Mike Wolanin | The Republic Vanessa Sinders, president and CEO of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, delivers the keynote speech during the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce annual meeting at The Commons on April 2.
The Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce are taking long-term views regarding improving the business climate locally and across the state.
You could tell that from remarks by keynote speaker Vanessa Green Sinders, first-year president and CEO of the Indiana Chamber, and Columbus Area Chamber President Cindy Frey, at the local chamber’s annual meeting last week at the Commons.
At the state level, Sinders selected Columbus to kick off a tour of local chambers and visits with community business leaders to advance the state chamber’s “Partners IN Prosperity” program and the Indiana Chamber Foundation’s initiative, “Indiana Prosperity 2035 — A Vision for Economic Acceleration.”
That plan advances the chamber’s policy goals in six key areas: Workforce; K-12 education; economic growth, innovation and entrepreneurship; infrastructure and energy; quality of place strategies; and healthy, prosperous communities and citizens. Within each of those areas, the state chamber has identified strategies that it believes can improve Indiana’s business climate, which in turn boosts individual and community standards of living.
“There is so much good happening in this state, and that is something to be celebrated,” Sinders said. “… That said, I’m a big believer in, no matter how good you are, there’s always more that can be done.”
For business leaders, that aligns with the continuous improvement process. You might say that is the process that the Columbus Area Chamber is pursuing with its plans to unveil a new office in coming months. The chamber has been working in a temporary space since a fire in the Irwin Block Building in late 2022 made its former adjacent office unsafe, but Frey told the hundreds gathered for the annual meeting that a ribbon cutting at its new offices at Third and Franklin Streets will take place this summer.
The local chamber clearly took the challenge of siting a new office as an opportunity to look forward. Frey said the local chamber’s new space, shared with the Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp., will provide greater services to its members and the businesspeople it serves.
“At this visible downtown location, you will be able to meet with our partners from (Senior Corps of Retired Executives), the Indiana Small Business Development Center, Catalyst Columbus and (Targeted Investment in Minority Entrepreneurs), who will have an office. Members will be able to utilize any of three conference rooms. We hope you will find it to be a place that celebrates our community and its commitment to quality design,” Frey said.
Like these chamber leaders and the businesspeople they serve, we’re looking forward to a bright future.
