Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce

Weekly Update

www.chillicotheohio.com

Mission statement: The Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce promotes economic and community development by addressing issues important to business.

 Volume 4, Issue 19

Friday, December 30, 2005

This Week's Sponsors

779-1764

Click here to reach the 575-plus members of the chamber or the 165,000 viewers of the chamber's website each year.

Click here to see the visitors' bureau calendar of local events

Chamber Calendar

Monday, January 2: Office closed for New Year's.

Tuesday, January 3: Networking Committee, 11:30 a.m. Horizon

Tuesday, January 10: Governmental Affairs Committee, guest Karl Runser of ILGARD in Athens on community planning, 3:30 p.m., chamber

Wednesday, January 11: Leadership Chillicothe Ross session on local government and law enforcement, 7:45 a.m., Huntington Bank conference room

Thursday, January 12: Ross County Safety Council luncheon, executives from area businesses to detail how safety begins at the top; required CEO event to remain eligible for BWC incentive program; 11:30 a.m., Chillicothe Country Club, Safety Council CEO luncheon registration

Tuesday, January 17: Leadership Chillicothe Ross Steering Committee, 3:30 p.m., chamber

Wednesday, January 18: Business After Business, ProScan Imaging, North Bridge Street, across from Tumbleweed, 5-7 p.m. BAB registration

Thursday, January 19: Chamber Executive Committee, 8 a.m., chamber

Wednesday, January 25: Networking Luncheon featuring Linda Woggon, vice president of governmental affairs for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, 11:30 a.m., Chillicothe Country Club, Networking Luncheon registration

Thursday, January 26: Chamber Board of Directors, noon, site TBA.

Wednesday, February 22: Annual Dinner featuring Steven S. Little, the "Business Growth Expert," 6 p.m., Shoemaker Center, Ohio University-Chillicothe, 2006 Annual Dinner reservations.

Thursday, February 23: Grow Your Business seminar by Steven S. Little, Bennett Hall, Ohio University-Chillicothe, Steven S. Little Business Growth Seminar.

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MAY 2006 BRING YOU ALL THE BUSINESS YOU CAN HANDLE AND PROSPERITY THAT EXCEEDS YOUR EXPECTATIONS!

DATA SHOW NO SURPRISES – HEALTH FIELD JOBS GROW: An analysis of business and employment trends from 1998 to 2003 from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the health care field as the main job creator in Ross County. The number of private sector jobs in the county increased only by 218, or 1 percent, in those six years while 950 jobs were added in the health care and social assistance category.

Not surprisingly, the county also echoed the state trend in the loss of manufacturing jobs as there were 1,556 fewer of them in the county, or a 30 percent decline. The 2003 figures are the latest available from the census and would not include the hiring of more than 500 workers at the Kenworth Truck Co. plant in the last two years. The figures do include the decline of jobs at NewPage and the closing of the Bosch plant in Frankfort.

Health care overtook manufacturing as the category with the highest percentage of jobs in the county in 2000. Almost one in every four workers in the private sector in the county is now working in health care or social assistance.

According to state figures, though, government workers are dominant in the county with nearly 6,300. These include those working at the VA Medical Center, two state prisons, all school systems, city and county government.

Other highlights from the analysis:

• The number of establishments in the county declined by 4 in the six years to 1,360.

• The biggest percentage increase in workers in six years was in transportation and warehousing at 162 percent, or 412 workers.

• The biggest percentage increase in the number of establishments was in the information category at 47 percent. In that category, the number of wireless telecommunications businesses went from 2 in 1998 to 12 in 2003 with an increase of 315 employees.

• The number of retail businesses increased by only 1 in those six years and there was actually a decline in the number of workers by 236.

2006 DIRECTORIES ARE HERE: The chamber’s membership directory and buyers’ guide for 2006 arrived from Panther Publishing Wednesday afternoon and will be distributed quickly. Members will be mailed a copy and their new membership card for the plaque once we receive your dues payment. Most invoices went out about 10 days ago. Many were emailed for the first time with an invoice attached in the form of a PDF. If you haven’t received your invoice or couldn’t open it from the email, give us a call and we’ll make other arrangements.

MEMBER GETS CAPITAL RECOGNITION: Dr. Ramon Perez, who started practicing in Chillicothe, began his Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Centers empire in Grove City. He is one of several business people featured in the latest edition of Columbus CEO magazine which spotlights the rise of Hispanic-owned businesses in central Ohio. He practiced in Puerto Rico for 13 years before coming to Ohio. Today, the centers are doing 19,000 surgeries a year at seven sites that have 26 surgery rooms. The Circleville headquarters alone employs 80 people to help handle the $7.9 million in revenue (2004 figure), up 207 percent from 2000.

VENDORS LICENSES: Receiving licenses recently from the Ross County Auditor:

• Down Home Hunting and Fishing Supplies, 1108 Swaney Road, by Howard Thomas and Ronald Ridings.

• Rockin’ Fish Café, 90 N. Paint St.

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Copyright 2005

Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce

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