Flint & Genesee Chamber CEO Tim Herman on May 3 was a guest speaker at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce’s annual “Chamber Day at the Capitol.”
This event is used to educate local chamber and public affairs executives, and their volunteers about current and emerging business and economic issues facing Michigan. Representatives from 16 chambers of commerce in Michigan met with legislators, department leaders and staff from the Governor’s Office.
Steve Arwood, CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, also spoke about MEDC initiatives and gave an update on the Pure Michigan campaign.
Herman used the opportunity to talk about the impact of the water emergency on our business community and what the Flint & Genesee Chamber is doing to help address some of the challenges, including:
- The Moving Flint Forward Initiative, which is a long-term commitment by the Chamber to help our community emerge from this crisis stronger and healthier than before. The initiative includes the Moving Flint Forward Fund, a grant program to help small businesses affected financially by the water crisis.
- The commissioning of a market study to determine the feasibility of building a full-service grocery store in the city of Flint.
- Developing a sustainable economic development plan for Flint & Genesee.
- Working with a PR agency to develop a positive message campaign for Flint.
- The bottled water distribution on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Chamber volunteers have distributed more than 4,000 cases of the bottled water to more than 60 businesses since the service began on February 2.
Being a part of the Chamber Day agenda is another opportunity to bring visibility to the water situation here, and communicate how chamber leaders and public affairs leaders statewide can help.