Unprecedented Opportunity in Southern Indiana with Wendy Dant Chesser

Below is an auto-generated transcription of my conversation with Wendy Dant Chesser. Because this is auto-generated there are likely some grammatical errors but it is still a useful tool to search text within this podcast episode.

Feel free to join our Chamber Chat Champions Facebook Group to discuss this episode and to share your own experiences and tips with other Chamber Champions.

Introduction

Brandon Burton 0:00
This is the Chamber Chat Podcast, the show dedicated to Chamber professionals to spark ideas and to get actionable tips and strategies to better serve your members and community.

Voiceover Talent – And now your host, he has never heard a Whopper or Big Mac. He’s my dad Brandon Burton.

Hello Chamber Champions. Welcome to the chamber tap podcast. I’m your host Brandon Burton, and it is my goal to introduce you to people and ideas to better help you serve your Chamber members and your community.

Our title sponsor for this episode is Holman Brothers Membership Sales Solutions. Is your chamber struggling to drive the revenue it needs to support your initiatives? It’s a common problem and one that our new title Holman Brothers Membership Sales Solutions knows a lot about Doug and Bill Holman aren’t just sales consultants. They’re real life chamber guys with 20 plus years of chamber leadership experience. They know how to diagnose and solve member recruiting issues faster and better than anyone else. And they’re ready to put that knowledge to work for you and your chamber. Call the Harmon Brothers today at 61985 to 1391. Or check them out at HolmanBros.com. That’s holmanbros.com.

Guest Introduction

You’re joining us today for episode 154 As I have windy Dan Chester join us today from One Southern Indiana or One SI. Wendy has been with One SI since November 2012. As President and CEO. She’s driven by a strong desire to implement change that would establish a stronger economic growth better educated and better paid workforce and structure of advocacy within the state of Indiana. One SI serves as the organization that speaks with one vision and one voice for Clark and Floyd counties. Its mission is to provide the connections resources and services that help businesses innovate and thrive in the region. Wendy came back to our home after serving as president of Cornerstone Alliance, a similar organization in southwest Michigan. Wendy’s role in leading the organization included serving as a trustee of the 530 acre Harbor Shores development and directing the 700 member Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce. Prior to removed in Michigan. She worked in various aspects of economic development for over seven years with the state of Indiana and spent the last year of her state government career as deputy Deputy Executive Director for program operations of the Indiana Department of Commerce. Wendy is a present or past member of several professional organizations including the International Economic Development Council and Economic Development Association in both Indiana and Michigan. She currently serves as legislative committee chair and past Chair for the Indiana Economic Development Association. Wendy was named one of North America’s top 50 economic developers in 2015 by consultant connect the Indiana Economic Development Association awarded her the Economic Development Professional of the next half century in June of 2018. And in 2016, her Indiana peers named her the Chamber of Commerce Executive of the Year, she was awarded the 2000 Outstanding Young Hoosier award from the Indiana Jaycees was recognized in the Annapolis Business Journal’s 40 under 40 for 2004 and was honored by Western Michigan’s business reviews business leaders under 40. In 2021, southern Indiana was named chamber the year by the Indiana chamber Executives Association and honor that her team was most deserving of due to their aggressive actions and to help businesses during the COVID 19 pandemic and resulting recession. Wendy is a native of Jeffersonville and she received her Bachelors of Science in Business Management from Indiana University southeast in 1991. She and her daughter Jocelyn reside in Jeffersonville. Wendy, I’m excited to have you with me today here on Chamber Chat Podcast if you would just take a moment to say hello to all the chamber champions that are out there listening and I’d like to have you share something interesting just so we can get to know you a little bit better.

Something Interesting About Wendy

Wendy Dant Chesser 4:30
Well, thank you, Brandon. I appreciate the opportunity. It was a it’s a great opportunity to work in this industry. And one southern Indiana is a chamber that was emerged organization starting in 2006. I came back in 2012 to serve as president. I’m the third president of the organization and the dirty little secret is this is actually the third time that I applied to be president. So if Third time’s a charm It was really seen as an opportunity for me to come home and do what I love to do in the communities that helped raise me.

Brandon Burton 5:07
That’s awesome. I like that it’s kind of unique to be able to serve in the chamber where where you’re from. So that is awesome. Well share with us a little bit about one southern Indiana just so we can get a better idea of kind of the size staff to kind of the perspective that you’re coming from, as we entered our discussion today.

About the One Southern Indiana

Wendy Dant Chesser 5:32
So let me start with the geography. So the geography of the area is that we are part of the Louisville, Kentucky, MSA. So we’re truly a two state area, the only thing that separates us with our neighbors to the south is the mighty Ohio River. So if we look at the the area as a whole, we have about a 1.3 million population MSA, our piece of it the carved out piece for our southern indie or for the one southern Indiana area is basically Clark and Floyd counties, which are the two most populous counties on the Indiana side of the Ohio River, we have about 200,000 people in those two counties. So our chamber really does operate in conjunction with others as a Regional Chamber addressing regional issues. We have about 1025 business members today, we were up to about 1100 pre pandemic, but things happened and we are now slowly growing that, that that membership back, and we have really have dug in and said, you know, this is the role that we have to play, we’re not necessarily going to be the best at some things in our regions. But we know that the businesses that that are looking for assistance either through manufacturing through some of the small businesses, of course, hospitality businesses and some of the innovative businesses, we’ve been able to establish a presence with them and to continue to provide some assistance to them in terms of the business membership.

Brandon Burton 7:05
Very good. So that does help to give us an idea of where you’re coming from and kind of crossing over into Kentucky, someone with the membership and responsibilities there. As we get into our topic for discussion today. So the term that we all became very familiar with during the pandemic was these are unprecedented times. Right? So our topic for this discussion is going to be unprecedented opportunity Spoken like a true economic development professional, specifically in southern Indiana. And it’s my understanding that some of these opportunities sprouted as a result of the pandemic. So looking forward to getting that perspective and having you share those things it says we get back from this quick break.

Are you looking for a year round affordable and timely shop local campaign for your chamber or CVB Look no further build a custom each shop play mobile app with App My Community by visiting appmycommunity.com/chamberchat. App My Community mobile apps are not just simple membership directory listings. They provide many more capabilities to engage with your community. Provide your residents with a robust events calendar partner with a local fare festival or Farmers Market provide a schedule map and other resources to promote the event. Run a Small Business Saturday campaign any time of the year using built in scavenger hunts allow your membership to communicate directly to their customers via push notifications. Your app my community mobile app will be a unique member benefit allow you to generate non dues revenue with sponsorship opportunities and best of all provide a valuable resource to your community please visit appmycommunity.com/chamberchat now to receive 10% off your first year of an App My Community mobile app.

Topic-Unprecedented Opportunity in Southern Indiana

Alright, Wendy, we are back. Let’s have you share with us what some of these unprecedented opportunities are that kind of sprouted out of the the COVID 19 pandemic that maybe wouldn’t have been there initially. But because it’s you know, the pandemic happened and our worldview and everything kind of shifted. What’s resulted in southern Indiana out of that?

Wendy Dant Chesser 9:37
Well, one of the things I’m excited about and you mentioned this before break, we are also the local economic development organization for two of our counties and we have a third county under contract. One of the reasons that that I can be very optimistic about our economic future is that we have seen record interest in this is wanting to either locate or expand in our area. And don’t take that for granted. But I do recognize that we have decades of investment that has put us in this place. The states of Indiana and Kentucky have in the last five years, built not one, but two bridges across the Ohio River to truly connect our greater region. We have a 6000 acre industrial park that was formerly an Army Ammunition site that is really reached its peak in being able to provide one stop shopping for companies that are looking to locate and we’re seeing right now about 15,000 employees working there per day, but there’s a lot of room for growth. It’s about 15% occupied. So we know that there’s growth opportunities there as well. And we believe that Indiana’s stable business climate is helping us attract companies to the area. I don’t want to the short side, our neighbors to the south. Oh, wow. Well, you know, when we do economic development in southern Indiana, we often are best known for a city we’re not in a state we’re not a part of. That’s the challenge of being across the river from a metro area like Louisville, Kentucky. But we also have the advantage of taking advantage of the many investments that they make. They have an international airport UPS has its world, its Worldport distribution system in Louisville, we take advantage of that every day, then on the quality of place aspects. It’s a city, it’s got a lot of activities, it’s got professional, it’s got semi professional sports, it’s got a horse racing, it has a beautiful zoo, we can take advantage and sell all of those assets, while we’re growing the southern Indiana economy. And in addition, we’re working on those quality of place and those assets that give us an additional regional asset to share with our neighbors as well. So I’m really excited that we’re starting to see this this economic growth. A lot of interest in economic growth coming to our area. But it’s not just because we’ve got a new brochure, a new website is decades of investment to make our area attractive. And when you have a good product to sell at a time when people are in the buying mode, which they are, we are we are seeing some wonderful numbers in interest from prospects coming to our area, I believe, August of 2021, we had more interested projects tagged than at any time since our existence in 2006. So something’s worked in we’re trying to maximize it. But it also comes with, of course, with challenges and being able to make sure we’re good stewards of where we are in this place in time.

Brandon Burton 12:46
And like being able to leverage the greater area, you know, geography, like you mentioned, to be able to tap into to Louisville what they have to offer. And I mean, really a big development in Louisville was a big win for you guys to to be able to continue to leverage your communities, your counties that you’re representing, as you know, like these resources that are right here, and you don’t need to be in the mix of it all. But we’re, you know, the there’s different ways that you can kind of play that. But I like that. So what about some of these initiatives that have come out post COVID? Or through COVID? That you guys have implemented, that you can kind of touch on for us? Well, let

Wendy Dant Chesser 13:28
me let me talk about three of them primarily. The first is, we have recognized that, that when it’s most, most communities did, the businesses impacted by COVID, size of business really does matter. And so some of our small businesses suffered the most. And this is an opportunity for us, our board of directors had to retreat back in March and said, We want to be able to help those small businesses, those that are already there for those that are growing. So in partnership with the Indiana small business development centers, we have now a shared staff position. That is what we call our small business navigator gives us a someone who’s focused on small business and specific needs that they have, whether it’s technical assistance, whether it’s accounting assistance, whether it’s how access to capital in general, and helping them determine their best best path forward. There are a lot of resources for small businesses, but if you don’t have them all packaged and put together at the in the place where a small business needs them, including potentially some funding sources to keep them moving, then then then we’re not really doing them a good service. So we’re excited about what our small business services initiative is offering. The second is new to us and long, long overdue and that is our diversity, equity and inclusion activities. As an organization, we had not addressed DNI In any of the work that we were doing, the events of 2020 changed our perspective on that, and was quite frankly, a wake up call that that was necessary. And our board of directors took it seriously and incorporated DNI not only as a standing committee within the organization, that they incorporated DNI goals into all of our bylaws, responsibilities, really to make sure that it’s embedded in the fabric of who we are going forward. So our spending and hiring practices internally, how we help companies and promotion opportunities, those are those small things that we’re getting underway and excited to be saying, it’s finally time that we’re doing something in this area, which is long overdue. The third area, and this is the one I saved this for last, this is really as a result of the Indiana General Assembly working with the governor and putting together an initiative that’s going to help communities and regions focus on what their needs, their long term needs are going to be if it weren’t for the Recovery Act funds and things coming into the state and local governments, I’m not sure that this initiative would have occurred. But what is called the regional economic acceleration and Development Initiative, or ready for short, the state put $500 million into a pot and are asking regions around the state to compete for these funds to help leverage private investment to build out quality of place projects. So stop for a second think about where quality of place project may be. Whether it’s a developing an industrial park, which we’ve talked a little bit about weather is increased taking an area of 600 acres right in the middle of our waterfront area and creating a park inviting people in to not only understand the habitat that’s there, but also to also park called it’s called origin Park, that adjusts to the climate change issues when you’re on a river flooding as a part of your date of your annual the annual seasons that you go through. So we’re working on that. But how do we look into some of the more rural areas of our five county region and do things that will benefit them through a youth sports complex through helping one of our historic downtown’s become more of a destination for music goers gives us the opportunity to dream a little bit, but then to set put our priorities together in a five county region and tell the state we need your help to leverage these funds that are sitting on the sidelines, we know that population growth is one of their goals. There’s a lot of folks looking at our area and interested in our area, how do we now tap into those dollars that the state’s made available in a very competitive way, mind you to try to make sure that we’re doing the best we can in 2021 2223. So that all of these dollars that are being spent to help us recover are truly investments that our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren are going to benefit from. So those are the that’s what I’m really most excited about. We’ll have a decision on whether or not we were competitive enough by the end of this calendar year. But I tell all of our regional folks, every time I get the chance, even if we don’t get the full prize that we’re going after we’re in a better shape now than we were before. Because we’re working together, we’re supporting each other’s projects, and programs in trying to make sure that our quality of places stretches beyond our initial or our jurisdictional boundaries into a broader region.

Brandon Burton 18:49
Absolutely. So I love how you’ve identified these opportunities in your community. And I’d like for listeners that are, you know, tuned in right now to think about what opportunities are available in your community. And it might not look exactly like Southern Indiana. But would it make sense to have small business surpluses? Maybe probably, and those are the businesses that need a lot of the help. And it’s kind of that paradox. Sometimes they’re the members that can’t afford to buy the the higher level investment with the chamber, but they need the most help. They need the most assistance. So maybe having a focused effort on that. And I think integrating more the DEA and I you know, like you said integrating that into your bylaws and having more of a concerted effort on making sure that certain segments of the community are being included and that you’re reaching out and thinking about who’s who’s not here, who are we missing? And I think that’s something that every community and I think a lot of chambers are doing a good job at that looking at the DNI but these are your you’re seeing these as opportunities. And I love I love that vantage point instead of, you know, it’s one more thing that we need to take on, it’s one more thing to do. But you’re serving. So

Wendy Dant Chesser 20:11
we are serving it and and we have a team of professionals that work their butts off back during COVID. And so they were they’re tired, but boy does this give us all new energy. The the internal statement is, yes, we’re doing all of these new things, in addition to those things we were already doing. So it’s more we are adding a few new team members. But at the same time, we recognize that if we want to be relevant as an organization going forward, that it’s imperative that we take, we take a real good look at what is going on what’s needed, and what’s going to make our region competitive and our individual businesses. Again, we tell them all the time, because we have both of these roles. We’re a chamber of commerce, but we’re also an economic development entity, the Chamber side helps them go out and get a bigger piece of the pie. And we want that we want to be that and help them. But at the same time, we owe it to them. And everybody else can take a bigger pie so that there’s more for us to go after. So that the only thing I can do in the kitchen is talk about this and

the to do go hand in glove. And when we look at regional opportunities, we all we know that that there’s not a moat around in any of our communities that keeps people from going back and forth, and all that all that neighboring does is offer you and your businesses more opportunities to grow.

Brandon Burton 21:39
And I like that as looking at opportunity like like your analogy of baking the bigger pie. I mean, there’s definitely some opportunities where as a chamber, you need to look at new programming, for example, and say, how do we monetize this? How do we make it worthwhile? How do we do this. And then other things that you you do chamber work wise, is it’s really baking that bigger pie, that’s going to show the value of the chamber, you might not have that direct return on investment, you’re not collecting revenue necessarily for that program or for the focus and attention you’re putting into it. But it’s baking that bigger pie, it’s strengthening your business community, it’s proving your value to your members. And there’s a whole lot of value in doing that as well. So kind of two different ways of looking at the opportunities that are provided.

Wendy Dant Chesser 22:27
That’s the what we have going forward in the unknown, but we can look back and see how some of the work that was done. Pacific example 11 911 or 12 years ago, before I joined organization, we started a robust Business Retention and Expansion program where we would go out into businesses and specifically manufacturers. And the reason is, is that in Indiana, in our part of Indiana, manufacturing is still one of the most strongest sectors for us. About 20% of our payroll in our counties comes from manufacturing, not necessarily 20% of the jobs 20% of the payrolls, so it’s incredibly significant to us. So maybe 11 or 12 years ago, the organization started a Business Retention and Expansion program where they went out to manufacturers and they basically asked simple questions, how’s business? Do you have any opportunities to grow your business? And what are those impediments to doing more business for you? And the answers to those questions became our work plan came up became the strategy. So that that started and because of that, we identified that manufacturers had a lot of common needs, depending on regardless of what they were making. So we started a new membership category called the Metro manufacturers Alliance. And it started with eight manufacturers and has since now grown to about a we’re just under 80. So significant growth is really the most regional of our programs, about almost 50% of them are of the manufacturers are from Kentucky work the other 50% are Indiana, recognizing it’s a it’s an area for us to sell. And the biggest thing that we offer them a round table so your CEOs can get together in a facilitated roundtable environment. I call them support groups when sometimes they don’t like that, but that’s what it is. Doesn’t stop at the CEO that goes to the HR directors, it goes to the procurement folks right now, the busiest one is supply chain because supply chain issues are so critical. So it gives manufacturers at different levels of the organization peers to discuss these, truly. These these truly big issues that are either going to make or break where they are could make or break the workforce supply chain all of the things that we hear over and over again, that we may not have a solution for within the walls of our organization. We can pull together Are those like minded individuals who are looking for solutions, and then they can help come in that we can facilitate that process. So I, it’s a great, I look back on what my predecessors put into place to help us get to where we are today. And honestly, I feel very strongly we have an obligation to pay it forward, that making sure that those areas that we have to work on for the next 10 or 15 years are going to that we get out that all started today.

Brandon Burton 25:29
Yeah, I can see incredible value in those roundtables. Do you have any trouble getting participation on those or kind of hit or miss

Wendy Dant Chesser 25:38
is hit or miss. And I would say that they like any other initiative. If a company is going to get the most out of it, it comes from the top. So those CEOs that are most engaged are the ones whose team typically see more value in the in the programming that is created. And each of them has a facilitator that not staff, but an outside facilitator that can help guide the conversation, look for new ideas. When we went to zoom, obviously, we saw more participation, because at the time people were but we’re hungry for a interaction and be more information. Now that we’re back more live in person events. It’s everybody’s busy. So we’re trying to find ways to keep that enthusiasm going.

Brandon Burton 26:23
Yeah, that’s great. It’s like a giant mastermind group, you have people in the similar roles at different companies to be able to see what’s working for them and share ideas. I love it.

Wendy Dant Chesser 26:36
Just like we’re doing here, because when chamber, chamber folks can share and learn from one another. When I somebody gave me a great quote at one time, I don’t know if he made it up or not. But he said, If I ever take my candle and I light your candle, mine doesn’t become any less dim. We’re all brighter because of it. And I think that’s the that really resonates with me.

Brandon Burton 26:57
Yeah, I love that. Well, as we start to wrap up here, I wanted to ask you, if you have any tip or strategy or a piece of advice, maybe that you would share for listeners that they might be able to implement it their chamber to help take them up to the next level.

Action Item/Tip for Chamber Champions

Wendy Dant Chesser 27:16
I don’t really have any specific program advice that I’d like to talk about when a little bit along with the theme of this when a new initiative is started is what we’ve found out what worked best for us, when when we strategize about it, we don’t have to have all the answers. And the harder thing is we don’t have to have all the funding. Because if you get a good idea started and it starts to snowball, it gets a little bit bigger, it gets a little more if it shows more results. The funding, I would say always comes with a lot of times it does it as the funding will follow. So we’re not we’re I’m not overly I’m not an overly risk averse person. But in this role, sometimes you’re expected to be you know, to look before you leave, and we do but we also recognize that sometimes you have to do the right thing and you have to move in a direction because the time is now and then give the opportunity for the rest of it to catch up with you. So it’s not it’s not a renegade or derelict kind of approach. But it’s the reality that sometimes people have to see something happening before they will totally embrace it. Sort of the Henry Ford quote, you know, if he had asked his customers what they’ve wanted, they would have wanted a faster horse. When he was interested in making faster horses, he was interested in giving them something new. And look at where we are today. And that I think that analogy sticks true with a lot of what what a chamber organization does as well.

Brandon Burton 28:51
To your point the other day I had heard the the same that procraft Another word for procrastinator is perfectionist that people will hide behind the idea of being a perfectionist just to delay putting that thing out or you know, and like you’re saying you don’t need all the answers or the funding, just get moving and the pieces will come together. And it’s a failed initiative

Wendy Dant Chesser 29:15
in the chamber world is not necessarily a failure that a mark against your permanent record. It’s a learning experience. And as we see businesses do that all the time, try something new and learn from it. I think in the chamber role we can we can learn from that same philosophy.

Brandon Burton 29:32
Yeah, absolutely. But as we look to the future of chambers, how do you see the future of chambers and their purpose going forward?

Future of Chambers

Wendy Dant Chesser 29:41
That our team has really looked at the AC e ACPE. Horizon Report. And those areas identified such as people will join in and engage in initiatives that they’re passionate about. The days of joining a chamber because it’s the right thing to do. Because your grandma, your father did it with his business, not there anymore. So we have to find ways of consistently making ourselves relevant. It spreads us maybe a little more thin than Lee, because because people find relevance in different things, whether it’s our young professionals group or sales and marketing group, they’ll find relevant in different categories. But as long as we’re nimble and are working to meet their needs to keep them engaged, we feel very strong, and they’ll continue to support us. So the future, the future for us is to continue to be continued to being open to those new ideas, those new initiatives to see if we can pull people together and help them collectively, while making sure that our organization is strong.

Brandon Burton 30:51
I love it. Well, I appreciate you spending time with us today here on Chamber Chat Podcast, sharing some of the great opportunities there in southern Indiana, but also helping the Chamber’s listening to maybe better see the opportunities that are in their own communities. I wanted to give you an opportunity to share any contact information for anyone listening who’d like to reach out and connect and maybe learn how you’re doing some things they’re in southern Indiana, what would be the best way for them to reach out and connect with you?

Connect with Wendy Dant Chesser

Wendy Dant Chesser 31:23
Well, I think our website is probably best it’s a portion of it or still are under reconstruction. So but it’s the information is still that is on there still accurate, it may just not be complete. That email, the website address is 1si.org. So that’s 1si.org and that’s where we try to at least get people in doesn’t have all of the information that but we have a wonderful team that can supplement any of those questions that come from it.

Brandon Burton 31:58
Very good. And I’ll make sure that’s in our show notes for this episode, which will be found at chamberchatpodcast.com/episode 154. But again, Wendy, it’s been a pleasure visiting with you and having you on the show. Thank you for taking the time to be with us today.

Wendy Dant Chesser 32:14
Thank you, Brandon, and I appreciate it very much.

Brandon Burton 32:17
If you are a chamber professional, please subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast in Apple podcast, Google podcasts or Spotify. When you subscribe to Chamber Chat Podcast new episodes will show up in your podcast app each week as they are released. If you’re finding value in this podcast, please leave us a rating and a review in iTunes. But most importantly, please share Chamber Chat Podcast with your colleagues that are in the industry.

Izzy West 32:49
Hey, it’s Izzy again. I’ve got some questions about the annual Chamber Pros Planner that I publish. so I wanted to encourage you to visit my website theizzywest.com as I have a video you can watch to see if my planner is right for you. I flipped through the physical books so you can see what the monthly spread, weekly to do list, and meeting notes pages are like. This planner is designed to help keep you on track for your 12 week goals as you push your Chamber forward. Again go to theizzywest.com for the preview. That’s theizzywest.com.