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Designing and Building the Midwest the Community Segment powered by Sips Coffee Co: Featuring Jon Griffel · Designing and Building the Midwest One Community at a Time

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, welcome to designing the building in the Midwest one community at a time.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_04: I'm Chris Hartsuck with Big Dog Construction, your local window depot.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_07: And I'm Caitlin.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_07: This is the show where we bring you real insights, expert input, and a lot of entertainment along the way.
• 0:13
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• 0:15
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, every week, our main focus is bringing you the best advice on home improvement, remodeling, and how to take care of your biggest investment.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_04: But we don't stop at the property line.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_07: Exactly! We also dive into our realtor segment to cover the ins and outs of buying and selling locally.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_07: And our community segment where we talk about giving back charity and what's really happening across the Midwest.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_04: Plus, we regularly sit down with some fantastic guests from all walks of life to hear their unique stories and perspectives.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_07: Let's get into today's episode.
• 0:47
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• 0:51
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• 0:56
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• 1:01
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• 1:11
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• 1:14
  SPEAKER_06: Enjoy this week's community segment of designing and building the Midwest one community at a time.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, welcome back to Design and Building the Midwest one community at a time.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_04: This is the community segment.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_04: I am Chris Hartsook with Big Dog Construction, your local window depot with our lovely co-host Caitlin Bogini.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_04: Hello.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, and today we also have in the house we have Ryan Kleeman.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_04: We have one of the half of the Clemans.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_04: Lindy is not with us today.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_04: She's at the SIPS headquarters taking care of business today.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_04: But this is this is brought to us by our 10x partners of SIPS Coffee at their three locations, official drink sponsor of our podcast.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_04: So today we're talking about something that plays a huge role in thriving community.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_04: We have John Griffle, the president of the Carlville Chamber of Commerce here with us today.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_04: And we're going to be talking about the chamber, why it matters, the efforts to bring it back and rebuild its importance in Carlaville, the events they're putting on, and the people working behind the scenes to make it happen, to make it a better community for everyone here, right?
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_04: And we definitely want to recognize Karen Doolin, which we'll get into her and her importance and what she does, and all the board that we've have involved as well.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_04: So, John, welcome to the podcast.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for having me, guys.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: And thank you, Ryan, for sponsoring this segment.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: This is, I think this is a very important thing to be able to talk about these communities and really bring a local voice to a lot of these things and a lot of issues that are and uh events that are happening in town.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you for that.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: This bump there for the listeners.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_07: I love this.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_07: Yes.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_07: They're like two pieces in a pod, you know?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_04: And all that good stuff, right?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_04: Well, John, talk to us a little bit about you, your background with the Carlinville area.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: So I actually grew up originally in Gillespie.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: I farmed between Gillispie and Carlinville.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: And then after I graduated from high school, I went to the University of Illinois Springfield for a year and then transferred back to Blackburn College.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: So I graduated from Blackburn and I've lived in Carlinville ever since.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: I got involved with a number of different farming organizations, things like that.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: And really I got started with the chamber because I was at the old Snap Fitness here in town and was working out in the morning, and I just there was nobody else there in the morning.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: So I talked to whoever was there and I started talking to somebody and it ended up being uh Brian Zilm, who at the time was the economic development director for the city.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: And we were talking about a variety of different issues and things like that.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: And one day he said, Hey, we're looking at bringing back the chamber.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: Would you be interested in being on the board for it?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, Yeah, I mean that was it was an honor.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't it wasn't, you know, I didn't have like a resume, I would say, to that right to fit that.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm always open to opportunities and willing to throw in for things.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: So uh hopped in on that in April, and then in November of that first year of bringing it back, I was elected president.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_04: And what year was that?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: So uh that would have been 2021.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_04: Gotcha.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_04: So post-COVID, but still in COVID.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_04: Yep, post-COVID.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: And the the chamber has had a very strong and rich history, but in uh the last couple years leading up to COVID, it struggled a little bit, and then COVID kind of really just put the nail in the coffin and uh second.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it did for a lot of different groups, businesses, things like that, right?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: And uh but we saw the need and desire to have that because our philosophy has always been that stronger businesses make a stronger carload bill.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: And so if we can bring them together and be some type of unifying force, we can just extrapolate and build on what they're doing, right?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so whenever we came in and took over the chamber, we had about$14,000 in debt, uh, an office that we were able to use that was continuing to run up debt and 12 members.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: Basically, our membership was people who were her who had auto-renew on their credit card that had not turned it off.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: And that was our membership base.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: So we kind of set out a plan and we're like, how do we get this back on the right track?
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: And that first year we targeted, we're gonna be a year to two years of just rebuilding to get our heads above water, right?
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: And we sent out a letter to every business owner that we could find in town, anybody roughly related to business, anything, and said, Hey, we're bringing back this chamber.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: We want to bring value to town.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: We don't know exactly even what shape that takes yet, right?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: But we're asking you to buy into Carlinville.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: And that first year we went from 12 to 67 members, and we grew that year and had a membership networking events and had a couple of smaller events throughout the year that we were able to able to participate in.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: And at the end of that year, like I said, 12 to 67 at the end of that year.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: At the end of year two, we went to 93, and then now we're sitting over 120 members.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_04: That's amazing.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_04: And what made you feel like Carloville needed a strong active chamber again?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so Carlinville needed it because we have strong businesses already, but we needed a connector.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's kind of been the purpose of the chamber since we brought it back.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: Is there we we looked at it whenever we were first starting, there were events happening in Carlinville on 42 out of 52 weekends of the year.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: For a small community, that is a ton of events going on.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: That is a ton of things happening.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: So we looked at it and we said, we don't need to necessarily be an organization that comes in and just adds events to the calendar.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: We have those.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: How do we make those events better?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: How do we come in and make them 10, 20, 30, 40% better?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: The things that are already happening.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: And we've utilized our social media channels.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: You mentioned Karen Dulan.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, she started as a board member, is now our and went to our social media director, and then is now our executive director.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: And she's done a phenomenal job of growing everything, marketing on our uh social media pages.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we have more people following our Facebook now than there are people in town.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, which is awesome.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_07: Which I have a question I've been dying to ask.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_07: You're you're such a thrilling speaker, though, I must say.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_04: So dynamic force.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_07: Yes.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_07: Like I could sit there and listen to John for so long.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_07: This will be great.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_07: So you were talking about the beginning, like networking and events, all this stuff.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_07: Like, who came up with these ideas?
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_07: Like, how did you come up with like I just don't know?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_07: You know what I mean?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: Sheer genius and brilliance.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: No, actually, our philosophy from the beginning has just been uh steal and scale.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: Steal small ideas and scale them to us, steal big ideas and scale them back to what we can do.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: That that's been our philosophy.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: There are a ton of things out there, and I'm not smart enough to reinvent the wheel.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I can add chrome to it, but I'm not gonna I'm not gonna read it.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_07: Hey, everybody loves the chrome finish, buddy.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: So just change it a little bit and and and take it.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: So my philosophy, I don't like to necessarily steal as many from smaller communities than us, but I like to steal a lot of them from bigger communities, scale them back to what we think we can do, and then add 10 to 20 percent.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: And that kind of keeps clearing.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Bigger communities probably have bigger ideas, right?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, more minds in the room.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_07: And they might be more unique ideas.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: And we we always want to think big.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: We're a small community, but I don't think anybody in this community thinks small.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: No, I think that's what separates us from other places.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: And it really does.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_07: So when we were traveling back this weekend from southern Illinois, you know, there were several small towns we go through.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_07: My 13-year-old son, he's like, Man, look, everything's closed down here.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_07: And I said, Buddy, I said, I know you're not used to seeing this kind of stuff.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_07: You're used to Carnival, you walk around, every business is busy, it's it looks nice, it's never was like that.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_07: Exactly.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_04: So this is what I said to him, there was another store on the square closed down or for rent, plaza.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_07: And I I explained to him and I said, That's why Carnival is so different, because our people work so hard to take care of it.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_07: Not a lot of other towns have that.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_07: So it's weird that he can he got to see the difference that we get to live every day.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, and that's what we look at how how can we best serve our members?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: So, what we put a big emphasis on is that networking side, and we put a big emphasis on trying to bring higher level educational resources to town because I know there's a ton of educational resources online, but I can't be the only person that purchases a class and they're like, Well, you have a year to complete it, and then the year ends, and you're like, huh.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: Well, if I have all the time in the world to complete it, I'd never find the time to do it at all, right?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: So we want to bring it to people here in um, and I think that that's that's where the chamber can really fit into that mold.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: And then also, like I said, being that connector.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: We've we launched the Carlinville app that has a community calendar that all these groups and people can add events to.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: So helpful.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, just ways, ways to bring the community together because, like I said, there are so many things, good things already going on.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: So, how do we capitalize on them?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: How do we make them just a little bit better?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_04: Well, and you guys are are doing business to business relationships, creating those, right?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_04: That in most towns, it's like, oh, that business over there, this business over there.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_04: But they may be able to collaborate and make something happen bigger for the community, right?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_04: Coming together, networking, the referrals, business promotions, community involvement, like we're talking about, helping businesses work together, helping new businesses get connected, right?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_04: And even started.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_04: You guys, I'm sure, work with other businesses or other people looking to come to the area and what's available for space or the needs, right?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: And we even this past year had a uh start your business kind of five-week crash course uh class that we did.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: And then we're looking to plan a kind of follow-up educational event with that.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: And we're looking at a type of uh like a one-day, not I don't know if summit's the right word.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: We're we're still working on the branding for it, but a one-day conference next year that would happen early in the year and have bring in a high-level speaker, bring in breakout sessions that tailor to what people want, and bring it here.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_04: Kind of like CEO did with the bold conference they had years ago.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: That's kind of the idea.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: And bring it here and make it a day and put it on the calendar so people can, you know, figure out if they need to have coverage at their business or whatever, but bring high-level value here.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: They don't have to drive to Springfield, St.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: Louis, find everything else out 10 minutes from home.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_04: Entrepreneur, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and you could take it one step further and have businesses set up booths if they wanted to highlight their comp their businesses.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: On record, I just want to go on and say I think that there is, and there's a there's a want for that and a need for that.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I think that the conference, you know, with Eric Thomas a few years ago, you know, there's hundreds of people that attended that.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_03: And that was not cheap.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_03: That was not a cheap event.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that, you know, having that level, which I know Chris has is having one coming up in November.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: But in Springfield, right?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_04: But next business summit.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, absolutely.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_03: And and giving that a shout out, you know, but but bringing that to the area, I think, I think it'd be huge.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, I do too.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_07: That really sets us a step above the rest.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_07: And another thing I want to say about you guys, and Chris was talking about business to business.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_07: Like a lot of other businesses can be competitive with one another.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, collaboration is so key.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_07: You've always been like that, and you guys do that so well.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_07: And Karen with her spotlights to make a new business feel so welcome.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_07: That's scary.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it's it's phenomenal.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: She has done an awesome job on the on capitalizing on that uh social media side, creating newsletters, creating all that high-level content.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what's really set us apart from other places in the area.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I agree.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: Is that that type of interaction and that type of consistent, positive media going on there, right?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_07: And we're a hallmark town.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_04: Did we win?
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_04: And here's we don't know yet.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_04: And here's and here's the thing that uh which we'll get to in events, is that you guys help bring a mindset shift to business owners, right?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_04: And that's the thing.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_04: They're like, oh, I gotta be out there, I gotta compete, I gotta compete, I gotta compete.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_04: No, you're not.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_04: There is enough work and enough people out there that everyone can survive and thrive in their own lane, even if there's someone right in the lane next to you doing the same thing.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_04: Right?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_04: You know, and if you go to the 10x mindset, we're not here to compete, we're here to dominate, but that's a different story.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: But still, and we look at it, we've never held a membership drive.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: People have come and just consistently saw the value that we have shown the return on investment.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: And they just they just buy in.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: And that that's what I want to say that if you're looking to keys to success, we would not be anywhere near where we are today if people didn't just buy in.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: We did we're not, you know, from the sales side, right?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: We're not selling people anything that they don't want.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: They wanted this.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: We are just a vessel to bring this to them, and they've bought in from the get-go, and it's been phenomenal.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like I said, whenever we hold an event or we do something, people just go, Well, how can I help?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: Well, yeah, it's exciting.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: So we get a lot of positive momentum going with that.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: And we've had a phenomenal board.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: Our board has pretty well has stayed at the same base, a little bit, you know, additions as we went through, but a pretty good base since the beginning of it.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we have uh Tammy Hughes, who's who works up at the bank that's been your treasurer forever, handles all of that, makes it really easy.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: Ashley Hadley, Angela Verticchio, uh, Gretchen Killum, Eric Baim, Chad Strub, he's in everything, right?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Sandy Smith, Justin Norwood, and then uh Brian Burnside from out at the hospital.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_02: So we've got a really high-level board that has it's been awesome because I bring ideas to him, or anyone brings an idea up to our board and they just go, All right, how do we do it?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, let's make it happen.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good group of people.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: Very little of our debate or our time is spent, should we do it or not?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's this is good, this is what's right for Carlinville.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: How do we do it?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, let's get the let's spend our time talking about that.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_04: As MS of your board members, how many of them are business owners andor in key positions of businesses?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I would say all of them are either business owners or key positions in business.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sure.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_04: So and which is crucial for a chamber.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_04: Right?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_04: Because they're forward thinking.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_04: Yep, yeah.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_04: They've obviously gotten to where they are because of forward thinking and being team players.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: And we've tried to be identify key stakeholders.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: So we've always had somebody from a representative from the city come invited.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: Please come sit in our meetings, let us know what's going on.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: How can we be working together for these things?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: Having Brian out at the hospital.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: The hospital has a ton of momentum going right now.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_04: Very much so.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_04: A ton of awesome things going on.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_04: Big reveal coming out.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_04: The night before we drop this.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: Next week.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: And and then you look, and we've got Justin Norwood from Blackburn.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: Blackburn's on an incredible role right now.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: There's just a lot of momentum going on.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_07: There really is.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_07: I'm so excited for actually.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_04: We'll drop this out as a little nugget.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_04: We actually have Brian Burnside, who will be on our community segment of the hospital, talking about the hospital's involvement with the community and their vision for the new era.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_04: And it will be dropping the week after this one.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_04: Awesome.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_04: So we're excited about that.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_03: Very exciting.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_03: Something I went, I meant to interject this earlier is it's this year specifically, because I I've lived here my entire life, right?
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_03: This year specifically, I've seen more people that, and I don't know if it's the hundred year of Route 66, but at the same time, I've seen more people out on the square, out on the local area than I've ever seen before, earlier than every other year.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_03: And I would attribute some of that to the fact that people are seeing Carlinville.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure the Hallmark Christmas had something to do with it as well.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: But at the same time, you know, you guys are doing a great job highlighting the town, highlighting the area.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_03: And um, I I wanted to mention something about your board specifically.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_03: I I know all of those people briefly, but I know some better than others.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_03: But these people aren't placeholders, they're intentional about being on the board.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_03: You guys are intentional about who you're asking to do certain things.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, shout out to anybody out there that that that is in a position like John or elsewhere, you know, it's intentional.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_03: It's not a place filler.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: They're not there just to be there, they're there because not to add it to the resume.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they want it there, no, they're all busy people.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_03: They want to change their community.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_04: Again, if you want something done, you find the busiest person and they'll figure out how to get it done.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_04: And that's what you have with this board.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_04: But speaking of this board and how you're like you drop things on the table and say, how do we get it done?
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_04: is what they say.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_04: What are some events coming up?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_04: What are some annual events that always happen that the chamber is part of?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_04: And then what's the future look like?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: So this year we're we're looking to make the Taste of Carlonville an annual event.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: Love it.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you were an awesome sponsor that first year of it.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: This year we brought that event and morphed it into the 62626 day.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: But as going forward, we've got to opportunity.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's a once once in a hundred years ago.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_04: Once in a giant once in a generation for us.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_02: I have not, I have not lived my life in a way that I'm gonna be here in a hundred years, right?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: So it's uh so that was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: We wanted to bring as many things together.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: But we're looking to make that taste of Carlin Villain annual event.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_07: Love it.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: We started last year the chamber summit.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: So, well, chamber summit or economic development.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_02: We invited all the economic development groups from all around the county, uh all city officials, county board officials, anybody like that to come to town.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: And we brought in Corey Job from Great Rivers and Routes.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: And we had him present on all the tourism opportunities and dollars, and it actually ended up leading to a$20,000 invest$20,000 investment from the county into Great Rivers and Routes.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that anybody in any of the towns in the county can tap into that resource to give us access to their marketing and their opportunities.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: So that was really good.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_02: And then this year we're looking to bring in, we're gonna hold that economic development summit again.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it'll be out at Rustic Venues.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: And we're going to have a speaker come in from Universal Illinois Extension and talk about economic development in rural communities and uh tourism in rural communities.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: So we're looking to create that.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we'll bring back our annual banquet.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: That'll be our January focus.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_02: We're in the planning stages now, but looking with with all the to capitalize on all the opportunities with Hallmark uh and get involved with Christmas.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: We hadn't been overly involved with the Christmas side because we have two groups that first weekend that do a phenomenal job of doing everything.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: So we thought, you know, that's not something that we need to jump into and go with.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: But with this Hallmark opportunity, we're anticipating more people the other weekends going out.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: So, how can we have some type of programming or something as an attraction for those other weekends and make it a whole month-long for our Christmas months?
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, that's such a big deal.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_07: What about the basketball game?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_07: You forgot about that.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, we're looking to make that an annual.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, let's go.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: Coach of victory.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: Wanna know?
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: Right, yeah, yeah.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_07: Wanna know, yeah.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_07: That was so fun.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's right.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, first responders.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody loves everything.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: Almost$2,000 for the the Firefighting Found Firefighters Foundation here in town.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_04: And they still lost, but they won.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, they got paid$2,000 to lose.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they oh they tanked it.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man, what the heck?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: Dude, yeah, that was I thought it was my coaching screen.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think everybody was pretty sore for a couple days after that.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, they were.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the yelling.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was uh a little less charity basketball game, a little more fist-faced.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_04: But it was good, it was good.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's good attendance as well.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_07: It was, but that's what I'm saying.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_07: It's like something different for the community to attend that's family friendly.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_07: Same with TOC, Taste of Carval.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_07: You know, it's just for everybody, and it gives you healthy fun to do.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_07: Like you can't ever say that you're gonna be bored in Caroma, Illinois.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean, just look at this coming weekend.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, this weekend is packed.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: You got Blackburn's homecoming, the Apple Festival out there.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: There's something else.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's a tour de milk.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_03: Football game tomorrow.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_04: And you have the Tour de Milk, which they're gonna have a record year of almost 200 riders this year.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_04: That's crazy.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_04: That's the biggest they've ever had in the live.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_04: This is the 11th or 12th year of it.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_04: And it's a furry farms tour de milk.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, okay.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, that's the same thing.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, that's a big that's a lot going on.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_04: That's gonna be popping this week, they're they're excited to ride on the new asphalt out at the plaza parking lot.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_07: That's so nice out there.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_03: So I I got a question just for you know, John or the group.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_03: You know, there's and I because I do see the momentum.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, hopefully the big dog podcast and tips and and everybody else that's on the podcast as part of that momentum, right?
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_03: Highlighting the differences that you know we're all making in the Midwest.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_03: What do you attribute some of this momentum and success to if you were to pinpoint a couple things the past couple years?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: I think it is a lot of people thinking big, and I think it's a lot of people that care a lot.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_02: You saw, like you said, you didn't think that there had been this type of involvement and this amount of things going on before in your lifetime.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that people saw that and people did something about it.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I think you see a lot of communities and a lot of other places that whenever they saw that, they just there are people that would sit around and complain about it, and people didn't sit around and complain.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: They got involved with the lines, with the rotary, they got involved with community groups, they did their part, they jumped in, they said, How can we make this better and did it?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: I I think that's that's why whenever other chambers ask us how do we replicate this, I mean there's some steps you can replicate, you know, getting systems in place, doing things like that.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: A big thing was asking people what they wanted from a chamber, right?
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like don't assume what they want, ask them, and then do it.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's it seems simple.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's not, you know, gather that information or build a strategy, but it it is a little bit simple, you know.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: I agree.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: I agree simple, stupid.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: Kiss her.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_07: Like how Brian Dixon taught me that.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: So that that's kind of that's kind of how it is, and we have people that care.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: And like I said, they show up, they show out, they think big.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, the hospital's thinking huge, Blackburn is thinking big.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I can't wait to have the hospital on next week.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_07: And it's just so nice.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_07: I'm not trying to sound like superficial, but I just like how everything looks nice.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_07: Like the hospital is like I just had to be out there the other day for three hours with my son.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_07: You know, they're so nice.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_07: We're so lucky to have it.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_07: The square, just everything, the buildings, just every all the architecture is very well maintained, taken care of.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_04: You're seeing business owners invest into the way their businesses look.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, the aesthetic.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_04: The aesthetic of it to the community.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I see two moments that really show the spirit, even like there's been a ton in the last couple years, and I have to think harder.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's too early in the morning for me to go years past, right?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: But just in the last year, two things that really resonated that what we do with the chamber matters and the value that people see in it was the 62626 day.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it rained for the first hour, and then we had over 1,500 people still come out.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: It was they came in psycho.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, it was fun raining that one.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: It came out of nowhere.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: And then the other thing was uh last year, right after Christmas time, a sleep in heavenly peace here in town who builds beds for people.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, somebody broke in and stole all their tools.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: And we put out on social media, hey, can you help?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: Can you do these things?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: And they raised like five thousand dollars to replace all their tools plus extra tools, plus supplies within like three days.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I that's that was one of the best moments that I've had of the chamber coming back to.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: It gives you like you don't realize the power that something like that has and the impact that it can have on doing that.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_04: And that and that kind of because we're gonna move into rapid fire, we've got to wrap up our segment here, but that kind of would summate what my first question is what's the first thing you think of when you're a Carloville?
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_04: And I think you just kind of put it in that that nutshell there about everyone coming together.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_03: It's culture, right?
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_04: When the need happens, yeah.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_04: Culture and community.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, people care.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_04: Well, just a few.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_04: We're we're in the rapid fire segment, uh wrapping up on this real quick.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_04: And what's your favorite chamber event?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_04: Rapid fire, don't overthink.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_04: Uh taste of carmoville.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_04: Food.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_04: What's one foodie?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_04: What's one thing you wish more people understood about the chamber?
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: That's a great question.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: I Wish that more people understood the power that we can have with those community calendars and events.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I really wish more people would engage with and get those events on there.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: We want churches, we want nonprofits, we want everybody on that group so that anybody in town can find that.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: We just want that to be a connecting tool, it's not a charge, there's no advertising on it other than the hospital sponsoring it.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: There's no advertising on it.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: Just connect everybody.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_04: What's one word that you would use to describe the Carmelville business community?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_04: Phenomenal.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_04: Alright.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_04: Last question is would be spell it.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_04: Last question.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_04: If you could get everyone in Carmelville to do one thing to support the community, what would it be?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_04: Alright, love it.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_07: Sure.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, he wasn't prepare for these questions in the next one.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_04: So final thought.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_04: What's one message you want the people in Carnival to take away about the chamber and the future of the community?
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: The future is strong.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I want people to know.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: The future is strong.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: There are people that care.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: There are people that are engaged in building a strong future.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: Stronger businesses make a stronger Carlinville, and we have a very strong business community.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_04: I love it.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_04: Well said, well spoken on that.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_04: John, thank you for coming in today.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_04: Ryan being sponsored with Sith and uh your wife, Lindy, of this podcast.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_04: I think this conversation is exactly why we've created this community segment.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_04: When we say designing and building the Midwest one community at a time, we're talking about a lot more than construction, right?
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_04: We're talking about the people, people who are willing to step up, the board of the chamber and the members of the chamber, right?
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_04: People who are willing to volunteer, business owners who are willing to invest in their communities, organizations that bring people together and leaders who look at their hometown and say, we can make this better.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_04: That's what we're seeing with the Carloville Chamber.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_04: Bringing an organization back isn't easy.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_04: It takes commitment.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_04: It takes people willing to put in the work, and it takes a community willing to get behind it.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_04: And that's what makes community strong.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_04: So we also want to recognize Karen.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_04: We love that Karen does what she does.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_04: She's executive officer for the chamber, be an instrumental role playing on the marketing and everything else she's done for the chamber over the years.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_04: And John, thank you for being one of the people willing to step up and help move Carnival forward.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_04: To everyone listening, here's the challenge, right?
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_04: We like to give a challenge to our listeners.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_04: Don't just talk about supporting your community, show up for it.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_04: Shop local, shop local businesses, attend the events, get involved, volunteer, tell someone about the great things happening in your hometown.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_04: Because communities don't become stronger because someone else decides to make them stronger.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_04: They become stronger when all of us decide to participate.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_04: And that's what we're going to continue doing right here on this community podcast.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks to SIPS Coffee and the Clements for making that happen.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_04: Telling the stories of the people who are investing in the Midwest and helping build something bigger than themselves.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_04: A huge thank you again to John, being the president of the Carnoville Chamber of Commerce for joining us and our 10 X partners for being here.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_04: I'm Chris Hartsuok with Caitlin.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_04: We're glad to be here.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_04: And thank you for listening to Designing the Building, the Midwest One Community at a Time Podcast.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_04: We're not just building homes, we're not just building businesses, we're building communities, and we'll see you next time.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Bye! Hey there.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Lisa Miller, managing broker and owner of First Choice Realty Pros.
• 25:15
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• 25:19
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• 25:29
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• 25:31
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• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: With First Choice Realty Pros, you've got a team that's got your back.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_08: In the military, there's no such thing as good enough.
• 25:43
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• 25:46
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• 25:49
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• 26:15
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, listeners and followers, we have something big coming out that'll be launching January 1st, 2027.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, I said 2027.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_04: It is upon us already.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_04: We're almost done with the third quarter rolling into the fourth.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_04: But we are rolling out the Big Dog Home Guardian program.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_04: It's a residential service and maintenance agreement.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_04: You ever have those the annoying beeping smoke alarm that's like, oh crap, I forgot to replace the battery in that.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_04: Or it's too high.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_04: I don't have a ladder.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_04: I can't get up there safely.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_04: Or that furnace filter that you're like, oh, I forgot to change the furnace filter.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_04: Gutters need cleaning, it's just a mess.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_04: Whatever that is, we are gonna have that in our home dog.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_04: Big dog.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_04: Home dog.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_04: What up, home dog?
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_04: The big dog home guardian program to where we can take care of those things.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_04: Or the little handyman stuff that you need taken care of, right?
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_04: The squeaking storm door, the squeaking bedroom door, squeaky loose floorboard, whatever that is, we can take care of you.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna have three tiers of service low, middle, and high.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_04: Each one of those will have their own things that we offer.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_04: Obviously, the higher the tier, the quicker response time you'll get put on the schedule.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_04: Okay?
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_04: So stay tuned and be looking for more information on the Big Dog Home Guardian program.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_04: Until then, we'll catch you next time.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, it's Ryan Cleman.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_06: And Lindy.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: We are the community partners for the Big Dog Podcast.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_06: As the owners of SIPS Coffee Co.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_06: community is at the heart of everything we do.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_06: We want to support the people who make this area great.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_06: So if you are a local business or organization that would like to be featured right here on this podcast, or if you want to work together with us to make the Midwest the absolute best community it can be, please get a hold of us.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_03: Reach out today and let's build something great together.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: Your local Window Depot USA.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_07: And that wraps up another episode of Designing and Building the Midwest, one community at a time.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_07: Thank you so much for tuning in and listening with us today.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_04: We hope you walked away with some valuable insights to use in your home or neighborhood.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_04: If you enjoyed what you heard, make sure you hit that subscribe button so you never miss a weekly episode.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_07: And be sure to follow us on Facebook and across all your favorite platforms to keep up with everything we're building.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_04: Until next time, I'm Chris.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_07: And I'm Caitlin.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_07: Thanks for hanging out with us, and we'll see you next time.
• 28:56
  unknown: Big Dog!
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_04: This episode was produced by Big Dog Media Group, delivering powerful creative for brands and creators everywhere.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_04: If you're looking to take your podcast to the next level or just get started, Big Dog Media Group has you covered.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks for listening.