Blount Partnership News and Events

 
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.
 
COFFEE CLUB
Join us Thursday, March 30 at 7:45 a.m. for our monthly coffee club at Alcoa Chiropractic Center (247 E. Watt St., Alcoa). Coffees are designed to offer our members the opportunity to build business relationships with other members and to gain exposure for their business or organization in an "open house" setting.

Coffees are open to anyone associated with a Chamber member business. Participation is not reserved to the representatives listed on the Chamber membership.
 
PRESIDENTS OF COLLEGES POST SECONDARY UPDATE
Join us Friday, March 31 at 8 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville) as we hear from College Presidents; Dr. Tom Bogart, Maryville College and Dr. Anthony Wise, Pellissippi State; give us an update on what is happening in our community at the post secondary level.
 
STATE LEGISLATIVE BRIEFING
Mark your calendar for April 7 at 8 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville) for our next state legislative briefing with Sen. Doug Overbey and Reps. Art Swann and Bob Ramsey.
 
Be sure to check out our 76th installment at the bottom of the email where we visit with Mindy Stooksbury, President of Your Signature Colors.
 
EXPERIENCE SPEED NETWORKING SPONSORED BY BNI
Join us Wednesday, March 29 from 2-5 p.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville) for speed networking. The event is limited to the first 30 individuals to register. Make some new connections by RSVPing to Amy.
 
IS YOUR BUSINESS GOOGLE-IZED?
From this class you will get an overall understanding of what Google wants in order for you to be found in organic (non-paid) searches. If you manage your own website, you will be given insider tips webmasters use to be successful on Google. And if you have a webmaster, you will leave with a list of things to pass along that will give your online presence a boost.

Marketing today is much more than just having a website. You will learn what signals Google looks for on your website, and how to optimize for Google as well as humans.

Next step is creating great content that will attract those customers to you - customers you have identified as ideal for what you have to offer.

Once you have the content, you need to promote it with social media. But which channel? We can help you there.

We discuss capturing those leads once they find you online. Because having 1,000 visitors means nothing unless you communicate with them and grow your list.

Finally, we discuss the importance of mobile marketing and what makes a web site mobile friendly.

So, join us Thursday, March 30 from 1-4 p.m. at the Blount Partnership, 201 South Washington Street, Maryville, Tenn. Fee must be paid to Inbound with registration.
 
GLENN SHEPARD SEMINAR RETURNS APRIL 19
The Glenn Shepard Seminar, "How to Manage Problem Employees," returns to the Blount Partnership on Wednesday, April 19 from 8 a.m.-noon. In the seminar, he'll show you how to motivate your people, not just manage them. How to get them to follow you because they believe in your goals, your skills as a leader, and they are committed.

He'll also explain why The Millennials require such a different supervisory style than Gen X or Baby Boomers, and how to apply Dr. Ken Blanchard's (author of The One Minute Manager) principles of situational leadership to get all the different generations to work together as a team.

The cost is $129 for Blount Chamber members (When three from a company register, the fourth is FREE). The non-member fee is $149. Register here.
 
SIGN UP FOR NEXT SOFT SKILLS CLASS
Registrations are currently being accepted for a free soft skills session set for April 28 entitled "Time Management." You're busy, but how productive are you? Join us to learn effective strategies for managing your time and boosting your effectiveness 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.
 
NOMINATE NOW FOR KEEP BLOUNT BEAUTIFUL'S BRAVO! AWARDS
Get your nominations in for the Keep Blount Beautiful's BRAVO! Awards which will be presented at the awards luncheon in May. The BRAVO! Awards praise local businesses and organizations for their landscaping and beautification efforts. Attractive businesses reflect a positive image to Blount County citizens as well as visitors.
 
There are three award categories. The BRAVO! Beautification award is given to five local businesses for their landscaping and beautification efforts. The Re-Use/Re-Design award is given to a business that has creatively reused or redesigned an existing building. The building must have been remodeled both inside and outside. The last award is the Dee Lidvall Sustainable Stewardship Award. This award is given to a previous BRAVO! Beautification Award recipient who has beautifully maintained their landscape.
 
Any business or organization, including government buildings, can be nominated.
 
BLOUNT TOURISM AMBASSADOR CLASS SET
The next Blount Tourism Ambassador Program (BTAP) class is set for Wednesday, April 5 from 1-4 p.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville). BTAP is based on a nationwide certification program geared toward those working in the tourism industry. The Blount County program is the first of its kind in Tennessee and the Southeast.
 
The three-hour course gives front-line personnel information about the county and region. They are provided up-to-date information about events, happenings and the "inside story" in order to better serve their customers. There are continuous learning opportunities throughout the year to help satisfy annual certification renewal requirements.
 
More than 200 people have been certified since the program's inception in 2012. Email Deborah if you or your employees are interested in attending.
 
SPONSOR THE BLOUNT COUNTY JOB FAIR
The Blount County Job Fair is coming to the Second Harvest Food Bank on Friday, May 19, 2017, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sponsorship levels include the Presenting Sponsor for $1000, Silver Sponsor for $500 and Media Sponsor is In-Kind. The deadline for sponsorship is April 13. If interested, please review and complete this form.
 
MEMBER-TO-MEMBER PROMOTIONS FOR APRIL ARE HERE
April Member-to-Member promotions are in. With over 50 merchants participating, there's something for you. Check out the 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
 
PRINT VERSUS DIGITAL MARKETING
It may seem as though the answer is an obvious one, that digital marketing success far exceeds traditional marketing success. Although we are in year 2017, traditional marketing is still being used even if at a decreasing rate. Consider all the times one runs into traditional advertisements: magazines you see while waiting in line at the grocery store, billboards that you drive by on your daily commute to work, flyers displayed at your favorite coffee house...traditional advertising is endless. However, in this day and age, digital marketing is a faster way to reach a potentially larger number of people. It is impossible to sign into Facebook without seeing an ad immediately. 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!
 
Product diversity and options are often greater at small businesses vs. chain stores.
 
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
"Stop! In the Name of Love," by the Supremes held the number one position on the Billboard pop singles chart from March 27 through April 3, 1965. The song was nominated for the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance, losing to "Flowers on the Wall" by the Statler Brothers. The song was also honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's permanent collection of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Events

 

March 27-April 2

 

 

April 3-9

 

 

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 76th installment visiting with Mindy Stooksbury, President of Your Signature Colors which empowers people through the use of color! We want our customers to make their style statement in their signature colors.
 
What exactly do you do? We provide personal color analysis for our customers. We help them find their best colors for makeup and clothing so that they can look and feel better about themselves and become more confident and empowered.
 
How did you get started? After years of studying color, fashion and makeup, my co-founder and I wanted to start a personal color analysis business that was accessible to more people than similar businesses. We wanted to have it available online, so that a customer would not have to spend time traveling to meet with a color consultant. Our process allows our customers to do their portion of the process (natural color matches) from their own homes on their own time. After this is completed, we provide the personal color analysis, which includes his/her five signature colors, via email so that the entire process is quick and easy.
 
What is your background? My co-founder is a certified color consultant through the More Alive with Color (Leatrice Eiseman) program and I am awaiting my certification. We have studied fashion and makeup for many years. We also understand the psychological impact that color has on a person's mood and want our business to have a social impact by helping people feel better. Your Signature Colors is a unique business as we have designed our color palettes and the process after years of research. We both have much professional experience in business, as well as business degrees helping to guide us.
 
Describe your customers. Our customers are everyone...women and men of all ages that want to find their signature colors.
 
What do you enjoy about your work? This is a very fulfilling business as you get to see your customers light up and get excited when they put on a color that flatters their natural coloring. When you see a person's mood and outlook change, then you know that what you are doing is benefiting them. As well, when a customer tells you about the complements that they have received from others, it just solidifies why we started this business.
 
Premier and Presidential Partners