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Join us for a
local transportation briefing with Jeff Welch, TPO; Bill Dunlap, Highway Superintendent; Greg McClain, Maryville City Manager and Mark Johnson, Alcoa City Manager, Thursday, Sept. 10 from 8-9 a.m. at the Blount Chamber.
Don't forget about the
networking training class being conducted by Raeus Cannon on Sept. 15 from 3-4:30 p.m. at the Blount Chamber boardroom. The seminar is free and shows you how to quit making cold calls and drive more prospect to you.
Please check out the fifth installment of The Dialogue, a quick Q&A with a new Chamber member, at the bottom of this email. This week, we sit down with Kate Schriver, owner of the upcoming women's lifestyle boutique called Schriver's located at 106 E. Broadway, Maryville. Follow her progress leading up to the grand opening in March 2016 at
www.facebook.com/schrivers.
NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR BEST OF BLOUNT AWARDS
 The Best of Blount Awards is coming up on Nov. 12 at the Clayton Center for the Arts and we need you to nominate businesses and people who have made an impact in the community over the past year.
Submit nominations here.
Tickets to the awards program featuring comedian, actor and impressionist
Frank Caliendo go on sale on Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 10 a.m. Chamber members can get their discounted tickets for $25 by calling the Chamber at 865.983.2241. Tickets are also available at the Clayton Center for $30 for the public.
REGISTER FOR PROCUREMENT DIVISION'S VENDOR DAY
 The Procurement Division of the Blount County Government will host an Introduction and Business Information Event on Wednesday, September 23 from 8-10 a.m. at the Blount County Courthouse in room 315.
We are very excited to provide this exceptional opportunity for community businesses to enjoy a coffee and meet & greet with the Purchasing Agent, Katie Branham and the procurement team. In addition, end-users will be on hand such as the Facilities Coordinators for the Schools and County.
The purpose of the event is simply to meet our vendors and to match businesses with our team. We aspire to promote local contract opportunities for products/services and to create relationships to build future business opportunities. In addition, we will have a computer on site to set up and/or update businesses on Vendor Registry. Or business can register by going to
vendorregistry.com.
In summary, this event will provide a unique marketing/advertising opportunity to companies by having the opportunity to interact with procurement representatives and to facilitate future relationships. If you have any questions please feel free to contact the Purchasing Department at (865) 273-5745 or via
email.
SOFT SKILLS SEMINARS
 It's Your Career! That's the focus of eight free soft skills sessions offered in partnership by the Blount County Public Library, the Adult Education Foundation of Blount County and the Blount County Chamber of Commerce that are scheduled over the next nine months.
With more and more millennials entering the workforce, employers have noticed many workers in a variety of professions are lacking in several areas, including problem solving, conflict resolution and critical observation. But, even though they possess the hard skills to get an interview, it's the important soft skills that will land the job and help them keep it.
All classes are conducted at the library located at 508 N. Cusick in Maryville and limited to 30 participants. Those interested must register
online. A complete class description is located on the registration site. All classes run from 8-10 a.m. with networking beginning at 7:30 a.m.
Registrations are currently being accepted for the first three classes with the inaugural class entitled "Time Management Techniques to Improve Your Productivity at Work" set for Sept. 18. This class aims to help people gain techniques and tools to help them manage their time effectively and increase their overall productivity.
The other classes with open registration are "Can You Have It All? Achieving Work-Life Balance for Business and Personal Success" and "Working Smarter: Keys to Career Success," are set for Oct. 16 and Nov. 20, respectively.
REGISTER FOR SUPERVISOR TRAINING
The Blount Partnership, along with law firms Wimberly Lawson and Lewis Thomason, is hosting a three-part supervisor training - human resource/legal seminar on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015 from 8:30-11 a.m. at the Blount Chamber office located at 201 S. Washington St., Maryville, Tenn.
Topics include Tips for Hiring and Firing Employees without Getting Burned presented by Lynn Peterson of Lewis Thomason, Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team presented by Stacy Myers of Advanced Management, Inc. and Performance Reviews and Other Feedback given by Howard Jackson of Wimberly Lawson, Wright, Daves & Jones PLLC.
The cost is $25 per person (If you send two or more employees you will receive the registration price of $20 per employee). Click
here for topic synopsis and registration info.
REMEMBER TO SHOP LOCAL
 Think local first + Buy local when you can = Being a local!
Several studies have shown that when you buy from locally owned business, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses.
Get better service
Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know customers.
CHAMBER BENEFIT OF THE WEEK
 Everyone deserves identity theft protection. Including you. Identity theft affects millions of Americans each year. Victims of identity theft can face issues such as lost job opportunities, problems with securing a loan or harassment from debt collectors. You can get the experts on your side with an identity theft protection plan. Services include access to your credit report (or consumer credit disclosure), consultations, expert restoration and more. Let LegalShield help you worry less and live more.
Learn more about these Identity Theft Plans.
FREE BUSINESS OPERATION WORKSHOPS
 The Blount County Chamber of Commerce and the Blount County Library have partnered with the Tennessee Small Business Development Center to present free business operation workshops on Google, social media, business marketing and planning, starting a business and government contracting for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Workshops are held at the Blount County Chamber, 201 S. Washington St., Maryville, TN, and at the Blount County Library, 508 North Cusick Street, Maryville, TN. Participants are free to bring their own lunch.
For more information or to attend any of the following workshops, participants are asked to register by clicking on the Training tab at
www.tsbdc.org.
| Location |
Date |
Seminar Topic |
Time |
| Chamber |
Sept. 24 |
Starting a Business |
9 a.m.-Noon Register Here |
| Library |
Sept. 29 |
Email Marketing |
11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Register Here |
| Chamber |
Oct. 8 |
Google + |
11:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Register Here |
| Library |
Oct. 22 |
Growth Wheel - Ownership & Management |
11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Register Here |
| Chamber |
Nov. 12 |
Business Planning |
9 a.m.-Noon |
GOT AN EVENT OR NEWS? WE'D LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT
Is your organization hosting an event in the community? Submit it
here on our community calendar. If it's a tourism event, please email
Ashlee so she can post it on
www.SmokyMountains.org.
Also, please
send us any news releases or good news about your business. We'd love to share it with the community.
REMEMBER WHEN
We go back 55 years to this week in 1960 when Elvis' "It's Now or Never" was in the middle of a five-week run atop the Billboard Music charts. Selling more than 20 million records, the song became number one in countries all around and was Presley's best selling single ever.
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| "It's Now or Never" - Elvis Presley |
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