Monday, May 06, 2013

Probability high that 1Si's "think local" box lunch will contain red herrings.


The Green Mouse has been hacking on-line again. I keep telling him to stop, but he just will not listen. Bad mouse.

He's learned that One Southern Indiana is keen to help small, local business owners, although the single most logical step -- doing away with 1Si, which is the perennial defender of the oligarchs, whose monopolistic interests collide with those of small, local business -- appears to have been omitted from the action list.

It's fairly hilarious to note that two looming threats to small business health, which 1Si now seeks to play a leading role in protecting, are downtown bridge construction and subsequent bridge tolls, both of which 1Si has (of course) enthusiastically endorsed. Physician, heal thyself ... although I don't see THAT on the agenda, either.

Wouldn't you just love to see the invitation list?

Full disclosure: I ain't on it.

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Greetings!

As I approach my six-month mark as President of One Southern Indiana, I am working with our Board of Directors and many members and volunteers on developing a Strategic Plan which will help guide our organization’s direction over the next 3-5 years. I am excited for the many opportunities for businesses in Clark and Floyd county to thrive, and we are looking for ways to add value to the good work that many of your organizations are currently doing. We are also sensitive to not duplicate your efforts, but instead to enhance the business climate for our smaller and locally-owned businesses.

Therefore, you are invited to a Luncheon meeting to determine the opportunities and concerns of the locally-owned businesses and the merchant organizations that are working on their behalf. In today’s competitive marketplace it is imperative that communities are proactive in determining the challenges of our local businesses, and through a unified effort, address these issues to foster local buying habits and make Southern Indiana the destination stop for the region’s needs. We believe there may be areas in which we can collaborate to contribute to a successful business environment.

Please join One Southern Indiana, Think Local and the other merchant associations to share your association’s strategies and to identify those areas where help is needed.

The Luncheon meeting will take place at One Southern Indiana Tuesday May 7th from 11:00 – 1:00 p.m. We will provide boxed lunches. Please RSVP by email to dannyj@1si.org.

The suggested agenda would be as followed:
1. A welcome and introduction (All)
2. Purpose of the meeting (Wendy Dant Chesser)
3. Strategic Direction of each Association (All)
4. Collaborative Opportunities (All)
5. Next Steps (All)
6. Adjourn

Thanks, and I hope you can join us!
Wendy

Wendy Dant Chesser | One Southern Indiana
President & CEO
4100 Charlestown Road
New Albany, Indiana 47150
812/945-0266
www.1si.org

3 comments:

Karen said...

Funny, we have this here and it is called "The Downtown Dayton Partnership"...same organization, different name. Same challenges.

Jeff Gillenwater said...

All they have to do to help is a 180 on transportation, taxes, education, healthcare, labor, gaming, and a few others. Beyond that, a very public break with the abominable politics of state and national chambers would be beneficial.

In all seriousness, they're arguably the most strident anti-local organization in Southern Indiana. It might be easier, as you mention, to disband.

Or they could just be honest which, in itself, would be a 180.

bayernfan said...

I remember sitting in on the first meeting of the "Think Local" group and realizing it had no chance to sincerely be a pro-small business organization when they decided that a main sponsor would be Time-Warner cable...