Chamber Applauds Lansing City Council Approval of City Market Sale

Lansing City Council's unanimous vote to approve the sale of the Lansing City Market to the Gillespie Group is a huge victory for all residents in the Lansing region. The Council action paves the way for construction of a new City Market on the riverfront, and development of Gillespie's projects Ballpark North and Marketplace North.

The exciting new developments will be instrumental in bringing young people and families into the downtown area, and is certain to encourage new and expanded commerce in the central city district. Several developers have indicated approval of the Gillespie project would play an important factor in their future decisions about investing in Lansing.

The Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce worked closely with city officials, business leaders and the developer to promote this plan that will enhance revitalization of downtown Lansing. We are particularly grateful to the large number of Chamber members who chose to get actively involved by sending supportive e-mails, placing telephone calls and testifying at public meetings. Your support was vital in helping to secure Council approval of this important project.

Congratulations and thanks go out to Pat Gillespie who has shown a willingness to work with a variety of factions during this process in order to negotiate an agreement that results in a win-win for our region.

The Chamber also applauds the leadership demonstrated by Mayor Virg Bernero, City Council President Brian Jeffries and the entire City Council. The spirit of collaboration that resulted in the final approval sends a clear message throughout the nation-Lansing is open for business!

To be a champion

"To be a champ you have to believe in yourself when no one else will."

Sugar Ray Robinson (1921–1989)
Professional boxer

June is Accident Awareness Month!

Did you know? In an Aflac survey in 2006, one in three participants was concerned about having to declare bankruptcy someday due to unexpected medical bills.

While Aflac can't prevent accidents from happening, we can help policyholders and their families become better prepared to address many of the expenses that major medical doesn't cover!

For information on how Aflac's Accident AND Disability plans can provide your employees peace of mind without adding benefit costs to your bottom line contact:

Sally Miller 888.349.7002 ext 215 sally_miller@us.aflac.com

YOUR SHRM CONNECTION

It's Summer!

Well , it’s June, the temperature has risen, flowers have blossomed, my family has already gone to the pool twice. Summer is officially here. In Michigan (where every summery day is so valuable), business has a tendency to slow down a little. We like to leave early on Fridays to head up north. Lunches are longer because we’re having them on the patio instead of indoors. And don’t forget about the occasional Lugnuts game. But remember to keep up your marketing efforts to keep business alive! It doesn’t have to be a chore, just take that long lunch with one of your SBR friends. When you get distracted looking out the window at the trees and birds, take a minute to visit the SBR blog. Every time your voice is heard, live or online, you’re putting your business first in someone else’s mind.

I hope to see some of you next week at the Lansing Open, or at the Member mixer, or one of the other great Chamber events!

Networking Opportunity-Network with HR Professionals

Hey everyone!
I am on the planning committee this year for the Annual HRMAMM Golf Outing. A fun day for HR professionals and those who would like to network with HR professionals. Sponsored by your local Human Resource Management Association of Mid Michigan (HRMAMM). Details of sponsorship opportunities are listed below, or ....get a group together from your company and join us for a fun day! E-mail me to request a registration form.

We still have opportunities for you to be a sponsor for the 2008 HRMAMM Golf outing and help to make it a fun and successful day. Please consider one or more of the following levels of support:

Sponsor a hole: Your company's name on a sign on one of the 18 golf holes, company name in the newsletter and published to each golfer the day of the event. $75.00 per hole

Sponsor a contest: Provide a prize for the longest putt, the longest drive, closest to the pin, etc.

Provide a raffle prize: Suggestions: golf umbrellas, golf balls, gift certificates to stores or restaurants, gas cards, coolers, Detroit Tiger tickets, round of golf, etc.

Goodie bag items: Any items with your company logo or small items. (60-75 items needed)

Send a Foursome
And we welcome more golfers! The event will be held on Thursday, June 12 at Wheatfield Valley in Williamston. Cost is $65.00 per golfer ($260 per team) Includes 4 person scramble with a riding cart, lunch and dinner.

Please give me a call or respond by e-mail and I will make arrangements to pick up your gift donations prior to the outing. Thank you in advance for your support!
millersally@sbcglobal.net

New member invitation

We had a great meeting this morning with some ambitious ideas for the next year of our group. For those of you that couldn't attend (and for those of you that need a reminder), we agreed to each contribute to the group in the following ways:
1) Make an effort to post at least once a month to the blog, which will help us all stay informed of business developments, upcoming events, member news, etc. and will also help our online exposure through social networking.
2) Bring a potential new member to the next meeting on June 17th at the Chamber's new office. With so much to offer, it shouldn't be too hard to find at least one contact in your database that could benefit from a membership.

I look forward to another great year!

Renewal

As promised I have attached your renewal invoices for the June 08 through May 09 membership year. It has been decided that we will make up for not having an up-to-date SBR page on our website some other way. I will keep you posted.

Please make renewal a priority so that when we meet here at our new offices on June 17^th we can move onto bigger and better things.

Heidi Brumbach has volunteered to as our group facilitator (Grand Poobah) for another year. Please take a moment and let her know how much we appreciate her efforts. Nothing beats recognition. Especially if it’s in writing!

May and June are also excellent recruiting times for adding representatives from several business sectors’ that remain vacant in our group. (See attached roster)

I am really looking forward to a precedent setting year for our group as we have really grown to know each other and our respective businesses. Let’s keep a good thing going.

Your friend in smart business relationships,

Mike