Blount Partnership News and Events

 
Check out our 80th installment of The Dialogue where we visit with Barry Dykes, managing member of PuroClean Premier Property Disaster Experts.
 
If you or someone you know is looking for a job, please check out www.BlountAreaJobs.com. Additionally, if you need employees, please utilize the job board to advertise your open positions. Click here to get started.
 
IT'S CHAMBER SOCIAL WEEK
Join us Tuesday, May 9 at 3:45 p.m. for the Chamber Social hosted by United Community Bank (1708 West Broadway, Maryville). All members are invited to network with new and existing members, meet the Chamber Board of Directors and learn how the Chamber can help promote business.
 
HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR CHAMBER MEMBERSHIP
Join us Tuesday, May 9 from 2-3:30 p.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville) for an opportunity to learn more about the Chamber and the many opportunities that go along with being a member. Learn how to make the most of the benefits afforded to you. RSVP to Amy.

Remember, your membership is a corporate membership. Please encourage co-workers to get involved, educated, network and promote your company via Blount Chamber events and opportunities.
 
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
business_group_women.jpg Make plans to attend our next Women in Business Meeting on Monday, May 15, noon at the Airport Hilton led by Sharon Hannum.

This is a Dutch Treat Lunch from Cooper's Restaurant. You can either do soup or salad bar for $8.95 + tax, this includes drink, and dessert or the whole buffet for $12 (including tax) and includes drink, buffet and dessert. RSVP to Amy by Friday, May 12 if you plan to attend.
 
JOIN THE BLOUNT COUNTY JOB FAIR
The Blount County Job Fair sponsored by Cirrus Aircraft and Pellissippi State Community College is coming to the Second Harvest Food Bank on Friday, May 19, 2017, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. If your business is interested in participating to hire new employees, email Claire for more details.
 
USE CHAMBER DISCOUNT TO ATTEND EAST TN WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
As a Blount County Chamber member, you can attend the 2017 East Tennessee Women's Leadership Summit "Leading Beyond Limits," on Friday, June 9 at the Airport Hilton for $99.

The East Tennessee Women's Leadership Summit is an annual event, hosted by the Women's Leadership Council, a group of women volunteers who share a common interest in improving the lives of women in East Tennessee. The Summit's speakers and activities are targeted to help women in East Tennessee Live. Learn. Lead. in all aspects of their lives.

Sign up here or get the 411.

ANOTHER CHAMBER MEMBER DISCOUNT
Can you believe your luck? Another Chamber member discount from Express Strategic Services. Receive $150 off an HR or Marketing service through Express Strategic Services, a division of Express Employment Professionals. Click on the flyer to learn more and schedule a free consultation.
 
PSCC SUMMER CAMPS
STEAM camps provide fun and exciting ways to introduce students to careers in science & technology on a college campus. $325 fee includes daily lunch and a t-shirt. All camp times are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Ages 10+. Register at pellissippi.campbrainregistration.com
Minecraft: Use math and technology to dive deeper into the game as you engage in modding techniques, understand what makes the game work and learn creative game design!
Videography: Mix creative artistry with technical skills for an action-packed experience as you record and edit film to create and produce your own powerful videos for a film festival finale!
Robotics: Explore the vast field of science and engineering through robotics as you conduct physics experiments and use your imagination to build a bot you'll take to a team competition!
Week 1&2: June 12-16/19-23, Blount County campus
Week 3&4: June 26-30/July 10-14, Hardin Valley campus
 
SIGN UP FOR FINAL SOFT SKILLS CLASS
Registrations are currently being accepted for the final free soft skills session set for Friday, May 19 entitled "Managing Change in the Workplace." While change can seem scary for some people, managing change well is what helps people grow in their work and stay relevant. Join us to explore effective strategies for selling and managing change at work.

All classes are conducted in the Blount County Library's learning lab located at 508 N. Cusick in Maryville and limited to 50 participants. Those interested must register online at www.blountchamber.com/community/soft-skills. 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.
 
MAY MEMBER-TO-MEMBER PROMOTIONS ARE IN
The May member-to-member promotions are in. Check out Pellissippi State's summer camps, Express Employment Professionals' HR discount and Patriot Threads' promotion to benefit Kingdom Design Ministries. See these and other promotions at member-to-member promotions. New offers are being posted almost daily, so check out the Blount County Chamber of Commerce Member-to-Member promotions online. This Member-to-Member Promotional Program offers you and your company the opportunity to market your products and services to the membership.
 
Here's how it works:
1. Submit a PDF of a service, product or discount you'd like to offer to the Chamber membership to jmuir@blountpartnership.com. Be sure to include an expiration date.
2. An email with all the promotions will be sent out on the final Monday of every month to our member database.
3. All promotions will be posted on www.BlountChamber.com
 
EMAIL SUBJECT LINE KNOW-HOWS
33% of email recipients decide whether or not to open an email based on subject line alone" according to marketing website hubspot.com. Here are the top few tips that Hubspot recommends to follow when writing a subject line: Read more

Learn more about marketing your small business in a digital world, ask questions about social media, and take the time to discuss future campaign ideas. What are you waiting for? It's free with your chamber membership. Schedule your FREE session today.
 
If you have any questions regarding your free digital marketing member benefit ( Save Local Now), your digital platform, or online marketing in general please reach out the Blount Chamber's Rachel Coffman.
 
REMEMBER TO SHOP LOCAL
Think local first + Buy local when you can = Being a local!
 
According to the Small Business Administration, since 1990, big businesses eliminated 4 million jobs, while small businesses added 8 million jobs. The more you shop at a local store, the more potential job opportunities you could help them provide.
 
Find what you're looking for in the Chamber Directory.
 
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
"West End Girls," by the British pop duo Pet Shop Boys, topped the Billboard Hot 100 this week in 1986. The song is influenced by hip hop music, with lyrics concerned with class and the pressures of inner-city life which were inspired partly by T. S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land. It was performed by the Pet Shop Boys at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

Events

 

May 8-14

 

 

May 15-21

 

 

Save the Date

 


You can access the entire calendar here to see other community events and submit your own.

The Dialogue

This feature is a question-and-answer session with a new Blount County Chamber member. So here we go with our 80th installment visiting with Barry Dykes, managing member of PuroClean Premier Property Disaster Experts which understands that water, fire, mold and property damage presents an unexpected and stressful disruption to our daily lives. Our role is beyond just repairing the property - it's also repairing lives.
 
Describe what an ENT does. The treatment and prevention of ear, nose, and throat related ailments. Allergy treatment and testing. Hearing aid sales and servicing.
 
Describe what PuroClean does. PuroClean Premier Property Disaster Experts provides state-of-the art services locally, responding rapidly to your call for water, fire and mold related crisis. Our goal is to contain the damage to the "wounded" property and facilitate the healing process. Services List for Knoxville and the surrounding area: Water Damage Restoration Fire Damage Restoration Mold Remediation Applied Structural Drying.
 
How did you get started? After military service in the U.S. Air Force, my wife of 36 years and I went where work called us around the US. However, we always longed to get back "home" to the Great Smoky Mountains. Opening a PuroClean office here in Knoxville is fulfilling that dream and allowing us to build a legacy with our sons.
 
What is your background? Your Knoxville team has the highest levels of certification in the nation. We will put their property restoration expertise to work after floods, fires, mold and related problems so you can get back to normal sooner, with less stress, disruption and financial hardship.
 
Who is your mentor? My wife has been my biggest supporter. We have been together a long time and I she has been dragged from Alaska to Florida and now finally back home to East Tennessee. Through that whole process she has been trooper without complaint.
 
Describe your customers. Our customers are people just like you who own or manage property, whether in business or at home. No one selects a property disaster but when it occurs, customers appreciate a predictable, systematic recovery process, with our team promptly answering questions and giving consistent updates on progress towards normalcy. Whether water, fire, mold, or biohazard, your PuroClean office is here to restore you.
 
What impacts the business environment you work in? The restoration industry has started using a lot of science within the last decade. When I was younger and working with my father, you pretty much had to figure things out as you went - a lot of trial and error. However, things are much more precise now and protocols are established industry wide (not that everyone knows or uses them).
 
Name three things you wish you knew when you started. I wish I knew that good help was so hard to find. I wish I really understood that owning and running a business was truly a 4 person job - but you're the only person doing them :-) I wish I had started on my own earlier!
 
What do you enjoy about the business? I love working with my son in this business as well as being able to help people in need. No one calls us to tell us that their business or home is just fine. They always call under the stress of a loss. I'm glad that we can help get them back to normal and take some of that burden off.
 
Premier and Presidential Partners