.org/
BUILDING FUTURE WORKFORCE
The Student-Business Connector (SBC) is a still fairly new project that seeks to improve the local workforce long term and inform young people about career options by exposing them to the world of work. This is accomplished by publishing a directory of the opportunities you as employers offer such as internships, job shadowing, and co-op programs. Visit
http://www.zmchamber.com/student-business-connector.html
to learn more.
SPRING GOLF OUTING
The Chamber's spring golf outing will be held on May 31, 2016. The outing will be held at The Virtues Golf Club (formerly Longaberger) with lunch at 11:30 am and shotgun start at 12:30 pm. For more information including prices and sponsorship option contact Dana Matz at
[email protected]
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