Click here to view this email online. If you missed our email on Tuesday, January 5th, you can view it here.

SBDC Offers Free PPP2 & Grants Webinar on Wednesday

The state SBDC office has set up a great webinar with a CPA who is going to go over all of the benefits for small businesses included in the latest stimulus act. He has a huge following on YouTube and lots of videos that may be helpful resources for your business.

One of the biggest struggles with PPP is small businesses that may think that they don’t qualify because they don’t have employees or are independent contractors. Businesses like this are whom these funds are intended for!

JJ the CPA will be joining our Region office on Wednesday for a free webinar to talk all about the benefits for small businesses that were included in the latest stimulus act! Join us online for one of two sessions offered on Wednesday, January 13th at 10am OR 2pm.

Don't forget, we have consultants dedicated to helping small businesses with PPP questions and all things COVID recovery!

Email us or call (806) 651-5151 and we'd be glad to assist!

Get more information on this event on Facebook.

The Amarillo Chamber of Commerce has promoted Penni Bentley to Vice President of Communications & Marketing. Bentley will continue to handle the marketing and promotion of all Chamber events and communicating with members via email newsletters, the website, and social media, in addition to new responsibilities as part of the Chamber’s management team.

“Penni has been an outstanding team member with the Chamber for over 26 years, and she has a proven passion for the Chamber and serving our members,” said Chamber President & CEO Jason Harrison. “I can’t think of a more deserving person for this promotion.”

Bentley is a 1994 graduate of Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Parks & Tourism Sciences. She began her career with the Chamber in the Convention & Visitor Council (now Bureau) in 1995 in the convention sales department. From 2003 to 2006, she managed the CVC’s Visitor Information Center before taking over as the Chamber’s communications manager in 2006 and senior director in 2011. During her tenure, Bentley earned the Amarillo Chamber several state and national awards for communications and social media marketing from 2009-2013. In 2020 she was recognized by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives for more than 25 years of service.

Penni and her husband Chad have been married for 26 years and have two daughters, Chase and Grace.

We are optimistically planning for the return of in-person events in 2021, and already have some dates on the calendar you might want to tentatively hold.

Our plan is to resume After Hours networking events in March, and the BusinessConnection tradeshow is scheduled for May. You'll see some changes to our normal annual events too. Our Annual Banquet is scheduled for late August instead of October, and our barbecue cook-off will be moved to October instead of September and be held at the Tri-State Fairgrounds.

We know that everything is subject to change, and we will follow all necessary protocols to try to hold events as safely as possible. Stay tuned to this email every week for details on our events as they become available.

We will also be offering some virtual events and seminars in the near future too. Be sure and check out our online calendar for the dates we have tentatively reserved and watch those for important updates soon.

Sponsored Content. Click here to email a WTAMU Extended Studies representative directly

or click on the graphic above to visit their website and register for the class.

Make sure to visit https://amarilloalerts.com/vaccine for COVID-19 Vaccine updates, availability, and for Phase 1A and Phase 1B eligibility information BEFORE going.

The City of Amarillo Public Health Department is currently administering COVID-19 vaccines to all individuals identified in the State of Texas Phase 1A and 1B Vaccine Allocation Plan.

Includes front-line healthcare workers, staff, and residents of long-term care facilities.

Includes individuals 65 years of age and older, and people 18 years of age and older with at least one chronic medical condition that puts them at increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19.

Immunizations will take place at the Amarillo Civic Center Complex (401 S Buchanan St, Amarillo, TX 79101). Eligible citizens should enter the North Exhibit Hall through Entrance 3. Clinic hours are as follows:

DEPENDING UPON VACCINE AVAILABILITY NOTED ONLINE, clinic hours are as follows:

Monday - Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

**Public Health may close the line early in order to serve everyone in line before closing time.** All operational changes will be updated in real-time on this website.

SAVE THE DATE: BusinessConnection^®  2021

If you participated in BusinessConnection in 2019 or were on the list to have a booth in 2020, watch your email for a quick survey to tentatively hold your space for our 2021 business-to-business tradeshow. We are optimistically planning our annual networking events to resume in 2021, so mark your calendar for Thursday, May 20, 2021, at the Amarillo Civic Center. If you are interested in more information or want to be on the list for a booth space when we open up registration, email Denise or call 373-7800.

CGI Communications has been a partner of the Amarillo Chamber for a number of years. CGI handles several advertising products offered to our members including website banner ads, community videos, ReviewTube reviews, and now has a new Magellan tool for voice activated website searching for text and videos.

Our representative, Al Forys, and his team will be reaching out to some of our members in the coming days and weeks to offer more information about these tools that may be beneficial for your business.

Should you want more information on any of their products, reach out to Al Forys at the contact information below.

We try to alert you anytime a third party may contact you so that you know they are a trusted and legitimate partner of the Amarillo Chamber. You may see our complete list of advertising options and partners on the Advertising Opportunities page of our website. We encourage you to always check this site or contact Penni Bentley at (806) 373-7800 to verify our official program partners before giving out personal or financial information.

The Chamber has compiled a list of links to helpful resources on our Chamber website. From our homepage, simply click the Learn More button under the COVID-19 Resources section or go directly to the page at https://www.amarillo-chamber.org/covid-19-info--resources.html.

See our Staff Directory with photos, direct phone numbers and more on our Contact Us page of the website.

Tyler Andrews, Andrews & Associates / cat.man.du

Blaine Baker, Crown House Insurance

David Bishop, Amarillo ISD

Lew Bradshaw, Pat Davis Properties

Lloyd Brown, Amarillo EDC

Kevin Carter, Amarillo EDC

Ryan Chandler, Northwest Texas Healthcare

Richard Constancio, Shiver-Megert & Associates

Joe Graham, Graham Brothers Jewelers

Jason Henderson, Bell

Brady Hochstein, Elevate Amarillo

Mark Hodges, FirstCapital Bank of Texas

Julie Imke, WTAMU Amarillo Center

Charles Leard, M&R Liquor

Trent Morris, Workforce Solutions Panhandle

Ed Nichols, Brown, Graham & Company, P.C.

Joseph Peterson, Edward Jones

Stephanie Price, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum

Aaron Sage, Sage Oil Vac

Doug Street, Affiliated Foods

Wendi Swope, Double U Marketing 

Ronnie Walker, Xcel Energy

Peter Warrick, Atmos Energy

Mikel Williamson, Happy State Bank

Lance Wolff, Insurica DFB

on our website. 

                                                   –  Author Unknown