Chamber receives Community Partnership Award

The Blair County Chamber is the 2011 recipient of Operation Our Town's 2011 Community Partnership Award. The award is presented annually to a community partner who supports and furthers the mission of Operation Our Town through efforts to take back our neighborhoods and make Blair County a great place to live. Michael Fiore, Chairman of OOT, presented the award to Jessica Lattanza, a vice-president on The Chamber Board of Directors. Previous Community Partnership Award honorees are: PA Attorney General Tom Corbett (2008), United Way of Blair County (2009) and Altoona Curve (2010). 

Blue Cards available for pick-up at Chamber Office

Any Chamber-member business that hasn't yet picked-up its "Blue Cards," can do so by stopping at the Chamber Office, located in the Devorris Center . These laminated membership cards are to be distributed to your employees along with a list of discounted offers that they can access for their own use. It’s an employee benefit that you're providing by being a member of the Blair County Chamber.  The Chamber Office is open Monday thru Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  

Chamber survey to determine legislative priorities

The Chamber’s Legislative Action Committee has created a survey to help the committee determine which legislative issues are most important to Chamber Members. The survey results will serve as the basis for The Chamber’s advocacy efforts for the next 18 months.  "It's extremely important that our members weigh-in on what issues affect them the most and also the least," acknowledged Legislative Action Committee Chair Thad Will of M&T Bank. "We look forward to representing their advocacy needs." The survey should take no more than five minutes to complete. To access the survey, click here.

Interested in becoming a Chamber Ambassador?

The Chamber Ambassadors play a key role in The Chamber's ability to recruit, retain and recognize new members. The Ambassadors are restructuring and are looking to add new committee members.  Interested? It's a great opportunity to make valuable business connections while helping The Chamber to meet its goals of serving the needs of the Blair County business community. The Ambassadors meet this Tuesday at 8 a.m. at the Devorris Center.   If you're unable to attend that meeting, contact Joe Hurd at 943-8151 and we'll provide details on how to get involved.   

Green Drinks provides great networking opportunity

If you're a businessperson with an interest in learning how your company or organization can better make use of policies and techniques that are friendly to the environment or if you already have that expertise and are willing to share it, "Green Drinks" might be right up your alley. "Green Drinks" is a networking program sponsored by The Chamber's Coalition on Sustainability that meets each month at a pre-set location to provide a forum for discussion and socialization.  This month's program will be held at Jack & George's in Altoona beginning at 6:30 p.m. and ending whenever participants decide to leave. Interested? Then just show-up. No need to register. Call The Chamber at 943-8151 for more details.  

LBC Youth session to focus on substance abuse issues

The next Leadership Blair County Youth session will be held this Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. at the Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center. The session will focus on Blair County’s drug, alcohol and mental health problems and the perceptions that exist locally about those problems. For more information about Leadership Blair County Youth, contact Judy Juda at 943-8151.  

Foundation Board empowering new committees

The three most recently introduced committees by the Blair County Chamber Foundation will begin functioning for the first time following a discussion of their responsibilities that will take place at Wednesday’s meeting of the Foundation's Board of Directors. That meeting is set for 8 a.m. at the Devorris Center. The new committees are the Fund Development Committee, the By-Law Review Committee and the LBCY Policies & Procedures Committee. For more information on the Foundation, contact Cindy Cessna at 943-8151.

Meeting is Thursday for Chamber trip to China

Last week’s informational meeting on The Chamber’s first-ever trip to China was postponed due to inclement weather. The rescheduled meeting date is this Thursday, Feb. 17, at a new location - the Hollidaysburg Junior High School Auditorium - located at 1000 Hewitt St. in Hollidaysburg. The time is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Come and hear about this exciting trip which will take place from Nov. 3-11. There is no obligation but registration is necessary. Register online or call The Chamber to reserve your space.   

Chamber Board of Directors to discuss involvements

How active should The Chamber be on issues of a controversial nature if those issues have a clear business emphasis? That's one of the questions that the Chamber Board of Directors will consider when the Board meets Thursday at the Devorris Center.  "Several of our committees hope to take a more aggressive approach to business intervention, particularly on legislative issues," reported Chamber President Joe Hurd. "The Board will need to decide whether that makes us more effective or just more controversial." Any Chamber Member who would like to bring an issue before the Board should contact Hurd at 943-8151 by no later than Tuesday at 4 p.m.

GRYP networking event is this Thursday  

GRYP will hold its monthly networking event at Al's Tavern this Thursday, Feb. 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. The event will feature great food, cash-bar beverages and excellent networking opportunities. "Al's always seems to be one of our most popular spots of the year," said The Chamber's Mike McMullen. "Last year we had nearly 60 people show up for the networking event." Register online or call the Chamber at 943-8151 to reserve your spot.    

Safety program emphasizes importance of good health

Good health is a key component of a successful businessperson and The Chamber's Safety Committee has put together a program that will help even the most unmotivated couch potato to begin moving toward a more health lifestyle. The program, entitled "Minding Your Health," will be held this Friday, Feb. 18, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Hampton Inn Altoona. Presentations will be by Terri Henry, licensed dietician at Altoona Regional Health System who will present, “Healthy Eating the Mediterranean Way ” and by Andrea Young, a yoga instructor at Bloom Yoga & Wellness who will present, "Breathing and Movement to Relieve Stress at Work." The cost to attend is just $15 for Chamber Members and $25 for non-members. Price includes a continental breakfast. To register call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online.  

Diversity to be topic of LBC Adult session

Blair County is actually a diverse community in a number of important ways and that diversity will be highlighted at the next session of the Leadership Blair County Adult program, scheduled for this Friday beginning at 7:45 a.m. For more information on Leadership Blair County, contact Judy Juda at 943-8151.

Limited booths space 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. All sponsorships for the event have been sold. Contact Stacy Hoover at 943-8151 for booth 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 2:00 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.   

Congratulations . . .

. . . to Blair Orthopedics and Blair Medical Associates which have been recognized by the Medical Group Management Association as "Better Performing Practices." Blair Orthopedics is one of only two orthopedic practices in Pennsylvania to have achieved "Best Performer" status.  Blair Medical excelled in the categories of productivity, capacity, staffing, accounts receivable and collections and patient satisfaction.