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Highmark/Chamber Golf Classic Winners Announced
WE-LEaD’s Etiquette Luncheon is Tomorrow
Chamber Young Professionals’ LinkedIn Event is Also Tomorrow
Small Business Partners to Offer Branding Workshop
Chamber Board to Meet on Thursday
Home Run for Safety Event Set for May 23
Business Excellence Dinner Reservations Being Accepted
Filled Out Your Sustainability Certification Survey Yet?
Nomination Forms Available for Business Hall of Fame
Chamber’s Trip to Ireland Sold Out! Greece Trip Still Has Limited Availability
“Buy Here Bucks” a Win-Win for Buyers, Sellers 
Congratulations . . .

Highmark/Chamber Golf Classic Winners Announced
The Annual Highmark Chamber Golf Classic, held last Monday at Iron Master County Club, had the following first place winners: (A Division) – First National Bank (Nick Gates, Mark Condrin, Mike Macionsky and Zac Craig). (B Division) – UPMC Altoona (Tim Balconi, Jim Kimble, Adam Worthing and Bob Strawser).

WE-LEaD’s Etiquette Luncheon is Tomorrow
The Blair County Chamber of Commerce WE-LEaD (Women Encouraging – Leadership, Education and Development) program will host an Etiquette Luncheon tomorrow, May 15th, from 12 – 1:30 p.m. at Altoona Grand Hotel, located at 1 Sheraton Dr., Altoona. The event, sponsored by Seltzer Financial Strategies, LLC, will include a complete meal featuring difficult foods to eat in a business setting with step-by-step instruction by Kristy Magee of Mount Aloysius College. WE-LEaD is an innovative program of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce that provides networking and educational programs throughout the year. WE-LEaD focuses on issues that women in business typically face on a daily basis. The cost to attend is $30 for Chamber Members and $40 for non-members. To register, contact the Chamber at 943-8151.

Chamber Young Professionals’ LinkedIn Event is Also Tomorrow
Tomorrow evening, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the U.S. Hotel in Hollidaysburg, the Chamber’s Young Professionals of Blair County will hold “Tips and Pics,” a LinkedIn Best Practices forum which includes instruction in profile, headline, summary and how to wrote up work experience and education as well as how to edit your URL. The presenter will be Courtney Kantoski, a career counselor in Penn State Altoona’s Career Services Office. An added bonus is that Chuck Meyers of Two 20 Studios will be on-hand to take professional portraits free-of-charge for use on LinkedIn. The cost to attend Tips and Pics is just $10/person and includes heavy hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. To register, call the Chamber at (814) 943-8151.

Small Business Partners to Offer Branding Workshop
The Blair County Chamber’s Small Business Partners committee will hold the second part of a two-part workshop on “Building Your Brand” this Wednesday, May 16th from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. at the Devorris Center for Business Development in Altoona. The first part of the workshop, held April 11th, focused on Social Media Building Blocks.  The May 16th program is entitled, “The 8 Components for Building a Winning Brand.” The speaker will be Colleen Devorris of BrandDemon who will provide an overview of how businesses and organizations nationwide successfully brand themselves and why that process needs to be well-managed and consistent. The cost to attend the second part of the workshop is $10 for Chamber Members and $20 for non-members. To register, call the Chamber at 943-8151 or register online. Corporate sponsor of this program is Stellar Connections.

Chamber Board to Meet on Thursday
The Blair County Chamber’s Board of Directors will meet on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. at the Devorris Center. The Board will continue to explore membership recruitment opportunities as the organization would like to get to the 1,100 mark by the end of 2018. For more information or to address the Board, contact Joe Hurd by Tuesday at noon at (814) 943-8151.
 

Home Run for Safety Event Set for May 23
The Blair County Chamber of Commerce Safety Committee will hold a Home Run for Safety event on Wednesday, May 23rd, 7:30 a.m. –  12:45 p.m., at Peoples Natural Gas Field, home of the Altoona Curve.  The event will include a keynote speaker from OSHA, Area Director Christopher M. Robinson, CSP. Breakout sessions led by representatives from local and regional companies will be of interest to employees of all levels of an organization in their quest for safety excellence. The cost to attend is $20 for Chamber Members and $30 for non-members. A continental breakfast and Altoona Curve Game ticket is included. To register, call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online.

Business Excellence Dinner Reservations Being Accepted
On June 11th, Ann Benzel of Benzel’s Pretzel Bakery will receive the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award for Business Excellence. That event, the Chamber’s Business Excellence Dinner, will be held at The Casino at Lakemont Park. If you’d like to attend the dinner, either call the Chamber at 943-8151 or register online.

Filled Out Your Sustainability Certification Survey Yet?
Chamber-member businesses interested in assessing where they are from a sustainability standpoint will have the opportunity to complete a Sustainability Certification Survey beginning today. The survey can be completed online and the results will be compiled and the business notified of the results within a two-month period. One of the other benefits of completing the survey is that the committee will then assign a certification level – gold, silver or bronze – which businesses can then use for marketing purposes. While the committee is still working out the details of the certification process, it’s also looking to compile a Resource List to help businesses who will be looking for assistance in raising their scores. Any Chamber-member business interested in accessing the Sustainability Certification Survey should click here.

Nomination Forms Available for Business Hall of Fame
Although the Blair County Chamber’s Business Hall of Fame Dinner won’t take place until October, the nomination process has officially begun. Individuals may nominate businesses for any of eight different awards by downloading a Nomination Form from the Chamber Website. Self-nominations are also accepted. The deadline to nominate is June 14th at noon.

Chamber’s Trip to Ireland Sold Out! Greece Trip Still Has Limited Availability
The Blair County Chamber’s trip to Ireland in October has reached its limit of 45 travelers. The trip to Greece in July currently has a few remaining openings. Interested people should contact the Chamber at (814) 943-8151.

“Buy Here Bucks” a Win-Win for Buyers, Sellers 
The Blair County Chamber’s new gift certificate program, known as “Buy Here Bucks,” is a way for local businesses to gain new customers and an even better way for people to give gift certificates with more than just a few places to redeem them. The larger the list of participating businesses, the greater the value of the certificates.  For a business to register to be on that list (it costs Chamber Members nothing), contact Tori Liebal at (814) 943-8151 or email her at tliebal@blairchamber.com. To purchase Buy Here Bucks, visit the Chamber Website at www.blairchamber.com. You can also get them at the Chamber Office, located in the Devorris Center for Business Development.

Congratulations . . .
. . . to HealthSouth Altoona, which was recently recognized as a Stroke Center of Excellence, a title that only nine HealthSouth rehabilitation hospitals in the United States received.
. . . to the twenty members of the Chamber’s Leadership Blair County Youth program, who graduated last Wednesday during ceremonies held at Penn State Altoona.

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 May 14, 2018

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 Upcoming Events
WE-LEaD Lunch 'n' Learn
Tuesday, May 15
Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Altoona Grand Hotel

Register Here


  
YP LinkedIn Networking Event
Tuesday, May 15
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
US Hotel

Register Here


 
Small Business Partners Workshop
Wednesday, May 16
3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Devorris Center for Business Dev.

Register Here


 
Home Run for Safety Event
Wednesday, May 23
7:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
PNG Field

Register Here



Business Before Hours
Wednesday, May 30
7:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Homewood at Martinsburg

Register Here



Tax Law Seminar
Thursday, May 31
7:30 - 9:30 a.m.
The Casino at Lakemont Park

Register Here


  
Business After Hours
Thursday, May 31
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Comfort Inn Duncansville

Register Here



Business Excellence Dinner
Monday, June 11
5:30 p.m. - Reception
6:45 p.m. - Dinner
The Casino at Lakemont Park

Register Here



Breakfast Club
Thursday, June 14
7:45 - 9:00 a.m.
The Casino at Lakemont Park

Register Here



Upcoming Committee Meetings Week of 5/14/18


BASICS Steering Committee
Monday, May 14, 8:00 a.m.
GACTC


LBC Alumni Committee
Tuesday, May 15, 7:30 a.m.
Reliance Bank, Lakemont


Sustainable Blair County
Tuesday, May 15, 1:30 p.m.
The Chamber


CEO Executive Roundtable
Wednesday, May 16, 7:30 a.m.
The Blairmont Club


Chamber Foundation Board
Wednesday, May 16, 8:00 a.m.
Devorris Center


Chamber Board of Directors
Thursday, May 17, 7:30 a.m.
Devorris Center




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 Click here for a list of benefits.


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