Chamber Chat
Rob Gilligan
President & CEO, Cape Chamber
Elevating our Programming:
In 2024, the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce announced a featured lineup of programs we have termed our Signature Events for the year. A mix of traditional programs like our Annual Dinner that we have hosted for decades, to a revamped Young Professionals Summit, to new events and partnerships that have come together over the last year. The first two events of this year had great engagement from our members, and we are excited as we shift to the second half of 2024 and continue with a lineup of three great events over the next 12 weeks that we hope you will be able to join us for.
Tomorrow, the Cape Chamber is excited to host our first State of the Community luncheon, a brand-new Signature Event for 2024. Designed to support our strategic objective of enhanced Business Advocacy, this event offers our members an opportunity to hear directly from the leaders of key governmental partners with Dr. Carlos Vargas, President of SEMO, City of Cape Girardeau Mayor Stacy Kinder, and our keynote presentation from Governor Mike Parson offering us a State of the State. We are excited to see our membership embrace this new program so strongly, making it another sell-out event and we look forward to hosting everyone for what is sure to be the first of a great recurring annual program.
On Friday, September 20th, the Cape Chamber Women’s Network Committee is excited to host our second annual Women in Business: At the Heart of It All celebration as we celebrate American Business Women’s Day. A luncheon, networking, and learning event featuring two incredible businesswomen as our event speakers: Maxine Clark, Founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop™, and Meredith Knopp, President & CEO of St. Louis Area Foodbank. Join us to hear their inspirational stories which aim to embody the spirit of women breaking through and rising above!
Registration for Women in Business: At the Heart of It All is live and will surely be another sold out event so get your tickets now!
Our final signature event in 2024 is our partnership with the Harrison College of Business and Computing at SEMO to host the Southeast Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Symposium or SEEDS. A collaboration that began in 2023 to grow and expand a great program that began five years earlier at SEMO, the new partnership allowed us to bring in additional resources and presenters to expand the event into a full day of programing. The 2024 event is shaping up to be another engaging program featuring an update from Economist at the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, a panel discussion around the economic importance of natural resources in Southeast Missouri, and an afternoon focused on entrepreneurship featuring Mo Collins, Director of Entrepreneurship for the International Economic Development Council. This year’s event will take place on Thursday, November 14th at the Drury Plaza Conference Center and tickets will be available soon.
Let's Grow!
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