NEWS from YOUR Chamber
Ribbon Cutting & Grand Opening of Discount Marketplace
Friday, March 16 @ 10:00 a.m.
Please join us at Discount Marketplace for a Ribbon Cutting.
2091-F&G JA Cochran By-Pass, Chester, SC 29706 (beside Family Dollar)
Tour the newly renovated store. Come ready to shop--and save money! Hotdog lunch for shoppers.
Lunch & Learn-March 28th
March 28th @ 11:30 a.m., Chester Center, York Technical College (525 College Place, Chester).

Donna Lawrence, Program Manager for Corporate & Continuing Education with York Technical College, will lead a one hour workshop on Generational Diversity in the Workplace. Limited seats available. $12 includes lunch. (may use membership tickets)
CHAMBER CLAY SHOOT-
March 29th
Held @ Rocky Creek Sporting Clays
3390 Mount Gap Road, Richburg, SC

8:15 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. - Registration – Light breakfast with coffee
Practice Station will be available
9:30 a.m. - Mandatory Safety Meeting for all shooters
9:45 a.m. - Noon - Shoot
12:15 p.m. - Lunch / Prizes
​
Event costs $500 per team (4 person team). Includes per participant: 
100 clay course, shells, team golf cart, t-shirt, breakfast/lunch, and prizes.
Celebrations Around Town
Chester County Natural Gas Authority Facility Opens
Another proud Chester County moment...the opening of the new Natural Gas Authority facility! Congratulations to Mr. Enoch, the Gas Authority board and employees for finishing a beautiful building and for hitting the ground running as they now better serve their customers from 517 Ballymena Road, Chester, SC (beside York Technical College Chester Center).
READ-FEED-SUCCEED
Dr. Alisha Green, Literacy Coordinator for the Chester County School District, gave an excellent presentation on the district's summer reading program--which directly impacts our county's workforce development! The district plans to offer hot meals and free books to kids across the county. If your company would like to volunteer in any way (either financially or having employees read to kids), please contact Dr. Green at agreen@chester.k12.sc.us to learn more!
Thank you!
Thank you again to Senator Mike Fanning and Representative MaryGail Douglas for meeting with Chamber members during a recent Lunch and Learn. We appreciate our representatives' time and willingness to listen and learn from Chester County business leaders. Thanks also to Chester County Economic Development for hosting and member Waiter's Choice for catering.
Small Business Development Series
Twenty awesome small business owners have registered for the Small Business Development Series hosted and coordinated by York Technical College Chester Center and the Winthrop Region Small Business Development Center. A special thank you to Joanie Winters from Winters Law Firm for teaching session one on HR Law and setting up a business. For those interested, it's not too late to join us! Click here to find out how to catch up and get involved.
Annoucements from Our Members
Learn from lawyers about legal issues affecting you.
 
The SC Bar Pro Bono Program is sponsoring
Law School for Non-Lawyers,
a seven-week course designed to give you an overview of the SC legal system and insight into common legal problems people face.
 
Tuesdays, March 20 - May 1
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
York Technical College
 
Registration fee: $45
(includes course materials)
 
Don't Delay!
Registration deadline is TOMORROW March 15, 2018

Registration is easy!
 
Register by phone:  803-325-2888 or CLICK HERE
 
Shred Event
Did you know three million Americans are the victims of tax identity theft every year? Don’t let it happen to you. Shredding unneeded tax and financial documents is a way to prevent personal information from getting into the wrong hands. This is why H&R Block is hosting a community shred event on March 24 from 9:00 am to Noon. Bring up to three boxes or bags of documents to H&R Block 725 Cherry Road in Rock Hill or 181 Gadsden in Chester for safe disposal.
Questions on what to keep or shred? Contact us at 803-32-TAXES (803-328-2937).
Ready for some good news?

Check out Kathi Gaddy and Clay Waldrip from Center of Hope on CN2:
https://www.cn2.com/cn2-today-march-5th/ They're at about the 7:15 minute mark.
Our friends at the Hazel Pittman Center are applying for a grant that would benefit our county. Please take a moment to read Elizabeth's email and see if you or someone you know might have time to volunteer!

As I explained earlier, the Hazel Pittman Center is in the process of applying for the Drug Free Communities grant which will bring up to 1 million dollars in grant funding to Chester County. This grant will assist in sustaining the ECHO DUI Task Force that is currently supported by grant funds as well as broaden the Task Force’s focus to include all issues associated with youth substance abuse in Chester County.
In order for us to apply for the grant we must have representatives from 12 different sectors. We are currently looking for volunteers to serve on the Coalition to represent the following sectors:
               Parent-
               Business-
               Religious/Fraternal Organization-
               Civic/Volunteer Group-
If you or anyone you know would be willing to serve on the future Drug Free Communities Coalition please let us know.
Meetings are held the last Wednesday of every month from 1:00 – 2:00 pm in Chester.
The goal of this coalition will be to address youth substance abuse throughout Chester County. It will be a continuation of the ECHO Coalition that is already in place. Some of the projects we have worked on in the past include:
               Prescription Drug Take Back Day’s
               Chester County DUI Checkpoints
               The Out of Their Hands and Prom Promise initiative
               Various media campaigns and projects centered around youth substance abuse
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me at  Elizabeth@hazelpittman.org  or you can call me at  803-260-2444 .
Thank you again for your assistance in spreading the word about this grant opportunity.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Rowe
Chester County Chamber of Commerce