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.

Do you receive your 2017 Blount Chamber membership packet? If not, please contact Amy and we'll get one to you ASAP. Otherwise, please open it and enjoy the many special offers from other chamber members as well as make use of all the benefits that come with being a Blount County Chamber of Commerce member. Thank you for your support.

Take time out of your Thursday morning and join us for a ribbon cutting ceremony at Rustic Impulse Salon & Boutique (2734 Highway 411 South, Maryville, Tenn.) on March 9 at 11 a.m. Refreshments will be provided.

Please check and see if you may have picked up a set of keys from the Blount Chamber coffee club on Thursday, Feb. 23 at Blount Memorial Hospital's Center for Dermatology and Plastic Surgery. If you have them, please contact Christy Blanco Redmond

Be sure to check out our 73rd installment of The Dialogue at the bottom of this email where we visit with Kacey Brooks, owner/director of Sunrise Child Care Center.

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.-3 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.

DIY MARKETING

Join us for our first installment of the DIY Marketing series on Tuesday, March 7 at 9 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville). Our focus will be on using social media to help grow your business. You will find out how to reach people and win them over to be customers who are loyal to your brand. You will walk away with practical advic and tools to help your business grow. A light breakfast will be served. RSVP at epicnine.com/diy

DIGITAL MARKETING SEMINAR

You're invited to learn more about how to win, keep and grow your customer base at a digital marketing seminar presented by Dex Media on Wednesday, March 8. There are two sessions available. The first runs from 9-10:30 and the second from noon-1:30 p.m. You will learn how to engage with your customers through social media, text and email marketing. Register here.

AVOID DEATH BY POWERPOINT

Join us for a free workshop on Friday, March 10 from 8:30-10:30 a.m. as the RSK Group presents tips and hints that can help you keep your audience more engaged and your presentations more focused to avoid "Death by Powerpoint." The message you are attempting to convey determines the content, graphics, flow and presentation style used. Please RSVP to Amy if you wish to attend.

GROW YOUR BUSINESS USING EMAIL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

This session on Tuesday, March 14 from 9-11 a.m. at the Blount Partnership will help make sense of the noise and help you organize your marketing. In this seminar, you will learn how to make the most of the combination of email, social media, video, and other tools for your business. When the session is done you'll have a greater understanding of marketing basics like:

Setting goals and objectives; What a "campaign" is and what to write about and offer in that campaign; The social media platforms where you need to put most of your focus; How to use email and social media together to get better results; Creating the right content to get (and keep) your audience's attention; How to get your messages opened, read, and shared to become more socially visible; Using time-saving tools to engage with your existing customers and supporters, expand your reach to new prospects more effectively

Throughout the session you'll be given opportunities to capture your own ideas and build out the framework of your own "next great campaign." So join us and start to build a plan that will help you grow your business by eliciting the responses you want from your customers or supporters. Register here.

BUSINESS PLANNING WITH GROWTH WHEEL

The Tennessee Small Business Development Center is holding its next free session on Thursday, March 16 from 9 a.m.-noon at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville). Register here.

Discover Business Planning with GrowthWheel! Small Business planning is much more dynamic and moment by moment rather than a dull chore with fabricated forecasting. Lots of decisions are made over a cup of coffee or while driving not predetermined months in advance. Business owners are much more reactionary to the market and have limited planning budgets. GrowthWheel is a new innovative tool that lets the business owner plan the most pressing needs for the business. It also is a visual tool to provide structure and direction allowing the business owner to set goals and take action. NO MORE writing 40 pages of useless information that always ends buried in your desk. Gone are charts and graphs replaced by 30 day plans and action steps. GrowthWheel is not just for new businesses but also works for all businesses in all stages and for all industries. Come try this totally innovative approach to business planning.

Other classes coming to the Chamber from the TSBDC include:
Startup with Growth Wheel on April 20.

NETWORKING TRAINING CLASS

Stop selling and learn to profit from relationships that drive business to you. Join us for a free networking training class on Tuesday, March 21 from 3-4:30 p.m. at the Blount Partnership, 201 S. Washington St., Maryville. Presented by Raeus Jae Cannon, this is one class that everyone can benefit.

SIGN UP FOR NEXT SOFT SKILLS CLASS

Registrations are currently being accepted for a free soft skills session set for March 24 entitled, "Motivation and Burnout." Do you see telltale signs of burnout at work? It is not uncommon, even for millennials under thirty, to experience burnout. Join us for tips and tricks to stay motivated, and to keep others motivated, while performing at your best.

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.

The other classes offered include Managing People & Personalities, Tips for Public Speaking, Hiring Good Employees, Motivation and Burnout, Time Management and Managing Change in the Workplace.

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.

GET YOUR SMALL BUSINESS MOVING

SCORE is a non-profit association dedicated to helping new and existing small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship.

Greater Knoxville SCORE's 40-plus volunteers have a wide range of business experience and education and provide One on One mentoring for free and workshops for small business and non-profits for no charge or at very low cost.

SCORE is supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA),

To request assistance, or to meet with a SCORE representative in Blount County visit us at greaterknoxville.score.org or phone 865-692-0716.

MARCH MEMBER-TO-MEMBER PROMOTIONS ARE IN

Take a look at the March Member-to-Member promotions. 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

HOW TO MARKET TO MILLENNIALS LIKE A PRO

It's no secret that Millennials are different from their predecessors. We are known for our lazy, entitled attitudes (but also for our passion, risk-taking, and open-mindedness!). With over 80 million Millennials in the U.S., we are the largest generation in Western History, according to a study conducted by Initiative in the United Kingdom. Regardless of your opinion on our unique generation, it's ever important as a business owner to understand Millennials, and even more essential to understand how to market to them. Here are four marketing strategies that will attract Millennials to your business in no time: 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!

Small businesses create jobs and are often better work-places than large chains.

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

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles was in the midst of a seven-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 this week in 1964. It was also the group's first American number one.

	Events

	March 6-12 March 6-30 -- Foothills Quilters Guild Showcase March 6-31 -- Start Your Spring Cleaning with Project Wear and Share March 6 -- Women's Suffrage at Blount County Public Library March 6 -- Microsoft Word 2010 Essentials at Blount County Public Library March 7 -- DIY Marketing Series: Social Media March 7 -- Celebrate Recovery at RIO Revolution March 8 -- Dex Media Digital Marketing Seminar March 9 -- Rustic Impulse Salon & Boutique Ribbon Cutting March 9 -- March Women's Leadership Salon Mixer March 9-11 -- Pre-Owned Book Sale at Blount County Public Library March 10 -- Death by Powerpoint March 11 -- Leadership Blount Class of 2017 Pancake Breakfast benefiting Family Promise March 11 -- Kingdom Design Ministries: Beans and Bluegrass Fundraiser March 13-19 March 13-30 -- Foothills Quilters Guild Showcase March 13-31 -- Start Your Spring Cleaning with Project Wear and Share March 13 -- Microsoft Excel 2010 Essentials at Blount County Public Library March 14 -- Grow Your Business Using Email and Social Media March 14 -- Stewards of Children training by New Hope Blount County Children's Advocacy Center March 14 -- Celebrate Recovery at RIO Revolution March 16 -- John 316 Outreach 2nd Annual Clay Shoot March 16 -- Business Planning with GrowthWheel March 17-18 -- Romancing the Smokies Reader-Writer Event Save the Date March 7 -- DIY Marketing Series: Social Media March 8 -- Dex Media Digital Marketing Seminar March 10 -- Death by Powerpoint March 14 -- Grow Your Business Using Email and Social Media March 16 -- Business Planning with GrowthWheel March 21 -- Network Training Class March 30 -- Coffee Club at Alcoa Chiropractic Center 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 73rd installment visiting with Kacey Brooks, owner/director of Sunrise Child Care Center which offers educational child care in a loving and nurturing environment.

Describe your business. We care for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. We help children to meet their developmental milestones and prepare our preschool students for Kindergarten. We want our families to be comfortable knowing that their children are being loved and cared for as well as learning and developing new skills while they are with us during the day. At Sunrise we believe that children are a blessing and that they are our future, as such we have a responsibility to them to love and nurture them and help them to grow into the amazing people they are destined to be.

How did you get started? I have been working in the early childhood field for over 12 years. I started working at an in-home daycare that a family friend ran, and was inspired to one day open my own childcare facility. I went to Carson Newman and received my Bachelor of Science in Child and Family studies. I have been a teacher, assistant director and a director. When I had my son I decided it was time to follow my dream of opening my own place.

What is your background? Through my teaching and managing at my previous jobs I gained the knowledge and skills to be able to step out and do this on my own. I gained the background knowledge on early childhood education and developmentally appropriate practice from my studies at Carson Newman.

Who is your mentor? Ms. Catherine ran the in-home daycare center that I worked at in high school; this is where I discovered my passion for early childhood education. She has encouraged me and supported me through out the years and I can always count on her to give me sage advice.

Describe your customers. Our parents are wonderful moms and dads that want the absolute best for their children. They are involved and take an active interest in their child's care. We have been blessed with wonderful families to begin our journey.

What do you enjoy most? Building our business is an adventure and I love every minute. It has been such a blessing to be able to be with my baby everyday. I love seeing him play with the other children and how they are all learning and growing so much every day. I enjoy getting to see the impact our child care center is having on children's lives first hand.

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