JP Morgan Chase Foundation gives $75,000 to Genesee Chamber Foundation to support the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce

By Melissa Burden | The Flint Journal
December 14, 2009

FLINT, Michigan — The JP Morgan Chase Foundation has awarded the Genesee Chamber Foundation $75,000 to help the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce fund economic development and youth job training programs in 2010.

"Chase wants to help Genesee County grow," Bob Rummel, Midwest region manager for business banking, based in Flint, said during a news conference today at the chamber's headquarters on South Saginaw Street in downtown Flint.

"We feel it is important to give back to the communities we serve," Rummel added.

The foundation has consistently given to the chamber for its economic development efforts over the years, but Rummel said this contribution was "a little bit larger this year, because of the need."

The chamber, which employs 25 people and has an about $3 million annual budget, laid off a four employees earlier this year due to reductions in investor donations.

Tim Herman, the GRCC's chief executive officer, said the JP Morgan Chase Foundation funding will help it continue key economic development initiatives and job growth efforts in Genesee County and allows the chamber to expand its Summer Youth Initiative and possibly help more kids find jobs next summer.

"This just keeps us stabilized over the next year," Herman said.

By the end of 2009, the chamber's economic development group for the year will have helped bring in more than $170 million in new investment, attraction and retention investment and government contracts to Genesee County. And all of that translates into 323 jobs, Herman added.

"This is a significant accomplishment, especially in the economic times we're facing," said Julianne Princinsky, president of Baker College of Flint and chair of the chamber's operating board.

The youth initiative project helped place 472 youth in Genesee County jobs this past summer and 101 this past fall, according to the GRCC.

www.mlive.com