Chamber Updates

Inspiring Business Leaders with Lessons from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 2024, marks the 95th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. Today is also the third Monday in January, and since November 2, 1983, we recognize this day each year as a national holiday in his honor. While some businesses are…

An Opportunity to Bounce Your Big Idea! Have you ever encountered a problem or an issue at work and thought there should be a technical solution to this problem? Do you have ideas for an application or technical concept that could be a business but don’t know where to start? Thanks to a new program…

Have a S.M.A.R.T. New Year It’s the official start of a New Year as we step in to 2024 and many businesses are setting plans for 2024 into motion. One way to help ensure a good year is to be S.M.A.R.T. in your goal-setting process. First introduced in an article by George T. Doran in…

Christmas Holiday It’s December 25th and I want to start by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! While most business activity is taking the holiday, there is still a segment of our business and public works that are spending their days working and today we want to recognize their efforts. While it seems like everyone is…

Year End Business Review The start of 2024 is only two weeks away, and a new year means new opportunities for business. Before we start focusing on future goals, now is a great time to reflect on 2023 and do a quick business or organizational review. While a year-end review can be very detailed and…

Graduation and Keeping Alumni Local This Saturday, December 16, 2023, Southeast Missouri State will hold it’s fall commencement with more than 850 students expected to complete their degrees and move into the workforce. We have talked many times about the impact that students have on the local and regional economy but today we will focus…

MOBUCK$ Program Reopens January 2nd Last week at the Cape Chamber First Friday Coffee Missouri State Treasure Vivek Malek shared information on several programs and resources that his office provides to citizens of Missouri. One program of note for Businesses, Farmers and Communities is the MO BUCK$ program Originally created in the mid 1980’s the…

United We Work program starts up in Cape Girardeau and Jackson In January of 2018 the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a report entitled Getting to Work on Time – Public Transit and Job Access in Northeast Pennsylvania. While the study was focused on that region, the findings are consistent across the country, even…

Making a local Impact with Holiday Shopping It’s hard to believe it, but this week is Thanksgiving, and that means the kick-off to the Holiday Shopping season. Recent data reported by pwc.com shares some interesting insights into shopping trends this year. In a recent posting entitled Holiday Outlook 2023, survey research indicated some positive news for…