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“Wake Up to Wellness” to Debut Exciting New Program
Breakfast Club to Focus on a Proposed Constitutional Convention
Leadership Youth Session to Focus on Drug Prevention and Education
Nomination Period Underway for Business Excellence Award
Booths Still Available for Home & Garden Show
Atlas Therapy to Host “Business Before Hours”
Traveling in 2018? Consider the Chamber’s Greece, Ireland Trips
Have You Posted Positions on the Chamber Job Board Yet?  It’s Free!
Congratulations . . .

“Wake Up to Wellness” to Debut Exciting New Program
The next Chamber “Wake Up to Wellness” program will be held on February 7th at Hoss’s Steak & Sea House in Duncansville. Registration and a buffet breakfast (both healthy and unhealthy foods!) begins at 8:00 a.m. The program begins at 8:30 and concludes by 10:00. This event will debut an exciting new program being offered through the Chamber’s Workplace Wellness Committee. The program is known as the SPARK Blair County Steps Challenge, a partnership with SPARK Pittsburgh in which businesses will have an opportunity to promote a healthy walking program for employees, in competition with one another for prizes and bragging rights. The program is slated to begin in September. The cost to attend Wake Up to Wellness is just $10 and the breakfast is included. To register, contact the Chamber at (814) 943-8151 or register online. Corporate sponsor of the Wake Up to Wellness program is Healthy Blair County Coalition.
 
Breakfast Club to Focus on a Proposed Constitutional Convention
It’s been 50-years since the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania last held a Constitutional Convention. With so many issues impeding the ability of the state to reform things like the budgeting process, is it time to hold a Constitutional Convention that would allow citizens to be part of the solution? State Representative Frank Ryan (R-Lebanon) thinks so and he’ll be the keynote speaker at the next Chamber Breakfast Club set for Thursday, February 8th, beginning at 7:45 a.m. at The Casino at Lakemont Park. His presentation – “Why Pennsylvania Needs a Constitutional Convention” – will explain the rationale behind a convention and what local citizens can do to make it happen. To register to attend the Breakfast Club, call the Chamber at (814) 943-8151 or register online. The cost to attend is $20 for Chamber Members and $30 for non-members. Corporate sponsor of the Breakfast Club is CONTACT Altoona.
 

Leadership Youth Session to Focus on Drug Prevention and Education
Session #6 of the Chamber’s Leadership Blair County Youth program will include presentations on drug awareness, prevention and education as well as one on “Teen Safe Driving.” The session will be held on Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:10 p.m. at Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center. For more information on LBC Youth, contact Judy Juda at (814) 943-8151 or visit the Chamber Website at www.blairchamber.com.

Nomination Period Underway for Business Excellence Award
Nominations are being accepted for the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award for Business Excellence. That award will be presented on June 11th at the Chamber’s Business Excellence Dinner. To access a nomination form, visit the Chamber Website at www.blairchamber.com.

Booths Still Available for Home & Garden Show
The Blair County Chamber of Commerce and the Blair Bedford Builders Association are accepting vendor booth reservations for the 48th annual Blair County Home & Garden Show to be held March 2, 3, & 4, 2018 at the Jaffa Shrine in Altoona. Exhibitor booth space is open for home and garden-related businesses interested in showcasing their products or services. The show is also accepting vendor applications for the Home Treasures room. Home Treasures offers a boutique-style setting that features home interior items, candles, spices, hand-crafted items, and much more. To reserve a booth or for more information, call Stacy Hoover at the Blair County Chamber of Commerce at 814-943-8151.

Atlas Therapy to Host “Business Before Hours”
Atlas Therapy, located at 613 Valley View Blvd. in Altoona, will host the next Chamber “Business Before Hours” on Friday, February 23rd from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. The event will include an opportunity for attendees to learn about what the company does and how they might take advantage of Atlas’s many services. Atlas will feature a Breakfast Burrito Bar as an extra incentive for people to attend. Atlas Therapy has a specialized approach that combines manual, massage and neuromuscular therapies with the principles of traditional physical therapy. The Altoona Office opened nearly four years ago. There is no cost for members of the Blair County Chamber to attend Business Before Hours but pre-registration is important to provide the host with a food count. Non-members may attend for $10. To register, contact the Chamber at (814) 943-8151 or register online.
 
Traveling in 2018? Consider the Chamber’s Greece, Ireland Trips
The Blair County Chamber is offering trips to both Greece and Ireland during 2018. The first trip, “Greece and the Sunny Mediterranean,” departs on July 11th and returns on July 20th. It features a 4-night Greek Isle cruise and four night, first class hotel in Athens. The Mediterranean ports visited are Mykonos, Santorini, Ephesus, Rhodes, Crete and Patmos. The Athens portion of the trip includes tours of the Parthenon & Acropolis, the Olympic Stadium, the Royal Palace and a full-day tour of Mycenae. The Greece Trip, offered through Chamber Discoveries, is $3,699/per person including round trip airfare, hotels and seventeen meals. The second trip – “Celtic Adventure” - departs on October 4th and returns on October 13th.  It features Belfast, Galway, Killarney and Dublin with many attractions including Titanic Museum, Giant’s Causeway (with Shuttle Bus), Guinness Storehouse, Trinity College, Cliffs of Moher, Connemara Marble and Galway Crystal.  There are city tours of both Belfast and Dublin. The Ireland Trip, offered through Classic Travel, is $2,939/per person including airfare, hotels, full Irish breakfast daily and five hotel dinners. For information on either trip, contact the Chamber at (814) 943-8151.

Have You Posted Positions on the Chamber Job Board Yet?  It’s Free!
The Blair County Chamber Website at www.blairchamber.com features a Job Board where member businesses can place up to three positions at no cost. The Job Board concept came about as the result of a meeting held at the Chamber in which local retailers and employment agencies discussed the trials and tribulations of finding interested and qualified employees. The decision to limit businesses to posting only three positions at one time was a recommendation by the Chamber’s Board of Directors who was concerned that larger businesses with multiple openings would make the task of overseeing the Job Board rather labor intensive. Tori Liebal, the Chamber’s Vice-President of Website Development and Social Media, is the staff member assigned to maintain the Job Board. Jobs will remain on the Board for one month unless the employer asks that they be removed or extended. At the present time, Job Board postings are limited to Chamber Members only. (For more information on the Job Board, contact Tori Liebal at 814-943-8151 or email her at tliebal@blairchamber.com.)

“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 Troy Campbell, who has been named President/CEO; Leon Zook, who has been named chairman of the Board of Trustees; and Justin Blackburn, who has been named Executive Vice-President – all three at Altoona First Savings Bank.
. . . to Robert Beck of Beck Financial and Wealth Management, who has been named the number one producing financial advisor in all of the Atlantic Coast region for 2017 by Principal Securities, Inc. of Des Moines, Iowa.

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 February 5, 2018

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 Upcoming Events

Wake Up to Wellness
Wednesday, February 7 
8:00 - 10:00 a.m.
Hoss's Duncansville

Register Here


    
Breakfast Club
Thursday, February 8
7:45 -9:00 a.m.
The Casino at Lakemont Park

Register Here


  
Business After Hours
Thursday, February 15
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Colonial Courtyard Tyrone

Register Here


  
Speed Networking
Tuesday, February 20
3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Devorris Center

Register Here


  
Safety Program
Wednesday, February 21
7:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Hoss's - Duncansville

Register Here


  
Business Before Hours
Friday, February 23
7:30  - 9:00 a.m.
Atlas Therapy

Register Here


  
Blair County Home & Garden Show

Friday, March 2, 1:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 3, 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 4, Noon - 4:00 p.m.

www.blairhomeshow.com

Jaffa Shrine, Altoona



Upcoming Committee Meetings Week of 2/5/18


BASICS/Rotary Career Fair (Rotaries Only)
Monday, February 5, 1:30 p.m.
The Chamber


Business Hall of Fame Committee
Wednesday, February 7, 8:00 a.m.
The Chamber


Young Professionals of Blair County
Wednesday, February 7, 8:00 a.m.
The Clay Cup


Home & Garden Show Committee
Wednesday, February 7, Noon
The Chamber



LBC Adult Committee
Wednesday, February 7, 3:00 p.m.
Devorris Center


Safety Committee
Thursday, February 8, 9:00 a.m.
The Chamber


Safety Fair Subcommittee
Thursday, February 8, 10:00 a.m.
The Chamber





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