Annual Meeting Award Recipients Announced

The Chamber's Annual Meeting & Awards Presentation, held last Friday, provided the opportunity to present several awards to people who made an impact on our community during 2010. The award winners are: Athena Award – Betsy Lehman of Saint Francis University; George Award – Colleen Montrella of The ARC of Blair County; Servant Leader Award – Gary Clare of Smith Furniture - House of Fashion; Joseph P. Rosenhamer Chamber Spirit Award – Randy Green of McCartney's, Inc.; Small Business Person of the Year – Karen Wyland of Mamie's Café & Bakery; Loyalty Award – Kopp Drug and GRYP Impact Award – Becky Crilly of Reliance Bank. The Agricultural Community Excellence (ACE) Award was re-presented to David and Janet Hileman of Hilecrest Farms who had originally received the award in October. 

Informational meeting on China trip set for Tuesday

The Blair County Chamber and the Huntingdon County Chamber are partnering on a trip to China from Nov. 3-11 and it's an opportunity that you won't want to miss. The cost is low and the accommodations are incredible. Care to learn more? An informational meeting will be held this Tuesday, Feb. 1 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the Devorris Center.  Leo Liu of Citslinc will facilitate the meeting and answer any questions that people have about the trip. There is no cost or obligation if you attend. To register for the meeting, call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online. 

First-Ever Business Before Hours is Wednesday at McIntyre’s

One of the cornerstone programs of The Chamber for many years has been "Business After Hours" which allows host businesses to showcase themselves in a social gathering at the end of a long business day. Beginning Wednesday, however, that showcasing event also will occur at the beginning of the day for the early risers as The Chamber debuts “Business Before Hours” at the new location of McIntyre’s Candies on Sixth Avenue in Altoona near Mansion Park. Stop-in anytime between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. to see the attractive candy store décor, enjoy a light breakfast and get great discounts on candy items including $2 off on McIntyre's famous chocolate-covered strawberries just in time for Valentine’s Day. (That discount is only for Business Before Hours attendees.) There is no cost for Members to attend Business Before Hours but registration is strongly encouraged. Cost for non-members is $10 and must be paid in advance. Call The Chamber at 943-8151 to register.   

WE-LEaD Lunch 'n' Learn on Healthy Outcomes is Thursday

The next WE-LEaD Lunch 'n' Learn program will be held this Thursday, Feb. 3, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at The Blairmont Club. Patrick Reilly, President/CEO of Impact Employee Benefits Solutions will present, "Building the Ultimate Health Plan: Successful Strategies to Promote Healthy Outcomes." The presentation will focus on how to prevent chronic diseases, how to tie screening participation to health plan selection, how to stratify employee health risks and why to include health screening as an improvement strategy. The cost to attend is $22 for Chamber Members; $17 for Chamber Members if three or more from the same company attend and $30 for non-members.  Reservations are required, seating is limited and lunch is included. Call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online.  

Operation Our Town topic of February Breakfast Club

For the third consecutive year, The Chamber will use its February Breakfast Club (set for Feb. 10 at 7:45 a.m. at The Casino at Lakemont Park) to direct attention to the many accomplishments of the Operation Our Town program. "Our Town and the business community work hand-in-hand to address the problems that illegal drugs create in Blair County," explained Chamber President Joe Hurd.  "We're honored to play a role in moving that effort forward." Michael Fiore of the Operation Our Town Executive Board and Randy Feathers of the PA Attorney General’s Office will provide remarks at the Breakfast Club about the conquests of 2010. Feathers will then present several awards to members of Blair County’s law enforcement team. The cost to attend the event is just $16 for Chamber Members and $30 for non-members. To register, contact The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online. The corporate sponsor for the event is Harry K. Sickler Associates. 

Transportation Committee considering regional connection

The Chamber's Transportation Committee is exploring opportunities to possibly meet with similar committees in adjacent counties. "We've had discussions with Huntingdon County about getting together to kick-around some regional issues," stated Transportation Chair Eric Wolf of AMTRAN. "It makes sense to see if there might be some synergy that would result in joint efforts that would carry more influence than doing things alone."    

Update letters to be sent to municipal officials

The Chamber, on behalf of its Legislative Action Committee, will send letters to the municipal officials who attended one of the four meetings held late last Fall to update them on the issues that were raised at those meetings. "We want them, first of all, to be aware that we appreciate their attendance and their willingness to share their concerns with our committee members," related Thad Will of M&T Bank who chairs the committee. "We also are hoping that they'll agree to come back and help us collectively start to deal with those issues to make our communities better." For more information on the Legislative Action Committee, contact Joe Hurd at 943-8151.

Booths, sponsorships still available for Home & Garden Show

The Blair County Home & Garden Show will be held from March 4-6 at the Jaffa Shrine and there is limited booth space available on a first-come, first-served basis. Members of the Blair County Chamber and the Blair-Bedford Builders Association receive discounted rates on those booths. The only sponsorships still available are for ticket sponsors at $500 each. Contact The Chamber at 943-8151 for booth or sponsorship information.  

Additional Meetings set for Chamber energy program

Still not convinced that the electric bill at your business will be taking a significant jump? By Feb. 23 you should have received your January bill for electricity and be wondering why you waited so long to address this inevitable situation. Is there anything you can do at this point to lower that rate, beyond launching some serious conservation measures? Of course there is. The Chamber is offering two sessions on its Energy Program on Feb. 23 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Devorris Center.  Come and find out how you can be guaranteed a lower rate on electric power, just by being a member of The Chamber.  There is no cost or obligation to attend and pre-registration is not required.  Just show up.  

Promote your business with BAH door prizes

Looking for an inexpensive way to promote your business or organization? Why not offer a door prize at Business After Hours? Let people know that you're an active Chamber Member and get exposure in front of large groups of Chamber Members. There's no cost to participate – just provide anything of value to Stacy Hoover at least two days before each Business After Hours. Contact Stacy at 943-8151 if you’re interested.  

InfoLaunch Program Helps Protect Businesses from Data Breaches

The Chamber's newest affinity program will help Chamber Members to be protected in the event of data breaches associated with their businesses. The InfoLaunch Breach Ready program is accepting customers and the cost to participate – only $700 annually – is less than one-third of the cost for non-members. "This is true peace-of-mind," related Chamber President Joe Hurd. "So many of our businesses are vulnerable to breaches of data that they need some sort of protection. InfoLaunch is that protection." For further information, contact The Chamber at 943-8151.   

Congratulations . . .

. . . to Mark Ickes, Executive Director of the Allegheny Mountains Convention & Visitors Bureau, who was named to the Pennsylvania Association of Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Board of Directors.