WQXE News

The Hardin County Chamber of Commerce hosted their final chamber luncheon of the year Wednesday, and the organization took a moment to recognize their outgoing leader.

The chamber said in a message to members that President and CEO Margy Poorman will depart the chamber after three and half years in order “to prioritize family responsibilities in her home state of Ohio.” 

Chamber Board President Josh Hubbard said Poorman’s “thoughtful leadership” marked a time of progress, stability, and growth at the chamber.

“Margy’s personal commitment to building relationships, fostering collaboration, and advocating for our members stands out the most to me,” Hubbard said. “At every ribbon-fitting, membership luncheon, meeting, and community event, she brought us a fresh perspective to our community while quickly becoming a familiar and trusted presence.”

Chamber Vice President Kendra Scott said Poorman proved her value to the community with her leadership following the announcement of BlueOval SK.

“She took the bull by the horns and said ‘we’re going to do an economic impact study’ and all the things, and I said ‘okay, you’re brave, because this is a lot, you’re undertaking it,’” Scott said. “She’s brave, and she did it with such skill and grace. I don’t know how many hours she spent, day and night.”

Poorman thanked the chamber’s staff and board members, and said the community makes the chamber’s success possible.

“A special thank you to our chamber members for your continued support of the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce,” Poorman said. “You are the reason that we get to do what we love and enjoy.”

The chamber’s executive committee is working on the transition to new leadership.

For the 33rd year, Quicksie 98.3 partnered with area businesses to spread holiday cheer through the Quicksie Toy Factory.

As Quicksie Marketing Executive and Toy Factory organizer Jennifer Meyers escorted the Coleman Allied toy sled Tuesday, she said this year’s factories really delivered.

“It’s just incredible the amount of giving that all these folks in these factories have,” Meyers said. “This year we had the biggest turnout of toys that we’ve had in years, and it’s just incredible and we thank them so much. We thank all the factories, the Quicksie toy factories.”

After collecting toys at the 11 participating factories, a truck-load (and Quicksie Cruiser-load) of toys along with more than $1,000 in gift cards were delivered to Helping Hand of Hope. Helping Hand of Hope Assistant to the Executive Director Jaqueeta Jones said seeing the generosity from the participating factories is amazing.

“These toys are going to children here in Hardin County for families who aren’t able to financially support Christmas this year,” Jones said. “These children will still get to wake up on Christmas morning with an awesome Christmas.”

Contact Helping Hand of Hope to learn more about volunteer opportunities with the organization.

More than 100 people were in attendance to hear the Brandenburg City Council’s decisions on two ordinances: one that would introduce an occupational tax and one that would introduce a restaurant tax. 

The crowd cheered their approval as Mayor David Pace announced that the council had voted to table the two tax ordinances to allow for further discussion.

Pace said after discussion with a committee formed to review the ordinances, the restaurant tax was kept at its proposed rate of 2 percent, but a requirement for a business to turn over their books to the city if their financial figures were reviewed was removed. The occupational tax was amended to have a zero percent rate for 2025 while figures were reported to evaluate the tax’s impact, after which the council would have the option of implementing a tax at a rate of one-third of a percent in 2026. Pace said the committee tried to balance the city’s financial needs with citizen concerns.

“We tried to alter some of that to fit some of those questions that we had, and we did appreciate the input we received after the meeting, the input we had during the meeting,” Pace said. “We tried to take that and go forward with it.”

Many of the citizens that spoke against the taxes expressed their concerns with the financial impact on small businesses and Brandenburg residents. El Camino Co-Owner Carla Bravo said area restaurant owners should be brought in to discuss solutions.

“You do need to raise funds,”  Bravo said. “I understand that, but why at the expense of the local business owners of the community that serve these people? Why at our expense? I just ask that you give us an opportunity to talk about this before you make a decision today. Know the impact that it’s going to have, not just on the restaurant owners but the consumers and on this city, because you will lose business.”

Meade County Chiropractic and Sports Rehab Owner Bridgette Brown-Scheible said she had concerns with the impact of the occupational tax on both employers and employees.

“I understand we need more money,” Brown-Scheible said. “Charge me as the business owner a higher business fee, because then that benefits me on my taxes. Don’t penalize the people that have stayed in the community to work for me when there’s much higher paying jobs outside of Brandenburg.”

The council will pick up the ordinances for discussion at their January meeting.