NOTE: This interview with the President & CEO, Eric Spoonmore was originally aired by WGCL Glass in the Afternoon on Monday, February 20th, 2023.
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NOTE: This "The More I Know" podcast episode featuring Chamber CEO Eric Spoonmore was published on February 6th, 2023.
NOTE: This article with Chamber President and CEO, Eric Spoonmore, was originally published on October 16, 2022 in the Indiana Daily Student by Meghana Rachamadugu. The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce hopes the board of Bloomington Transit will vote to expand Route 3 by 1.3 miles in the west direction to serve those in Park 48 and Ivy Tech facilities, according to a Herald-Times guest column. In his column, Eric Spoonmore, the president and CEO of Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, said City Council also supported this idea when they passed Resolution 22-16, a document sponsored by Councilmember Steven Volan.
Spoonmore said the resolution favored extending the transit services outside city boundaries, something the municipal code didn’t allow previously. While the resolution signifies council members want to expand transit lines, it doesn’t formally approve an infrastructural change or construction. Spoonmore said the expansion has been an ongoing conversation in both the business and residential community and by extending services, the city will be able to serve those accordingly. WGCL Glass in the Afternoon: Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Update: October 12, 202210/13/2022 NOTE: This interview with the President & CEO, Eric Spoonmore was originally aired by WGCL Glass in the Afternoon on Tuesday, October 12th, 2022.
NOTE: This article that highlights The Chamber's Success School was published in the October/November, 2022 issue of Bloom Magazine by Barb Berggoetz. Choosing a career isn’t always on the radar of middle school students. But the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce is trying to kick-start them into thinking about the possibilities with its Tour of Opportunity program.
“It’s a way to plant the seed and start the conversation about what they might want to do in the future,” says Katie Sensabaugh, director of Success School, which operates the program giving students real-world experiences at local workplaces. “We have done virtual tours for the last two years, but this is the first time we are doing in-person tours,” Sensabaugh says. Groups of about 50 seventh- and eighth-graders visit two or three businesses in one day to talk with professionals and learn about careers. NOTE: This article that highlights The Chamber's Elect Connect event was published in the October 5, 2022 B Square Bulletin by Dave Askins. On Monday evening, several candidates for local and regional office made an appearance at a networking event hosted by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce (GBCC) at The Mill, a co-working space north of city hall.
Each candidate got a chance to deliver a quick three-minute stump speech. This B Square roundup is limited to candidates in contested, partisan races where both candidates appeared. That leaves out school board races, which are non-partisan. But one takeaway from Monday’s event was the position taken by school board candidates on the Monroe County Community School Corporation ballot referendum. Each of the three MCCSC school board candidates who attended Monday’s event expressed strong support for the levy increase that appears on the ballot. The three who spoke were: Daniel O’Neill (District 3); Ashley Pirani (District 3); and Erin Wyatt (District 1). If it’s passed, the referendum would set the school referendum levy rate at $0.185 for eight years, which would increase the average residential taxes paid to the schools by about 35 percent, according to the ballot question wording. The ballot language says the additional money will support the retention and attraction of teachers and staff and enhance programs in STEM, the arts, and special education. The last day to register to vote in the Nov. 8 election is Oct. 11. Early voting for the Nov. 8 election starts on Oct. 12. In Monroe County, early voting will take place at the election operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets. The GBCC has set up a website with a roundup of information on candidates. An additional resource for information about candidates is the The League of Women Voters Vote411 website. NOTE: This Noon Edition interview with Chamber CEO Eric Spoonmore was published in the September 9, 2022 WFIU Noon Edition by Nathan Moore. Discussions between city and county officials over the Monroe Convention Center’s expansion and ownership continue. Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton’s administration offered to buy the convention center for $4 million to accelerate its expansion. The expansion is expected to cost tens of millions to complete.
The purpose of this expansion is to host larger events, increasing tourism dollars and boosting the local economy. The goal for the city administration and local businesses leaders is to get a deal done by the end of the month, but some county officials say they don’t support the city’s plan. A main funding source for the center is a 1% food and beverage tax that has collected more than $14 million. That tax could be threatened in the next legislative session. NOTE: This article that highlights President & CEO, Eric Spoonmore's, involvement was published in the August 31, 2022 B Square Bulletin by Dave Askins. Photos are gathered from the article as well. ![]() On Wednesday at noon, the possible expansion of the county convention center was the topic of a meeting of Monroe County and Bloomington officials. The gathering at the county courthouse included county commissioners, some county councilors, city councilmembers and the mayor’s office. It was the first time that representatives from all four groups had sat at the same table on that topic since early March of 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. After about 45 minutes of conversation, the group had not made much progress, but agreed it was worth another meeting. The city wants to get a deal done by the end of September. So “sooner rather than later” was the city’s wish for a next scheduled meeting. One twist that emerged on Wednesday was the possibility that a convention center deal between the city and the county could hinge on Bloomington’s approval of a rezone for land that the county wants to use for construction of a new jail. WGCL Glass in the Afternoon: Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Update: August 9, 20228/11/2022 NOTE: This interview with the President & CEO, Eric Spoonmore was originally aired by WGCL Glass in the Afternoon on Tuesday, August 9th.
NOTE: This article that highlights President & CEO, Eric Spoonmore's, involvement was published in the August 10, 2022 B Square Bulletin by Dave Askins. Photos are gathered from the article as well. While a lot of details remain to be worked out, Monroe County councilors appear receptive to the basic idea of transferring ownership of the county’s convention center and related properties to the city of Bloomington.
The city’s hoped-for timeline for getting the deal done is the end of September. At their regular meeting on Tuesday, county councilors took turns responding to a pitch from Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Eric Spoonmore, who is their former colleague, and Bloomington deputy mayor Don Griffin. The two gave a somewhat longer version of the proposal that county commissioners had heard during public commentary at their regular meeting last Wednesday. The city’s pitch comes in the context of some political pressure to use the food and beverage tax, enacted in 2017 by the county council, for its lawful purpose—to expand the convention center. The hoped-for collaboration between the city and the county on a joint effort at expansion was stalled even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. One fear is that the state legislature will sunset food and beverage taxes in its 2023 session, which could be somewhat countered by action now to get the food and beverage tax revenues obligated through a bond issuance. |
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