Downtown: What's your reaction?

Call to Action:
Share your opinion on dogs & smoking downtown

The city is considering two short-term, pilot ordinances that would ban smoking and ban dogs on downtown streets, with exceptions for designated smoking areas and times, service animals and those living or working in the area. The ordinances were written to create a safer, healthier and more inviting downtown experience.

We continue to work with many partners towards our common goal of
a vibrant city center to live, work, and play and these ordinances are only part of a package of solutions that will be considered in the coming months.

There will be a Public Hearing on both ordinances this is Monday, February 27 at 7:30, in Harris Hall (125 E. 8th Avenue) and we urge you to participate in the discussion. If you are interested in speaking at the meeting -- or submitting feedback in writing -- and would like more information please contact Brittany Quick-Warner, Director of Business Advocacy.

Rally your Young Professionals next Thursday

Thursday, March 2nd, 5:00 - 7:00 PM, South Valley Automotive & Customs

Join us in welcoming South Valley Automotive & Customs to their new location in Junction City next Thursday night at the March Young Professionals Networking event. We will have a taco bar from Dos Gringos, local beer from Agrarian Ales, wine from Sweet Earth Winery, door prizes including goodies from Cosmos Creations. Join fellow YP's for an evening of networking fun and check out all that this new space has to offer.

Don't consider yourself a "young" professional? Please encourage your YP colleagues to leverage your Chamber membership and join us!

WBL Luncheon Announced

Thursday, March 16th, 11:45 - 1:15 PM, Hilton Eugene

We are pleased to announce our second Women Business Leaders event for 2017: Leaving with Love - knowing when to stay and when to go with Sarai Johnson, Principal, Lean Nonprofit, LLC.

Sarai is a nonprofit management maven, creative entrepreneur, and best-selling author who has spent more than a decade managing nonprofit programs, people, and projects. She will be delving into the sticky matters of career plateaus, untenable positions and jobs that slowly chip away at our confidence, joy and energy. How do we become better versions of ourselves and what if this self-improvement requires letting go or leaving?

Come hear how to make significant changes in your life with integrity, love, compassion and determination. You'll also make connections with some of the other outstanding woman business leaders in Lane County!

Leveraging Arts Sponsorships Seminar

Thursday, February 24th, 8:30 - 12:00 PM, RAIN Eugene

Tomorrow

Art sponsorships offer businesses much greater value than just what is reflected in the bottom line. In this seminar, learn to maximize your businesses sponsorship dollars by collaborating with Arts Organizations in creative ways. Attendees will develop insights and skills through group discussions and hands on exercises. This seminar will help you:

Use art sponsorships as experiences to create higher employee engagement.
Increase awareness amongst stakeholders of your company's role in the community.
Practice "layering" and "leveraging" sponsorship benefits throughout your business.
Discover local arts resources and programs with whom you can partner.

ABAE's Creative Academy seminars empower business leaders to meet their greatest challenges through the artistic process and by better engaging Eugene's vibrant arts community. Each Seminar is focused on a specific business need and how the application of artistic practices or the engagement of local artists can meet that need. Attendance is limited to approximately 20 business owners and managers to ensure lively discussion and personalized training.

This series is brought to you by Chamber partner Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene.

YP Summit: Registration opens March 1st

Tuesday, May 16th, University of Oregon's EMU

Mark your calendars and save the date(s)! The 2017 Eugene Young Professionals Summit is May 16th and registration begins on March 1st! We're expecting this event to sell out, so register early!

After an inaugural Eugene Young Professionals Summit that surpassed all of our expectations, we're back at it this year to bring an even bigger, better Summit. The 2017 summit will challenge you to find a way to elevate yourself, elevate your community and elevate into action. We can't wait to continue with the momentum built from last year's Summit and help more young professionals find their voice, find their passions and get involved.

Of course, we couldn't do any of this with out the support from our generous title sponsor, UO Lundquist College of Business. If you are interested in being a supporting sponsor for this year's event, view our sponsorship details here.

Greeters this week

Most Fridays, 7:30 - 9:00 AM, Valley River Inn

Every Friday morning from 7:30 until 9:00 AM the Eugene Chamber Greeters gather at the Valley River Inn for connections and business updates. There is no advanced notice necessary to attend. Members and employees of Chamber members pay $12 which includes breakfast.

This week we will host a Panel of Professionals with Fay DeMeyer (Topic: locus of control), Keith Potter (Topic: Three things That Kill our Companies Culture) and Robert Killen (Topic: our Passionate Professional Purpose). After each speaker has 5 - 7 minutes, we will take questions from the floor.