- Congratulations to Zanesville senior De'Aunte Goins who was recently recognized by the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association as the recipient of the statewide Art Teynor Award for overcoming tremendous adversity to succeed in the classroom and in athletics.
- Congratulations to Gannett Newspapers' John Merriweather who was recently named Big Brother of the Year for the State of Ohio in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization.
Learn more Bright Spots in our community like these at www.zmbrightspots.com.
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LOCAL ECONOMIC INDICATORS
The latest Economic Dashboard for Muskingum County, which reflects numbers for December, shows a slight bump up in unemployment and a slight decrease in home sales, but retail sales continue to soar. The dashboard captures economic statistics that are not typically available in a local community and organizes them into an easy to read format. Through a partnership between the Chamber, the Muskingum County Library System and iTrack, LLC, local business people have access to recent indicators to help in their business planning and decision making. You can see the entire dashboard, which is updated monthly, at http://www.zmchamber.com/chamber-charts.html.
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 Business Resources & News
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SALES
Business strategist and sales advisor John Spence writes about his best sales advice for 2016: ONE: Practice the art of asking superb questions. TWO: Once you ask an excellent question, you must then be an intense listener. THREE: As you are listening intently, take highly detailed notes. FOUR: Now, and only now, have you earned the right to start talking about your product or service!!! Read the entire column now.
LOCAL SEARCH
A free workshop on how to maximize your presence on Google will be held by the Small Business Development Center at MCBI on March 23 from 8:30 am to 9:30 am. Bring your laptop or tablet and learn how to set your business up online, the right way, to get found in the search engines and start seeing improved results right away. Reservations are required and can be made on line at the state's SBDC website.
MANUFACTURING GROWTH
For months now economists and others have bemoaned the downfall of manufacturing in the US. The sector has been in a technical recession for months and concerns are growing over whether it could drag down the broader economy. Friday's January jobs report, however, had a some much-needed good news for the industry. The sector added 29,000 jobs in January, the most since August 2013. Read more from Business Insider.
VIDEO MARKETING
When it comes to video marketing, we know that it's the coolest kid on the block. Sure blog posts like this one are super useful, but countless studies show that people prefer to view videos than read text because it's visually engaging, and really easy to consume. But as with everything else in content marketing, the world of video is changing. Take a look at these 7 eye-opening stats from this 2016 video marketing research by Wyzowl, to see what you can learn. Read more from the Media Network of Central Ohio.
LEADERSHIP
A local leadership conference will be held on April 21 at Zane State College. It's called Lead with Intent and the featured speaker is Archie Griffin, president and CEO of The Ohio State University Alumni Association. For more information visit https://www.zanestate.edu/LeadWithIntent .
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Chamber Updates & Services
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CHAMBER BOARD NOMINATIONS
Six individuals have been nominated to new three year terms on the Chamber Board of Directors. They are:
Anthony Adornetto, Zane State University
Joe Allen, Century National Bank
Wendy Cedoz, Genesis Healthcare System
Beth Chapman, Muskingum Recreation Center
Bryan Graham, Dutro Ford
Bill Huston, Huston Farms
The board is made up of 18 individuals serving in three year terms, 6 individuals serving one year terms and several others serving by virtue of their position. The complete board including officers will be finalized in March.
5 MARKETING SERVICES YOU CAN USE TODAY
- Expand your online presence by customizing your member business listing in the online directory.
- Promote your events and meetings on our web-based calendar of events.
- Offer an online Hot Deal via our website to promote a sale, special promotion, or discount.
- Illustrate your professional expertise by posting a business column on the Chamber Experts blog.
- A free social media marketing account is provided to each member via Save Local Now (SLN) a software platform that helps you simplify and streamline your social media posting and email marketing.
Visit the Marketing Solutions Center to help you identify chamber services that can meet your needs depending on what you are trying to accomplish.
SPRING BREAK EVENT
Mark your calendars for the Chamber's annual Spring Break event. It will be held on Friday April 1 from 7 am to 9 am at the Muskingum Recreation Center. This event features the annual ACES Awards and Safety Council awards, and its always a casual, fun time. Watch your inbox for more details.
TOURISM NUMBERS
In 2015 the Convention & Visitors Bureau served approximately 6,200 visitors to the Welcome Center, distributed 103,500 visitor guides, attended 26 trade shows, handed out over 5,300 welcome packets to visiting groups, and fulfilled about 1,100 online and mail requests for local information. This of course all supports area businesses by bringing outside dollars into the community.
PREPARING THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
Challenges related to the workforce continue to be an issue for many area businesses. The "Student-Business Connector" project is one initiative aimed at this challenge that we started in 2015 and are continuing to ramp up. We are surveying businesses about opportunities for students to become involved and learn about the world of work, such as internships and apprenticeships, and publishing that information online for use by educators and students. This project is one way we can help employers address workforce readiness challenges over the long-term.
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