Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership
Chamber Confidential
Volume 2, Number 20
| Department
Updates Upcoming events and Membership news, click here. 2005 Major Events! Click here to view the current schedule. ChamberPlus, Inc. news, click here. Governmental Relations news, click here. Workforce Development news, click here. Economic Development news, click here. Community Development news, click here. Leadership Jackson news, click here. Updated list of new members, click here. New Photo Gallery Pictures, click here. .jpg) Did you know that the Chamber could save you money on Office Products? Click here to find out how!
Receiving bad checks? Click here to find out how the chamber can save your business time and money on check recovery! Click here to view the 2005 Executive Committee & Board of Directors Special Thanks to our Diamond Level Investors
Platinum Level Investor
Top Five Keywords Searched for the Week:
|
.jpg)
|
Memo from President Duane O'Neill
FOOTBALL IN JUNE ? This past weekend was a sports enthusiast’s dream. Delta State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and USM all were playing in the NCAA College Baseball post season. The Rebels hosted and won their regional tournament and now will be the host site for this weekend’s Super Regional. Lost in all the excitement was an interesting piece of football news. Yes, football news. The New Orleans Saints came to Jackson last Friday to announce their plans to play the Black and Gold Scrimmage on August 6th at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. You may still be wondering why talk of a scrimmage is news worthy in light of so many other world events, business happenings and local sport achievements. Well, the story behind the story is the best part of the Saints’ decision to come to our community.
The call came to the Governor’s office approximately six weeks ago. Would the State be willing to underwrite the Saints to the tune of $200,000.00 for a scrimmage in Jackson? Obviously, the state budget did not have the funds to pay the tab. The Governor and his Chief of Staff Charlie Williams saw merit in the proposed event, but funding would need to come from some other means. Williams and the Saints discussed making this not just a scrimmage, but also a family event. Clinics for youth, time to meet the players and ticket pricing that would allow everyone to come to the Black and Gold game helped add to the attractiveness of the event. Charlie called upon your Chamber for financial assistance, but even with the intriguing aspects of a family focused weekend, we did not have an extra two hundred thousand dollars unbudgeted. Nevertheless, the announcement was made last Friday that the event would take place on the weekend of August 6th. Coach Jim Haslett and star player Fred McAfee, were on hand for the press conference. They are genuinely excited about playing here and especially at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. Watt Whatley, Stadium Director, and the Stadium Commission are in the process of renovation work, which will make our 60,000+ seat facility a great venue for the event. It all sounds good, but what about that small issue of money? That’s the neat part of the story. Local athlete, now star of the Saints, Deuce McAllister entered the picture. The opportunity to play this scrimmage in his home state and to support activities planned for the kids of our community had a tremendous appeal to Deuce. Because of his enthusiasm, Deuce has generously offered to underwrite the event. Even with his magnanimous involvement in other city projects, this particular one was much more about his heart and not his wallet. As business people we all realize the economic impact that events like this have on an area. Let’s get involved and help make this a successful endeavor. This event sets the stage for bigger and better entertainment opportunities to come our way. |
|
Leadership
Jackson Update
Shirley Tucker, Executive Director Leadership Jackson Class of 2006-2005
As the summer begins Leadership Jackson finishes the celebration of a truly enjoyable and successful year for 2006– 2005. The Leadership Jackson program, which is a program of the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership , was founded in November 1986. The program is currently in its nineteenth year. Leadership Jackson is a community-wide leadership program that develops existing and emerging leaders in the metro area. The program is designed to educate participants about facts of major community issues and alternate approaches to solutions to community problems. Participants have sharpened their leadership skills while gaining a better understanding of various aspects of the community, including forums on politics, education, the legal system, healthcare, government and economics. Leadership Jackson is a nine-month program, which has six monthly sessions and three overnight retreats. This year began with a fall retreat to introduce participants to the many programs they would encounter over the next year. These programs included educational sessions and community work involving human resources, racial diversity, the criminal and civil justice system, city, county and state government, education, health services, and quality of life. Class participants also took on team projects which resulted in raising $700 for Stewpot, $3,000 for Jackson Public Schools PIE Store, 50 volunteers for the Barksdale Reading Institute, 2 neighborhood picnics for French Elementary, developed a brochure of contacts for cancer victims, upgraded the data base for Mission MS, held a number of conflict seminars at Rowan Middle School and hosted 50 fifth graders in a tour at the University Club and other businesses in an effort to explore careers. Upon graduation, each candidate learned valuable lessons on how they can become more involved with their communities and organizations along with how to encourage others to become more involved also. Each year up to forty participants are selected to participate in the program. Participants are nominated by their peers and selected by a committee that is appointed by the chairman of the Leadership Jackson Board of Trustees. To learn how to become more involved with the Leadership Jackson program, please contact Shirley Tucker at (601) 948-7575.
|
To send any comments regarding this e-memo, click here.