Orrville Chamber holds its 108th annual meeting

“Together We Thrive” was the theme for the State of the Chamber, the 108th annual meeting of the Orrville Area Chamber of Commerce. The event was held at the University of Akron Wayne College with more than 200 guests on Feb. 16.

Dan Franks, president of the Orrville Area Chamber, began by thanking all sponsors including Red Circle sponsor The Commercial and Savings Bank and Black Circle sponsors The J.M. Smucker Company and The Will-Burt Company. Lunch was catered by Village Catering and sponsored by Sayre Hospitality Group and SmithFoods.

Dr. Heather Howley, director of regional campuses at the University of Akron, welcomed and addressed the crowd. She announced the Credit for Prior Learning Program the University of Akron is implementing.

“Credit for Prior Learning offers academic credit for relevant knowledge and skills you may have acquired through alternative learning experiences,” she said.

“A year ago at this event, I had only been president of the chamber for a matter of months,” Franks said. “A year later a lot has happened. We brought back HR Roundtables, partnered with Orrville Area United Way for Day of Caring and introduced Artists Among Us, a partnership with NAMI.

“This past year we worked with the Wayne County Convention and Visitors Bureau to develop a section of their website dedicated to Orrville. Chamber members are now listed on their website, providing additional exposure to your membership directory listing on the Orrville Area Chamber website.”

The chamber understands the importance of workforce development. “We’ve partnered with Wayne County Schools Career Center’s work-based learning program and currently have a student from OSU CFAES Wooster campus as part of their outreach education program,” Franks said.

As part of the chamber’s workforce-development plans, the chamber decided to try something new by creating Envision Your Future.

“We reached out to Eastern Wayne County schools and are thankful Orrville City Schools and Kingsway Christian chose to participate,” Franks said.

Envision Your Future is an effort to get ninth- and 10th-grade students to begin to think about and explore what their long-range plans are after high school.

“Last year I promised to conduct a wages and benefits survey, as it was important to gather up-to-date information for our members,” he said. “It was a priority at the beginning of 2023, and by the end of April, we produced a new report and distributed the data to survey participants.”

Franks said the OACC is looking forward to the upcoming graduation of the class involved with Leadership Orrville.

“One of the biggest things I mentioned last year was bringing back the Leadership Orrville program,” Franks said. “In a few months, we will have our first Leadership Orrville graduation in eight years.”

Leadership Orrville participants Sonya Wagner, Scott Ezzo, Klay Kahle and Edwin Martinez shared what the program has meant to them.

“This program has given me the confidence to continue being who I am and the confirmation I don’t have to fit into any one mold to be a great leader,” Wagner said.

“I was skeptical going into this program, as I have completed many leadership courses and programs. I was unsure how this would be different, but it is,” Ezzo said. “I’m so thankful to be a part of Leadership Orrville.”

Franks said the chamber staff reinvented the newsletter, producing one weekly with helpful articles, resources and chamber activities.

“One of the chamber activities is our new Chamber Business Series,” Franks said. “The first event will focus on artificial intelligence, and then in April, we will discuss best practices for website and social media.”

Franks announced the Orrville Area Chamber would once again partner with the Orrville Area United Way for the second Day of Caring, which will be May 1.

“Our goal is to have 200 volunteers completing 27 projects,” he said.

Artists Among Us, a partnership with NAMI, will return to the Orrville area the first two weeks of June.

Each year the chamber’s board of directors and staff members meet for a Focus Day. This year they examined “what is the chamber, what is working and what should the chamber’s focus be?”

“After extensive discussion, we came up with a new mission statement for the chamber,” Franks said. “The new mission statement is to develop and retain a community of engaged employees and leaders; to provide resources, trainings, development and connections for chamber members; and to support initiatives that strengthen our community.”

This year the chamber will continue to support workforce development by offering Envision Your Future, providing professional and leadership development through its Young Professionals group and Leadership Orrville.

“We will continue to provide networking opportunities through Chamber Coffee Connections, the annual awards dinner and chamber lunches,” Franks said.

The chamber will continue to provide a range of member savings opportunities through health insurance, workers’ compensation, merchant services provider, shipping discounts and more.

“We are excited for what we have planned for 2024, where together we thrive,” Franks said.