If YOU are reading this you are a member, friend, vendor, partner. We appreciate you and wish you wellness, joy, and some rest this holiday!
Thankfully yours, Chamber Board and Staff
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Ideas, Impact, Volunteerism
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Take a minute and see what the chamber is doing in the community. We hope it will inspire you! After all that is our job to leverage the resources that you provide to strengthen our economy for everyone. |
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Have you considered hiring an Intern? |
BY PENNY LORETTO
More and more companies are discovering the benefits of internship programs. Your chamber is leading by example. Meet our fall interns Zach and Janel. They'd love to hear from you!
Interns Give a Fresh Perspective
Drawing perspective from anyone outside of your industry, team, or day-to-day operations often courts surprising inspiration. Properly-executed internship programs are no exception. Bringing in students who don't see your company from the inside every day opens up an opportunity for fresh perspectives on your business, strategies, and plans. To maximize these potential benefits, make sure to include interns in brainstorming sessions and encourage them to speak up in meetings. Attending brainstorms is often a favorite among interns, so it’s a win-win for both parties.
Enhances Your Social Strategy
It’s no secret that each generation brings with it greater tech-savvy than the last and each brings its own unique social approaches. Take the opportunity to involve your interns in your social strategy and seek their feedback. These interactions provide young people the opportunity to incorporate what they’ve taught themselves about social media into the real world and their internship, often to the direct benefit of your company's social presence.
Reiterates the Importance of Strong Leaders
Being afforded the opportunity to carefully teach a crop of young people how to complete tasks and accomplish goals often provides powerful personal motivation for employees to hold themselves to a higher account and act as stronger leaders. Encouraging employees to guide and educate others can build strong morale and multiply effective leadership within a business.
Finding an intern in our region is as easy as contacting the student success leaders at VSU, John Tyler CC Becoming Bright Point, Richard Bland College of William & Mary, Bryant & Stratton College and our public schools CTE students.
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John Tyler/CCWA Invests in New Training Equipment and Leaders |
Chamber staff attended the Manufacturing Month Celebration to meet John Tyler and Community College Workforce Alliance faculty and staff, and network with manufacturers and local business leaders. To learn more visit: Workforce Training
CEO Becky McDonough operates a back hoe and "it isn't as easy as it looks!"
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Meet Zach Goodman, Fall Intern from John Tyler Community College. Zach is calling members to collect jobs info! He is also visiting our hospitality sector and writing Trip Advisor reviews. |
Meet Janel Stinney, rising VSU Senior in Economics, a fall intern courtesy of a GO Virginia grant. Janel is contributing to our communications, the job survey, launch of a public wifi channel at the Visitor Center; and special events. We promised her a rich networking experience and the opportunity to create reports for dissemination. |
Looking for holiday reading?
Grab Dorie Clark's best seller, The Long Game: How to be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World. Register today to join the next Building Bridges with Books meet up on December 8, 2021!
Sponsored by:
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Chamber Brings Together Area Workforce Resources |
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Public school CTE leaders Kristina Truell (Hopewell) and Matt Weston (PG), Tabitha Taylor, NEW Executive Director of Crater Regional Workforce Development, Fort Lee Soldier Transition Director, Dana Newcomer, CCWA/Chamber Director, Mark Mizelle, Peoplelink Staffing, chamber intern Zach Goodman and Michelle Rogers, CCWA/Virginia's Gateway Region Workforce, Stacey English, PG County Economic Development Specialist, Amanda Wilson, Fort Lee FCU (absent from photo) and Becky McDonough shared roles and made connections.
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Volunteers Do a Trial Run Clean Up - It's Safe
and Rewarding!
The gateways into and out of our community are important to first impressions. But looks isn't the only reason we do litter control here. Litter finds its way into our waterways and our wildlife so we seek to protect both. In honor of our 101st year in business the Chamber decided to join the clean movement officially by adopting a 2.1 mile stretch of Route 10. Our trial clean up was Nov. 14. Special thanks to board member Jordan Oligmueller, AdvanSix for leading this mighty team and for Dana Newcomer, fellow board member for supporting alongside a volunteer from WestRock and AdvanSix. They picked up 8 bags in two hours and covered 1/3 of the distance!! If this article got you excited take this pledge here and join us for our next clean up TBD: Lovers Not Litter Pledge
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Chamber hosted Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, Mike Flanagan, and Fort Lee Museum Director, Kari Atkinson, the day after Veterans Day to have a community conversation on the future of Fort Lee's museums and tfhe potential for them to be opened to the public from Route 36.
Special thanks to Alec Brebner, Keith Rotzoll, Daniel Jones, Ann Easterling, Richard Smith, David Harless, Jeff Stoke, Delegate Coyner for attending.
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Museum Enclave Possible Tourism Boost |
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The Chamber Office and Visitor Center will be closed Nov. 25-28, reopening on Monday, Nov. 26. |
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