Jay Byers In remembrance

Data is the key to making informed decisions and measuring success, the latest resource from our team at Cuyahoga County Planning Commission is free and available for you to use in your work. #strongertogether #planningforthefuture

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Local Apprenticeship Update! Springfield Missouri Public Schools (SPS) has announced a partnership with the Paul Mueller Company of Springfield regarding a new Registered Youth Apprenticeship Program! SPS and the Paul Mueller Company are currently working with the U.S. Department of Labor and hope to have up to five high school students this Spring that will be selected for the Welding & Grinding pathway with this employer! See the attached article for details, including additional apprenticeship news from SPS! https://lnkd.in/ggeaJq7d #YouthApprenticeship #Workforce #Employment

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Navigating the Challenges of a Rural Chamber of Commerce Leading a rural Chamber of Commerce is both deeply rewarding and incredibly challenging. Small communities like ours depend on the Chamber to serve as the connector between businesses, local government, and the people who call this place home. But the reality is, rural chambers face a unique set of threats that often go unseen. Funding is one of the biggest hurdles. With limited business bases and smaller populations, sustaining consistent revenue can be difficult. Membership dues, sponsorships, and events must extend far beyond their original purpose — not just to promote business, but to support the community as a whole. Then there’s the challenge of capacity. Many rural chambers operate with limited staff members (sometimes just one!),managing everything from marketing and events to economic development and advocacy. Meanwhile, expectations from members and the community keep growing. And yet, the mission remains the same: to create opportunity, connection, and growth — right here at home. Despite the challenges, I believe rural chambers hold something powerful — resilience, creativity, and a deep sense of community. The key moving forward will be finding new, sustainable models of support: stronger regional collaboration, modern membership structures, and recognition from public and private partners that rural vitality is everyone’s business. To those leading or supporting rural chambers — keep going. What you’re doing matters more than most people realize. #RuralDevelopment #ChamberOfCommerce #CommunityLeadership #EconomicDevelopment #SmallBusiness #RuralAmerica #Leadership

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President's FY26 Budget Proposal cuts $167 million for SBA entrepreneurial development programs; "ends 15 specialized and duplicative programs, leaving only the Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) program." Eliminated programs include:  🚫 Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) 🚫 SCORE 🚫 State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) 🚫 Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs) +++++ 💲 Does include a "$10 million increase to ensure there is not a disruption in business technical assistance services for veteran-owned small businesses." View budget details https://lnkd.in/gCqcw_nD #SmallBiz

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The Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance convened a roundtable discussion of 10 local business leaders to privately share w/ Congresswoman Ashley Hinson and her Team the impacts tariffs have already had and could potentially have on local businesses. The serious discussion included details of business slowdowns as well as solutions-oriented discussion about how trade policy could be structured to achieve the stated aims of the Trump Administration without some of the damaging consequences. While the specifics of that roundtable (arranged by Barbra Solberg) are confidential, I was struck by how similar the themes were to thoughts Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee shared at the Corridor Business Journal event and in a related article published June 8, 2025 in The Gazette | Eastern Iowa. I'll link to the Gazette article below, but these are key excerpts: Iowa is among the top five states most impacted by tariffs. The state’s economy is largely driven by manufacturing and agriculture, “two sectors that are very dependent on the supply chain on the one side and export markets on the other,” Goolsbee said. Iowa’s top agricultural exports, such as corn, soybeans and pork, have been caught in the crosshairs of retaliatory tariffs, particularly from China, a major importer of U.S. agricultural products. Farmers are experiencing falling prices for their crops and higher prices for inputs like fertilizer and imported materials. At the same time, manufacturing in Iowa and the wider Mid-American region has slowed, with businesses facing increased costs for imported inputs, leading to decreased profits and potentially higher consumer prices. "The biggest concerns," Goolsbee said, "are anyone that’s dependent on the supply chain coming especially from Canada and Mexico, or where Canada and Mexico are their big markets that they’re selling to. So the agriculture economy was already having some farm income squeeze — the cost of production still rising and the sales prices kind of capped out."

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A key part of Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation's support for small businesses is to allow our communities and non-profits design the access to capital programs that make sense for their locations. This year's grants are helping 10 groups do just that.

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