May 1, 2018 Message from Jim Kinnett, Chairman, Greater Harrison Chamber

Dear All Chamber Members and Partners,

On Friday in the Chamber Newsletter I announced the kickoff off the Workforce Initiative. However, I failed to recognize the City of Harrison’s workforce efforts to date. What I neglected to do, and am now addressing, is applaud our direct partner in this endeavor, The City of Harrison and its Economic Development Department. The City recently organized a round-table discussion with area training providers, our school district, several key employers and Chamber leadership. As a result of that meeting, the City has been working with Cincinnati State on a draft workforce survey for area businesses. For not acknowledging this in the initial article, I sincerely apologize for this oversight to Mayor Bill Neyer and City Council.

With that said, I still insist that for this initiative to be successful in the long run, we must have your input as employers in the area as well as involvement. So as stated in the previous letter please feel to contact me, Gary Ellerhorst, Joe Maas or Shannon Hamons to be involved.

James R. Kinnett II, Kinnett Consulting
Chairman, Greater Harrison Chamber of Commerce
(812) 290-5663

Joe Maas, JTM Food Group
Chamber Board Member
(513) 367-4900

Gary Ellerhorst, Crown Plastics
Chamber Board Member
(513) 615-7168

Shannon David Hamons, CEcD
City of Harrison Director of Economic Development, Building & Zoning
(513) 202-8494

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April 27, 2018 Message from Jim Kinnett, Chairman, Greater Harrison Chamber

The Greater Harrison Chamber of Commerce is embarking on a new initiative to address an issue greatly affecting the employers of Harrison: workforce development. As I drive through the Harrison area, including Bright, Cleves, and other surrounding communities, I continually see “help wanted” signs and it is becoming a critical need for our employers of all sizes.

To combat this, the Chamber is forming a Task Force to take an in-depth review of the workforce development issue and to study all aspects that affect our current and future Workforce. It will be critical to Harrison and its surrounding area to find solutions that make sense to provide a viable workforce now, and into the future. We have assembled the providers of training (Cincinnati State, Ivy Tech Community College, Southwest Local Schools and others) and they are at the table willing to work with us, as are local government entities from both Ohio and Indiana. Now we need or business counterparts to provide the needs and innovative approaches to how we should address this issue. We invite all employers to be a part of crafting the solutions that will work for our area now and into the future.

Please contact me or one of my fellow board members who are helping drive this issue. Our contact information is below and we hope to see you at our kickoff meeting in May, which will be announced soon.

Thank you for your help and assistance.

Sincerely,

James R. Kinnett II, Kinnett Consulting
Chairman, Greater Harrison Chamber of Commerce
(812) 290-5663

Joe Maas, JTM Food Group
Chamber Board Member
(513) 367-4900

Gary Ellerhorst, Crown Plastics
Chamber Board Member
(513) 615-7168