Welcome to the Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce
newsletter for the week of Jan. 6, 2020!

Our mission: The Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce promotes economic and community development by providing services and addressing issues important to business.
This week's quick hits
  1. Catching up on some news after the holiday
  2. Community Forecast Breakfast set for Jan. 31 - Get your seats now!
  3. Kenworth truck parade headed for downtown in June
  4. Junior Achievement needs some help, and other news
Here comes 2020, but first, let's catch up

Welcome back to work and welcome to 2020! It’s been a great holiday season in Ross County, but with the beginning of January, it’s back to reality.

As we begin the new year, we’ll have some exciting announcements about events coming this year, but before we do that, we’d like to take a moment to catch you up on a few things that happened while we were out celebrating and remind you of a few things coming very soon.

We’re still looking for nominations for our annual Chamber awards – Entrepreneur of the Year, Legacy, Corporate Citizenship, and Young Professional of the Year – which will be handed out on March 10 at Ohio University Chillicothe’s Shoemaker Center. We’ll have an announcement soon on our annual dinner speaker – and it’s part of an excellent opportunity to move our community even further forward.

Just as important is our young professional group, EPIC, and their effort to bring some new blood into the group while also establishing a new board that will govern EPIC and its efforts to invest in young people in our community for years to come. We need people under 40 willing to invest time and energy to make EPIC a vibrant organization.
SAVE THE DATE: Kenworth Truck Parade
With 90 percent of Kenworth's Class 8 Heavy Duty truck line built in Chillicothe, plans are underway to conduct a celebration of one of Ross County's biggest employers.

A truck parade, which could include up to 60 Kenworth trucks from across the nation and as far away as Australia, is planned for Saturday, June 6 in downtown Chillicothe. The photo above is the first official registrant for the event and as of today about 29 trucks have been confirmed.

The parade will coincide with the Chillicothe plant's annual Family Day and will also raise money for local non-profits. More information will follow in the coming days.
NEWS AND NOTES
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT NEEDS HELP: Junior Achievement needs classroom volunteers for Huntington (elementary, middle school, and high school) and Unioto (elementary and middle school) for classes beginning the end of January. Contact Kathy Ray at kray@bright.net or (740) 775-8420.

CAREWORKS DEADLINE APPROACHING: T he deadline to enroll in the Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce workers’ compensation group retrospective program is just around the corner! Make sure you choose our program administered by CareWorks Comp. The deadline is January 24. CareWorks Comp has helped Ohio employers save more than $3 billion in upfront, premium discounts and returned more than $300 million in premium rebates. Contact Julia Bowling, CareWorks Comp Program Manager, at 513.218.4062 or julia.bowling@careworkscomp.com for more information about your program options.

STATE ORDERS ROSS COUNTY PROPERTY VALUES UP: The State of Ohio has ordered property values to be increased in Ross County, according to County Auditor Tom Spetnagel. Ohio law requires the county auditor to reappraise all real estate within the county every six years and to report his or her findings to the state department of taxation for final review. The state-ordered increase is due to a strong real estate market in the Scioto Valley over the last six years, as evidenced by buyers paying well above the Auditor’s value for homes during that time. “We know that buyers have been willing to pay more for homes, but we had hoped to phase in the increase over time. The state has overruled us on that and said that our values must come up now,” Spetnagel said. The first tax bills using the new valuations will be mailed out in January, but property owners are able to preview their new value now on the Auditor’s website at rosscountyohio.gov/auditor/ . Once tax bills are mailed out, property owners will have until March 31, 2020 to file a formal appeal with the county’s Board of Revision.
THIS WEEK'S POLL: Which is the biggest cyberthreat to your business?
Phishing
Malware
Ransomware
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
We don't have any threats
Special thanks to our

Platinum: Adena Health System, Advanced Services Heating and Cooling, Atomic Credit Union, C. Walters Management, Central Ohio Financial Services, Chillicothe City Schools, Chillicothe Paints, Classic Brands, Horizon, Janney Montgomery Scott, Kenworth Truck Co., Kingston National Bank, Landmark Properties Group LLC, McDonald's, Ohio University Chillicothe, Petland Inc., Printex Same-Day Printing, Ross County Banking Center, Signature HealthCARE of Chillicothe, and Wesbanco.

Gold: National Church Residences, Staff Source, U.S. Army Recruiting Station in Chillicothe, U.S. Bank.

Would you like to hear more about premium member benefits? Call Bobbi at 740-702-2722.
Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce
45 E. Main St., Chillicothe, OH 45601
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