Smith selected as Business Excellence honoree

Barry Smith, the founder and owner of Smith Transport in Roaring Spring, has been selected as the 10th recipient of The Chamber’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for Business Excellence. The award will be presented at the Business Excellence Dinner, set for June 7 at The Casino at Lakemont Park. Previous award recipients are: Ernie Wissinger (2002), Bill Ward (2003), Steve Sheetz (2004), Donald Devorris (2005), Bill Campbell (2006), John Wolf (2007), Lee Hite (2008), Don Detwiler (2009) and Michael McLanahan (2010).

Pirates G.M. to speak at April Breakfast Club

How will the Pittsburgh Pirates fare in 2011? Chamber Members can get key baseball insight from the horse’s mouth as Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington will be the guest speaker at the next Chamber Breakfast Club, to be held April 14 beginning at 7:45 a.m. at The Casino at Lakemont Park. A native of Amherst, N.H., Huntington has been Pirates G.M. since September 2007.  He had formerly held administrative positions with the Montreal Expos and the Cleveland Indians. The cost to attend Breakfast Club is $16 for Chamber Members and $30 for non-members. To register, call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online. 

Deadline passes to register for commercial electric program

The guaranteed savings program for electricity, offered by The Chamber through OnDemand Energy, officially ended enrollments last Friday. The program offers a guaranteed savings on electricity through May 2012.  Currently that savings is 14 percent off Penelec’s utility rate. “It’s unfortunate that the notice came so quickly because we were hoping that more of our members would take the opportunity to sign-on,” acknowledged Chamber President Joe Hurd. “As of last Thursday though, 264 of our Member-Businesses were enrolled and are saving considerable dollars. We’re extremely happy about that.” OnDemand anticipates rolling-out another product in the near future but without the same guaranteed feature of the other plan. “With the number of enrollees from the participating chambers within Pennsylvania, OnDemand has established significant bargaining power,” Hurd said. “That bodes well for future savings for our members.”  

WE-LEaD Spring Workshop to feature accomplished presenter

Success, happiness, achievement and feeling fulfilled don’t happen by accident. They are the end result of living a life that is truly authentic, according to Angela Megasko, President and Owner of Market Viewpoint, LLC. Her firm has been researching the ways that women find their true voices when it comes to doing business and living lives that are authentically from the heart. Megasko will use her findings as the basis of a workshop that she will conduct for the Blair County Chamber’s WE-LEaD program on April 6 at the Penn State Devorris Downtown Conference Center in Altoona. Her presentation will be titled: “If Your Heart Had a Voice, What Would It Say? – Bringing Authenticity to Everything In Your Life!” The workshop begins at 7:30 a.m. at the Heritage Discovery Center with registration, a light breakfast and the opportunity to visit a number of booths geared to women’s interests. The workshop’s purpose is to teach attendees how to gain a deeper understanding of who they are and what they believe; how to communicate with those who matter to them through the languages of the heart; and how to develop a plan for regularly listening to what their hearts have to say. Megasko’s presentation is from 8:30 to 12:15 p.m. followed by a buffet lunch and more time with booth exhibitors. Once again this year, the WE-LEaD Workshop is sponsored by Blair Medical Associates. A business owner, entrepreneur, author, performance coach and professional speaker with more than 30-years of experience in the business world, Magasko has a client list that includes the Panasonic Corp., The Goddard Schools, Petco, Burlington Coat Factory and Longwood Gardens, just to name a few. Her newest book, “Generational Marketing,” was written to help business professionals understand the implications of working in a multi-generational environment. The cost to attend the WE-LEaD Workshop is $60 for Chamber Members and $70 for non-members. Call The Chamber at 943-8151 to reserve your spot or register online.   

We have your Blue Cards: Why don’t you?

As the Chamber staff continues the task of distributing more than 46,000 “Blue Cards” to our members, we ask that you consider stopping at The Chamber Office and taking your cards off our hands.  That way, we both win. You and your employees start saving money on a long list of discounted offers from other Chamber Members and we get closer to having total distribution and regaining our long-lost sanity. If you absolutely can’t get here to pick-up your Blue Cards, call us and we’ll deliver them. Our number is 943-8151. We look forward to seeing you!    

Sign-ups continue for Chamber’s trip to China

Sign-ups continue for The Chamber’s China Trip which will take place from Nov. 3-11. A $200 non-refundable deposit is all that is necessary to hold your spot! Space is limited and the level of interest is extremely high, so don’t delay. The Chamber has mailed nearly 150 informational packets to interested travelers. As of last Friday, 54 people had secured spots with deposits. For more information, visit the Blair County Chamber Office, located in the Devorris Center for Business Development.   

“Issues” program on transportation tapes tomorrow

With transportation such a major issue in Pennsylvania's future, how does Blair County stack-up in terms of infrastructure, public transit, air travel and other modes of moving people around? That question will be the focus of the next Chamber “Issues” program that will be taped tomorrow and aired on the Altoona Public Access Channel throughout April. Panelists for the program, titled, “Moving People Around: Blair County’s Transportation Challenges, are: Patrick Miller of Altoona-Blair County Development Corporation, Chuck Pillar of Altoona-Blair County Airport, Tom Prestash of PennDOT District 9, Jamie Van Buren of New Enterprise Stone & Lime Company and Eric Wolf of AMTRAN. Sponsors for the program are: Altoona-Blair County Development Corporation, AMTRAN, Keller Engineers, P. Joseph Lehman, Inc., Skills of Central PA, The Eads Group, GAI Consultants and Ward Transport & Logistics.  

Highmark/Chamber Golf Classic attracting golfers, sponsors

One of The Chamber’s most heavily anticipated events is the Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Chamber Golf Classic. Once again this year, the Classic will be held at Iron Masters Country Club in Ore Hill. The date is May 16. Interested golfers and tee and green sponsors should contact Stacy Hoover at 943-8151.  

Save the date!!

The Chamber’s next “Backbone Bash,” an evening of networking and socialization for small businesses, will be held on Friday, May 6 at the Buccinese Club in Altoona from 6 to 10 p.m. Sponsorships are available at $500 and $100. Anyone interested should call Mike McMullen at 943-8151.   

Thanks – to our Business After Hours door-prize sponsors

A much anticipated part of each Chamber “Business After Hours” are the door prizes that attendees can win just by submitting a business card or filling-out a slip of paper. We wish to thank the following businesses that provided door prizes at last Thursday’s After Hours: Peterman’s Florist, Inc., Independent Catholic Foundation / Altoona-Johnstown, Freedom Excursions by Scully, LLC and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service. Any Chamber Member interested in donating a door prize for future After Hours should contact Stacy Hoover at 943-8151.    

Congratulations . . .

 . . . to Blair Medical Associates of Altoona which recently achieved accreditation by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories.

. . . to Dr. Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry, a member of The Chamber’s Board of Directors, who will be honored by The Second Mile at its upcoming “Reverse Drawing” on May 6 at Scotch Valley Country Club.