Ames Chamber of Commerce
  • Community Cash
  • Laughlin Level
    • Laughlin Level Space Request
  • Member Directory
    • Promotions & Coupons
  • Events & News
    • Chamber Calendar
    • Community Calendar
    • Signature Events >
      • Annual Awards
    • Awards & Accolades
    • Traction Stories
    • Members in the News Form
    • Media Releases
    • Staff Updates
  • Membership
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Membership Application
    • Member Login
    • Member Did You Know Questionnaire
  • Chamber Programs
    • Advocacy >
      • Elected Officials Contact Form
    • Chamber Ambassadors >
      • Become an Ambassador
      • Ambassador Spotlight
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • Leadership Ames >
      • Service Project Request Form
    • Workforce Solutions >
      • Intern Spotlight
      • Future Ready Boone & Story
      • Bring Students On-Site
      • Story County Retraining Program
    • Affiliate Organizations
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Strategic Plan
    • Annual Report 2022
    • Contact Us
  • TRACTION

Staff Updates

December End of Month Update

12/29/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
​An end of year message can be challenging because it always aspires to condense the year that was, which is impossible. Therefore, I will not attempt to summarize the past twelve months, but rather talk about how our organization connects with our community as we move into 2023.

​I have always seen our organization as one who celebrates our communities. It is one part of this job (of many parts) that brings me joy. We celebrate new businesses, economic development projects, and host events that bring vibrancy to our communities. The question is how do we share this information with our community?

Communication is complicated. I am amazed, yet not surprised, at how often I have conversations with people who do not know things that I thought were common knowledge. It’s not their fault. We all have a robust amount of information available to us that it is difficult to manage it all. For us at the Ames Chamber of Commerce, it is important that we approach both digital and analog forms of communication to help educate and inform our members and communities.

Today, digital media is a requirement for most organizations, including ours. Social media is a utility communication channel and a great way to immediately share information. I have also seen it be a wonderful digital networking opportunity and to publicly acknowledge great work. But even with that, social media has some pitfalls. Content can go unseen if the timing is not right, and only those who choose to engage with your channels have access to that information.

As an organization that has a reach across our entire community, we aspire for more. Our solution: Traction, a new quarterly, print publication from the Ames Chamber of Commerce. When we were brainstorming Traction, we sought to find ways to share some of the amazing things that are happening to our entire community. With a circulation of over 20,000, I think we are doing that.

Traction is not just about our organization, but about communicating what is happening across our communities. It will include member business profiles, events, and feature stories about economic development projects that you may not be aware of. We will talk about Downtown Ames, FUEL, our young professionals organization, and workforce development initiatives, among many other topics. 

One of the things that excites me the most about this publication is that we will have an expanded opportunity to tell more stories. There are amazing people and incredible businesses across the Ames MSA, and we hope that these stories encourage you to invest your money locally and it builds pride in the community that we have chosen to call home.


Dan Culhane
President & CEO
Ames Chamber of Commerce

0 Comments

Understanding the Story County Laborshed

12/12/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Recruiting and retaining workforce continues to be the number one business concern across Story County regardless of the size of an organization. There is a tool specified to Iowa that can be utilized to assist employers in understanding the nature and characteristics of a regional workforce in a unique way.
 
Laborshed studies are supply-side, labor availability studies. They are designed to assist community leaders, economic developers, site selectors, and existing or prospective employers with a flexible tool to understand the workforce characteristics of their local labor market. A laborshed is defined as the area or region from which an employment center draws its commuting workers. It shows the distribution of these workers regardless of political boundaries.
 
Laborshed studies also address underemployment, availability of labor and likeliness of the employed or not employed to change or accept employment. Other topics covered within a laborshed analysis include current and desired occupations, wages, hours worked, job search resources, and distance willing to commute to work.
 
The laborshed study for Story County was recently updated. Here are some of the key findings of the update:
  • 691,016 people aged 18-64 reside within the Story County laborshed
  • 82,802 of those people have indicated a willingness to change employment
  • 7,834 people live in Ames but work elsewhere
  • Workforce is driving an average of 12 miles each way to work in the Story County laborshed
  • The largest number of people, 100,429, are employed in the warehouse and retail trade in the Story County laborshed
  • 40% of all retirees and homemakers are willing to enter the workforce for the right opportunity.
 
​These are just a few of the many data points of information that can be found in the study results. 
 
Iowa Workforce Development has an interactive website that features all the laborshed studies available in the State of Iowa at: https://www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov/laborshed-studies.
 
Our Workforce Solutions staff at the Ames Chamber of Commerce are here to assist you should you have questions regarding utilization of the Story County laborshed.
 
Contact:
Brenda Dryer, Vice President, Ames Chamber of Commerce
brenda@ameschamber.com
 
Nikki Fischer, Director, Workforce Development & Diversity
nikki@ameschamber.com

0 Comments

    Author

    Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    May 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed


Picture

304 Main St.
Ames, Iowa 50010
Phone: (515) 232-2310
About the Ames Chamber
Centrally and conveniently located in the heart of the Midwest and Iowa, Ames is known for its healthy, stable economy, flourishing cultural environment, and the world-renowned Iowa State University.
​
With over 700 members, the Ames Chamber of Commerce strives to make Ames a better place to live, work, and do business by strengthening the economic vitality and the quality of life in the Ames community.
Links
Home
Member Login
Policies & Privacy
​Sitemap
  • Community Cash
  • Laughlin Level
    • Laughlin Level Space Request
  • Member Directory
    • Promotions & Coupons
  • Events & News
    • Chamber Calendar
    • Community Calendar
    • Signature Events >
      • Annual Awards
    • Awards & Accolades
    • Traction Stories
    • Members in the News Form
    • Media Releases
    • Staff Updates
  • Membership
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Membership Application
    • Member Login
    • Member Did You Know Questionnaire
  • Chamber Programs
    • Advocacy >
      • Elected Officials Contact Form
    • Chamber Ambassadors >
      • Become an Ambassador
      • Ambassador Spotlight
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • Leadership Ames >
      • Service Project Request Form
    • Workforce Solutions >
      • Intern Spotlight
      • Future Ready Boone & Story
      • Bring Students On-Site
      • Story County Retraining Program
    • Affiliate Organizations
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Strategic Plan
    • Annual Report 2022
    • Contact Us
  • TRACTION