Legos, Cars, Prizes connect people to local business at May 8 Expo

(LIVONIA; April 14, 2014) — Several cars will be on display, youngsters can play with Legos, a media and political panel will offer insights on regional trends, and some 100 vendors promoting business and consumer goods and services will gather throughout Laurel Park Place Mall during the Livonia Business Expo on Thursday, May 8.

The 28^th annual Livonia Chamber of Commerce event is presented by Bill Brown Ford, Madonna University, Farmers Insurance and AlphaUSA. It is the third year for the Expo at the Mall. The daylong celebration of the Livonia business community features a full schedule of helpful speakers, business displays, prize giveaways, and fun evening social event capped off by a silent auction.

“This is our biggest annual event that supports business-to-business and consumer-to-business activity,” said Chamber President Dan West. “We will have a little something for everyone: Games for kids, chances to win prizes, lots of helpful information, and an easy connection to some 100 business from our community.”

The Expo begins with the Business Breakfast Roundtable, sponsored by Schoolcraft College, Davenport University, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan which features a panel of news columnists and political leaders at 7:30 a.m. Michigan State Senators Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton) and Glenn Anderson (D-Westland), Detroit Free Press Business Columnist Tom Walsh, and Crain’s Detroit Business Capitol Reporter Chris Gautz are scheduled to discuss state and local business trends and answer audience questions.

The 90-minute program will be held at the Marriott Hotel banquet room, attached to the Mall. Admission is $15 per person.

Exhibitors promoting local businesses and organizations will be on display throughout the concourse of the Mall from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

A unique business networking opportunity is available to chamber members at 2 p.m. Networking Frenzy, sponsored by Laurel Park Place Mall, will give business people a quick and effective gathering to meet new people and discuss business issues in one hour. The cost is $5 per person and the program is limited to 52 people.

The day concludes with the “Tastefully Livonia” program, presented by Tennyson Chevrolet and Foresters Financial Partners, a business-casual networking event in the Marriott Hotel banquet room from 5:30-7:30 p.m, featuring food samples by Livonia’s leading restaurants. Admission is $20 per person, which includes two drink tickets. Several prizes will be offered in a silent auction to raise money for the Livonia Chamber Scholarship Fund.

Other sponsors of the Livonia Business Expo includes: Co-op Services Credit Union, Livonia Spree, Dave and Buster’s,  Consumers Energy, Edward Jones Investments: Robin Whitfield, Financial Advisor, Freedom Hill Ampitheater,  and The Livonia Observer. 

Laurel Park Place Mall’s General Manager Todd Huhn said the event is consistent with the property’s goal “to spread the word about the many unique businesses in our area.”

There are a few exhibit spaces remaining for the Livonia Business Expo. For more information on exhibit space or to purchase admissions to the Business Breakfast Roundtable or Tastefully Livonia, contact the Livonia Chamber of Commerce at 734.427.2122, or follow the chatter on Twitter at #livbizexpo.

Local schools, business working to inspire more student interest in skilled jobs

Dan West
Livonia Chamber, President

We’ve talked about the need to direct more young people into high-demand, good-paying skilled-worker and advanced manufacturing careers in this publication for a couple years now.

Now, it is time to turn our talk into action.

The Livonia Chamber of Commerce and other community resources aim to better coordinate efforts on a long-term mission to shift thinking so more young people, backed by increasingly confident parents, are inspired to pursue high-tech jobs needed in the metro Detroit marketplace.

The Chamber’s Board of Directors recently talked with Livonia Public Schools Superintendent Randy Liepa to push vocational opportunities within its long-running, successful internship program. This would give interested students a better appreciation of the clean, exciting, high-tech and viable career opportunities with advanced manufacturing, welding, electronics, informational technology, construction, and other skilled trades. Most of these careers need only two years of post-secondary education. According to many analysts, these types of jobs are in high demand over the next decade.

We also realize the need to introduce young people to these types of careers at a young age. Schoolcraft College will hold a Technical Career Open House on Saturday, May 10, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., to introduce middle and high school students to experiences in the manufacturing, metallurgy, welding, CAD and electronics lobs.

This open house will give youngsters and their parents a first-hand look at the technical training available to pursue a career in the modern world of skilled trades. Contact Gene Keyes at Schoolcraft (gkeyes@schoolcraft.edu) for more information.

“Most young students don't know about the manufacturing industry and we want to show them,” said Keyes, who runs Schoolcraft’s Manufacturing Department. “Other businesses are looking for new workers and will be at the open house to explain what it is they do and show off product.”

Also in the coming school year, the Chamber will work with upper elementary and middle school classrooms to give students a chance to tour several local manufacturing operations such as AlphaUSA, NYX Inc., Delta Research, Delta Gear, Linear Mold and Engineering, and Roush. As Chuck Dardas, AlphaUSA’s president and COO, simply put it: “We need to get young people excited about building things.”

It is understandable why parents have been shy about the manufacturing careers in recent decades as assembly jobs declined. This moved parents to direct their children to focus on university studies. But in many cases, these students’ studies were not focused on skills needed in the marketplace. This created a glut of college graduates who obtained significant student loan debt, yet are stuck in jobs that didn’t require a bachelor’s degree.

“For years, we focused on the need for college to get a good job, but we made a mistake,” Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said at his recent Economic Summit in Grand Rapids. “We needed to equally talk about the need for training skilled workers.”

Snyder talked about the need to redefine perceptions of a “skilled worker,” so more families realize this type of training can lead to good jobs, good careers and good pay.

“We need to focus less on just education and more on career preparedness,” the Governor said.

So in Livonia, our business and education communities are working together to better prepare young people for needed, viable jobs of the future. Not every young adult was meant to go to a university for at least four years to get trained for a good job. There are other paths. We have to inform our young people of those other paths.

And now, Livonia’s business and education communities are working together to make that happen.

Dan West is the president of the Livonia Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached at dwest@livonia.org

St. Mary Mercy Hospital seeks volunteers for new program

Livonia, Mich. (March 31, 2014) – St. Mary Mercy recently started a new program for senior patients and is looking for volunteers to help. Based on the proven success of the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) at Yale University, the Patient Assistance Liaison (PAL) program at St. Mary Mercy was created. It implements evidence-based strategies three time a day, seven days a week as a preventative measure to reduce delirium and instances of physical and functional decline in high-risk patients 70 years and older.

During hospitalization, seniors often develop delirium and functional decline. Delirium, the sudden change in how someone thinks and acts, may occur due to a change in medication, during illness or after an operation. With proper support, delirium can be prevented and treated.

The volunteer program provides patients with a companion throughout their hospitalization to maintain cognitive and physical functioning. Volunteers will provide assistance in four areas:

· Daily Visitor Program – Uses communication techniques and socialization to prevent confusion and maintain cognitive functioning.

· Therapeutic Activities Program – Engages the patient in activities to stimulate and maintain cognitive and physical well-being.

· Mobilization Maintenance Program –Provides daily companionship during ambulation or exercise program.

· Mealtime Companionship Program – Gives patients mealtime assistance and companionship.

If you are interested in volunteering for PAL or want to more information, contact Jessica Thomas at 734-655-2474 or Jessica.Thomas@trinity-health.org.

CONTACT: Jennifer Kennedy
Director, Marketing/Public Relations
St. Mary Mercy Hospital
734.655.1593 or kennedyj@trinity-health.org 

HUNTINGTON BANK NAMED ONE OF NATION’S BEST BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL BANKS

Huntington recognized for customer satisfaction and treasury management excellence

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Huntington Bank has won eight awards of excellence for small-business and commercial middle-market banking from the financial services research firm Greenwich Associates. This is the second year in a row customers have recognized Huntington as a top bank nationally and regionally through Greenwich Associates.

This year’s awards praise Huntington’s continued commitment to overall customer satisfaction and the delivery of superior treasury management capabilities that help champion business success across the Midwest. 

“We’re grateful to our customers for recognizing Huntington in the Greenwich survey,” said Huntington Chairman, President and CEO Steve Steinour. “As we continue through the economic recovery, we’re committed to helping their businesses grow and thrive. Small and middle-market businesses are a critical part of all of our communities. Together they create the most new jobs and make our economy strong.”

Specifically, Huntington received national awards of excellence in small-business banking for distinctive quality in “Personal Banking Satisfaction,” “Treasury Management Overall Satisfaction” and “Likelihood to Recommend.” In the commercial middle-market space Huntington received national awards of excellence for distinctive quality in “Online Services,” “Treasury Management Customer Service” and “Treasury Management Accuracy of Operations.”

Regionally, Huntington stood out from its Midwest peers with awards of excellence in small-business banking for distinctive quality in “Overall Satisfaction” and “Treasury Management Overall Satisfaction.”

Only 34 middle market and 43 small business of more than 750 banks evaluated in the Greenwich Associates study received national and regional recognition. Greenwich Associates determined the results based on interviews with nearly 14,000 businesses with sales of $10 million to $500 million and more than 17,000 businesses with sales of $1 million to $10 million across the country.

Greenwich Excellence Awards Methodology

Greenwich Excellence Award winners were determined at a national level and in four geographic regions: Midwest, Northeast, South, and West.

To qualify for consideration for the national awards, each winning bank had to have a minimum of 50 clients that responded to the study. To qualify for regional awards, each winning bank had to have a minimum of 30 clients responding in the region. To qualify for mid-corporate national awards, banks had to have a minimum of 30 clients responding to the study.

Greenwich Excellence Award selection is based on top box ratings on Greenwich Associates five-point evaluation scale. The banks selected must receive a statistically significant proportion of “Excellent” ratings relative to the overall mean (at a 95 percent confidence level.).

Greenwich Associates

Established in 1972, Greenwich Associates provides unique high-quality market data and strategic consulting that helps the world’s leading investment banks, commercial banks and asset managers, make smarter business decisions.

About Huntington

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN; www.huntington.com) is a $59 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The Huntington National Bank, founded in 1866, and its affiliates provide full-service commercial, small business, and consumer banking services; mortgage banking services; treasury management and foreign exchange services; equipment leasing; wealth and investment management services; trust services; brokerage services; customized insurance brokerage and service programs; and other financial products and services. The principal markets for these services are Huntington’s six-state retail banking franchise: Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. The primary distribution channels include a banking network of more than 700 traditional branches and convenience branches located in grocery stores and retirement centers, and through an array of alternative distribution channels including internet and mobile banking, telephone banking, and more than 1,500 ATMs. Through automotive dealership relationships within its six-state retail banking franchise area and selected other Midwest and New England states, Huntington also provides commercial banking services to the automotive dealers and retail automobile financing for dealer customers.

Chamber Provides Scholarship Opportunity for HS Seniors

The Livonia Chamber of Commerce plans to hand out four (4) $1,000 scholarships in 2014. Two awards were awarded to two adult learners in February, and the other two awards will go to a high school senior, graduating from one of the five Livonia high schools, in the spring.

Eligible high school seniors must graduate in 2014 from Livonia Franklin, Churchill, Stevenson, Clarenceville, or Ladywood High School. This scholarship will be announced at an event to be named in spring 2014.

It is the intention of the Livonia Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors to make this scholarship program an annual venture by soliciting donations and/or using proceeds from Chamber programming. Scholarship proceeds must be used at a Livonia Chamber of Commerce member institution. 

(Those schools are: Schoolcraft College, Madonna University, Davenport University, Eastern Michigan University, Central Michigan University, Northwood University, ITT Technical Institute, Walsh College, Henry Ford Community College, Wayne State University, and Lawrence Technological University.) The award will be directly sent to the school of the winner’s choice upon complete student enrollment in that institution.

Applicants must complete application below and write a 500-word essay for consideration of the scholarship. No interviews are planned. The Livonia Chamber of Commerce’s Scholarship Committee will review applications and essays as part of the selection process.

High school scholarship winner must utilize the award during the 2014-15 school year. Failure to use the scholarship in a timely fashion will result in forfeiture of the award.

These scholarships are open to full-time and part-time students. Financial need or discipline of study will not be factors in the selection process.

For more information, call the Livonia Chamber of Commerce at 734.427.2122, or e-mail Chamber President Dan West at dwest@livonia.org.

High School Seniors Applications Due Friday, May 16, 2014

All applications must be received by 4 p.m. on final due date.

Click Here for Scholarship Application