By: Diane Benjamin
The McLean County Chamber of Commerce has this cute map on their website: https://mcleancochamber.org/file/781/LegislativeUpdate18_FinalBOPI.pdf
It claims Illinois isn’t in the top or bottom 10 states for Tax Climate.
I wonder why people are fleeing Illinois then?
The reason is because the Chamber is putting lipstick on a pig!
They should have mapped the Best and Worst States for Business in 2018!
https://chiefexecutive.net/best-worst-states-business-2018/
Except:
The worst place is No. 50 California, bested only slightly by No. 49 New York, No. 48 Illinois, No. 47 New Jersey, No. 46 Connecticut and No. 45 Massachusetts.
The Tax Climate is immaterial if the Business Climate is ridiculous.
The Chamber of Commerce is supposedly pro-business. They aren’t, they are pro-big government which makes the Business Climate impossible.
More proof the Chamber should be immaterial:
On the same website page is this list:
They do a lot of monitoring instead of fighting for low taxes and abolishing regulations that affect business!
What “conversations” need to take place regarding the tax cuts? Low taxes promote economic activity which benefits everybody. The Chamber isn’t pro-tax cuts? Actually, the whole sentence makes no sense: the income tax increase was lowered?
Net Neutrality doesn’t protect innovation, but it’s difficult to tell which side the Chamber is on. (I’m betting pro-regulation and anti-business)
Instead of fighting a graduated income tax for Illinois, they must believe “tax the rich” works. Evidently they haven’t looked at what happens in other states when the rich are fleeced. We already know what happens when the middle class is fleeced. 45,000 people left Illinois in 2018. In 2017 33,703 people left. That means in two years more than the population of Bloomington left Illinois taking their incomes and taxes with them!
Never fear: The Chamber is monitoring.
Why would any business be a member? The Chamber is far from being pro-business.
.
.
.
.
.
If the Chamber here was not in bed with the establishment (and they were truly a conservative organization) they would be lobbying for government spending cuts, governmental fiscal responsibility and significant across the board tax cuts. This is the only way to attract people and businesses to Bloomington-Normal. As State Farm and ISU begin their disruptions and declines, this is our only hope to save the economy here. Of course, nothing will happen until it is to late. This area is run by low IQ conformists and liberal elites.
Monitoring seems to be most if not all of their mission…. An organization that is supposed to be pro-business has a mission to only monitor (watch) what happens to the business environment here? For businesses here… with friends like this (not) on your side… who needs enemies? I know for a fact that there are Chambers in other parts of the country who actually serve their members and their business communities. The McLean County Chamber of Commerce is aiding and abetting in the decline of Bloomington-Normal’s economy and should not be supported by any businesses here.
“Monitoring” is a good word for having no opinion, taking no action, and otherwise being gutless. The Chamber is willfully blind. If they come out publicly against government-led development and/or raising taxes/fees they risk losing checks from the Town of Normal and City of Bloomington. It’s much easier for the Chamber to cash the checks rather than stand on principle. The Bloomington-Normal economy is headed for disaster, but don’t worry the Chamber Blacktie Gala will be an amazing success! It’s like the ship is sinking but instead of attempting to patch the hole and saving the passengers, the government buys more champagne and hires musicians in order to give the illusion that everything is okay. I’ve seen this movie. It doesn’t end well.
The Chamber is dedicated to protecting and advancing the status quo in Bloomington-Normal, thereby insulating the establishment. They endorsed two anti-private sector and anti-business mayors, Koos and Renner, and were conspicuously absent when Bloomington started its push to collect a fee from local businesses. Renner even stated that the Chamber could help them locate the businesses in town. Again, not a peep from the Chamber. They probably don’t have any issues cashing those sponsorship and membership checks from Bloomington and Normal governments. Outside of its incestuous relationship with government, the Chamber offers absolutely zero benefits for its members and the community at-large. Their events are attended by the same people, networking with the same people in a confined geographic area. Is this the event you’re going to land that big account? When you think of expanding your business or launching a new and innovative product was attendance at Chamber events the key to your success? Haha! It’s a glorified social club that appeals to the egos of 50- and 60-year business owners that think they are the pinnacle of business success. The Chamber is full of cliques and essentially resembles the dynamic of a high school where everyone is trying to get a seat at the cool kid’s table.
Not only to they essentially do nothing for the businesses here in town but they will assist Mayor Renner to hunt down businesses so the city can collect another fee? Perhaps the chamber should be given offices in both city governments? They are so in lock-step with both cities anti-business administrations, they might has well have offices close to their masters. The chamber here is nothing about really promoting a good business climate and everything about promoting their club. Black tie events and mixers with the same fifty people (called networking)? Yet the Chamber and the city governments continue to whistle past the graveyard on the ongoing disruption of State Farm? I guess they are just hoping things will be OK and State Farm will not become a mere shadow of its former self? This area is facing an unprecedented economic decline that will change the nature of this area forever. And the McLean County Chamber of Commerce spends its time and resources supporting liberal elitist anti-business city administrations or (monitoring)? Shame on them…
That is the most “Merry-go-round” business description I have seen in YEARS! “Monitor and Converse” Let’s monitor the local business climate- Sears, Macys, Pennys, Bergners, Cub Foods, the NEW Kroger, ONE UPTOWN, et al, and let’s TALK about WHY they aren’t here anymore??
That’s like the undertaker asking how a person died when they have a bullet hole in them!
For any business owners who are reading this: If you are currently paying the McLean County Chamber of Commerce because you feel that you have to or they will somehow not support you or blackball you, know this. They don’t care about you… they only want your money. They only take care of serious “club members”. So unless you are willing to spend the time and money to constantly attend all their functions, to become a serious club member… you are fooling yourself. Real business people building and operating real businesses don’t have time to constantly go to before hours, after hours, between hours back slapping, glad handing photo ops with the same fifty self-important losers. Save your money… put it into your business… these clowns are laughing all the way to the bank with your money and doing NOTHING for you or the business community here.
See we can agree on something !
I left the Chamber years ago, they claimed to be pro business but I quickly learned if you were not republican, and part of the Good ole Boys Network you would never fit in.
Guess you are calling them the “Swamp”. None of them hold republican values of low taxes and limited government.
Yes… they are the swamp…the values they hold are not Republican… they are self-centered opportunistic conformists who are only interested in keeping their club going and their money trains delivering cash to them. If they were serious about supporting the business community and conservative values they would not be the buddies of either cities’ administrations. Just like the media here… if the establishment doesn’t hate and fear you… you are not doing your job. The Chamber is not doing its job here. The Mayor of Bloomington states that he can get the Chamber to help hunt down businesses here to force them to pay a fee that should have been fought tooth and nail by the Chamber. This pretty much says it all. The Chamber is enabling the city governments, not opposing them. They are co-conspirators in the decline of our communities: Holding hands with the liberal elites running this area headlong off a fiscal/economic cliff.
I was also a member but dropped several years ago for reasons already mentioned.
Good for you!