The Swiss Community Historical Society will share its expansion plans with Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce members during the Friday, Nov. 14, chamber breakfast.

Breakfast serving is from 7 to 7:30 a.m. The chamber program is from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.

Following the program, at 8:45 a.m. is a business roundtable with county commissioners and economic development directors from Hancock and Allen counties.

Both programs are free and open to the public and take place in the third floor of the Bluffton town hall.

Persons interested in attending may rsvp to [email protected].

Historical society expansion
The historical society’s expansion has three parts, which will be explained at the breakfast.

1 – Construction of a “heritage building.” The building, located at 8350 Bixel Road, will be constructed on the land of the 1840s Schumacher homestead. It will house local antiques, artifacts and archives of the society. It will have rooms for meetings and a children’s museum area.

2 – The Swiss homestead 1840s-era barn will be restored. The barn is one of the few remaining “bank barns” once common in the Swiss Settlement between Bluffton and Pandora.

3 – Endowment. The society hopes to create an endowment to assist in the continuation of its efforts to be a repository of the Swiss history of the Bluffton-Pandora communities.

Business round table follows breakfast meeting
Following a brief recess after the breakfast meeting, the chamber and Bluffton Center for Entrepreneurs will host a business roundtable involving Allen and Hancock County commissioners and economic development directors. It will begin at 8:45 and last until 9:30 a.m.

As Bluffton has grown in the past five years so has its challenge of existing in two counties. The forum is an invitation for a get-together and broader discussion.

“As a village in two counties, Bluffton relates to Hancock and Allen elected and economic development officials. This informal setting provides a meeting place – perhaps the first-ever meeting of these groups,” said Fred Steiner of the Bluffton chamber.

He added that the roundtable offers an opportunity for representatives from each group to briefly explain their roles, discuss common issues, and look for ways to improvement relationships with the community of Bluffton.

About the sponsoring organizations

Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce is an organization of 190 members. It a free monthly breakfast meeting followed by workshops on specific topics. The workshops are co-sponsored by the chamber and BCE. Previous workshop topics have included sessions on Quick Books, social media, intellectual property, marketing, and promotion of Bluffton.

Bluffton Center for Entrepreneurs, a 501 (c) 3 organization and small business incubator, covers Allen, Hancock, Hardin and Putnam counties. It holds an annual Ropp Triplett Business Plan competition offering business start up cash prizes of $6,000. BCE has replaced the Bluffton Community Improvement Corporation as the vehicle for support of business growth in the community.