PENDLETON — Pendleton Business Association voted to change its name to Pendleton Chamber of Commerce almost a year ago, but the impact of that vote and the work that’s taken place since will become more evident in 2024.
“We are working on new branding, which is very exciting. We’re working on a new logo and a new brand, generally,” said Carey Craig, executive director of the organization, which last year had a membership of about 150.
Also, “we’ll be working on a new website,” Craig said.
“Our goal is to roll out our new logo and branding around Feb. 1 — that’s the goal we set — and thereafter, by early spring, rolling out a new and improved website with lots of information, so people who might have an interest or a dream of starting a new business can go there; they can ask for more information with regard to that.”
The hope is to add a wide range of information and resources on the website for new and existing businesses, he said, such as a database of buildings that are for lease or sale, a jobs board, and a spot for people to request more information.
“So those are the types of things that we’re thinking in terms of beefing up our website,” he said, noting that it will continue to maintain its current business directory.
PBA members voted for the name change in February.
Since then, Craig has been hired to be executive director, and in November, the membership voted for an expanded board of directors, increasing it from four members to 10, with one more left to add.
Another change that takes effect this year is that the Chamber (PBA) will no longer be the lead organization for Pendleton Fall Festival and Christmas in Pendleton, Craig said. Those events will shift to the Main Street Pendleton organization, of which Carey is also executive director.
Two of the Chamber board members represent Main Street Pendleton, and one member (non-voting) represents Town of Pendleton.
“Main Street (Pendleton)is obviously focused on that downtown district,” he said. “(The change) gives the Chamber more opportunities to focus on these more traditional types of workshops, seminars, coaching, you know, those kinds of things that Chambers typically do, in better serving their members,” Craig said.
On that front, the Chamber has been working to beef up its offerings.
It has solidified its calendar of networking events and has planned and is working on other new programs for potential and existing businesses.
“Our goal is, every other month, to do a breakfast. The second Wednesday of every month. So, that’s a networking breakfast, but we’ll bring in speakers on various topics. The topic in January will be on workforce development/employment issues, but in March we are working to focus in on taxes, and changes to the tax law on the federal, state and local level, for businesses.
“Then, on those months where we’re not having the breakfasts we’ll have an evening mixer, if you will, where people can just come together, business owners and employers can come together and just network over a drink. But there will not be an actual program, if you will, for those.”
Two other regular informational series will be “Entrepreneurial Ignition” and “Mastery Matters.”
For the quarterly ignition program, “we’re partnering with the East Central Indiana Small Business Development Center, and they will actually be facilitating the workshop using their guide to starting a business,” Craig said. “Our goal is to just connect individuals who live in the Pendleton area, or South Madison County, who have a dream or have an interest in starting a business, to just learn the basics … the components that go into starting a business. Everything from a business plan to what financial management looks like to capital, those sorts of things.”
Details for the mastery program are still being worked out, Craig said, but it likely will take place throughout the year and involve a Chamber-hosted “series of four-hour workshops on management topics, such as finance, marketing, those components those businesses really need once they’re up and running to be successful and sustainable.”
Mike Romack, whose term as Chamber president begins Jan. 1, said the new programming efforts are moving in the right direction.
“We have some excellent businesspeople in our membership, but they all have questions and
concerns, naturally, about employment, finance, computers — the tech part of it — so, these are all things that all businesses want more information and new information on.
“We need to concentrate more on that than we have in the past. We had some, occasionally,
in the past, but mostly … a lot of our business was
social, so they need to have some good content.”
The next Chamber breakfast is set for 7:45 a.m. Jan. 10. An Entrepreneurial Ignition workshop is set for 4-6 p.m. Jan. 17. The next Chamber board meeting is set for 9 a.m. Jan. 22.
For more details,
contact Craig at
765-778-2174 or at
[email protected].