Chamber Updates

Summer Events in Cape Girardeau According to the U.S. Travel Association, in 2019, domestic and international travelers spent $16.5 billion exploring the State of Missouri. This summer, we will see an influx of visitors to Cape Girardeau as we are the 2021 home to several big events. Mark your calendar!   Riverboat Dockings | Beginning…

National Small Business Week The President of the United States has issued a proclamation annually for more than 50 years announcing this…. Next week, May 3rd through May 9th, we will celebrate National Small Business Week which recognizes the critical contributions of small business owners and entrepreneurs. According to the Small Business Administration, more than…

Spring Clean Your Small Business with These 6 Tips Spring cleaning applies to more than the home! As we settle in to the second quarter of the year, it’s time to refresh and clear the clutter to ensure you’re still on track for success. Here are six “spring cleaning” tips to keep your business set…

Missouri March 2021 Employment Numbers The Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC) released the Missouri monthly jobs report for March and it contains a lot of interesting information. According to the report, Missouri’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March decreased to 4.2 percent from 4.3 percent in February. This rate has declined or remained…

The Lack of Available Workers a Rising Concern Just when the pandemic led us to believe we’ve seen it all, many businesses are now facing an issue completely novel in anyone’s memory. Lack of available workers is a rising concern across the country. And let’s be clear, I’m not talking about the issue of a…

Upcoming Tourism Events in Cape Girardeau Area Let’s not forget this important part of our local economic development efforts. The tourism industry which includes meetings and conventions, visitors tied to events, and tourists or travelers, is really gaining additional steam in our area. As you may recall, we have talked about the importance of the…

Professional Development and Business Success According to Zig Ziglar, “The only thing worse than training employees and losing them is not training them and keeping them.” Professional development is an important ongoing part of business success. It should permeate all levels of organizations large and small. And while most employers would agree with the importance,…

8 Workforce Development Initiatives at the Cape Chamber Pre-pandemic, we experienced near historic lows in unemployment. Post-pandemic, we see the nature of work shifting.  One thing we know for sure at the Cape Chamber is how challenging it has been and continues to be for our local employers to find quality candidates to fill open…

Evaluating Workforce Needs for Southeast Missouri Questions about a quality labor force in our area are about to get a deeper dive. Certainly workforce needs are an ever evolving situation. And emerging from this pandemic, it will continue to be an important focus of any economy. Several months ago, a group of business people began…