Chillicothe — The Chamber of Commerce is responding to the serious impact of traffic hassles on local businesses. The chamber leader gave a six-minute speech to council, describing the 12-page detailed “comprehensive citywide business initiative” plan that he shared with council members.
Chamber president and CEO Mike Throne spoke to Chillicothe Council on May 11th, 2026 (watch that video below). He said he was giving council an unveiling of the Chamber’s plan to help businesses dealing with construction hassles…real or perceived.
The Scioto Post reported the preliminary announcement on April 21st, and, the Chamber announced their program on May 4th:
“The Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce today officially launched ‘Chillicothe Resilient – Bridge the Gap,’ a coordinated, community-wide initiative to sustain foot traffic, stabilize revenues, and strengthen the long-term identity of Chillicothe’s business districts in the face of ongoing citywide infrastructure construction.
“Businesses along North Bridge Street, Downtown, Western Avenue, High Street, and other impacted corridors have reported double-digit revenue losses and operational challenges caused by access barriers and widespread consumer misperceptions that businesses are closed or unreachable, even when they remain fully open and ready to serve customers…”
Throne said, and the plan states, that the overarching permanent project to strengthen Chillicothe’s business communities is “Chillicothe Resilient” – while the specific campaign to combat the perception of construction woes is “Bridge the Gap.”
Throne compared the effort to last year’s response to the closure of the paper mill, and broader work to help businesses during the Covid shutdown a few years ago.
Afterward, he told me that the plan is partly to “bridge the gap” for businesses to November and beyond. The Bridge Street work will pause then, like last year, with a lighter work season next spring to finish details – and the Yoctangee Park work is required to be finished by November.
In an upcoming related story, one part of the street changes around the park has been finished and reopened, but another is set to fully close…and one road in the park is now two-way, and another being removed:
Throne said the chamber has started a business directory webpage for all affected businesses, and will coordinate a social media campaign to drive business to them.
He said that traffic hassles are not always as bad as drivers might think – it might take longer to get back from Bridge Street, and it helps to plan ahead.
Throne said the Chamber has “cobbled together” partners in the effort – including the Economic & Community Development Institute (ECDI) – to offer low-cost loans to businesses: up to $15K at 2% interest to fund marketing and get customers in.
Throne said the Chamber would soon decide how much of their own funds they will add to the effort, and he asked council to also put funds into it – both to help cover individual loan requests above $15K.
The website of the Economic & Community Development Institute (ECDI) says they provide “responsible, affordable lending and comprehensive small business development services to help meet the needs of small businesses.”
ECDI “is based in Columbus, with offices in Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Portsmouth and Toledo. For small business clients in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, we serve a one-stop resource center. We are a leading SBA [U.S. Small Business Administration] microloan intermediary, a certified Community Development Corporation, and Treasury-designated Community Development Financial Institution.”
Throne said the Chamber’s responsibility is always to help businesses and their employees. The Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce has a website, Facebook page, X / Twitteraccount, and YouTube page.
