Thank you to everyone who registered for the now SOLD OUT Business Before Hours event at Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine! We are so glad to be back LIVE and IN PERSON! If you missed the chance to register for this one, be sure to join us in April! |
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UPCOMING EVENT
Business After Hours: Gatornationals
Wednesday, March 9
5:00pm - 7:00pm
The Gainesville Raceway
11211 N. County Rd. 225
Gainesville, FL 32609
Join us on Wednesday, March 9th to celebrate the kick-off to Gatornationals at The Gainesville Raceway for Chamber Business After Hours, one of the Chamber's most popular networking events. Mingle with business leaders and community members as you enjoy great food and refreshments.
Live music performed by Jason & Sarah Hedges.
Chamber Members and their employees receive Free Admission to this event as a benefit of their Greater Gainesville Chamber Membership.
Thank you to:
Presenting Sponsor:
Event Sponsors:
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UPCOMING EVENT
Lunch and Learn: Crush Your Goals
Wednesday, March 23, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
LifeSouth Community Blood Center
2nd Floor Conference Room
1221 NW 13th Street
Gainesville, FL 32601
Are you ready to crush every goal that you have set out to achieve? What’s stopping you from achieving your personal and professional goals? Your business goals? Are you getting in your own way of success? Join this workshop to learn how to break the rules and use the five steps to access the box crusher in you.
Michele Holloway, CEO of Crush the Box, Create the Space, will share lessons learned and tools to help you change direction, increase productivity, and become a box crusher. Plan to attend an engaging session about becoming a box crusher, overcoming your circumstances, and recognizing your role in your success. Start the journey of crushing the box and making the space to release the best version of yourself.
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UPCOMING EVENT
Distinguished Speaker Luncheon:
Cynthia Curry
Wednesday, March 28, 11:30am - 1:15pm
300 E. University Avenue, Suite 100
Gainesville, FL 32601
We are delighted to welcome to the Chamber Gainesville City Manager Cynthia Curry as our first Distinguished Speaker of 2022 on Monday, March 28th, from 11:30 am to 1:15 pm. Cynthia will discuss city priorities and a Q&A will follow her remarks.
With more than 35 years of experience as a leader, strategic communicator and manager, Cynthia W. Curry joined the City of Gainesville as interim City Manager in November 2021 following her successful work as the Diversity Officer at the Everglades Foundation.
This member-exclusive event includes a hot buffet lunch. These popular luncheons fill up quickly and seating is limited, so register today!
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RIBBON CUTTING!
Chapters Health Hospice
Monday, March 14th, 5:00pm - 7:00pm
13900 Tech City Circle, Ste 500
Alachua, FL 32615
Help us congratulate Chapters Health Hospice on their new location in San Felasco Tech City!
Founded & licensed in 1984, Chapters Health Hospice is one of the nation's premier no-for-profit community health care organizations including multiple service lines such as hospice, grief services, home health care and more.
Join us for drinks, hors d'oeuvres, giveaways, tours and more! The ribbon cutting ceremony will commence at 5:45pm
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RIBBON CUTTING!
Feathered Press
Indie Publisher
Wednesday, March 16th, 11:30am - 1:00pm
300 E. University Avenue, Suite 100
Gainesville, FL 32601
Join us as we congratulate Feathered Press Indie Publisher!
Feathered Press is a full-service publisher and resource for authors interested in self-publishing. They help authors move step-by-step from idea to finished manuscript and they publish books for widespread distribution.
Show your support for this business, network with other members and enjoy refreshments, hors d'oeuvres, giveaways and more! The ribbon cutting ceremony will commence at 12pm here at the Chamber of Commerce office.
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EVENT RECAP
2022 Annual Meeting
The Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce hosted its 98th Annual Meeting on March 2 at the UF Hilton before 300 people representing chamber member organizations across Gainesville. Emerson served as presenting sponsor, reinforcing the central theme of “Place,” especially prevalent during the pre- and post-event cocktail hours.
In addition to the passing of the gavel from Board Chair Gil Levy of VyStar Credit Union to Clay Martin of Folds & Walker, several citizens were awarded for their efforts in driving community progress.
The Legacy Award, the Greater Gainesville Chamber’s highest honor, was awarded to Betsy Whitaker—the first female to be President and Chair of the Gainesville Chamber Board of Directors. She marks the eighth person to receive the award since its inception in 2006, and the first woman.
For more information and to see more photos, visit our website!
Another big thank you to our event sponsors:
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SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY
2022 Sponsorships & Advertising Options Available! Announce Your Support for the Gainesville Business Community
Sponsorship and partnership opportunities with the Greater Gainesville Chamber are some of the best ways for your business to gain exposure in the Gainesville region. By aligning your business with a 5-star chamber of commerce with sponsorship or advertising, you help immediately grow your company’s prestige, reputation, exposure, and bottom line.
From the 12-month sponsorship opportunity offered through our Circle of Champions to an event specific sponsorship, businesses gain exceptional exposure throughout the year with a variety of benefits and price points to fit any budget.
For more information contact Steve Cannon, VP Member Development, at [email protected] or call 352.334-7127.
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Last chance to register: Florida Institute for Political Leadership
Virtual Campaign School March 29 - 31
The Florida Institute for Political Leadership is a non-partisan program created by the Florida Chamber of Commerce to recruit and provide campaign training to candidates and elected officials across the State of Florida. Whether you are in office, or interested in running for office now, or in the future, this is the program for you.
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FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
Keep Up with Tallahassee on our Legislative Focus page
Stay tuned with everything happening at the state capitol by following our legislative updates! Once a week, we update our Legislative Focus page to give you information on bills passed or proposed, what your local representatives are working on, as well as hot-button issues and conversations that can affect Florida citizens. To stay informed, visit our Legislative Focus page. |
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MENTOR MATCHUP
ReThink Service Fellowship Program Launched For Second Year
The Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce and LYFEhouse, Inc. launched their second-year Rethink Service Fellowship program.
Rethink Service is a twelve-week fellowship program that provides high school students the opportunity to complete a leadership curriculum to develop students' leadership capacity and empower them to be community change agents. In addition, students are paired with a mentor who helps them develop and implement their community service projects.
The program was created for high schoolers passionate about serving the community in an effort to provide them with the resources and tools necessary to impact local change, which were not fully available to them prior. Each student, also known as a fellow, is given the chance to choose their project topic and add their own creative touch to it. After project topics are chosen, the fellows are then connected with mentors from the business community whose skills best match each topic.
There are six fellows participating in the program this year with topics ranging from education to civil rights. This year’s fellows include 10th-grader Rachel Xu from Eastside High School, 10th-grader Saika Chowdhury from Gainesville High School, 11th-grader Sophia Vernon from Buchholz High School, 11th-grader Phoenix Propes from Loften High School, 10th-grader Jibril Bachu from Eastside High School and 11th-grader Hannah Streeter-De Taboada from Oak Hall School. Their mentors are Stephanie Freas, Tiffany Williams-Propes, Dekova Batey, Laura Bialeck, and Dulce Diaz Roa.
After the fellows have completed their projects, they will present them to the public on one of the three Global Youth Service Days: April 22, April 30 or May 1.
Global Youth Service Days are annual events that gather volunteers from ages 5 to 25 to work together for civic benefit. They are the largest youth civic action and service events in the world.
The Chamber and LYFEhouse are excited for a second successful year of the Rethink Service fellowship program, and they look forward to seeing the connections between fellows and mentors, as well as the benefits they will build throughout the community.
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GET IN GEAR AND REGISTER
NHRA Youth and Education Services Program Returns
The 2022 NHRA Youth & Education Services Program is a FREE program that focuses on the importance of goals and continued education; additionally, it allows students to learn about and explore various career opportunities. Students are presented with career, educational, and scholarship opportunities from our official NHRA YES Program Partners: FORD, Western Tech, Pep Boys, and Mac Tools.
The NHRA Youth and Education Services Program makes its return to Gainesville Raceway, on Friday March 11, 2022.
For the first time in two years, the NHRA will host a live and in-person YES Program! Complete with a live presentation and a Midway with interactive displays.
Deadline to Register and Receive a Free Race Ticket is TOMORROW, Wednesday March 9th at 3:00 PM PST
Click below to register and here to learn more!
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WE NEED YOUR INPUT
Workforce Needs
Survey 2.0 - Addressing Florida's Hiring, Recruitment, Community Partnerships and Skills Gaps
Please take 10 minutes to complete the Florida Workforce Needs Survey 2.0 – Part One. Help us understand your company’s evolving workforce needs and how we can work collectively as a business community to secure Florida’s talent. The results of the survey will be incorporated into the Florida Chamber Foundation’s 2021 Florida Workforce Needs Study.
A stronger talent pipeline will build a stronger Florida. Let’s learn from each other!
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MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENT
BCS BBQ Career Fair
Friday, April 1, 11:00am - 2:00pm
Hough Hall
Registration for Employers: $195
The “BCS (Business Career Services) BBQ” Career Fair will provide you with a fun and unique opportunity to speak with and recruit talented undergraduate and graduate business students to fill your organization's summer internships and full-time roles, all while having some of the best BBQ that Gainesville has to offer!
This career fair is a casual event for both employers and students (you can’t eat BBQ with a suit on!). Register now!
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MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENT
Gainesville Business Owner Holds Guinness World Record!
Gainesville's own Ziba Ahmadi, owner of Salon Ziba, holds the Guinness Book of World Records record for the most eyebrows threaded in one hour and this year she is up against some hard competion: HERSELF!
On Wednesday, March 15th at 5pm, join Ziba at her Thornebrook Village location where she will be attempting to beat her record! What started as a challenge to herself has turned into an opportunity to gather and show support, not only for this local small business owner, but to show support and raise funds for those impacted by the conflict in Ukraine.
Drinks and snacks provided!
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MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENT
Living On Love Opens at The Hippodrome
March 11, 2022
In this new comedy by Joe DiPietro, a demanding Diva discovers that her self-proclaimed Maestro husband has become enamored with Iris, the lovely young lady hired to ghostwrite his largely fictional autobiography.
When she hires Robert, a handsome young scribe of her own, sparks fly, silverware is thrown, and romance blossoms in the most unexpected ways in this delightful and hilarious romantic comedy.
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Did you know that as a member you can post your open job listings on our website?
Be sure to check these listings, also, for YOUR next adventure!
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