JPMorgan Chase grants $75,000 for Genesee Regional Chamber initiatives

The Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce has received a $75,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase to help fund critical economic development and job training programs for area youth. Read The Flint Journal article or watch ABC12's coverage.

Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce photos Tim Herman, CEO of the Regional Chamber, speaks during the news conference after accepting a check for $75,000 for the Regional Chamber Foundation from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. The grant will help fund critical economic development and job training programs for area youth

Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce photos The Regional Chamber received a $75,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase on December 14, 2009. From left: Todd Johnson, Market Manager for Chase; Christine Kageff, Vice President of JPMorgan Chase Philanthropy & Community Relations; Bob Rummel, Chase’s Flint-based Midwest regional manager for business banking; Tim Herman, Regional Chamber CEO; and Dr. Julianne Princinsky, President of Baker College of Flint and Chair of the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce's Operating Board.

JPMorgan Chase officials, Tim Herman, CEO of the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce, and members of the Regional Chamber’s Operating Board announced the grant at a press conference earlier at the Regional Chamber.  The grant dollars will go to the Genesee Chamber Foundation, which receives and administers funds donated to the Regional Chamber and its programs.

”Chase wants to help Genesee County grow by encouraging economic development and giving youth opportunities to gain skills needed to be productive, engaged citizens,” said Bob Rummel, Chase’s Flint-based Midwest regional manager for business banking. “We believe it’s important to give back to the communities we serve, and we invest our grant dollars in programs that create meaningful change in places with the most need.”

“This is great news for the community and for the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce,” Herman said. “These grant dollars will go a long way toward funding some of our most critical programs here in Genesee County. This generous donation will help support many initiatives that we are moving forward within our economic development action group to help spur economic growth and create jobs in Genesee County and the surrounding region.”

By the end of this year, the economic development action group here at the Regional Chamber will have brought more than $170 million in new investment, attraction/retention investment, and government contracts into our community, he said. This is a significant accomplishment—especially given the current economic climate.

“The grant also will help provide area youth the necessary skills they need to find employment here in this community,” Herman said.

Through the Summer Youth Initiative (SYI), the Regional Chamber helped place 472 youth in jobs throughout Genesee County last summer, and 101 this past fall, Herman said. The program teaches job skills young people need to help them find employment and further their careers.

The grant also will help fund key economic development initiatives such as business attraction efforts, with a particular focus on prospects in the alternative energy, high-tech, and transportation/distribution/logistics sectors, he said. Some of the economic development activities funded by this grant will include:

• Targeted outreach to site selection professionals who have the ability to locate companies within Genesee County
• Increased marketing efforts to encourage more investment in the county
• Ongoing efforts to partner with community leaders in economic development activities

“We are very grateful to JPMorgan Chase for its generosity,” said Dr. Julianne Princinsky, president of Baker College and chair of the Regional Chamber’s Operating Board. “On behalf of the Operating Board here at the Regional Chamber, thank you for your support of these critical activities. Your organization’s grant dollars will allow these Regional Chamber programs to continue moving forward to create a better, more prosperous future for our community.”

For more information, contact:
Jenny Cromie
Director of Communication and Media Relations
Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce
Phone: (810) 600-1435