Chamber Office closed to observe Presidents Day
Re-scheduled Breakfast Club set for Thursday
Foundation Board to consider fundraising strategy
J.R. DiAndrea to present Thursday's Lunch 'n' Learn
Chamber Board to consider depth of legislative advocacy
Program on workplace violence scheduled for Friday
Reserve your booth yet for the Home & Garden Show?
canstruction® competition to include eight teams
Privilege Pages, Business Bulletin ads to be paired
Nominations being accepted for Business Excellence Awards
Chamber energy program to be discussed at March 3 meeting
Informational meeting to be held on Chamber trip ot Ireland
WE-LEaD Spring Workshop sounding very "Fishy"

Chamber Office closed to observe Presidents Day 
The Blair County Chamber Office will be closed Feb. 15 in observance of Presidents Day. The office will re-open Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. For information about The Chamber, go to the Chamber Web site. 

Re-scheduled Breakfast Club set for Thursday  
Last week’s inclement weather caused the postponement of The Chamber’s monthly Breakfast Club program. The event has been re-scheduled for this Thursday, Feb. 18, at 7:45 a.m. at The Casino at Lakemont Park. For the third consecutive year, the Breakfast Club will feature a presentation on "Operation Our Town." The presentation will include an update by Randy Feathers on the progress made by OOT in its three years of existence and the presentation of two prestigious awards: The 2010 Community Partnership Award which will go to the Altoona Curve and the 2010 Law Enforcement Awards which will be presented to Agent Anthony Sassano and Sgt. Troy Johannides. The cost to attend the Breakfast Club is $16 for Chamber Members and $30 for non-members. To register, call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online.

Foundation Board to consider fundraising strategy 
When the Blair County Chamber Foundation meets on Wednesday at the Devorris Center, a considerable part of its agenda will center on determining a strategy to raise funds for future programming. "Rather than looking to hold fundraising events, the Foundation Board will consider ways to identify businesses, individuals and grant opportunities that closely fit our mission," explained Patrick Miller of ABCD Corporation, Chamber Foundation President. The Foundation currently funds the Leadership Blair County Youth program as well as the programs identified by BASICS (Businesses And Schools Investing in Cooperative Solutions). For more information on the Blair County Chamber Foundation, contact Cindy Cessna at 943-8151.   

J.R. DiAndrea to present Thursday's Lunch 'n' Learn 
The Chamber’s Feb. 18 Lunch 'n' Learn program will focus on the importance of keeping your business name and objectives in clear view of current and potential customers. The presentation is entitled "Marketing in a Tough Economy: Hide or Thrive" and the speaker will be J.R. DiAndrea, President of DiAndrea Media Inc. DiAndrea will explain how companies can re-evaluate their current marketing efforts and he'll suggest strategies for moving ahead in the coming months.  The program will begin at noon and conclude at 1:15 p.m. at Park Hills Country Club. The cost is $22 per Member and, if three or more people from the same company attend, the cost is $17. The cost for non-members is $30. To register, call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online.  

Chamber Board to consider depth of legislative advocacy 
The advocacy piece of The Chamber's mission is taking-on greater prominence with the considerable amount of legislation affecting business at the local, state and national levels. How much emphasis should The Chamber place on advocacy and should political candidate endorsement be a component of that program? Those are a few of the issues that The Chamber's Board of Directors will address at its monthly meeting re-scheduled for this Friday at 7:30 a.m. at the Devorris Center. "The Legislative Action Committee, which is overseeing The Chamber's advocacy involvement, is being understandably aggressive due to the nature of the challenges that currently face business," explained Chamber President Joe Hurd. "It will be up to the Board to determine how the organization is to be profiled, now and in the future. We've been down this road before and it can get rather tenuous." To present issues to The Chamber's Board, contact Joe Hurd at 943-8151.  

Program on workplace violence scheduled for Friday  The Chamber's Safety Committee is offering a program on Workplace Violence to be held this Friday, Feb. 19 from 7:45 to 9 a.m. at the Hampton Inn Altoona. Trooper Jeffrey Petucci, Community Services Officer with the Pennsylvania State Police, will make a presentation that will define workplace violence, examine the contributing factors and explain how to handle a violent situation. The cost to attend is just $15 for Chamber Members and $20 for non-members. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., a continental breakfast at 7:45 a.m. and the presentation begins at 8 a.m. To register, call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online.

Reserve your booth yet for the Home & Garden Show?
With three weeks to go until the Blair County Home & Garden Show, booth spaces are continuing to fill-up and the Home & Garden Show Committee is shooting for a full house. "We're hoping to fill every booth," admitted Show Co-Chair Randy Smithmyer. "This year's show is especially important, not only because it's our 40th anniversary, but because it provides our businesses with a chance to re-start our local economy by getting to meet new customers."  If you would like to exhibit in the show, contact Stacy Hoover at 943-8151.  

canstruction® Competition to include eight teams 
The first-ever Canstruction® competition in Blair County will take place at the Blair County Home & Garden Show, March 5 - 7. The Canstruction® concept is based on the ability of a group or individual to build displays out of canned goods to help fight hunger one can at a time. At the end of the competition all canned goods will be donated to area food banks. Participating teams are: Allegheny Lutheran Social Ministries; Best We Cans!; Canned Architects; Mount Aloysius College; Penn State Altoona; Saleme Insurance Services; The United Way of Blair County; and Veeder Root. 

Privilege Pages, Business Bulletin ads to be paired
In order to give Chamber Members the opportunity to better market themselves to the Membership and the community, The Chamber is lowering the cost of its monthly Privilege Pages and pairing them with a chance to gain additional exposure through the growing Business Bulletin network. "Our Marketing Committee encouraged us to find ways to help Members position their brands and feature their products and services without attaching a high cost," admitted Linda Stotler, The Chamber's Vice-President of Communication & Marketing. "The Privilege Pages have always been a good way to reach the 1,000 member-businesses in our organization. Now, for just $200, a Chamber member can send a privilege page and also have an ad on the Business Bulletin that will link to their Web site." The Business Bulletin is emailed weekly to more than 3,000 Chamber Members. Members interested in doing just a privilege page, can do so for $125 (a reduction from the former $175 charge). "We've also created a package that includes a privilege page and a Business Bulletin ad for four weeks at just $300," Stotler pointed out. To take advantage of any of these offers, contact Mike McMullen at 943-8151.   

Nomination being accepted for Business Excellence Awards
The Ninth Annual Business Excellence Dinner will be held Monday, June 7. The highlight of that event will once again be the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Business Excellence. The award recipient is identified through nominations made to The Chamber and a panel of judges then make a recommendation to the Chamber Board, confirming the selection. To nominate someone for the award you can access a nomination form online. Nomination forms also are available at the Chamber Office. Deadline to nominate is March 12.

Chamber energy program to be discussed at March 3 meeting

If you haven't had an opportunity to hear about The Chamber's new program that may save you considerable dollars on electricity savings once the rate caps come off in December, you still have another chance. The next meeting to discuss the ChamberChoice Energy Program and hear a presentation by John Bodine of OnDemand Energy is March 3 at 1:30 p.m. at the Devorris Center. Many of our members who have attended our two previous programs have been anxious to sign-on. Come hear the reasons why! Pre-registration is required.  There is no cost to attend. To pre-register, call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online.

Informational meeting to be held on Chamber trip to Ireland

The Chamber's first-ever excursion to Ireland in October is attracting a lot of interest. So much so that an informational meeting has been set for March 11 at 7 p.m. in the boardroom at the Devorris Center.  The meeting will last no longer than an hour (including questions and answers). There is no cost to attend the meeting and no obligation to sign-up for the trip. Come hear about the many attractions that the Emerald Isle has to offer and how you can be part of it all! For further information, contact Joe Hurd at 943-8151 or Donna Wilt at Classic Travel 696-3558. Click here to view more information about the trip. 

WE-LEaD Spring Workshop sounding very "Fishy"
Harry Paul, author of "FISH!" and co-author of six other books will be the speaker at WE-LEaD's Spring Workshop, to be held April 20 at the Penn State Altoona Devorris Downtown Center . The cost to attend the half-day event is $60 for Chamber Members and $70 for non-members. Exhibit space also is available. For more information, contact Judy Juda at 943-8151. Register for the event online or by calling The Chamber at 943-8151. WE-LEaD (Women Encouraging: Leadership, Education and Development) is a program of the Blair County Chamber.

For more information, visit http://www.blairchamber.com/

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