Columbus Chamber Blog: Information about economic development, economic and business trends, Columbus workforce, programs, events and the Chamber of Commerce in and around Columbus, OH

Economic Development Department Travels to Chicago for Corporate Calling

In early 2009, the Columbus Chamber and its public sector partners began a focused corporate calling initiative by traveling to cities throughout the United States to meet with site location consultants, real estate professionals and foreign trade commissions.  These missions have become a point of emphasis in the Columbus Chamber’s increased effort to promote the assets of the Columbus region to site location decision-makers.  By visiting these markets, the traveling group is able to engage in detailed dialogue focused solely on the assets of our region with consultants who conduct analytical and real estate research for companies that have hired their services to assist with a possible relocation or expansion to a new market.  Not only are these encounters a productive means of discussing the Columbus market, but it also allows the group to directly follow-up with consultants on past or current projects they may have collaborated on, learn what other regions Columbus directly competes for projects with, as well as what areas we could improve or put more emphasis on.

Chamber staff and public sector partners recently completed a trip to Chicago where we met with a foreign trade commission, as well as three prominent real estate/advisory organizations.  Prior to Chicago, trips to Dallas and New York City have been made.  A corporate calling mission is planned for November 3-4 in Atlanta, and quite possibly a fifth and final trip for 2009 to Indianapolis. 

Act Now: Passenger Rail Service Funding

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is applying to secure federal funding for a state initiative that will connect Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati with passenger rail service.  The Columbus Chamber supports this application, and we ask that you consider joining us in sending a letter of support that can be included in ODOT’s application.

Currently, the Columbus region is the largest city in the eastern half of the US that does not have passenger rail service.  This is particularly troubling because it impacts our region’s ability to attract and retain the workforce that we need to fuel the expansion of our economy.  The Chamber’s research indicates that young professionals, when determining the region where they want to live, highly value the presence of rail transportation. 
 
We ask that you e-mail your letter of support to Scott Varner at Scott.Varner@dot.state.oh.us.  ODOT needs your letters by September 30.

More information on the rail project can be found here.

How to Be Prepared for Upcoming H1N1 & Flu Season

Greetings!  As you know, we are moving into flu season.  To help inform people in our community about seasonal flu and H1N1, the health departments of the City of Columbus and Franklin County are working together to provide information on how to stay healthy and how to minimize exposure this flu season.  They have asked the Columbus Chamber to be a communication conduit to the business community.

It’s a good idea to encourage your employees to practice good hygiene and good sense to keep the people around them healthy.  Children and pregnant women need to take extra precautions.  Here are some basics FOR INDIVIDUALS:

• Get vaccinated with both seasonal flu (immediately) and H1N1 (when available); I got my seasonal last night at CVS’s minute clinic
• Wash hands REGULARLY and THOROUGHLY; keep antibacterial liquid close at hand
• Avoid shaking hands and exchanging kisses; fist bumps and elbow knocks are popular substitutes
• Exhibit “cough etiquette” (coughing/sneezing into one’s sleeve, rather than using hands to cover one’s mouth)

As a business owner, you are encouraged to plan for the worst and hope for the best…in the event that one or more of your employees is forced to work remotely.  Here are some basics FOR EMPLOYERS:

• Put a plan in place now that will allow your business to continue operations, with as little disruption as possible, if one or more of your employees is impacted (this includes things like cross-training employees, instituting emergency notifications numbers, etc.)
• Encourage workers who have flu-like symptoms (especially fever) to stay home and not come to work until at least 24 hours after their fever has resolved.  CHILDREN WITH FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS (INCLUDING FEVER) SHOULD BE KEPT HOME AND NOT RETURNED TO SCHOOL/DAYCARE FOR AT LEAST 24 HOURS AFTER THE FEVER HAS SUBSIDED.   (Again, put procedures in place to allow employees to continue working even in they are hope with a sick child.)
• Locate hand sanitizer throughout your workplace as well as tissues, no-touch trash cans, hand soap, etc.  Disinfectant and disposable towels should be available for workers to clean their work surfaces.

Here are some resources for you to help your business prepare and to help your employees stay healthy and minimize exposure:

• Recent story from WOSU titled, “Central Ohio Business Organizations Brace For Tough Flu Season”.
• Link directly to information about seasonal and pandemic flu specific to Columbus and Franklin County:  http://www.columbuspandemicflu.org/index.html.
• Link to the Center for Disease Control’s website, which is where you can sign up for email and text alerts about seasonal and H1N1 from a national perspctive: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/business/

In continued good health!

 

Columbus MSA employment continues to outperform in August

We now have preliminary August sector employment totals, labor force, and unemployment estimates for the Columbus MSA, which I have seasonally adjusted.  The news is better than that for either the U.S. or the state.  The number of jobs in the region fell by 100 – literally a rounding error – compared to losses of 0.2 percent for the U.S. and 0.6 percent for Ohio.  There was little change in individual sectors – except education and healthcare, which increased 1,200.  As was the case for the Ohio unemployment rate, the seasonally adjusted Columbus MSA rate fell.  The local rate is now 8.7 percent – a full point below the U.S. rate – versus 9.2 percent in July.  This decline was partially driven by a decline in the labor force, as was the Ohio decline, but also by an increase in the number of employed Columbus MSA residents.  Overall, once again, we don’t have really good news but things could be worse.

Unemployment in Ohio

Last week the Ohio Labor Market Information Bureau announced that the Ohio unemployment rate fell in August from 11.2 percent to 10.8 percent – its first decline since February 2006.  This seems as if it would be good news, especially because the U.S. rate rose from 9.4 percent to 9.7 percent after treading water for two months.  But this is an illustration of the complexities in interpreting the unemployment rate that I discussed here earlier.  Changes in the unemployment rate are affected both by changes in employment and by changes in the number of people actively seeking work.  At the national level, the number of people employed fell in June, July, and August.  The U.S. unemployment rate changed only marginally in June and July because a decline in the number of active job-seekers offset the decline in the number employed.  In August, U.S. employment declined but the number of those looking for work did not decline, so the unemployment rate rose.  Here in Ohio, employment fell somewhat last month but the number of job-seekers fell a lot, producing a decline in the unemployment rate despite the decline in the number of people working.

Columbus Region InSite Tool Launches on ColumbusRegion.com

In case you missed the announcement in the Chamber's monthly email, be sure to check out the region's new GIS tool:

The Columbus Chamber has recently relaunched an upgraded Geographic Information System (GIS) on its economic development site, ColumbusRegion.com, an online tool for both current member companies and businesses that are looking to relocate from outside the Columbus region.

These enhanced tools will aid in the Chamber’s efforts to attract new capital investment, while optimizing site selection opportunities, making Columbus a more competitive option for prospective businesses.  GIS allows users to quickly and easily find the ideal location for their business within the eight-county Columbus region, as well as access overlays of demographic data by county. If a member business has grown and needs a larger space or a relocating business needs to be close to a highway or an airport, they can use GIS to identify a specific building that will suit their needs.

This tool goes far beyond a simple database of available sites and buildings. It provides the information and analysis businesses require to identify geographic advantages and business opportunities in our region. Buildings and sites are available throughout the nation. What makes the Columbus Region attractive to business is highly related to our location-specific advantages, which can be accessed online through Columbus Region InSite. If you have any questions about using the GIS tool, or would like assistance finding a site for your company or other information about doing business in the Columbus Region like comparative demographic analysis, please contact our economic development team at the Chamber.

Member Spotlight: treetree

Each week, the Columbus Chamber will spotlight one of our member businesses, their presence in the Columbus Region, what they do and how they’ve involved at the Chamber. To submit your member business for a member spotlight contact the Chamber's marketing department.

About treetree: two former agency VPs (Becca Thompson and Tiffany Wise) and a small army of outside specialists offering brand strategy, consumer research, branding, campaign development and graphic design. We personally work with all of our clients so they get access to the principals and the brains without paying for the overhead or some fancy schmancy office space. We help authentic brands tell meaningful stories – their stories. We believe authenticity is the key to building strong brands.

Why We’re Chamber Members (or what we’re involved in at the Chamber)
We love being engaged in the community and supporting the organizations and groups that help put Columbus on the map and reinforce our city’s economic development. We like to be a part of momentum and movement and have been impressed with the staff and professionalism of the organization as well as the breadth of offerings for members.

Fun Facts about Our agency:
One of the first questions we usually get is about our name, naturally, as most companies are not named after houseplants. We named our company after the-little-tree-that-could. Becca received a bonsai tree as a gift and    named it "treetree." Becca is the daughter of two horticulturists and can't keep any plants alive. Not even treetree. He died, briefly. Then, the very same day we decided to start a company, he came back to life. We took it as a sign that we were doing the right thing.

Another fun fact is that we actually have part of our company logo tattooed on each of our wrists. They are permanent. Like treetree.

Read more about our journey in developing our company on our blog hi:lo, which shares the shares the sometimes messy, often hilarious truth about starting and running an agency in Columbus.

Current clients: OhioHealth Sports Medicine, Grady Memorial Hospital, American Dairy Association, Ambushed and DiscoverMeNow.TV.

Columbus Tech Company Featured on WebInformant Blog

A result of the technology journalist tour, hosted by the Columbus Chamber, 3X, a Columbus technology company that provides off-site online back-ups, was featured on David Strom's blog, Web Informant. 

Congrats, 3X! For more information on the company, visit www.3x.com.

Young Professionals Spotlight: Young Professionals of Columbus (YPC)

Each month, the Columbus Chamber will spotlight a local young professional or professional organization to showcase what they offer, how to get involved and when to check out their next event. For the month of September, Young Professionals of Columbus (YPC) is featured.

When and why was Young Professionals of Columbus (YPC) started?
The Young Professionals of Columbus (YPC) was founded in 2003 by a group of passionate and driven Columbus professionals.  The idea for YPC came after listening to a motivational speech from Bob Milbourne, current CEO of the Columbus Partnership, a not-for-profit dedicated to improve the economy of central Ohio. The founders became inspired not just to make the city itself great, but to make the next generation of Columbus citizens great.  The hope was for YPC to bring together and enhance the opportunities afforded to Columbus’ up-and-comings while taking them to the next level.

Why should I become a member?
YPC is for individuals that are driven to give back to the community, want to be engaged in the city’s civic issues, and are driven to enhance themselves professionally.  By joining you will have access to a wide range of cultural, philanthropic, and professional development events that will challenge you intellectually, enhance your current skills and allow you to create invaluable relationships.

How do I become a member?
Log onto www.YPColumbus.org, click “Join” and follow the instructions for the membership form, which includes a $30 annual membership fee.  By joining YPC you will receive bi-weekly emails with upcoming events and opportunities.  Your membership allows you access to all YPC events free of charge or at a vastly discounted rate.

Have questions about the Young Professionals of Columbus? Contact Kristen Jensen at YPCpresident@gmail.com.

Tell me about your upcoming event:
YPC’s next event is through a continued partnership that we have cultivated with the Columbus Metropolitan Club. To pre-register for our monthly second-Tuesday event, go to www.columbusmetroclub.org ($5 for YPC members, $10 for the general public)

CMCp.m. presents “Foodie Festival: Dine Originals Columbus!  Chefs, Food and the Restaurants of Columbus”- Tuesday, September 8, 2009, 5:30-7:30p.m. at the North Market

Brian Lindamood, editor of Columbus Alive!, will interview 4 outstanding chefs and restaurant business experts to discuss dining in Columbus and  this weeks Dine Originals event.  Joining us will be: Kamal Boulos, owner of the Refectory; Diane Warren, Owner, Katzinger's; Matt Prokopchak, Chef and partner, Trattoria Roma; Alana Shock, Owner and Chef, Alana's. And, to temp your taste buds we'll feature tantalizing treats from Katzingers, Barcelona and others in an appetizer buffet. This event is at the North Market in the 2nd Floor Dispatch Kitchen with social time from 5:30 - 6:30pm and the program from 6:30 - 7:30pm.

Check out the Young Professionals of Columbus Web site for more events including YPC endorsed community events: www.YPColumbus.org.

What are some successes or cool facts about YPC? 
• While YPC has a professionally diverse membership which includes government, not-for-profit, legal, education, retail, HR, healthcare, technology, and hospitality, the most popular profession within YPC is focused in finance (22%).
• Nearly all YPC members have an undergraduate degree and over 1/3 of the YPC membership has a professional degree.
• Nearly 70% of YPC members have lived within Columbus for five or more years.
• Although YPC membership ages range from 21-45+, the bulk of YPC’s membership is between the ages of 26-29 (36%).
• The Young Professionals of Columbus was proud to be hosted by First Lady of Ohio Mrs. Francis Strickland in April 2009 at the Governor’s Residence, an exclusive event for the Young Professional of Columbus membership.
• YPC members’ top values: business networking, business networking, opportunities to have impact in the community, ability to access to civic and community leaders and professional development.
• The Young Professionals of Columbus was excited to gain its not-for-profit, 501(c)3 status in 2004 and is proud to serve the central Ohio community.

• YPC has gained over 80 new members since January of this year.

Where can I go to learn more information?
To learn more about the Young Professionals of Columbus, go to our Web site, www.YPColumbus.org or contact Kristen Jensen at YPCpresident@gmail.com with any questions.

The Young Professionals of Columbus strives to be the young professionals’ connection to the Columbus community, developing and advancing each individual's potential.  Our members are the next generation of central Ohio’s leadership.

Share Your Feedback - 3C Rail Plan Survey

Please take a few minutes to give ODOT your feedback on the 3C rail plan. This site also offers information on the 3C planning that is currently underway to connect Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati.  Ohio is applying for up to $400m from the Federal Government for a 1 time grant to fund this project.  Public input is important in this major competition.  Ohio is one of over 280 applications from 40 states. 

 

There will be a Columbus Town Hall Meeting on Sept. 15 at 4:00 p.m. at the King Arts Complex.