Blount County is honored to be the site of the National Harley Owners' Group Rally on May 29-June 2, 2018. There will be up to 5,000 attendees that will be arriving as early as Sunday, May 27. They will be staying and eating in Blount County. Join us in recognizing our attendees by welcome signs in your restaurants and accommodations. Thank you for your support in all our community events. Here is the schedule of events for the Rally.

 

ADDRESSING WORKPLACE STRESS

Make plans to attend our next HR Focus Group on Wednesday, June 6 at 8:30 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville, Tenn.). The topic is "Workplace Stress" by Susanne Dupes of Ignite.

Stress is a huge issue in today's workplace, costing American organization's more than $300 billion a year in medical costs and lost productivity. When you combine that with the financial impact of disengaged employees, organizations are losing nearly a trillion dollars a year. In this presentation, we'll look at the factors that create stress for employees and cause them to disengage. We'll also consider what HR professionals can do to address each of those factors.

If you are interested in attending, please register online.

 

LEGISLATIVE BRIEFINGS ON TAP IN JUNE

Maryville City Manager Greg McClain will be giving an update on the City of Maryville on Friday, June 8 from 8-9 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville, Tenn.). He will discuss priorities, budget challenges and their vision for the future for our community. The briefings provide an excellent opportunity to strengthen and build new partnerships between members of the business community and local government officials.

Join us for a Federal Legislative Briefing with Congressman Jimmy Duncan on Tuesday, June 12 at 7:30 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville, Tenn.). The U.S. Chamber will be presenting Congressman Duncan with the Spirit of Enterprise award.

 

HOPS IN THE HILLS RETURNS IN JUNE

After a successful, sold-out third year, the Hops in the Hills festival returns with a who's-who of local and regional brewing icons on June 22-23 in downtown Maryville. This fourth annual festival showcasing the area's finest artisan brews is a not-to-miss event for beer enthusiasts-drawing attendees from across the region.

Hops in the Hills brew week, June 18-21, leads up to the main event over the weekend with a week-long "Celebration of Fermentation." Each day, a different brewery will feature prizes, games and music for visitors to prepare them for the weekend's events.

On Friday, June 22, the Hops in the Hills Craft Brew Crawl & Poker Run will be held provided by Knox Brew Tours. The event is a unique way to experience the town's bars and restaurants and try local and regional beers.

The event is part of the Summer on Broadway celebration, a series of events to celebrate the summer season.

A complete list of participating breweries, updated schedule and link to purchase tickets is available at www.hopsinthehills.com.

 

SOFT SKILLS SESSION FOR JULY

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 six months.

Registrations are currently being accepted online at www.blountchamber.com for a class entitled How to Run an Effective Meeting set for July 13. This course qualifies for .2 CEU's awarded by Pellissippi State.

The other classes offered include 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

Member-to-member promotions are needed for June. Submit to the email below. Check out the offer from Puleo's. 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 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

 

REMEMBER TO SHOP LOCAL

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

 

Local stores carry inventory you might not find at national chain stores.

 

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 1966 was "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge. The song was recorded at Norala Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. It made number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts.