When our Chamber and the City of Martinsville worked with the Capstone class at the IU O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs last year, one of the components of our ongoing discussion was Martinsville’s public image. While several strategies to improve our image were discussed and are being implemented, one of the most important conclusions was that for others to believe that we are a great place, we as a community, need to believe it first. At our April luncheon, to get the conversation started we invited a panel of folks involved in various aspects of our community to discuss why they “love where they live”.

Tosha Daugherty, executive director of Visit Morgan County moderated the conversation and panelists were Ashley Cox, Kelsy Groover, Bethaney Lathem, and Megan Martin. Thank you to all for a lively discussion!

The below quote by Maura Ghast was read aloud to “connect the dots” and demonstrate that all our organizations play an important role in economic and community development.: “If you build a place where people want to visit, you’ll build a place where people want to live. If you build a place where people want to live, you’ll build a place where people have to work. If you build a place where people want to work, you’ll build a place where business has to be. And, if you build a place where business wants to be, you’ll be back to building a place where people want to visit.”

Thanks to Shane and his team at Peddler’s Loft Cafe for providing our delicious lunch. We appreciated that so many members generously donated door prizes: Domino Security Technologies, For Bare Feet, Grand Valley Senior Living Community, Kiwanis, Morgan County Community Concerts, Steve Powell, Team Turley – Fairway Mortgage, Visit Morgan County, and Waldon IT Solutions.

Our next luncheon meeting on Friday, May 17th (11:30 am – 1:00 pm at the Morgan County Admin Building) will have a different format as we host our first mini business expo of 2024. Up to fifteen Chamber members will display information about their business or organization and each will provide a great door prize. This meeting will be devoted to networking and learning more about our exhibitors. Chick-fil-A boxed lunches will be available for just $10. This is a great opportunity to invite friends and colleagues to join us.

If you are a current Chamber member and would like to reserve a space for the May 17th business expo, give Jamie a call at 765.342.8110.