The Logan County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors voted unanimously on Feb. 10 to support the county-by-county Right-To-Work legislation. 2015 Chamber President Shane Hayes will be speaking on behalf of the Chamber at the next Logan County Fiscal Court meeting to voice the board's support of the legislation before the fiscal court votes on the second reading of the ordinance.
We have also been asked to relay to the membership a request for ANY MEMBER OF THE CHAMBER who supports the ordinance and wants to show that support to the fiscal court to be at the fiscal court meeting. The meeting will start at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, on the second floor in the old Logan County Courthouse.
You may ask, what is Right-To-Work and why did the Chamber board vote to support it?
Briefly, in places where right-to-work laws exist, employees can't be compelled to pay dues or fees of any kind to work in a union shop. That's true even in cases where unions have exclusive representation agreements in which the unions are compelled to represent all employees. (Courier-Journal, Jan. 16, 2015) Also, the ordinance will help with Logan County economic development and is seen as a good pro-business move for Logan County.
The Logan County Fiscal Court passed an ordinance on first reading on Jan. 27. Surrounding counties, Warren, Todd, and Simpson have passed the ordinance. Currently, there are several other counties in Kentucky who have passed or considering the ordinance.
If any member wants it, I have compiled some press clippings of Right-To-Work legislation. It is long, but it gives a great overview of what has happened so far in the state legislatively. Shoot me an email at ryancraig@loganchamber.com or call the Chamber at 270-726-2206 and I'll be glad to send you the electronic press clippings.
We hope that everyone who can do so makes it to the fiscal court meeting on Tuesday.
Chamber News
This is the first in a weekly report that we will have to inform the members of the Logan County Chamber of Commerce about happenings, goings-on and all things Chamber-related, plus when there is an article that we feel is important or even of general interest we will post it on this blog.
I often say that information is the key to a strong organization and if the membership is not informed then we are not doing our part in helping strengthen and foster the business community in Logan County.
So, here is your first weekly news letter and next week we hope to have more to report since most of what happened this week involved shoveling, slipping, sliding and freezing (and falling a couple times) in historically cold weather and nearly a foot of snow!
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT:
Ribbon Cutting at Logan County High School
There will be a ribbon cutting on Feb. 26 at 10 a.m. at the new Cougar Cave student store at Logan County High School. We need your support for this (indoor) ribbon cutting. The store will be run by the school's Exceptional Youth Department. These students have a wide range of disabilities and special needs and this is a very worthwhile thing for the Chamber to support. So let's try to have as many as possible show up to the ribbon cutting next Thursday.
Annual Dinner
Invitations have been sent out for the Logan County Chamber Annual Dinner and it should be a hoot! This year will have a Mardi Gras theme and food so good it will make a Cajun slap an alligator.
The dinner, which will feature a lightly-Cajun themed menu, will be on March 19 at the Logan County Extension facility with the doors opening at 5:30 p.m. and the programs beginning at 7 p.m.
We hope to have a sell-out crowd and I hope to see you there. Look for more information in the coming weeks as we draw closer to the dinner.
Business Card Holder
WE NEED YOUR BUSINESS CARDS! The Chamber now has a new, very large, business card holder we are in the process of hanging in the lobby. It can hold up to 100 spots for businesses and when we fill those, we will hang up some more holders. The card holders are a membership benefit and we want you to send us your cards so we can have them on hand for the many visitors that pass through the Chamber door.
Retail Development
We had hoped to have a report from a meeting with Melissa Halsell, who is in charge of retail development for the TVA, but the weather has pushed back our meeting until March 6.
The meeting is a first step in the Chamber's upcoming retail development initiative. We first have to update/find information and then the TVA, along with the Kentucky Small Business Development Center at Western Kentucky University, will help us develop a plan for attracting retail. There will be much more on this to come, but we are hoping the Chamber can help bring some missing retail to Logan County while at the same time giving shoppers and consumers options so that some of the money that is spent in other counties and in Tennessee stays here.
Weather problems
The weather caused all kinds of issues this week, including the cancellation of the Ambassadors Meeting and Leadership Logan for February. The Ambassadors meeting has been rescheduled for Feb. 25 at noon. Leadership Logan will next meet on March 26.
Executive Director visits
I was making traction (pun intended) with my membership visits but the snow and a dead battery in the cold kept me from visiting last Friday afternoon and all this week. But, as an uncle of mine used to say, "If the good Lord willing and the creeks don't rise (or freeze)," I'll be making my rounds starting back next week. If you want a visit sooner than later shoot me an email or call the Chamber office and I'll put you at the top of the list. I look forward to visiting each one of you.
That is it for now. Stay warm and stay safe and remember, if it looks like ice, feels like ice and even smells like ice ... you will probably fall on it.