Howard LeFevre

You know that feeling you get, deep in your gut, when you know an event is going to happen, but you're not exactly sure when? Well, it happened to me today. Mr. Howard LeFevre passed away. The feeling in my gut is emptiness. Not sadness. Not depression. But emptiness. Mr. LeFevre gave so much to the Licking County community. We are truly blessed and fortunate that he stayed in our area until his death at 101 years of age. It feels like a "Founding Father" is gone.

I get irritated when I hear people grumble about "rich people" and how they have "too much money". It is because of their "too much money" that the quality of life for our citizens is one that many communities would die to have. I wonder if they have any idea how much time and money Mr. LeFevre has put into this community? What we all should be feeling is immense respect and honor for this man and his family.

Mr. LeFevre, you will be missed, but never forgotten.

United Way Day of Caring

On Friday, June 27th, the Chamber staff participated in the 14th Annual Licking County United Way Day of Caring. This is an annual event sponsored by the Licking County United Way. Volunteers are matched with agency/community projects in various parts of the county to provide the manpower to complete identified projects.

The Chamber, along with Jobes Henderson and others, were sent to the Salvation Army. When we arrived, Lois and I volunteered for mulch duty, while Vicky decided to work inside cleaning the men's dormitory.

Needless to say, we all made a BIG difference that day. Here are some shots to prove it:

Cheri digging in. Paul and Mike helping Lois with her shoveling.

Barbara helping in the pantry as Vicky mops.

2008 Images of Licking County Unveiled

Tonight we unveiled the 2008 Images of Licking County magazine. This is an annual publication produced by Journal Communications. This is a wonderful publication featuring the best of what Licking County has to offer.

I would strongly encourage you to view the online version here. It has even more content than the print copy and also includes video vignettes of several companies. And if you are impressed, consider adding a link to the magazine on your site. What a positive way to showcase where you live or conduct business!

I hope you enjoy it.

Revitalization Efforts

There have been many attempts at revitializing downtown Newark in the past. Some have seen progress while others have fizzled out for one reason or another. Revitalization is not a one-time event; if done properly, it is an on-going project that takes quite a bit of time and is probably never complete. There will always be a next step, or a next phase.


Nearly eight or nine months ago another attempt was reborn. A group of dedicated individuals representing a variety of businesses, organizations and local government came together to brainstorm on what the future of downtown Newark could look like. I left that meeting with new enthusiasim. It was refreshing to see the progress a group can make when each individual contributes his or her own talents and skills instead of one person or organization trying to do it all. Take a close look at the entrance to downtown off the the 4th Street exit. The landscape has certainly changed drastically, and this is only in the tear-down stage!


Below are some photos I took while walking through some vacant second and third floor buildings in downtown. Loft living is becoming more and more popular these days. These are obviously the "before" photos. I hope to be able to someday post the "after" ones as well.





If you would like to learn more about this new effort, you can read about it in our 2008 edition of Images of Licking County magazine. Another valuable resource is Newark Alive. This site was created by Steve Herb with NAIOP Anderson Layman. He is one of the individuals I talked about above. Check it out!

Testimonials - Why They Work

Have noticed that our website has testimonials all throughout the site. Why? Because it sells. Bottom line. When we are putting together a marketing piece for economic development we always use testimonials. There is a comfort level when we know that other people have bought the product or service we are considering and have positive things to say about it. A good read on this can be found at http://www.copyblogger.com/testimonials-social-proof/. Don't let the title of this article scare you away. Keep reading.

Colors that Make You Mad

I heard an interesting line today when listening to a presentation. The presenter said "Look around - we don't have any colors here that "make you mad". As one who likes to paint the walls at home, it sparked my interest. Have you thought about what the interior of your facility says to your employees? It seems paint color can have an impact on attitude. Here is a listing from http://www.home-decorating-made-easy.com/

• Black – authority, discipline, strength and promotes independence.
• Blue – cool, refreshing, relaxing, and promotes feelings of tranquility and peace.
• Green – balance, refreshing, normalizing, and promotes emotional growth.
• Orange – cheerful, commanding, and stimulates goodwill, conversation and appetites.
• Pink – calming, accepting, and encourages affection and socialization.
• Purple – comforting, spiritual, and generates mystery and a good sense of intuition.
• Red – empowerment, stimulation, drama, competition and passion.
• White – purification, energy, unity and gives vigor to other colors it is used in combination with.
• Yellow – cheerful, expanding, and increases energy.

There you have it.

Has the "Green" Bug Caught You?

At the Chamber's Manufacturer's Council meeting today, Mr. Rick Orr with C-TEC gave an overview of the Green concept many companies are implementing or thinking about implementing in their workplace. C-TEC is the only public school in Ohio (excluding universities) that has their certification of being a Green facility. Mr. Orr did an excellent job of talking about why this is necessary. Basically, it comes down to efficiency and durability. And you must have complete "Buy In" from the top down. You can begin by something as simple as recycling paper or cardboard. He suggested taking small steps; not giant leaps. The fact is that it really doesn't cost more for a company to be responsible in this area. In fact, they have seen a reduction in many different areas across their bottom line. For more information on how to start going Green, contact Rick

at 740.364.2708 or rorr@c-tec.edu.