Modern Impact | Alyssa Roberts, Shawntel Baker & Becca Vance

What does a more modern approach to local business support look like and how is the Chamber evolving to meet those needs?

In this episode of Impact: The Chamber Podcast, we sit down with Alyssa Roberts, Director of Membership and Education, along with Becca Vance from Cope Environmental Center to talk about the Chamber’s newly updated Wayne County Cash gift card program and what it means for both businesses and the community. We’re also joined by Shawntel Baker, Director of Employer Engagement, to dive into the Student Future Success (SFS) program and how partnerships like Cope’s are helping connect students to real-world opportunities.

From modernizing local spending to building stronger workforce pipelines, this conversation highlights how innovation and collaboration are shaping the future of Wayne County.

Tune in to learn how these initiatives support local businesses, empower students, and create a more connected community. Subscribe to catch new episodes each month!
Learn more about the Chamber: https://www.wcareachamber.org/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hi, I'm Melissa Vance. I'm the president and CEO of the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce, and welcome to our podcast, Chamber Impact. Thanks for tuning in to our sixth episode already. I can't believe it's been six months, Lynette. Yep. Wild. It's been fun. We have a great lineup for you today with several people from our team. Lynette Davis, our director of events, which you all know, she's with us every month. And then Alyssa Roberts, who is our director of membership and education. Chantel Baker, our director of employer engagement. And then we have a special guest with us today, Becca Vance from Cope Environmental Center, who takes care of marketing and a lot of other things that we won't list today. Thanks so much for coming. So we're going to talk about a couple topics, and I want to start with Wayne County Cash, Alyssa. Tell us a little bit about what that is, where it came from.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

Yes, absolutely. So the chamber previously had the Chamber gift certificates, which is a great program, keeping money local, but now we are excited to modernize it. And now we have the Wayne County Cash gift cards. So we have actual plastic cards and then online e-gift certificates that can be sent to friends or printed out and used for yourself. And it's really keeping money local, and you can use it at any of the participating locations as a gift of choice.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Great. So Lynette, I know you've been championing Bi-Local along with our impact committee for several years. And we've we've previously had gift certificates. How do you see this being a new benefit over what we've done in the past?

SPEAKER_04 2:00

Well, first of all, the biggest benefit is it keeps it all dollars local in Wayne County, which is wonderful, wonderful thing. And there's been more and more challenges with our gift certificates being like a check for the vendors to run. So this will make things simpler and much more efficient for people to be buying them and using them.

SPEAKER_00 2:20

Yeah. As we've become more of a digital nation, not everyone accepts checks anymore. And it's it's not as not as easy for people. So this is just a next step of making it easy. So talk about what that purchase process looks like.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

Yes, absolutely. So with the cards, you can purchase the card or certificate at the chamber in person, or you can go to our website and purchase the plastic card to be shipped to you. You can even pick it up at the chamber, or you can get that e-certificate and you can print it out and have the paper copy. You can have it digitally on your phone, and you could even send it to a friend if that's what you want to do.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Great. We were talking a little bit ago about, you know, when I every now and then I'll just want to do something special for my girls. And I'm like, here's a $10 gift certificate, and I'll text it or email it to them just to have a great day moment. And this would be a really good opportunity for family members or friends that want to do something like that, or students, or things like that. But um how easy is it to purchase and then send digitally?

SPEAKER_03 3:34

Is it you can all do it within one transaction? So when you go to our website, there's you can either say, you know, myself or gift to someone, and you put in their email, and when you pay for it, it automatically sends it to them. So very simple, just as simple as you're for you're buying it for yourself.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Wonderful. Now, Becca, I know COPE is is a part of the program. Tell me what enticed uh you all to participate and how people can use these gift cards.

SPEAKER_06 4:03

So, of course, for us, you know, it's just anything to help to keep everything local, especially being a non-for-profit in a small business like that is very critical to us. And so being part of those different types of programs is always very beneficial to come into Cope to use it, which you can use at our gift shop, which not a lot of people know that we do have a little gift shop. Yeah, so we have like some COPE apparel, we've got some sustainable items. So just it's small and quaint, but we do have one for people to come in and when they visit, when kids come for field trips, they can go in there and purchase some little Cope items and you know, just some big knacky stuff that we've got in there. Um, so they can use it at the gift shop, they can also use it for our monthly programs. So our program manager does a great job of making sure we have a lot of different programs throughout the month. So those programs are only five dollars. Um, some of them are free, so there we have an extra both, but they can use them for that as well. And we can also use them for rentals. So we actually have our rental space, and so the gift cards can be put towards your rental payments as well. Oh, wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

So if you want a different variety of things, have a family gathering or a small event out there, yeah. You can use it in that way too. That's a great way to gift an experience.

SPEAKER_04 5:18

Yes, I love experiences, it's gifts. You know, you don't need all this stuff all the time. Um, so here's a gift card that you can use towards programs out there at COPE. That's a great, great idea.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Yeah, it really is. So get just for people that maybe are not familiar with your programming, that might be listening, give a couple examples of what types of programming we're talking about.

SPEAKER_06 5:41

Oh goodness, there's a wide variety. Like right now, um, Jeremy is really focused on the amphibians. So we actually just built um an amphibian wall that is out on our property. Oh, cool that actually so that way the the salameters can walk down the walls, and then there's um little buckets that they will go into so that way we can track them and keep count, um, as well as different types of breeds and stuff.

SPEAKER_03 6:05

So I'm really excited about that. I know what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_06 6:09

So we have those down to we have our free um dog walks, paws and trails, um, where people can just come out and walk the trails with their dogs. Of course, they have to be on a leash. Um, and we have our a bunch of bird hikes that they do, and like we're getting ready to we're gearing up for our bird a thon that is getting ready to start up in May. So there's just a wide variety.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

I think it's kind of interesting the kid-friendly piece of it too, because if you do have kids, uh whether you're going out to cope or wherever, you can put a limited amount that you don't have to worry about losing cash. So I think that's a nice way to point that out is it's gonna be very kid friendly too. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 6:47

Oh, and the gift cards can be used at multiple locations. You know, if you buy a larger one, you can just take down the amounts, um, and then you could use it for different events. You could going and doing an attraction versus going and buying a coffee. So very versatile.

SPEAKER_06 7:04

But I do think um when I kudos to Alyssa, she when she came in to like show us how to do it all, it's one of those that everybody in your program should be able to use. That it's it's very simple. She helped us set up everything really well, helped me troubleshoot a couple things that she was like, no, do it like this, it'll be easier. So just having that support too for the not-for-profits and businesses, I think is amazing to have. And she's like, No, just let me know if you have any other questions.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

So yes, we want to make sure our businesses can utilize it and just as much as our the customers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

So let's talk about that. If if we have a business in the area that is interested in learning more about how they can be involved and accept these gift cards, keeping the dollars local in their place of business, how do they go about that?

SPEAKER_03 7:53

Yeah, so this program is exclusive to chamber members, which is an added benefit of being a member of the chamber. Um, but once you're all set up, you can just email me, reach out. Um, we've got a special link that you go in and you fill it out. It's like five questions. And then once you're all set up, I'll come in. We can um train your staff, get it all set up on your point of sale system, and then we'll stop by with a function. Um so be on the lookout for the businesses that are offering Wayne County Cash. Um but it's seriously, it's like six steps. It's so simple. Um, and then it's super simple to put onto your work with your POS system and then use with your your staff.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Wonderful. So that's a good a good segue to people knowing where they can spend it. If they can see that online or visually, but if they see a sign somewhere, they know that's where.

SPEAKER_03 8:51

Yes, and on the back of the cards, there's a QR code and on the certificates. If they scan it, it shows all of the merchants they can reload the cards. The cards are reloadable, um, and that way it's very sustainable. So if they want to reload it, or if you don't, we can we'll reload them at the chamber. So very great way to use them over again.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

That's awesome. So before we move on, Hobby Jewelers is our sponsor as we kick this off. How can um talk about that? What does that mean for the consumer?

SPEAKER_03 9:29

Yes, so they are doing double your money program. And so if you come in and buy an item over $100 and you use uh the Gwane County Cash, they will double your money up to $25. So the cards are sold in 10s uh and 25s. And so if you bring in one of those cards, they'll double it, and then that will take that off of your your price. Shout out to Lynn and Aaron for that. I know. So the offer ends, I believe, April 14th or 12th. Um, so be sure to buy your cards and use them here in the next month.

SPEAKER_04 10:04

Mother's Day gifts, graduation gifts, father's day gifts. They have a ton of stuff in there. That's that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

So um, if people want to learn more about what's happening at Cope, how can they find that out?

SPEAKER_06 10:17

So all of our stuff is on our website, which is visitcope.org. So there we have all of our monthly programs are on there. Um, we're actually in the process of redoing um our volunteer page. Um, so that way to kind of go into the next segment of like the SFS stuff. Um, so we are actually redoing all of that. So on our website has everything that is on there, and not only on our face or on our website, which is like I said, visitcope.org, but also we're on social media on Facebook and Instagram. We do have a TikTok page as well that we don't keep up on all the time.

SPEAKER_03 10:52

But it's great.

SPEAKER_06 10:53

We do try to get out and do some some fun TikToks too. Do some salamander videos.

SPEAKER_04 10:58

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 11:00

Make sure I do that for you.

SPEAKER_04 11:01

Call Alyssa. She'll help all over it.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

Yeah. So, Chantel, if people don't know what SFS is, tell us what that stands for and what it means.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

So, SFS stands for student future success. That is our new work-based learning initiative. Um, we have partnered with all of Wayne County schools, um, with many of our employers to start working on a one location for all internships.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

So when people when people think of work-based learning, they don't always know what that means. What is, you know, what is that? Is it a job shadow? Is it an internship? Is it an apprenticeship? What does that mean?

SPEAKER_01 11:46

So with SFS, we've put them all under one because there's so many different descriptions. You hear his job description or job shadow, an extended job shadow, pre-apprenticeship, an apprenticeship, cadet program. I could go on. There are so many different titles that each employer has, which is great, but this way it's just under one program, and all students can get their internship hours.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Great. So why did this begin? Talk about you know where this all started, why is it important for students to have hours on site before graduation?

SPEAKER_01 12:23

So about a year ago, the state changed graduation requirements. So with that, now the students to graduate with certain seals, they do have to have work-based learning hours. Um that could be 75, 150, or up to 650, depending on the seal those students want. So with that, um, all the superintendents came together, a lot of other partners came together trying to figure out how do we get ahead of this in Wayne County. We know it's something we have to do. So, with that, um, again, we came together, figure out a plan. My job was created, which I love because all I talk about is work-based learning as kids. But um, we came together with a plan. So now I'm that point of contact for all of the students and all the employers. Each school has a school coordinator that I work with very closely. Um, but now the schools don't have to reach out to each employer. So, like with COPE, for example, you don't have to worry about three different schools reaching out saying, Can you offer the students some hours? Now it's just myself getting that information together. Um, in the meantime, we created a portal where all of that where all of that is housed, all the students will be able to go on and apply for any of those opportunities, as well as the employer's information is listed there for them to view what opportunities are out there.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

So, Becca, what kind of opportunities is COP offering?

SPEAKER_06 13:46

So just like COPE, we offer so many to just kind of our motto, I guess, just for a lot of stuff. Um, so like they can go even you know inside the building to do like administrative type work, they can go out um into like under the grounds to help remove invasives and learn the stuff at the property. So there's just just a wide variety of stuff for COPE, which like uh Chantel said, it's nice because now we're just focused on she's helped bringing the information to us instead of. I know our operations manager, Dina, she was the one that she was getting so much information thrown at her. So now it's just from one place instead of it coming from all over the place.

SPEAKER_04 14:26

So and listen, I'm gonna jump in on that and give major shout out and celebrate Chantel because and our whole chamber because listen out there, YouTube world. Wayne County Chamber's leading the way on on all of this work-based learning stuff, and how can it be done efficiently? So bravo.

SPEAKER_06 14:44

Yes, yeah, I will say too on our end, like you guys have made it so much easier that like the meetings I know that Dina set through just to make sure that everything is in place. We've met with Alexis and she helped us on the back side of our website or on the portals to make sure that we had all of our stuff. So all the help that you guys are providing to the not-for-profits and businesses, it's so appreciated because it just makes everything for us easier and to make sure that stuff is smooth and transitions. So it is very much appreciated, especially from the coach staff. All your help.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

We try to celebrate every win that Alexis and I get with the portal or anything that comes up. So I mean, it's it'll be a great process. I sit on many meetings throughout Indiana, and Wayne County is far ahead. I mean, when I listen to a lot of others, they just look at us, look at me, and say, How did you guys get there?

SPEAKER_00 15:35

We're only a little competitive.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

Especially me. A little bit, but Wayne County's gonna win. I always give shout outs to our superintendents because I mean our schools can be competitive on the field and the courts, but when it comes to education, they know how important this is and they're like, we have to do something now. So we are we have gotten ahead of it. I think it's going great. The um portal's getting ready to go live. We had 93 jobs today from employers. So I think we have over 20 employers already in the database, about another 10 that's getting it completed, and then about another 20 they're working on getting their information to us. So again, it's every day looks different. But it's we're doing good. I'm excited. I'm excited.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

So moving forward, if I'm a student, what do I need to know?

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Um, you will learn how to log into the portal, how to apply for the job, and they also, once the employer reaches out to you, they'll set up an interview, and then you will get to interview for that position, and then the employer will choose or select the student they want to bring into their business.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

So they don't need to call COPE directly and say, hey, I'm interested. They go to the SFS website that they should have a link for, correct?

SPEAKER_01 16:54

And that is with the school coordinator at that school. They will walk the students through there. Um there's a step-by-step by step-by-step guide for the students, there's a step-by-step guide for the employers, there's one for the coordinators. We've tried to really get ahead of everything, but between the coordinator and our website, there shouldn't be any problems.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Great. So, because I know we have a lot of chamber members who are parents that have have students in the school system now that might be listening and and be interested. And really, it's going through that school coordinator and then ultimately applying on the website. Right. And then on the flip side of that, if we have businesses that are watching that are interested in not only interested in maybe learning more about how they could participate, but how they can make it, how we can help make it so smooth, like Becca described, that it's easy for them because they don't have the time necessarily to invest, which is why your job exists. Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

And I think we've we've tried to make this as simple as we can for that reason, because not everybody has an HR department. So we want to be that for them, get it off, um, get it off the ground, get it into the database. And once they do, it'll be just repetitious every year, and they won't have to work hard as hard to get it in the first time. And between Alexis and I, we will show up, we'll jump on Zoom calls, whatever it takes to walk them through it and get them get them connected.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Great.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Because I think if we can get them connected and get a student, that actually helps free up time for them to work on other things when you have an intern in your building.

SPEAKER_06 18:35

To have you know, the interns come in to help us just because we don't have a big staff, there's only a few of us. So it helps us to have the interns come in and really kind of pick up where we can't, you know, where some loose ends are possibly at, and then the interns are getting their work experience that they need. Um so it's just it's a win-win for everybody.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Yeah. And I know right now a lot of employers say, I'm not sure what I would do with an intern. They it's not that they don't want one, they just don't know. So what I've explained to them is bring them in, let them follow you around, and they will tell you. Students are very honest, and they'll be able to share with you, hey, I can do this, I can do this. So that way it just takes a little bit more off their plate. So, but yeah, get them in the door. Students will do whatever you ask them to do.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

So I think it's time for Lynette's list. I think it is.

SPEAKER_04 19:24

Our calendar is getting very full. The weather warms up, and we are running around doing more things, but there is so much to do and be involved with and expose people to in our community. So um it's all good things. We'll just keep running. April 7th is going to be our next Chamber 535 networking night. Um, this will be hosted by Belden and um at their Northwest Inn location for Belden, Northwest Inn Street location. Um, going to be, we've done this a couple times last year where we um went to a manufacturer and trying to answer the question, what do they do there? Why drive by this building all the time? What do they do there? Um, so we're we're giving people that opportunity to learn more about it. So um Belvin will be hosting us that night. Um, Chamber 535 event starts at 535. Um, and this one is limited though. They they can only do 20 people total. So registration just went up. Get on it if you're interested in this. I've done the Belvin tour and it's very fascinating. Very, very fascinating. Um, so jump on that quickly if you are interested in being a part of that.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

I'll chime in. They are also taking interns right now. So they are in our forum already ready to go. Belden is.

SPEAKER_04 20:43

Another gold star to Belden.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Sign up, go and talk to them a little bit more about internships. They do what they're still winning, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:50

Um Civix B is right around the corner in April. Um, April 10th, this is our live event. This has been your baby for the past three years. Um and uh very cool that Wayne can, again, the things that we do really well. We have done a great job with it, and it's now become a regional competition. Um, so we will host 20 students there, middle school students, um, with the live competition. A few days after that in April is our hiring and intern fair, which kind of goes perfectly with talking about the interns, all about internships. So we're not busy at all. Um, but this is um I'll let you explain some more about it, but initially basically it was open to high school seniors um who may not be clear on their postgraduation plan quite yet, um, and giving them speed interviews so they might go into the workforce. And there were signing days for that, which I love. You know, they have the athletic signing days. We have done signing days for um, I'm gonna go into the workforce. Yeah. Um we are adding kills at every time when you're blue buff, yeah, yeah. Um we are adding the uh Juniors in for the intern part of things, but it will also be open to the public in the afternoon starting at 2 30 to 4. So if anybody out there is looking for a job, there will be lots of employers there doing very quick interviews to get the process started. But anything to add about that event?

SPEAKER_01 22:21

No, I mean it's keeps growing continually. I mean, we more employers are getting engaged where they're trying to hire the students right off high school. We added the open public piece two years ago. The first year was 25, and last year we had 83. So that piece continues to grow, and the employers like that as well. The intern piece will be nice, it'll be our first time to try it. But any of the students that apply now and the employers want to come and try to interview them together or interview them at the same day that the buses will be bringing the seniors, it just kind of makes it easier to get those interviews done ahead of time. Even if the students don't have transportation, they can ride the bus over. Um, the employers will already be there. So hopefully we'll see that piece continue to grow as we move forward with the internship. But yeah, yeah, so it'll be interesting to see how that that piece plays out this year.

unknown 23:11

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 23:12

And uh finally, just a shout out to our Hype Young Professionals Committee. They have several things coming up as well. Um, I think there is a volunteer opportunity coming, there is a morning session, uh level up locally. Yep. I've like um which that one is if they're interested in joining boards or more volunteer opportunities. How can you get more involved in the local community? So lots going on with our young professional group as well.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Lots happening. So if you're interested in learning more about that, you can of course check out our social media or our website at wcareachamber.org. Hopefully, you have had a little taste today of things that are going on. And at the chamber, our mission is to be the unifying link for the community, and clearly there's so much happening that we could not do alone, and we do not do it alone. Um, oftentimes, we're we're the ones that are connecting people to the resources that they need, and hopefully, you've seen a trend of the conversation today. But if you want to learn more about the chamber and what we do, feel free to reach out to our office. We'd love to talk to you anytime. And be sure to like and follow, share this podcast, and we hope to see you next time on Impact.