Bill Allen, CEO Midland Area Chamber of Commerce

Much has been written about the Midland business climate and where things are headed.  The media seems to be focusing, and rightfully so, on the Dow Chemical – Dow Corning – DuPont actions.  While Dow positions itself for both long-term sustainability and future growth, there are many other positive things happening in and around town.

Business expansion and retention developments continue and are a viable part of our economy.  The quantity of our workforce has become a bit of a challenge especially when continued growth is combined with an already low unemployment rate.  Midland has always been known for a strong workforce and will continue to work collectively on this challenge – not only locally but also with our regional partners. Ten years ago, who would have thought that the lack of workers would be an issue?

A new economic development incentive that should be adopted by the end of June 2016 is the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program that could impact the workforce even further. This incentive is really an economic development tool.  It will allow business owners the opportunity, through a state-sanctioned statute that will be administered at the county level, to move forward with expansions projects that have been on hold by providing a more attractive funding mechanism.  Our community has several of these projects in the queue ready for implementation once PACE is approved by the County of Midland.

Finally, kudos to the City of Midland and the Downtown Development Authority for doing such a terrific job engaging the public during the initial phase of their Streetscape Redevelopment effort.  By holding a number of different sessions, at different times and on different days, it is evident that they are truly seeking input on not only what downtown Midland will look like in the future – but also how it can best be used to support our citizens, businesses and visitors.  The first rendering of the downtown streetscape will be available for public viewing the third week of June, and once again the City is encouraging people to participate and provide input before things are finalized.

About the Author

Mr. Bill Allen was appointed President and CEO of the Midland Area Chamber of Commerce and Midland Tomorrow, the economic development organization for Midland County, in January 2016.  Prior to that he was the President and CEO of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce [Las Cruces, NM] and held that position from December 2010 to December 2015. During that period he served on the Executive Board and is a past president of the New Mexico Chamber Executives Association; the boards of Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance and the Bridge of Southern New Mexico. He currently serves as a board member of the Western Association of Chamber Executives

Mr. Allen has over 30 years of experience in business. During his career he has held various upper management positions with both large and small businesses including Controller for both Mercer Consulting and Xerox Corporation.  At Xerox, he was part of the team that kicked off their Xerox Global Services Division as a Business Development Manager on the manufacturing and energy team.  He also has experience in the commercial real estate industry serving as Director of Operations and VP Accelerated Sales for Insite Commercial Group.  He moved into the not-for-profit sector, first with the Greater Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce [Royal Oak, MI].

Mr. Allen has both a BBA and an MBA from Northwood University in Midland, MI.