Design Assistance Program
Clinton Main Street has a new program for downtown businesses that includes free design assistance, an awning, sign or façade renovation grant, paint grant and a revolving loan fund to help with certain expenses.
The awning or sign grant is a one-to-one match up to $500 for new signs or awnings that follow approved guidelines. The façade renovation grant is a two-to-one match up to $1000 for renovation plans that meet approved guidelines. Because grant funds are limited, only one grant will be approved per building or business. In order to receive grant funds, project approval must be given before work has started.
The paint grant consists of buying one gallon of paint and getting one gallon free. Color schemes are subject to approval from the Historic Preservation Commission.
Clinton Main Street has established a Revolving Loan Fund for low-interest loans up to $25,000. These funds can be used for façade renovations, exterior or interior improvements or other business costs for new or existing businesses in the central business district.
For more information on any of these assistance programs, please contact Clinton Main Street, a program of the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, at 885-2121 before beginning your improvements. |
| 3rd Quarter Roundtable Discussion to be held September 21
Local CPAs address how newest tax laws and healthcare reform will affect you
 If you plan on paying taxes, receiving a paycheck, paying employees, rolling over IRAs, receiving or providing healthcare, this is for you!
On Tuesday, Septmeber 21 you are invited to join us as we learn from a panel of CPAs about individual and corporate tax law changes and healthcare reform. Local expert CPAs Tom Shaw, Ryan Cook and Tim Meyers will be sharing with us at the Hampton Inn from 9-11 a.m. First Community Bank will be providing refreshments for attendees.
It's hard for most of us to keep up with tax law changes, and this is the best opportunity you will have to get specifics, ask questions and learn about how you will be affected by the latest changes. There will be time to ask each of these individuals questions on related topics.
This event is a free membership benefit to Chamber members and costs $10 for non-members. Individuals and business representatives are all welcome. Please RSVP to the Chamber of Commerce at 660-885-8166 by Friday, September 10. We'll see you there! |
Community Grant Program
The Greater Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce is offering a new program for Clinton's businesses. The Community Grant Program will fund up to five grants for Chamber members this year that will be awarded for exterior improvements to commercial businesses.
Projects can include signage, awnings, landscaping and/or complete renovations on a two-to-one match for a maximum grant of $500 per business. Design changes may be required by the committee before awarding the grant. Grants may not be used for routine maintenance and must be approved before work is begun.
This program is being offered as an incentive for visual improvements to commercial buildings and signage throughout the community. To apply for a grant or receive more information, please contact the Chamber at 885-8166 for an application prior to beginning your improvements. |
Wi-Fi
We want to remind our downtown businesses that downtown is wi-fi-ed!! Be sure to tell your customers so they can enjoy this benefit.
Clinton Main Street was able to wi-fi downtown through Neighborhood Assistance Program funds last year. The intent is to make downtown a more welcoming area to our visitors and to provide a service that people want and use.
Because of the way wi-fi is set up, the signal will not always penetrate building walls so not all businesses will be able to use the downtown wi-fi, especially as their only source of internet. |
| Welcome Crappie Masters to Clinton!
Next month, over 200 boats will be on Truman Lake for the Crappie Masters National Championship. That means around 500 visitors will be in Clinton! Here at the Chamber of Commerce/Convention & Visitors Bureau, we're quite excited to help host this event!
The anglers, their families and Crappie Masters staff will be here October 5-9 for the tournament, and there are several ways YOU can get involved!
- Businesses are welcome to have booths at the registration event on Wednesday, October 6. Please contact KDKD Radio at 660-885-6141 for more information on this.
- Also on October 6 will be a boat parade! Spectators are invited to watch as the decorated boats travel from the Benson Center down Price Lane to Green Street to 2nd Street, on 2nd Street to Clinton Street, and down 8th Street past the schools.
- The anglers will be fishing on Friday and Saturday, October 8 & 9. Spectators are encouraged to come out to Bucksaw Marina to watch the weigh-ins beginning at 3 p.m.
For more information about the Crappie Masters National Championship, visit www.ClintonMO.com, www.crappiemasters.net, look for information in the Daily Democrat and listen to Speak Out on KDKD 95.3 FM on September 30 as we discuss all the activities coming up! |
Final Cruise Night of 2010 on September 11
Cruise Night in August was a very enjoyable evening despite the heat. We were excited to welcome Jason Slover, Pete & Jake's Hot Rod Parts in Peculiar, MO, with The California Kid car. Jason spoke to the crowd and told the story of the many coincidences that were involved to get a hot rod from a small Missouri town into a California movie in the 1970's.
Special thanks to Hawthorn Bank, sponsor, for making the evening possible and for setting up the outdoor movie gear for a special showing of "The California Kid."
Next month is our final Cruise Night of 2011. It will be Sept. 11 and Champion Brands is the sponsor. Hope you can make it downtown for what promises to be a fun evening! |
State Main Street Conference
Kyle Adkins, President of Clinton Main Street, and Diane Hannah, Director of Clinton Main Street, attended four days of State Main Street Conference in St. Louis August 10-13.
With several break-out sessions to choose from in the morning, and educational tours in the afternoon, this conference was a good one. Missouri Main Street Connections, the state Main Street program, worked hard to provide a good experience, but much more importantly, a learning experience.
Kyle and Diane were pleasantly surprised when the keynote speaker for the Wednesday Luncheon, discussing a new expansion of the Main Street Program concerning community-wide development, used Clinton as an example of a community that has banded several organizations together to use the Main Street Four-Point Approach as a community development program. The speaker was Laurie Michel, Vice-President of Community Development at the National Trust's Main Street Center.
Also present was Doug Loescher, Director of the National Trust's Main Street Center, who spoke at the Evening of Excellence Awards Dinner on Thursday night. Doug also referred to Clinton as an example of communities going beyond the traditional Main Street program to improve their community.
Clinton was very well recognized at the Missouri Main Street Conference and Kyle and Diane were proud to represent Clinton. |
37th Annual Ag Appreciation Dinner
The 37th Annual Ag Appreciation Dinner was held on Monday, August 23 at the Benson Center. A large crowd was on hand to show appreciation to the farmers, 4-H and FFA members.
Jim Stone, member of the Ag committee, presented the Ag person of the year to Michael K. Jones.
The Ag president, JD Manning, recognized the Chamber of Commerce Ag Appreciation Scholarships which were given to Brittany Early, Shannon Watson and Kylie Dicket.
The Henry County Cattleman's Association Scholarship president Gary Sell recognized the 2010 scholarship winners Danielle Summers, Mathew B. Gnuschke and Brendan Hendricks.
The Henry County Farm Family for 2010 was presented by Lisa Wallace to the Taylor Bush Family and then Lisa presented the 2010 Century Farm Families which includes Harding Lee & Mary Braun Family, Patricia Bristow & Daniel Schussler Families, Bill & Alta Dulaban and Mark & Donna Swaters.
Thanks to all of the sponsors for the 2010 Ag Appreciation Dinner, the volunteers, Chamber Ambassadors, grill team & board members. Also thanks to Farmers Elevator for donating the ice cream and Farm Bureau for passing the ice cream out. A big thank you to all the buyers at the Ham and Steer auction. |
State Main Street Awards for Clinton
Clinton Main Street received recognition from Missouri Main Street Connection at the 2010 Missouri Main Street Evening of Excellence Awards Dinner in St. Louis this past Thursday evening. The annual event was held in conjunction with the Statewide Downtown Revitalization Conference.
Clinton Main Street nominated the Elks Lodge/Kreisler Complex as the Best Large Project over $150,000. After being selected as a semi-finalist in a category of five entries, Clinton took the top award. The other semi-finalist in this category was the Bank of Washington's $15 million renovation.
Clinton Main Street is happy to be able to bring these awards back to the community to reward the volunteers at Clinton Elks Lodge and Kreisler Drug Store for their hard work and investment, as well as their confidence in downtown Clinton.
Clinton Main Street also held a semifinalist role in Best Downtown Improvement Project for Piccadilly Park on the north side of the Square. In addition to Clinton, finalists in the competition were: Cape Girardeau, Chillicothe, Kirksville, Joplin, Lee's Summit, Warrensburg and Washington. |
Economic Development
Factory Connection plans to open this fall. |
Goody's will open September 23, and they have been busy getting ready for the big day! |
The Verizon Wireless building has been undergoing renovations as they prepare to open this fall. |
The Schreiber Foods - Capri Plant is located in the Gerhart Industrial Park. They are in the process of expanding at this location. | |
| Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare hosts Webinar
"How Health Care will affect Employers"
Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, in cooperation with MHA Center for Education, is pleased to be able to host a webinar on how health care reform will affect employers. This webinar is free to all Chamber members and will be held from noon to 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 30th in the GVMH Medical Plaza classroom. The webinar is designed to help employers understand how healthcare reform will affect their health plans. It will review immediate changes in 2010 and 2011, and address additional topics including coverage of adult children through age 26 and grandfathering. Speakers will be attorneys with the benefits and compensation practice group of Dorsey & Whitney in Minneapolis.
Chamber members are encouraged to register by contacting the Human Resources Department at Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare at 890-7172. Attendance at the webinar is free, but advance registration is required to assure sufficient space. A light meal will be available at a cost of $5.00 provided this is indicated during advance registration through September 28th. |
509th LRS, Clinton residents donate school supplies to Kyrgyz students
by 2nd Lt. Laura E. Mills
509th Logistics Readiness Squadron
7/21/2010 - WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- "Always render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be," -- Augustine "Og" Mandino, Bestselling Author.
Last month, Capt. Sofia Ciro, 509th Logistics Readiness Squadron, currently deployed with the 376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, requested assistance from the 509th LRS in obtaining school supplies for a local elementary school in Marble Village.
The men and women of the 509th LRS and the citizens of Clinton, Mo., lived up to Og Mandino's philosophy and demonstrated one of the Air Force Core Values, "Excellence In All We Do," by meeting and exceeding the amount of donations requested in helping the children.
"We are very busy taking care of the mission and our deployed Airmen," said Lt. Col. Ted Williams, 376th ELRS commander. "But it is important to reach out to the community and enhance relations with the Kyrgyz people via humanitarian aid. The future leaders of this country are the children we are helping today, and by doing so, we are fostering relations with allied nations for generations to come."
According to Captain Ciro, the 120 children attending the school were in desperate need of school supplies and were literally sharing pencils because they couldn't afford to buy any. The 509th LRS and the Clinton residents collected a total 19 boxes of notebooks, erasers, pens, pencils, rulers, markers, crayons, paper, markers, scissors and glue.
"Anything they thought would assist these children in reaching their full potential in the classroom was purchased," Captain Ciro said. "These items would offer children the chance to learn important skills like writing and arithmetic and allow them the opportunity to express themselves artistically."
Two Clinton residents set the bar high by selflessly donating more than $375 in school supplies. One man, aptly named Gerald "Hap" Happy, donated $250 while second man, Bob Daugherty, purchased more than $125 worth of pencils, pens, pencil sharpeners, writing tablets and rulers.
Captain Ciro said her unit's expectations were surpassed.
"I contacted Maj. Trace Steyaert, the 509th LRS commander, the First Sergeant and the chief enlisted manager requesting assistance, they handled the rest," Captain Ciro said. "Thanks to the tremendous support from the city of Clinton and the 509th LRS, we were amazed at the amount of donations we received.
We were not only able to donate to the Marble Village school but also share a portion of the supplies with two other schools in Bishkek, one which houses 40 children with mental disabilities."
Through their efforts, the 509th LRS and the citizens of Clinton were able to touch the lives of more than 300 underprivileged children.
These actions are true examples of living out our Air Force core values of Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence In All We Do. Og Mandino would be proud. |
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