Vermilion Advantage

Leadership Tomorrow Class 24 just wrapped up their Education Day. They started off their day at DACC's Bremer Center with Danville Family YMCA Director John Alexander helping them get a better understanding about serving on boards.
Next up was a visit to the Career Lab to meet with our Workforce Development Specialist, Kim Kuchenbrod and two of her Career Lab instructors, for a shortened version of the same "hands-on" training that our county's 8^th graders get when they go to the lab. Class members had fun learning at the hands-on stations, including a CNC Mill, Electronics, Four-Stroke Engine, Graphic Design, Landscape Design, Manufacturing Concepts, Mastercam, Nutrition & Wellness, and Robotics ER-2U.
Then it was back to Bremer where Kay Smoot explained College Express and dual enrollment. Then DACC's Stacy Ehmen, explained services and educational options available at DACC.

The class then took a tour of the "houses" at Danville High School, followed by a presentation by District 118's Diane Hampel, explaining the "No Child Left Behind Act," a discussion that garnered a lot of feedback, thoughts and discussion.

The day finished up with a panel made up of Diane Hampel, D118; Jeff Fauver, Catlin School Board President, representing smaller school districts; and Mary Pat Shepherd from Schlarman Academy for private schools; they discussed comparisons between the three schools regarding teacher recruitment, funding issues, discipline and other education topics.

The 24^th Leadership Tomorrow class had a busy day last month. It was the annual Business/ Industry/Retail Day. That meant Vermilion Advantage President/CEO Vicki Haugen and I were to get everyone shuffled from site to site and help class members get a wider view of today's world of industry and business.

Vicki kicked things off at DACC's Bremer Center with the story behind the headlines, explaining how McLane Midwest and Fiberteq came here. That was followed by an extensive tour inside McLane, giving the class a chance to see thousands of products being packed and sent onto the Dan Ryan Expressway of conveyor belts McLane uses to sort and send items out to be loaded onto trucks for delivery across the Midwest.

Then off we went to Fiberteq's conference room where we met up with Gary Peacock from Covington Foods/County Market, who shared how the Clark family began Covington Foods and built a large company on great work ethic and a desire to do the right thing. Gary also took some time to talk about County Market's new store to be located in Tilton, and then explained that once the new store is up and running, they have plans to revitalize the Towne Centre store.

Then it was up to the Fiberteq folks to explain the top to bottom commitment Dan Nobbe and his plant have safety; and then they were off to see the creation of the mats used for roof shingles.

We wrapped up the day where we began, at Bremer Center, with Vicki and I explaining some of the process we follow when projects come in looking for potential sites, and the extensive data we must provide for them within a short timeframe.

Next up was Th Snyder's Brad Irle, who shared with the class his personal story of leaving the world of industrial management to owning this very special business that creates amazing, high-end wood products for homes and businesses.

Kim Kuchenbrod and Vicki then spoke to the class about the significant role workforce development plays in everything we do. The day ended with Vicki sharing the case study of Thyssen Krupp's location and growth here. Then, the class got to hear the true story behind all those headlines about what happened with the Honda project – from the first day to the final, unfortunate phone call announcing Honda's decision to go to Indiana several years ago.

Holiday shopping is upon us. And one of the best gifts anyone can get or give is Chamber Dollars! The program began 2003, when there was still an independent Chamber of Commerce that focused much of its efforts on trying to keep local dollars local; it worked. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have stayed right here in Vermilion County because of the use of Chamber Dollars. While we still are challenged by the leakage of retail dollars when people shop out of county, we know for certain that we would be a lot further behind without Chamber Dollars!

Over the years, the Chamber Dollars program has grown; 70 businesses in Vermilion County now participate regularly in the program throughout the year, not just during the holidays, when we usually see an increase in Chamber dollar interest and activity.

To give you an idea of how popular this program is, last year we sold $195,949 in Chamber Dollars. By October 31, this year, Vermilion Advantage had already sold $119,143 in Chamber Dollars – approximately $4,000 more than what we had sold this time last year.

You do not need to be a Vermilion Advantage member to purchase Chamber Dollars – anyone can purchase them. They make great year-round gifts and are especially popular during the holidays. There are no fees involved in either the purchase or redemption of Chamber Dollars. If you have not used them in the past, now is a great time to consider Chamber Dollars as gifts for your family and friends, or for your employees. The more you give and get them, the better for all! Let's keep our dollars right here in Vermilion County. For information, you can visit our website, www.vermilionadvantage.com and click on Initiatives, or call 442-6201.