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Last week at the annual #ACCEAwards Show, nearly one-thousand community-builders gathered at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines to celebrate winners of many special awards, including Chamber of the Year.

Sponsored by MemberClicks, Chamber of the Year is the most prestigious and competitive award presented by ACCE and is the only globally-recognized industry award that honors top chambers of commerce for exemplary work.

Category One
Des Moines Downtown Chamber
Des Moines, Iowa

Synopsis 1: Leadership Education and Advancement Pipeline (LEAP)
Synopsis 2: Downtown DIG (Development Insights Group) Program

Category Two
Round Rock Chamber 
Round Rock, Texas

Synopsis 1: Implementing the Workforce Realization Occurring Cooperatively Strategy
Synopsis 2: Implementing the REV UP Round Rock Strategy

Category Three
Plano Chamber of Commerce
Plano, Texas

Synopsis 1: Business Center & New Chamber Facility
Synopsis 2: Public Policy and Advocacy

Category Four
Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce
North Charleston, S.C.

Synopsis 1: Bridging the Talent Gap
Synopsis 2: Local Area Chambers

State/Province Category
Chamber of Commerce Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii

Synopsis 1: Manufacturing in Hawaii Initiative
Synopsis 2: 2017 Hawaii on the Hill

This year's competition drew entries from chambers throughout the U.S. and Canada. To ensure the fairest competition, applicants are grouped into five categories based on: annual revenue, membership, area population, and several other factors.

Learn more about Chamber of the Year here.

Tags: Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, Chamber of the Year, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, Des Moines Downtown Chamber, MemberClicks, Plano Chamber of Commerce, Round Rock Chamber of Commerce, #ACCEAwards

ACCE’s Awards for Communications Excellence, sponsored by Golden Openings, Inc., celebrate top-notch marketing work that effectively communicates policy work, the accomplishments of the chamber of commerce, community advancement and economic development initiatives, membership attraction and retention, events and more.

The top three entries — one from each size category — are presented the Best in Show award.

At the #ACCEAwards Show in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 18, three organizations — Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce (S.C.), Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce (Mo.) and Champaign County Chamber of Commerce (Ill.) — were recognized as this year’s Best in Show winners.

Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce: Quarterly Report Series 

Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce: Springfield Region Digital Brochure

Champaign County Chamber of Commerce: Chamber Zone 

Judges of this year’s Communications Excellence awards selected one entry — submitted by the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce (Neb.) — to receive a specially-created recognition called the “Total Eclipse” award. The entry was honored for its creative execution and attention-grabbing results for the advertising surrounding the Great Solar Eclipse in 2017, which included various signs scattered throughout Lincoln in August 2017.

Lincoln Chamber of Commerce: Eclipse Seasonal Signs

In addition to celebrating winners of the Best in Show and Total Eclipse awards, Grand Award winners took to the stage and Awards of Excellence winners were recognized. (Check out this blog post, where we announced Grand Award and Award of Excellence winners.)

Tags: #ACCE18, #ACCEAwards, Champaign County Chamber of Commerce, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, Communications, Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Marketing, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce

The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives today announced finalists for the 2018 Chamber of the Year competition, sponsored by MemberClicks.

Finalists for 2018 Chamber of the Year are (sorted by category):

Category One:

Des Moines Downtown Chamber 
Des Moines, Iowa

Greater Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce 
Valparaiso, Indiana

Category Two:

Conway Area Chamber of Commerce
Conway, Arkansas

Greater St. Charles County Chamber of Commerce 
St. Charles, Missouri

Round Rock Chamber
Round Rock, Texas

Category Three:

Greater Green Bay Chamber 
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce 
Humble, Texas

Plano Chamber of Commerce 
Plano, Texas

Category Four:

Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce 
North Charleston, South Carolina

Greater Louisville Inc. 
Louisville, Kentucky

Tulsa Regional Chamber 
Tulsa, Oklahoma

State/Province Category:

Chamber of Commerce Hawaii

Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce

In the final phase of the competition, a judging committee conducts in-person interviews with leaders representing each finalist chamber. One winner from each category will be named at the 2018 ACCE Annual Convention in Des Moines, Iowa.

Learn more about Chamber of the Year here.

Tags: Greater Louisville Inc., Greater St. Charles County Chamber of Commerce, Greater Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce, #ACCE18, Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce, #ACCEAwards, Plano Chamber of Commerce, Awards, Round Rock Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of the Year, Tulsa Regional Chamber, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, Des Moines Downtown Chamber, Greater Green Bay Chamber of Commerce

The Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce launched its Youth Apprentice Program in 2014 to reduce the skills gap and prepare students for local careers. Inspired by a visit to the Alamo Academies in San Antonio in 2013, the chamber partnered with Trident Community College to build out nine pathways, leading to careers in fields like industrial mechanics, HVAC tech and machining.

“The companies here are screaming for talent, just like all over the country,” said Robin Willis, associate vice president of talent pipeline strategies at the Charleston Metro Chamber. “We don’t embark on a new pathway unless it’s a high-demand field, and most of them are high-wage, too.”

The two-year program accepts high school juniors and seniors, who spend two afternoons each week learning career skills at Trident Technical College, and two hours working with host manufacturers. They also work full-time during the summer between grades 11 and 12, while earning a wage paid from the chamber’s Accelerate Greater Charleston fund.

“Right now, there are about 100 apprentices working in our region, and we pay for their tuition, books and supplies,” said Willis. “It’s an advantage to students because they get two years of paid work experience on their resume, 30 hours of college credit and a journeyman’s certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor.”

The program received an extra boost when Project Lead the Way, a national nonprofit that helps schools incorporate career skills in their curricula, chose Charleston’s Youth Apprenticeship Program to be a pilot for a new engineering pathway. PLTW chose Charleston because the city’s high schools had already adopted parts of its engineering curriculum.

“We’re very lucky that all of the high schools in our region have paid for this for years, so we already have a pipeline of students in the engineering curricula,” said Willis. “This new pathway offers them a different exit ramp to use their skills, without necessarily completing a four-year engineering degree.”

Willis says the next step for the apprenticeship program will be securing a more sustainable source of long-term funding, which would enable a larger and more diverse cohort of students to participate.

“We want students from every level of society to be able to take advantage of these apprenticeships,” said Willis. “We want students who graduate high school with no plans to participate, because this will give them valuable exposure to great, high-demand fields here in our community.”

Want to be featured in the #ACCESpotlight? Share your story with Ben Goldstein.

Tags: Apprenticeships, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, Workforce Development

The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives today announced finalists for the 2017 Chamber of the Year competition, proudly sponsored by Indianapolis-based WebLink International.

Finalists for 2017 Chamber of the Year are (sorted by category):

State/Province Category:

Georgia Chamber of Commerce
Atlanta, Georgia

Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce
Regina, Saskatchewan

Category Four:

Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce
Charleston, South Carolina 

Chattanooga Area Chamber
Chattanooga, Tennessee

Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce
Dayton, Ohio

Category Three:

Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce
Bowling Green, Kentucky

Huntsville/Madison County Chamber
Huntsville, Alabama

Ocala/Marion County Chamber & Economic Partnership
Ocala, Florida

Plano Chamber of Commerce
Plano, Texas

Category Two:

Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
Kalispell, Montana

North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce
Fitchburg, Massachusetts

Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce
Paducah, Kentucky

Category One:

Des Moines Downtown Chamber
Des Moines, Iowa

Effingham County Chamber of Commerce
Effingham, Illinois

O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce & Industries
O’Fallon, Missouri

In the final phase of the competition, a judging committee conducts in-person interviews with leaders representing each finalist chamber. One winner from each category will be named at the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

Learn more about Chamber of the Year here.

Tags: North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, O'Fallon Chamber of Commerce & Industries, Chamber of the Year, Ocala/Marion County Chamber & Economic Partnership, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce, Chattanooga Area Chamber, Plano Chamber of Commerce, Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, Des Moines Downtown Chamber, Effingham County Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Chamber, Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, #ACCEAwards, Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, Awards