Huntingburg Chamber of Commerce

MAY 2003

1�� Business Modernization Technology Seminar 9:00 � 2:00

2�� Huntingburg Museum Steering Committee meeting� 8:00 am

6�� Huntingburg Merchants Association Meeting 7:30 am at Overtime

7�� Herbstfest Meeting at 7:30 am OTH

7�� Dubois County Expo Committee Meeting Noon at OTH

9�� Regional Human Resource Seminar 1:00 pm at Old Town Hall

15�� Dubois County Tourism Luncheon 11:00 � 1:30 at Ferdinand

20�� Foundation Executive Committee Meeting Noon at OTH

20�� Huntingburg Park Board Meeting at 5:45 pm at City Hall

21�� Chamber Board Meeting 7:30 am at Old Town Hall

21�� Foundation Finance Committee 3:30 pm at OTH

23�� Southridge High School Graduation

26�� Memorial Day, Office Closed

27�� Foundation Marketing Committee Meeting Noon at OTH

28�� Chamber Membership Committee Meeting at 7:30 am OTH

VITAL � AGGRESSIVE

DYNAMIC - COOPERATIVE

The Huntingburg Chamber of Commerce hosted its Annual Dinner meeting on April 10 with guest speaker Robert Montgomery.�

Mr. Montgomery challenged those attending to think about what they wanted for the city of Huntingburg and encouraged members to take action immediately to achieve that vision.� Robert suggested that we always be in a �hurry� to get things done and to move our community forward.

Robert asked what 20 words would residents like to be used when people describe Huntingburg.� Four words that members provided were vital, aggressive, dynamic and cooperative.

All four of these words are strong action words, which suggest that Chamber members want the Chamber to take action.� The chamber cannot be content in doing things the same way that they have always been done.� We must constantly be developing new ways to provide opportunities for our businesses to thrive.

There must be a �willingness to take risks & get out of the comfort zone,� suggested one chamber member.� During the dinner, an award was presented to Warren Evans for his continuing contributions to the city of Huntingburg.� Those of us who know Warren, know that he has taken great risks in his life, but had he and his fellow Rangers not taken those risks our world could be very different today.�

Another chamber member suggested that we must try to �do your best every day.�� Mediocre is not acceptable.� If we do not give our best and do not expect the best from those we interact with, can we be satisfied with the quality of life within our community.

�More unity and partnerships with the rest of the county,� are also needed.� As the world gets smaller with technological advances, we must identify partners in developing our region not just our city.� Many of our chamber members are not located within the city of Huntingburg, but do business here and they see the benefit of being a partner with the Chamber.

Sixteen words remain to be identified as describing Huntingburg, what would you add?� During the meeting, Chamber members were encouraged to provide �fresh ideas� for the Chamber staff and board to pursue in the upcoming year to be a more aggressive, vital and dynamic Chamber.� More on those ideas, suggestions, and comments are included in this newsletter.

The following short articles refer to comments and suggestions made by Chamber members during the Annual Dinner meeting.

Education and Youth

The phrase �brain drain� is fairly common to rural areas.� Parents work hard to provide encouragement and finances to send our children to college.� We send our brightest and our best leaders off into the world to lead other communities to better and brighter futures.

Indiana ranks 14^th out of the 50 states for students receiving a college education and only ranks 47^th in the number of residents who have a college education.

The problem is twofold.� The majority of the jobs available in Dubois County are blue-collar jobs in manufacturing.� Students with college education cannot find jobs in their field of study or at a pay level consistent with the national rate for their skills.� Additionally, these bright-eyed youths want to experience the world.� Do we provide a quality of life standard consistent with their needs?� Do we know what that standard is?

If we wish to be a community that is �keeping our town a place where our youth want to stay or return after college,� we need to get them involved prior to their leaving.

Suggested Action Steps:

� Continue to diversify our job market opportunities by recruiting more new businesses

� �Establish a student Chamber of Commerce at the high school or have a student liaison on the Chamber to involve students and promote pride in the community.�

With Robert Yost, Superintendent of the Southwest Dubois County School Corporation coming on to the board this year, we have a good start in building a better relationship with our young people.

Tourism

Tourism continues to develop as a major industry in Huntingburg.� A disadvantage and advantage for our community is our rural setting.� Many come to Huntingburg to get away from the big city, but as Mr. Montgomery pointed out �quaint isn�t good enough anymore.�

While people want to get away from the stressful things in their life they also want to be entertained.� The city of Huntingburg�s retail promotions are designed to entertain shoppers.� The new April Garden Gate Festival is a direct request from Chamber members understanding that to bring shoppers to our area, we have to do more than just open the shop door.

Other suggestions for entertainment were to sponsor sports events.� With League Stadium, Memorial Gym, and an Olympic sized swimming pool we are fortunate to have sporting arenas that can attract large groups of people.� While we may not be large enough to attract a major league exhibition baseball game as we once did in the past, we should not overlook the number of nonprofessional sports that need a host for their tournaments.

The Indiana State basketball hosts its tournaments here each year.� The Southridge Aquatic Raider Gators (SARG) will host two meets this year at the City Park swimming pool.� With the Dragons gone, there is a hole in the season for League Stadium, but the Park Board continues to meet with potential teams.

Suggested Action Steps:

� Expand our efforts in developing partnerships with local athletic teams in hosting tournaments in Huntingburg

� �More B&Bs and restaurants�

� Continue to work with Dubois County Tourism in promoting the Crappie fishing tournaments at Patoka Lake; promote the City Lake�s fishing.

� �Promote rail from Huntingburg to French Lick�

In regards to the last Action Item, The Indiana Rail Museum has submitted an application to the Transportation Enhancement (TE) Program for funds to repair the rail line in the Cuzco area so that travel from Huntingburg to French Lick would be possible.� The Chamber provided a letter of support.

Health and Wellness

�Wellness for the city of Huntingburg builds health of the community.��

Healthcare and healthcare costs are a growing concern across the United States.� The recent Healthfair sponsored by St. Joseph Hospital, the City of Huntingburg and the Southwest School Corporation was an excellent opportunity for residents to have free health screenings and to get information on health concerns.� Kudos to these three Chamber members for recognizing the need and developing a partnership to provide for a healthier community.

In addition to the Healthfair, 2003 saw the opening of the Wellness Center on US 231 with doctors Gilbert and Buss.� The Wellness Center will host an open house in June with more information to come at a later date.

Suggested Action Steps:

� Continue to support the Healthfair

� Continue to monitor legislative action in regards to keeping healthcare costs in check for the business community

Housing

New housing starts continue in the northwest quadrant of the city.� While the number of permits has slowed from those issued in the late 90s, the number continues to exceed those of the 1970s and 1980s.

Preservation

While we continue to have new housing starts, we cannot forget that existing houses must be well maintained.� Drive down North Geiger Street between Fourth and Fifth Street during the Christmas Season and you cannot help but feel that you have entered a beautiful Christmas Card.

Restoring and preserving our historic homes and buildings is an important part of preserving our heritage and defining our community.� We are fortunate that our downtown has retained much of its historical integrity; however, we must provide for zoning and ordinances that protect these structures.

Suggested Action Steps:

� �Make Huntingburg a historic district that people will feel good about investing time and energy.�

� �Restore and Promote� our historic structures

Beautification

Our community is our home and as we spend time each week cleaning and making our homes more attractive and welcoming, we should do the same for the community.� For a city, beautification includes streetscape projects.�

Suggested Action Steps:

� �Street tree planting program citywide�

� Promote a volunteer group or garden club to beautify public areas of Huntingburg�

� Finish Main Street streetscape�

� �Eliminate billboards countywide and statewide�

� New entryway signs

It may not be possible for the Chamber to eliminate billboards statewide, but we can work towards ensuring that those billboards within the city of Huntingburg�s zoning district do not distract from the beauty of our city.

Greenspace

People need to interact with nature.� The city of Huntingburg has one of the best parks with its City Park on the southeast side of the city.� However, our north side residents do not have easy access to a park area.�

Suggested Action Steps:

� Develop a �Nature Walk�

� Develop a �Central Park�

� Provide for a �Nature Center�

The donation of the old landfill from the O�Brien family a few years ago opened the door for the possibility of a north side park.� The Chamber assisted the city in acquiring a Community Planning Fund (CPF) grant to provide for a plan for this site.� Now completed and approved, the Park Board must now look to identifying funds to develop the park.� The Park will include walking trails, a golf range, playground, a dog park, and a community center.

With the donation of land to the Huntingburg Foundation, additional opportunities exist for a nature center.� A central park in the downtown area could be used to provide for an area that both residents and tourists could stop and take a rest and soak in the beauty of our community.

Transportation

Indiana is considered the crossroads of America.� We must continue to make sure that the state realizes that transportation routes in southern Indiana need to be maintained and improved.�

The I-69 route has been approved but will not be constructed for some time.� The US 231 Bypass has two remaining options.�� Our city remains dissected by the railroad with no viable options for a bypass within the city.

Suggested Action Steps:

� �Spend money on train overpasses�

� Monitor and voice opinion on I 69 and US 231 developments

2002-2003 Chamber Board of Directors

President

Bill Land

City of Huntingburg

Vice President

Secretary/Treasurer

Ken Schnaus

Integra Bank

Bob Brown

Brown Antiques

Christine Buening

Touch of Class Outlet Store

Travis McQueen

Dubois County Airport Authority

Gene Thewes

German American Bank

Maggie Kerkhoff

Styline/OFS

Robert Yost

Southwest Dubois County

School Corporations

Jim Hunsicker

NSWC Crane

Staff

Christine Prior

Executive Director

Sharon Welp

Administrative Assistant

309 N Geiger Street

Huntingburg, Indiana 47542

(812) 683-5699

[email protected]