Your Chamber at Work - October 2, 2023

FROM THE KC CHAMBER'S PRESIDENT AND CEO

Later this week, the KC Chamber will shepherd more than 170 Kansas City area business, civic, and elected leaders south to San Antonio. It’s our annual Leadership Exchange – our 20th, in fact – and the purpose is to learn what we can from a peer city.

Pre-K: Thanks to a 1/8th cent sales tax, San Antonio offers free early education to its youngest residents through an initiative called PreK 4 SA. We’ll hear from the CEO of that effort and the owner of the San Antonio Spurs – the main cheerleader for PreK 4 SA.

Economic Development: San Antonio has a plan to grow its economy through quality jobs in target sectors, a skilled and educated workforce to meet employers’ needs, and provide an attractive place to live. We’ll get the details from city leaders.

Health Sciences: With the growth of our medical systems and plans for a health sciences district around Hospital Hill, we’ll take a look at San Antonio’s health science center – a 900-acre development that generated almost $12 billion in revenue last year and supported more than 86,000 jobs.

Our 175 Leadership Exchange delegates will also look at the ways San Antonio is dealing with issues like homelessness and affordable housing where the city has excelled in improving access to affordable housing and shelter; workforce development; supporting small minority businesses; and downtown redevelopment. It should be fascinating.

And I’m sure we’ll enjoy some Tex-Mex delights along the way.

HEALTHY KC NETWORKING FORUM

Start your morning off with networking before enjoying a moderated panel focusing on the “Personal Health Resource” pillar. Learn more about traditional employee well-being, including topics like benefits, healthy eating, and active living policies as well as tobacco cessation initiatives. This pillar is constantly evolving as new trends impact benefits and internal policies and programs. 

Come hear from our panel on how business leaders in our region manage their organization’s personal health resources and how it affects their business and the health of their employees.

This October 11 session of the Health KC Networking Forum will be hosted at The Miller Group, 903 E 104th St., Ste. 800, Kansas City, MO 64131. Networking begins at 7:30 a.m., followed by the panel from 8 to 9 a.m. While the session is free to attend, we do ask you to register here.

NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORKING – KANSAS CITY MAVERICKS

Join us on October 20 for our next Neighborhood Networking event with the Kansas City Mavericks, our region’s professional hockey franchise that is the ECHL affiliate for the NHL’s Seattle Krakens. They are also the longest tenured, consecutively operating professional hockey team in the city’s history.

You will enjoy refreshments, networking, and a raffle for prizes, all while learning more about the Mavericks and their contributions to the metropolitan areas thriving professional sports scene.

Hope to see you at Cable Dahmer Arena, 19100 E Valley View Parkway, Independence, MO, on Friday, October 20, from 8:30-10 a.m. The event is free for Chamber members; $15 for non-members. Register here.

And thanks to our overall networking sponsor, Delta Dental and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. Neighborhood Networking Sponsors are Rock CFO, Southwest Airlines, and Unbound.

MENTAL HEALTH AT WORK: BUILD WORKSHOP

Data shows that 81% of workers surveyed say that employer support of mental health is likely to be an important consideration when looking for future employment and is a key to the retention of current employees. The time is now to create a Mental Health Action Plan for your organization.

This workshop will help you build on the steps you have already taken to create a mental health action plan for your workplace. Learn from our panel about how to take your action steps from ideas to implementation. Hear about successes and challenges from Kansas City organizations that are creating and building their own action plans.

Attendees are not required to have attended previous workshops to participate in this session. All organizations are welcome and are encouraged to bring additional members of their team to join. All attendees will receive a heard copy of the “Mental Health at Work: Take Action” guide at the event.

The workshop takes place November 2 in the KC Chamber Board Room, 1st Floor Union Station, 30 W Pershing Rd., Kansas City, MO, beginning at 8 a.m. Register now.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION ALLYSHIP SERIES: ALLYSHIP ACTION PLAN – PART 2

Based on our existing, three-hour workshop, this session will allow participants to develop a personalized ally action plan to help work on individual weaknesses and grow their strengths. This course uses a Cultural Intelligence (CQ) framework and a self-assessment tool to help participants home in on areas of improvement and cultivation. The first session is a prerequisite for the second.

This event is free to attend for Chamber members. Register here for this session scheduled for Tuesday, November 14, from 9 to 10:30 a.m., in the KC Chamber Board Room, 1st Floor Union Station, 30 W Pershing Rd., Kansas City, MO.