In The Kn
o
w
The Weekly Newsletter of The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce
Friday, January 24, 2020
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5th Annual Hank Kuzma Community Day Tomorrow!
It's an annual event that's become a Chamber member favorite. On Saturday, January 25th, from 1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce will partner with
Franciscan University of Steubenville
to host the 5th Annual Hank Kuzma Community Day. Chamber members and their guests, along with members of the University family, will gather to watch the Franciscan University ladies' and mens' basketball teams take on the University of Pittsburgh Bradford. Men play at 2 p.m. and women at 4 p.m.
It's a day of competition and community to remember the late Hank Kuzma and showcase Franciscan University's sports program. Mr. Kuzma was an important and exceptional part of both the University and Chamber of Commerce families for many years. This event brings together his family, University students, and staff and Chamber of Commerce members, along with their employees and families.
Stop by anytime to enjoy the games from the beautiful Baron Room overlooking the basketball courts in the Finnegan Field House, or get up close and personal and watch courtside. Tickets are on the house, compliments of Franciscan University's athletic department and this year's sponsors. The hospitality room will have refreshments throughout the day and admission is free. RSVP by clicking her or by calling the Chamber offices at 740.282.6226.
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Dates Set For The 2020
Tri-State Home & Garden Show
The Tri-State Home & Garden Show returns to the Ohio Valley for another year. Sponsored by
Wheelhouse Creative
, DeNoon Lumber, the Weirton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Jefferson County Chamber, this popular three-day event will be held at
St. Florian Event Center
, located at 286 Luray Drive in Wintersville, March 20th through the 22nd. This event is a great opportunity to showcase your business or organization to thousands of attendees from throughout the tri-state area and beyond. Chamber members receive a hefty discount on booth space and can take advantage of promoting their attendance through the Chamber's weekly newsletter and Eblast program.
For more information on becoming an exhibitor, please contact Rob Vandine, Mitch Vingle, or Brandi Waligura at Wheelhouse Creative by calling 304.905.6005. You may also email Rob at
rob@wheelhousecreativellc.com
. Download a printable flier and registration form by clicking
here
.
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The 2020 Tri-State Home & Garden Show is sponsored by:
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This Week's Featured Video
Which Papers Should a Business Keep?
And for how long?
If you're a business owner, it's easy to become buried under mountains and mountains of papers, especially if you want to keep good records and prevent gaps in your filing. So which papers should you keep and for how long? Today's videos sheds some light on these questions. As supplemental reading,
here's an article
that provides additional insight.
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Modern Marketing 101:
3 Ways to Get More Reviews for Your Small Business
Did you know that search engines factor in online reviews when determining which businesses to spotlight in search results for a local area? This is one reason why online reviews can enhance your business' profile.
SocialMediaToday
offers a helpful primer on how to earn those reviews and the recognition your business deserves.
From last week:
There are new social media platforms every day it seems, and the temptation is to sign your business up for all of them. But should you? Carlos Gil over at
Entrepreneur
gives you a few factors
to consider before jumping on the latest band(width)wagon.
If you missed or want to re-read any of our previous Modern Marketing 101 installments, click
here
. We encourage you to print, save, share, and add these articles and resources to your business or organization's social media marketing manual.
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Family Forward: Making Adoption Costs More Manageable
by Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague
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Adoption is a wonderful way for many people to start or grow their families. When prospective parents decide to adopt, they start down a path that will change their lives, and the life of a child, forever. They envision the joy and love that will fill their home. What they don’t expect is to encounter significant financial barriers.
Today in Ohio, prospective parents navigating the private adoption process can face costs ranging from $10,000 to over $50,000. Unfortunately, these costs often deter even the most compassionate prospective parents wishing to open their hearts and homes.
Cost shouldn’t stand in the way to the rewarding and fulfilling act of adoption.
That why I recently partnered with Representative Jon Cross (R – Kenton) to introduce legislation that establishes the Family Forward program. Through Family Forward, Ohioans seeking to adopt may be eligible for reduced interest loans for qualified adoption expenses up to $50,000. Some of these expenses include adoption agency expenses, court fees, and home studies.
Once implemented, applicants would work with an eligible lending institution to apply for a loan through Family Forward. Once the loan is approved, the Treasurer's office deposits funds with the lending institution at a below market rate. The lending institution then passes the interest savings on to the borrowers via a reduced interest rate on their loan.
Not only will a lower interest rate result in real savings for families, Family Forward loans also will help them meet and manage immediate adoption costs prior to receiving federal and state tax credits. By chipping away at financial barriers that can inhibit adoption, we can help more families take shape and welcome children into loving forever homes.
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2020 Chamber Golf Classic
It's not too early to start thinking warm temperatures and a great day of golf. Mark your calendars and start to round up your team for the Chamber's Annual Golf Classic!
Date:
Tuesday, May 19th, 2020
Time:
10 a.m. Shotgun Start
Watch your weekly In The Know for details.
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Chamber Billboard Available
for August
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The Chamber billboard located at the top of Market Street hill near Harding School has one vacancy available for 2020. If your non-profit, chamber member organization is interested, please contact the Chamber offices at 740.282.6226. The cost is just $300 for approximately 30 days and your artwork must be camera-ready.
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2020 Investor to Investor
Trade Fair
On Wednesday, February 5th, the Chamber will host one of its most popular networking and promotional events of the year. The 2020 Investor to Investor Trade Fair is designed to promote local and member-to-member spending. This event is a mini-trade fair with Chamber member exhibitors promoting their products and services in a casual "Business After Hours" setting. Enjoy great food and drink while browsing exhibits and displays from fellow Chamber members.
AND
one lucky attendee will win a marketing & media prize package valued at over $5,000!
Date
:
Wednesday, February 5th, 2020
Time
: 5 to 7 p.m.
Exhibit Space
:
$150 for a single space. $250 for a double space.
Guest Admission
:
$20 per person
RSVP or Register
:
Click
here
.
For more details and a printable registration form, click
here
. Deadline for registration is Friday, January 31st.
For more information:
Please contact the Chamber offices at 740.282.6226 or email Janet McLaughlin
here
.
Special Thanks to
Consumers National Bank
for signing on as this year's Investor To Investor Scavenger Hunt Sponsor!
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Member Morsels
Remember to visit individual member websites by clicking on the business name or logo.
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Naloxone Distribution
Addressing opioid overdose continues to be one of the most urgent public health priorities and making potentially lifesaving treatments more readily available is one of the top ways to address this crisis.
Naloxone is a critical tool for individuals, families, first responders, and communities to help reduce opioid overdose deaths.
Family Recovery Center's
goal of increasing access to naloxone is to make this potentially life-saving treatment available to individuals at risk of an overdose – such as those with a history of overdose or substance use disorder, friends and family of opioid users, first responders, and those in the community most likely to observe an overdose.
If you are interested in obtaining Naloxone, please stop in our office at 1010 N 6th Avenue in Steubenville.
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Carriage Inn "Soup"er Bowl Challenge is Back for 2020
Carriage Inn of Steubenville
will be hosting its Annual "Soup"er Bowl Challenge on Friday, January 31st, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at its Steubenville facility.
Round up your best soup recipe and vie for the title and grand prize of $250. Registration is just $10 with proceeds benefiting the Alzheimer's Foundation.
Admission to the event is $5 per person and includes unlimited soup, drinks, and crackers.
Contact Nancy Felton at 740.391.3311 for details or click
here
for a printable flier.
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Need Help with Your 2020 Marketing Plan?
Marketing is what drives sales; without sales, you don't make the money required to stay in business long-term. Having a marketing plan helps you focus on your goals, get your message across, and use your marketing dollars more effectively.
Have you gotten your plan down for 2020? Sometimes just talking with someone else will help you clarify your plans and help you grow your business in the direction you want it to go. Contact me, Tina Thompson, at 740.275.8699, and we can set up a meeting. In the meantime, check out our website
here
and our Facebook page
here
.
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Feature your business or organization's news or events in "Member Morsels" by completing a quick online form. Click below.
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Around the State. Around the Country.
Up-to-Date Information from the Ohio and United States Chamber of Commerce
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Mapping the Battleground:
Looking Ahead to Election Year 2020
It’s here! Election year 2020 has officially arrived. Yet admittedly, it feels like we’ve been on this national election cycle since 2016. But let’s leave the presidential race and talking points to the media and take a look at how down-ticket Ohio Statehouse races are shaping up.
Out of the 99 Ohio House seats, 17 incumbents are vacating their seats either due to term limits, retirement or attempts to run for other elected offices. The distribution of those open seats by party matches up with the current distribution in the House; 12 open seats are Republican-held districts and five are Democrat-held, and the Ohio house currently maintains a 64-member Republican supermajority. One interesting component to look at is how many “incumbents” appointed in the past year will be running for their seat for the first time. With nine of those new appointees (so far) this General Assembly, just over a quarter of all Ohio House districts will have relatively fresh names and faces running in those races in November.
On the Ohio Senate side, only half of the 33 districts are up in 2020 due to the four-year terms. Of those 16 even-numbered districts, five are open seats. All five of these open seats are red Republican districts, but the Ohio Democratic party is running a candidate in all 16 Senate races on the ballot in 2020. Just like the House, the Senate also has four members appointed in 2019 who will be running for reelection but will be on the ballot for their district for the first time.
Read the article in its entirety by clicking
here
.
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Supply and Demand Drives
Higher Wages for Lower Paid Workers
A six-figure salary at a fast food restaurant sounds too good to be true. But in today’s tight labor market it is a reality. Taco Bell will soon pay some restaurant managers $100,000 a year. This is great news for workers, especially those with fewer skills. In fact, wages for the lowest paid workers are now growing faster than for higher-paid workers.
The cause of these wage gains for less-skilled workers is clear. The labor market is tight, which means there are fewer and fewer workers to fill open positions. Businesses have to pay workers more to either attract new employees or retain current ones. Simple, old fashioned supply and demand is driving wages up.
Wages are not rising because restrictive immigrations policies are limiting the number of available workers, as some have argued. Rather, the workers filling jobs now are those that have been on the fringes of the labor market during the recovery and are now fully rejoining the workforce because jobs are paying better.
The evidence of a tight labor market is abundant. The National Foundation of Independent Business’s Small Business Economics Trends survey has for several months now found that the number one concern of small businesses is finding qualified workers to fill available positions. More than half of all businesses find “few or no qualified applicants” for their job openings.
Read the article in its entirety by clicking
here
.
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The Library Link
Great Books About Business With Just A Click
Your link to success begins at the library. Each week in "In The Know,"
you to a business book or magazine that will inspire, teach, inform, or elevate you, professionally and personally. This week:
How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World
by Neil Irwin
Every ambitious professional is trying to navigate a perilous global economy to do work that is lucrative and satisfying, but some find success while others struggle to get by. In an era of remarkable economic change, how should you navigate your career to increase your chances of landing not only on your feet, but ahead of those around you? In
How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World: The Definitive Guide to Adapting and Succeeding in High-Performance Careers
, Neil Irwin, senior economic correspondent at the
New York Times
, delivers the essential guide to being successful in today's economy when the very notion of the "job" is shifting and the corporate landscape has become dominated by global firms.
View this book by clicking
here
.
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Today in History
Walt Disney announces $7.4 billion Pixar purchase
- January 24, 2006 -
From History.com:
By the end of 2005, Pixar had become a giant in the world of movie animation, and on January 24, 2006, the company that brought the world the blockbuster hits
Toy Story
(1995),
A Bug’s Life
(1998),
Monsters, Inc.
(2001),
Finding Nemo
(2003) and
The Incredibles
(2004) was sold to the Walt Disney Company, their longtime distributor, for a staggering $7.4 billion.
Since 1993, when Disney and Pixar signed their first three-picture deal, Pixar’s films had won 19 Academy Awards and grossed more than $3 billion at the box office. Their pioneering techniques in digital animation–
Toy Story
was the first animated film to be completely computer-generated–had set a new standard, blazing a trail that other companies had struggled to follow. In the same time period, Disney’s own animation unit had released more traditional animated films that were either modest successes, such as
Lilo & Stitch
(2002), or flops, such as
Home on the Range
(2004). Its first completely computer-generated effort,
Chicken Little
(2005), was profitable, but had nowhere near the success of
The Incredibles
, which grossed $200 million domestically and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
Despite the success of the Pixar-Disney collaboration, Pixar CEO (and Apple co-founder) Steve Jobs had reportedly clashed with Disney’s longtime chairman and CEO, Michael Eisner, and in January 2004, Jobs announced that Pixar would begin talks with other distributors. Roy Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney, subsequently led a shareholder revolt, and in the spring of 2004, Eisner received a 45 percent no-confidence vote from shareholders and was stripped of his chairmanship.
Eisner announced he would step down as CEO in September 2005, one year before his contract was set to expire. His replacement was the company’s president, Robert A. Iger. One of Iger’s first moves was to work on repairing the relationship with Pixar, whose latest contract with Disney was set to expire in June 2006, with the delivery of its next film,
Cars
.
Under the deal announced that January, and formally completed on May 5, Jobs would serve as a director on Disney’s board, while John Lasseter, a former Disney animator and the leading creative force behind Pixar’s films, would become chief operating officer of the animation studios, as well as the principle creative adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering, which designs and builds the company’s theme parks. In a conscious effort by Pixar to maintain its unique creative process and non-traditional corporate culture, the two companies remained physically separate, with Pixar maintaining its headquarters in Emeryville, California (Disney is based in Burbank).
For more events that took place on
January 24th, please click
here
.
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- $1,850,000,000 -
The total peanut butter sales in the United States as of 2017. Today is National Peanut Butter Day. Enjoy a scoop or three in celebration.
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Questions about Oil & Gas?
These non-profit organizations are here to help you stay up-to-date on the oil and gas industry
in Jefferson County:
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Get The Information You Need - The Chamber Staff Is Here To Help
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Janet McLaughlin
Investor Relations Coordinator
Janet will assist you with utilizing your membership benefits, answering questions about member programming or how to promote your business through the Chamber.
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Tricia Maple-Damewood
President
Contact Tricia with suggestions, input or feedback on member programming, how to get involved on a committee or special project or with questions or information about anything related to the Chamber.
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Cassie Balvin
Administrative & Accounting Assistant
Cassie will assist you with event registrations, updating your membership information, questions about your dues or event invoices and any other Chamber programming questions you may have.
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Contact Us
The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce
630 Market Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
Phone: 740.282.6226
Fax: 740.282.6285
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