Jobs and the economy are top priorities in most people’s minds in Noble County. Our county has been hard hit by this recession and our unemployment rate is still one of the highest in the state, and nation.
To find out what local groups are doing to lay the foundation for a strong economic recovery and to help create new jobs, we asked the Kendallville Area Chamber of Commerce about some of its new programs and intiatives this year. One of the most entertaining initiatives is hosting former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz and its annual meeting. Holtz will give a motivational speech like the ones he used to help the Irish win its last national championship in 1988. Tickets for the annual dinner are now available to the public, but are selling fast.
Another foundation for our economic recovery is the Chamber’s renewed focus on just businesses, and growing our local businesses. In the past, the Chamber had taken on too many roles, but now their focus has narrowed to just business.
According to the Chamber, local businesses have bottomed out in the past 18 months, and are headed in the right direction, slowly.
We asked Chamber staff during an email interview to talk about the changes taking place and how local residents and businesses will benefit from these changes. Answers are by Anita Shepherd, Chamber executive director, and Katee Schalau, marketing.

Getting down to business: Kendallville Area Chamber of Commerce staff, (left to right) Katee Schalau, Public Relations Coordinator, Anita Shepherd, Executive Director, Sara Fisher, Administrative Assistant, have new goals and a new direction to help jump-start the local business economy and help create jobs. One is working on the annual dinner that features former Irish football coach Lou Holtz on April 22/. (Kendallville Mall photo)

What's new at the Kendallville Area Chamber of Commerce? What motivated the Chamber to make these changes?
Wow! We have a lot of new things happening this year. The Board of Directors and staff held strategic planning sessions in January. We used those sessions and members responses to a survey we administered late last year to determine our next steps as an organization.
We have reevaluated the direction that our organization was going in and have recognized our strengths and weaknesses. We are great at benefiting our member businesses, through marketing, promotion, education and overall business development. But, we had begun to stretch ourselves in to community initiatives too much. Recognizing that we cannot be all things to all people and sensing the need from our members, our board and staff concluded to make some great changes. Thus, we are tightening the reigns and specifically focusing on what we can do to benefit business.
Through these efforts to strengthen business, increase commerce and build economic development, we are then able to also benefit the area by helping to ensure existing jobs and create new jobs. In this economy it becomes even more apparent of the need for the Kendallville Area Chamber of Commerce to do what we are meant to, which is support businesses.
We also reevaluated our mission statement/value proposition. Our key market has been identified as current and prospective businesses. We are devoted to provide them with purpose-driven benefits to improve, grow and strengthen their business. And we are the only local organization solely focused on being their business partner today and in the future. With these things in mind, the motivation to make changes was immediate and everything else began to fall into place.
Probably the single largest change you will note is that we will be transitioning our community initiatives to area organizations that have the expertise to move the initiatives forward. We are transitioning Christmas Bureau to Common Grace. They have the expertise to help the many needs of area families and can apply for grant funding to help expand the program. We cannot do this as we are a 501(c)6 organization.
We've been working towards becoming a world class chamber of commerce for quite some time and with the economic strife we've all faced, and survey responses, we knew it was time to make these changes. We are funded by voluntary membership to our organization and our members deserve a return on their investment. We need to be supporting, promoting, enhancing, and helping them expand/start their businesses. We need to be a 'fluid' organization—ready to meet the every changing needs of our businesses when they happen. Therefore, we need to focus on what is happening in and around businesses—looking and future trends and opportunities and addressing legislative issues that impact our businesses.

How will each of these new things improve the Chamber and business in Kendallville?
Simple - these changes allow us to focus exclusively on our member businesses and economic development in the Kendallville area.
These changes are all focused to benefit our members and thus their businesses, their employment levels and that leads to benefits throughout the area. By keeping our goal all aimed directly at increasing commerce there is a greater chance for growth in the area and a healthier business climate overall. In this economic climate, we need to use all of our resources and the Kendallville Area Chamber of Commerce is one of the best resources for our area businesses to take advantage of and be a part of.
How are businesses in Kendallville doing, compared to last year? Any future bright spots?
I think it's fair to say that businesses are cautiously optimistic at this point. All of us would agree that the past 18 months have just been tough! The trend we're seeing is businesses making progress. Albeit, slow—but it's progress. The climate is a bit better than last year. I know our employment staffing agencies are seeing more activity than they did last year. We continue to receive inquiries about doing business in Kendallville and continue to meet with area businesses to learn more about their businesses and how we can be of help.

Lou Holtz as this year's speaker is a coup. Who do we thank for that? Are there tickets left?
We are thrilled and thankful that Lou Holtz will be our guest speaker at our Annual Banquet, April 22. My staff and I always like a challenge! After having Shawn Harper as our guest speaker last year, we were challenged to bring in a nationally renowned speaker. Lou Holtz' name came up and I began conversation with the Washington Speaker's Bureau. It took about 6 months to negotiate the contract and seek partial sponsorship to make it happen. As we all know, it takes all of us working together. We could not be offering this great opportunity without the support of our member businesses who helped by sponsoring this event. Kraft Foods and Shepherd’s Family Auto Group are the main sponsors. We do still have tickets available although over 50% have already been reserved. While this is great, we are hoping to sell out. Like any other business, the economy has taken a huge toll on the chamber and we felt this was an opportunity to create a lot of publicity for the area as well as help our bottom line so we can help area businesses.

What are the Chamber's goals for itself and local businesses in the year ahead?
We have several goals, all of which are somewhat intertwined, here is a bulleted version
• Increase membership
• Have 90% retention rate of existing membership
• Attract new members to the Chamber and new businesses to the area
• Have the most successful Annual Banquet on record
• Brand our organization throughout the area, so people know exactly who we are, what we do, and why we are here
• Communicate to members that ALL employees of their respective businesses are members of the chamber and therefore eligible for all benefits.
• Create, promote and facilitate new trainings, networking events and fundraisers
• Successfully transition the community initiatives that we had been facilitating to appropriate channels
• By providing value in all of our activities and programs
• Strong, dedicated board leadership and staff
• Strong partnerships
• Effective and efficient first stop for economic development and public relations for our membership and the Kendallville area
• Fluid and responsive to business challenges and needs

Who's on the board this year? Officers?
We have a great slate of directors and officers this year.
Officers:
President - Tom Shepherd, Shepherd's Buick, GMC
President Elect - Dan Brown, Hometown Carpet & Furniture Cleaning
Vice President - Mike Hughes, Kraft Foods
Immediate Past President - Kyndra Landgraff, State Farm Insurance
Directors:
Ben Helmkamp, Farmers & Merchants Bank
Ann Linson, East Nobel School Corporation
Scott Borger, Hy-Matic Manufacturing, Inc.
Steve Longfellow, K & L Tool Supply
Hal Hossinger, Attorney at Law
Terry Housholder, KPC Media Group
Don Moore, WAWK
Anita Hess, Orizon Real Estate
Andy Strack, Pizza Hut
General comments from you about the Chamber and local business.
We continually strive to meet the demands and needs of business - be it training, marketing, promotion, expansion, we're here and ready to help.
We are committed to promoting and building area businesses. By becoming a member, you are privy to marketing, networking and promotion by the only area organization that makes that their main goal. We would not exist without our members and they are our number one priority.

What else would you like the public to know?
We are an important entity to the area in that we have the resources to provide business with huge benefits while keeping a focus on this specific area. We have members that reach into all the surrounding areas, and are driven to promote all of them to the best of our capabilities. We do not provide social services, nor are we the community guide. We are focused on business, commerce and economic development. This area has great resources and organizations that can provide people with phone numbers and information on area events and services, but we are not that organization. If you are in need of assistance, please dial 2-1-1.

We are a nonprofit organization and rely solely on our member dues and the success of our events to ensure that we can continue to work to help build commerce in the area. Thus, it is extremely important that businesses and citizens get involved in order to show their support for this area’s business climate.