CHAMBER NEWS

Members, learn all about your new membership feature! The Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce is now using GrowthZone, a membership software that allows our members to access more benefits! Available to all employees of your organization/business, the InfoHub now enables you to post job openings, share events to the community calendar, and more! Check your email for more info! Didn't receive an email? Contact us below.

We had a successful job fair on Thursday, July 20! Thank you to our presenting sponsor, iHeartMedia - Huntington!

Thank you to the 47 employers who took the time to meet with job seekers: Cabell County Schools, Amazon.com, APG Polytech, Autism Services Center, Inc., Bimbo Bakeries USA, CJ Hughes, Cabell County Emergency Response Center, Cabell-Huntington Health Dept, Coalfield Development Corporation, Department of Veteran Affairs, Diversified Assessment & Therapy Services, Dutch Miller Kia, Dutch Miller Chevrolet, Elite Welding Academy, HG-Medical, Hospice of Huntington, J.H. Fletcher & Co., Kroger, LM Communications WWQB-FM, Manpower WV, Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center, Marshall Health, Mountain Health Network Foundations, Mountwest Community & Technical College, Nucor, Okuno International, OVP Health, Par Mar Stores, Prestera Center, Recovery Point West Virginia, River Park Hospital, Service Wire Company, Sodexo, Southwestern Community Action Council, Inc., State Electric Supply Co., Workforce WV, Steel of WV, The Thrasher Group, Inc, The Wild Ramp, Huntington Tri-State Airport, United Talent, WV Department of Transportation, WV Department of Health & Human Resources, Wexford Health Sources Careers, and Tri-State Transit Authority.

Special thanks to the staff of Huntington High School for hosting us, Hwy 55 Barboursville for serving fresh lemonade and orangeade, and Buddy's All American BBQ for catering dinner to our employers!

The Huntington Young Professionals annual blood drive is coming up on Thursday, July 27 at the Marshall Rec Center! Give the gift of life and make an appointment to donate! 

Visit https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/find-drive and type YOUNGPROFESSIONAL in the sponsor code box. Choose our drive on July 27 and find a time between noon-6 p.m. to donate.

We also still need a few volunteers to help with registration. 

Visit https://www.signupgenius.com/go/hypblooddrive#/ to pick a two-hour time slot.

UPCOMING CHAMBER EVENTS

Inaugural State of the Valley:

August 23, 2023 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM 🗣️

MEMBER NEWS

We had the opportunity to take a hard-hat tour of one of our newest member's, Sandy's Racing & Gaming, facility! Sandy’s Gaming will be the Tri-State’s newest entertainment destination, featuring slot-like games, an all-new sportsbook betting lounge, unique dining and live entertainment!

Sandy's Racing & Gaming is located at 10699 U.S. 60 Ashland, Kentucky and is scheduled to open this fall. It is a $75M investment by Revolutionary Racing Kentucky, bringing hundreds of new jobs and millions in new tax revenues to the area. Phase II will feature Sandy Ridge - Kentucky’s first quarter horse racetrack and equestrian center, set to be built on 182 acres adjacent to the gaming facility.

The facility will feature:

• 74,000 square foot building

• 40,000 square feet of gaming space

• 700+ slot-like games

• 5,200 square foot sportsbook and wagering lounge

• 3 cinema-sized screens for watching horse racing and other sports

• Two stages for live entertainment

Ariana Shives has been named the WV Advocate for Right to Start, a campaign to elevate entrepreneurial opportunity as a public priority. By changing minds, policies, and communities, Right to Start seeks to build a new civic infrastructure that unleashes entrepreneurial opportunity for everyone. They do this by sharing the real stories of entrepreneurs in communities like ours.

You know first-hand the barriers that entrepreneurs in our community face. Ariana is seeking meetings or calls to discuss your experiences starting businesses in Huntington in order to gain a better understanding of how Right to Start can best support the efforts of entrepreneurs now and in the future.

If you are willing to spend 20-30 minutes sharing your experience as an entrepreneur, please use the link below to schedule a meeting with Ariana. 

Mountwest will host their annual Last Call for Fall open enrollment event on Tuesday, July 25 from 3-6 p.m. Potential students, families, and community members are welcome. The event is a great opportunity to tour the main campus, meet program faculty, talk with staff from admissions, financial aid, and enroll for fall.

Join Developmental Therapy Center for a free sensory-friendly screening of Space Jam at the Marquee Cinemas in Huntington on Tuesday, July 25 at 9:30 a.m. Lights will be up, and the sound will be down, so you can feel free to be you. This special event is designed for children living with autism or other special needs, as well as their siblings. DTC will generously be providing complimentary snack boxes and fidgets for the children in attendance. 

You may register your child (and their sibling(s)) below.

The Huntington Museum of Art will host an opening reception for the Minnie Adkins: Story Carvings exhibit on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, from 5 to 7 p.m. Admission to this 4^th Tuesday Tour Series event is free.

Minnie Adkins: Story Carvings highlights hundreds of small wood carvings created by renowned folk artist Adkins to illustrate four children’s books written by Mike Norris. This exhibit is on view at HMA now through Nov. 5, 2023.

All proceeds will benefit Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in West Virginia. The Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family's income. Race information in the link below!

U.S. Department of Agriculture West Virginia State Director Ryan Thorn announced that the Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center will receive a $550,211 grant to support workforce development and increase access to good-paying jobs through the Rural Community Advancement Program.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Public Meetings for City of Huntington

Comprehensive Plan 📃

The City of Huntington’s Planning Office will kick off a series of community meetings to receive input on Huntington’s next comprehensive plan.

A comprehensive plan is a document that addresses the City of Huntington's land-use policy and development for the next 10 years. Specifically, the plan will address current development trends, determine a vision for how the community would like to see the city develop and provide a plan to achieve this vision. 

As the blueprint for development in Huntington, the comprehensive plan will impact neighborhoods, businesses, traffic and the environment. With input from residents, the plan also is meant to reflect the vision and priorities of residents and the neighborhoods in which they live.

West Virginia requires cities and counties to update their comprehensive plans every 10 years. This provides an opportunity to revise population and employment growth forecasts with the most up-to-date data, review existing policies to ensure they make sense for the communities they serve and write new policies that reflect priorities.

Huntington’s last comprehensive plan, Plan2025, was completed in 2013. This update will plan for the next 10 years of population and employment changes through the year 2034.

Upcoming community meetings include:

• Guyandotte and Altizer, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 25, at VFW Post 9738, 227 Main St. in Guyandotte.
• Fairfield, 7 p.m. Thursday, July 27, at the A.D. Lewis Community Center, 1450 A.D. Lewis Ave.
• Southside/Enslow Park, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9, at Enslow Park Presbyterian Church, 1338 Enslow Blvd.
• Highlawn, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at Community of Grace United Methodist Church, 225 28^th St.
• Downtown and Marshall University area, 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, at Huntington’s Kitchen, 911 3^rd Ave.
• West Huntington and Harveytown, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22, location to be announced.

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS

The Monday Morning Memo is Generously Sponsored by

Please note that the deadline for submissions for "In the News" in the Monday Morning Memo is at 

4 p.m. each Wednesday for inclusion the following week. Submitted items will only appear one time in the memo unless discussed and agreed upon with Chamber staff.

Email all submissions to Rebecca Kasey, Director of Marketing, at rebecca@huntingtonchamber.org.

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