Albion Chamber of Commerce
Albion Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 63
Albion, IN 46701
chamber
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Chamber Happenings!
CHRISTMAS IN THE VILLAGE
December 7,2018
Downtown Albion
Don't miss it!!!
- S.T.A.R. Team Bazzar at the old BMV location
- Light Parade 6 pm
- Come see Santa come into town and light the courthouse Christmas Tree
- Elf on the shelf in local businesses
- Reindeer in alley between Hidden Ego and the old Opera House
- Open Houses at Local Shops
Albion Chamber High Impact Member
Meeting Held
If you missed out on this meeting read the notes below and look at the powerpoint.
Albion Chamber “Employee Crisis” Meeting Notes:
October 23, 2018 at Central Noble High School
An excellent discussion concerning the Employee Crisis took place with over 15 individuals representing numerous types of business and industry.
It was led off with a presentation by Rick Farrant of Work One who gave us some information that helped paint a realistic picture of what we are dealing with. Some highlights from that presentation primarily focused on the Albion area are:
- Top three industry sectors: Manufacturing, Government, Health
- Resident 25 and older fall below or well below the Indiana average at almost all levels of educational attainment.
- We have a higher level of poverty than the State average and almost half of those families in poverty have a female head of household with no husband.
- Noble County has had a negative net domestic migration since 2001. This includes people migrating in from outside Noble County or migrating out to somewhere outside Noble County.
- To develop, retain, and attract more talent we need to:
- Offer more training and educational pathways for both newcomer and incumbent workers.
- Steadily increase wages, not just when there is a crisis
- Focus on Quality of Life amenities
- Collaborative marketing
- Supply access to affordable transportation
- Provide affordable quality child care options
- Provide more modern yet affordable housing options
Some of the discussion:
- Housing: interns etc need ability to get a 3 month lease or less. More interns might come in if housing was available and affordable. Many interns will continue to work at companies or businesses they intern at.
- Child care: with so many families in poverty being single female led households, this is a very big issue. It is hard to work or concentrate on work if you are worried about your children.
- Small business issues: We talked a lot about industry, but some of the small business issues are different than those of industry. Benefits are incredibly difficult for smaller companies to provide. Finding a way to work together to obtain affordable benefits would be helpful. A truly thriving economy will have a good balance between large industry, government, small business, etc. All of us are important.
- Advocating for Albion and Noble County: We need to be proud of our community and exude that in all of our conversations with clients, coworkers, visitors, and family. We have so many wonderful things to offer, but don’t highlight them or brag about them like we need to. The collaborative marketing with one voice would help with this.
- Opportunities that exist but are unknown or not common knowledge.
- Thrive Noble County: thrivenoblecounty.org does an annual bus trip and also a fall leadership type course that helps make connections between industries, cultural amenities, and people. It is a great way to discover what is happening in our county and who is doing what to help the county thrive. Consider attending or sending an employee to Thrive events to help them connect with others.
- Noble County Convention & Visitor’s Bureau (CVB): visitnoblecounty.co has a lot of information about cultural amenities and events. A great site to encourage your employees, interns, or guests to look at. Help people fall in love with what we have.l
- Impact Institute: impactinstitute.net is a vocational option for high school students and has the potential to partner with the community and business on more levels.
We talked about so much more than I can fit in this summary, but it will give you an idea of our challenges and opportunities.
What now?
We need to hear from our members what the Chamber can do to bring our Albion businesses, industries, and non-profits together to better collaborate and impact our future. We have amazing talent and ideas, but we all need to engage and get involved in the solutions to our challenges. Please come to the annual meeting in January with your ideas for where we go from here.
Albion Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 63
Albion, IN 46701
chamber