COFFEE CLUB AT TENNESSEE VEIN CENTER

Wake up to new business contacts at Coffee Club held at the Tennessee Vein Center (431 Marilyn Lane, Alcoa) on June 27 from 7:45 until 9:00 a.m. 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.

 

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS RIBBON CUTTING

Join us for the grand re-opening of Holiday Inn Express (130 Associates Blvd., Alcoa) on June 26 from noon-2 p.m. There will be tours, food and lots of great prizes. Come check out the all new Formula Blue decor.

 

CHAIRS SELECTED FOR MEMBERSHIP EVENT

Chairs were selected for the upcoming Blount Chamber membership event July 23-25 at the Airport Hilton. This group is putting together teams to not only build the chamber membership, but spread the word about what the chamber does for the community.

The chairs are Dave Bennett, Bob Booker, Keeli Boyce, Jason Brooks, Tom Hatcher, Rick Hudolin, Joe Huff, Chris Hurley, Kathy Johnson, Justin Marcus, Jackie Mills, Chris Soro, Jennifer Wackerhagen. Good luck teams!

 

FREEDOMFEST

FreedomFest, the City of Alcoa's 41st edition of the overwhelmingly popular Independence Day celebration is set for Saturday, June 29 from 6-11 p.m. at the Alcoa Duck Pond. Please plan to attend an exciting family fun filled event.

A children's area will be located between the Duck Pond and Springbrook Pool from 6-9 p.m.

Nuthin' Fancy will take the stage from 6:00 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. followed by Smooth Groove from 8:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m., breaking for the fireworks show.

Food vendors will operate on the same schedule 6:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. stopping only for the 20-minute fireworks display. Plan to stay and enjoy more music, food and fun!

At 9:45 p.m. The world renowned Pyro Shows, Inc., provides the event's patriotic firepower. The 49-year-old pyrotechnics company has a long-standing relationship with the City, having provided the City its fireworks products since the 1980s. Now, the company does the entire show, from setup until the last shot is fired.

The spectacular fireworks show will be choreographed to ever popular music ranging from patriotic to pop hits. In addition to the dazzling display of explosives, an entertainment stage will be located in the Duck Pond parking lot.

 

ETPA'S ANNUAL BUSINESS MATCHING & TRADESHOW

The 14th Annual ETPA Business Matching & Tradeshow Event will be held July 18 at Rothchild Catering & Conference Center (8807 Kingston Pike, Knoxville) from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. (followed by a lunch for governmental attendees and tradeshow vendors). This premier event showcases East Tennessee and northeast Georgia area businesses, large and small. It's an opportunity for businesses to meet with governmental agencies, create relationships to build future business opportunities, learn about "doing business" with the entities and to meet with private sector vendors. Get registered today.

 

COMMISSIONER MCCORD VISIT

Dr. Jeff McCord, Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, will present a briefing about the workforce efforts from the state on July 31 from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville).

Before joining the Department, Commissioner McCord spent seven years at Northeast State Community College in Kingsport where he was Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development. RSVP ONLINE.

 

ROLL OUT THE RED CARPET

When you roll out the red carpet for your customers, they run out and tell everyone they know. In today's marketplace, customers have more choices and louder voices than ever before. That's why focusing on excellent customer service is the new marketing! Your customers can be your best source of advertising - if you engage your team to up their game in terms of the experience they create!

During this 1/2 day, interactive workshop we will discuss what it takes to build a culture of service where your team members are excited and ready to roll out the red carpet for your customers. Walk away with actionable ideas for:

- Taking your customer experience up to the next great level.
- Improving the 3 areas of the customer experience, including the WOW Factor
- Enhance customer and team member interactions
- Use 5 steps to building a culture of service excellence

So, join presenter Donna Cutting of Red Carpet Learning Systems on August 7 from 8 a.m.-noon at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville). The fee is $40 for Chamber members (book included) and $50 for non-members (book included). REGISTER ONLINE.

 

SIGN UP FOR THE LATEST SOFT SKILLS CLASS

It's Your Career! That's the focus of a free soft skills session offered in partnership by the Blount County Public Library, the Adult Education Foundation of Blount County and the Blount County Chamber of Commerce.

Registrations are currently being accepted online at www.blountchamber.com for a class entitled Communicating and Listening Effectively on August 30. All participants will earn .5 CEUs per session for participating. They will also receive an email survey two months after workshop participation to assess application of new ideas.

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.

 

PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY

Take advantage of your Blount Chamber discount and protect you, your family and employees by enrolling in IDShield. IDShield monitors identity from every angle and alerts you to status changes immediately. It can also help restore your identity if it has been compromised. LEARN MORE

 

LYNDA AT THE LIBRARY

Businesses need to take advantage of the Blount County Library's subscription to Lynda.com. Using your library card, get access to Lynda.com, a LinkedIn Company, with thousands of courses in software, creative and business skills to develop your staff skills and meet learning needs at your own convenience. Learn More.

 

YOU CAN POST YOUR OWN MEMBER-TO-MEMBER DEALS

Blount Chamber members can now post their own Member-to-Member deals on this page at no charge. Simply login to your account, Click on the "New Coupon" button, fill out the form and click save. It's that easy.

Click here if you need access to your login information.

Of course, we will be happy to add your coupon. Just email information about the product or discount you'd like to offer to the Chamber membership to jmuir@blountpartnership.com. Be sure to include an expiration date.

View the latest deals.

 

REMEMBER TO SHOP LOCAL

Think local first + Buy local when you can = Being a local!

 

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 1989 was "Satisfied" by Richard Marx. It was Richard's second of three consecutive #1's on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.