Blount Partnership News and Events

 
Join us April 26 from 7:45-9 a.m. for the monthly Blount Chamber coffee club at Kingdom Design Ministries (412 Howard Jones Rd. Maryville, TN 37801).

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 representative(s) listed on the Chamber membership.
 
Make your way to Townsend, April 27 at 3:30 p.m. for the ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration of Little Arrow Outdoor Resort (118 Stable Dr., Townsend).
 
Check out our 106th installment of The Dialogue at the bottom of this email where we visit with Scott Ferry, owner of Ferry Construction Services.
 
Early voting has begun for the May 1 Blount County Primary and Rockford City Election. Early voting runs through April 26. Click here for more election information, along with voting locations and sample ballots. Exercise your right to vote.
 
Make plans on April 23 to dine at Chili's in Alcoa as it will give back 10% of the proceeds to the Blount County Education Foundation (BCEF). BCEF is a non-profit organization that helps collect donated funds to give back to Blount County Schools. Please bring in this flyer to make sure BCEF receives 10% of your total. No other discounts will apply.
 
GET YOUR PIGS AND POLITICS TICKETS
Enjoy the aroma of BBQ and live music while visiting with federal, state and Blount County elected officials and mid-term candidates in a relaxed atmosphere at the Blount Partnership's Pigs & Politics Legislative Day sponsored by Vulcan Materials, Spectrum Enterprise, Full Service BBQ, Design Innovation,The Casual Pint, Maryville College, Campbell Party Rentals, Michael Brady, Inc., and K12, Inc., on Tuesday, April 24, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Alumni Gym on the Maryville College campus.

Tickets are on sale for $35 for the public, $25 for Blount County Chamber members, $10 for students with ID and ages five and under are free. They are available by calling 865.983.2241, with more information at www.blountchamber.com.

With the county primary and Rockford City election slated for May 1 and early voting beginning April 11, the event provides an enormous opportunity for the public to visit with candidates and elected officials personally as they mingle in a casual setting. No speeches or agenda is set.

 
STATE LEGISLATIVE BRIEFING
Join us May 4 at 8 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville) for a State Legislative Briefing with Senator Art Swann and Representatives Jerome Moon and Bob Ramsey. Please RSVP here if you wish to attend.
 
SOFT SKILLS SESSION FOR APRIL
It's Your Career! That's the focus of six free soft skills sessions offered in partnership by the Blount County Public Library, the Adult Education Foundation of Blount County and the Blount County Chamber of Commerce that are scheduled over the next eight months.

Registrations are currently being accepted online at www.blountchamber.com for the fourth class entitled Free Resources for Professional Development set for April 27. This course qualifies for .2 CEU's awarded by Pellissippi State.

The other classes offered include How to Run an Effective Meeting, Improving Your Presentation Style - Speaking, Improving Your Presentation Style - Strategies for Engaging Presentations, Making Your Social Media Look Good and Creating Infographics for Promoting Your Business.

All classes are conducted in the Blount County Library's learning lab located at 508 N. Cusick in Maryville and limited to 50 participants. 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.
 
ALL THINGS GOOGLE
The "All Things Google" Lunch and Learn Technology Series is a professional development workshop series for adults who seek to learn about the Google platform, applications available through Google and how to access and use these applications (Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Drive, etc.) This technology series is offered by the Blount County Public Library with funding provided by the Tennessee State Library Archives Library Technology Training Grant.

This Lunch and Learn series meets in the new Learning Lab at the Blount County Public Library on Fridays each month from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The $10 registration fee includes a box lunch and participants will have the opportunity to network. Each of the topics offered will be divided into 3-4 weekly sessions that can stand alone or be taken consecutively. A total of 50 classes will be offered with a new schedule released each month.

To register for classes in the Lunch and Learn Series please visit the Blount County Public Library website http://www.blountlibrary.org/248/Technology-Classes.
 
MAY MEMBER-TO-MEMBER PROMOTIONS NEEDED
Member-to-member promotions are needed for May. Submit to the email below. Check out the offer from Vienna Coffee. 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 [email protected]. 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
 
REMEMBER TO SHOP LOCAL
Think local first + Buy local when you can = Being a local!
 
Having the owner nearby also means that owner personally knows his customers.
 
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 or any good news about your business, please send it to us. We'd love to share it with the community.
 
REMEMBER WHEN
Topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week in 1974 was "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)," by MFSB (Mother, Father, Sister, Brother) featuring vocals by The Three Degrees. A classic example of the Philadelphia soul genre, it was written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff as the theme for the American musical television program Soul Train. It was the first television theme song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Events

 

April 23-29

 

 

April 30-May 6

 

 

Save the Date

 

The Dialogue

This feature is a question-and-answer session with a new Blount County Chamber member. So here we go with our 106th installment visiting with Scott Ferry, owner of Ferry Construction Services, which provides excellence in quality and an individualized client experience through the consulting and construction process. We strive to apply a Christ-like culture to deliver projects from concept to completion.
 
Describe what type of construction you do. Commercial construction in the hospitality, religious, government, and tenant build-out markets.
 
How did you get started? I started Ferry Construction Services because I felt a call to ministry. It became clear to me over more than a year that my ministry was construction and I was supposed to use my construction knowledge to guide and lead churches through the construction process.
 
What is your background? Before college, I gained my construction knowledge and experience from my Dad. After that I attended the University of Florida and graduated with a degree in Building Construction. I then immediately went to work for WELBRO Building Corporation, which is a large commercial general contractor specializing in hospitality construction.
 
Who is your mentor? When I started my first construction project after college I was partnered with a gentleman name Bruce Hauke. He invested in me and was a great mentor. My biggest supporter has always been my wife Amy. She continually provides encouragement and has supported me all the way through college, my first job out of college, and now in our businesses.
 
Describe your customers. We have two different types of customers. The first is church leaders who need us to understand their ministry and guide them through the construction process, while protecting them from the pitfalls of construction along the way. The second is experienced business clients who are building or adding on to an existing business. These customers understand what they want and they want us to perform the construction with as little or as much input as the client wants to provide.
 
What impacts your working environment? The one that affects us the most is economic. Businesses and churches are more prone to pursue renovations or new projects when the economy is doing well.
 
Name three things you wish you knew when you started. I feel that I gained the experience I needed to start my business from my previous employer and life experiences. I wouldn't change anything because the mistakes and struggles I went through have taught me how to be a better entrepreneur.
 
What do you enjoy about your business? I love the freedom of running my own business, and the ability to create opportunities that can impact people's lives in a positive way.
 
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