Blair Business Mirror hits the streets on Tuesday
Chamber Board to bid farewell to three colleagues
Foundation Board meeting scheduled for Wednesday
"Business After Hours" will feature discounts for Chamber Members
Fourth Legislative Breakfast Meeting set for Friday
Deadline approaching for next round of electricity discounts
InfoLaunch program helps protect businesses from data breaches
Television program on local retail runs through January
Lodging properties featured on "Blair County: It's Our Business"
Chamber to offer Quickbooks® Seminar in January
Chamber, Dale Carnegie to partner on "Skills for Success"
Time to update your Membership Directory information
A big thanks from Operation SOS
Congratulations . . .

Blair Business Mirror hits the streets on Tuesday
This month's issue of the Blair Business Mirror will be published tomorrow as a supplement to the Altoona Mirror. Altoona Ophthalmology Associates will be the cover feature of the December issue. Inside stories deal with The Chamber's "Blue Card" program, the announcement of a 2011 trip to China, co-sponsored by the Blair and Huntingdon county chambers and much, much more. If you miss the Blair Business Mirror Tuesday, don’t despair: The Chamber mails a copy to all our Member-businesses.  

Chamber Board to bid farewell to three colleagues  
When The Chamber's Board of Directors meets Thursday morning at the Devorris Center, it will mark the final meeting for three board members whose terms expire this month. Phil Dubrow of WTAJ Your News Leader, Mike Settimio of S&T Bank and Tami Smith of Hoss's Steak and Sea House have served the organization well, according to Board Chair Bob Bilger. "The strength of our board has been the willingness of people like these three to step forward with ideas and committment," Bilger acknowledged. "We're grateful for the time they've dedicated to the causes that The Chamber has identified as being important to the business community. They will be missed."

Foundation Board meeting scheduled for Wednesday The Blair County Chamber Foundation Board of Directors will meet on Wednesday at 8 a.m. at The Dream in Hollidaysburg. Among the agenda items will be the approval of the 2011 Budget, the final edit of the 2010 Annual Report and a review of the policies and procedures of the Leadership Blair County Youth program.   

"Business After Hours" will feature discounts for Chamber Members 
What could be better this holiday season than getting a special discount on fine jewelry at one of the area's best jewelry stores?  How about enjoying a Chamber "Business After Hours" in the process? This Thursday, The Chamber takes its After Hours to the Logan Valley Mall for great networking and outstanding bargains at Kranich's Jewelers. The event begins at 5 p.m. and ends at 7 p.m.  The cost, which includes food and adult beverages is just $5 for Chamber Members in advance and $6 at the door. Non-members pay $10 in advance and $12 at the door. To register, call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online.   

Fourth Legislative Breakfast meeting set for Friday
The Chamber's Legislative Action Committee will conclude its four-part series of breakfast meetings on Friday with six more municipalities visiting the Devorris Center at 8 a.m. The municipalities to be represented are: Duncansville Borough,Logan Township, Freedom Township, Tyrone Township, Woodbury Township and Williamsburg Borough. Huston Township, Greenfield Township and Newry Borough, which were unable to attend previous meetings, have been invited to attend this final meeting. "Our goal has been to get participation from all 24 municipalities and that goal is still attainable," remarked Thad Will of M&T Bank, Vice-Chair of the Legislative Action Committee. "To say that these meetings have been valuable is really an understatement." For more information on the meetings, contact Joe Hurd at 943-8151.    

Deadline approaching for next round of electricity discounts
The Chamber’s Energy Program, operated through OnDemand Energy and ChamberChoice, attracted considerable attention at last Thursday's informational sessions and nearly all of the attendees signed contracts to guarantee savings on electricity once the rate caps are removed on Dec. 31. "Businesses that are still exploring options or those that have done nothing have until Dec. 20 to sign-on to this program at the current level of savings," explained Chamber President Joe Hurd.  "After that, there will still be savings but the percentages will be lower. Now's the time to act." For more information on the Energy Program, call The Chamber at 943-8151.

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.   

Television program on local retail runs through January
"Retail and the Blair County Economy," a Chamber program in the "Blair County:  It's Our Business" series will run throughout December and January on Altoona Public Access Channel 14. The program will run on Mondays at 9 p.m. and on Wednesday’s at 11 a.m. Panelists for the retail program are: Don Beerbower of Beerbower Jewelers, Tom Irwin, Jr. of Fiore True Value, Matthew Miller of Best Buy, Dave Robbins of Martin's Food Store and Bill Thompson, Jr. of Thompson Pharmacy.  Carolyn Donaldson of WTAJ Your News Leader served as moderator.  Sponsors for the retail program are: Ace Fix-It Hardware, Altoona Wal-Mart, East Freedom Wal-Mart and Sprint.    

Lodging properties featured on "Blair County: It's Our Business"
Another of The Chamber's television programs in the "Blair County: It's Our Business" series features the challenges and opportunities of Blair County's hotels, motels and lodging properties. "Staying Overnight in Blair County" will air every Wednesday at noon and 9 p.m. throughout December and January. Panelists for this program are: Dolly Kozlovac of Super 8 Motel, Rachael Lenhart of Ramada Altoona Conference Center, Sue St. Martin of Holiday Inn Express, Angelica Schaefer of Courtyard by Marriott and Kurt Stull of Comfort Suites Altoona. Carolyn Donaldson of WTAJ Your News Leader served as moderator. Sponsors of the program on hotels, motels and lodging properties are: A1 Altoona Taxi, Blair County Notary, Holiday Inn Express, Sprint, Super 8 Motel and Yellow Cab & Transfer.   

Chamber to offer Quickbooks® seminar in January
The Chamber and CPA Associates will offer a seminar on Quickbooks® to be held on Jan. 11, 2011 at The Casino at Lakemont Park . The program will be offered in two phases. Phase One will include a buffet breakfast beginning at 7:30 a.m. and a presentation enitled "Manage Your Business Better in 2011 Using All the Capabilities of Quickbooks®."  Phase One will conclude at 9 a.m. From 9:15 to 11:30 a.m., Phase Two will feature a two-hour, in-depth overview of Quickbooks® that will cover topics like keeping track of accounts receivable and accounts payable by customer or vendor, how to pay employees correctly and assure accurate withholdings, how to generate the best reports for your needs and how to track deductible business expenses for easier tax preparation. The cost to attend just Phase One is $20 for Chamber Members and $30 for non-members. The cost to attend just Phase Two is $25 for Chamber Members and $35 for non-members. The cost to attend both is $40 for Chamber Members and $60 for non-members. To register, call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online.  

Chamber, Dale Carnegie to partner on "Skills for Success"
The Chamber and Dale Carnegie Training are once again partnering on an educational program to assist in personal development. "Skills for Success" is an eight-week course that will be held at the Comfort Inn in Duncansville beginning on Jan. 25 and continuing each Tuesday from 6 to 9:30 p.m. The sessions include: Building a Foundation for Success, Putting Stress in Perspective, Inspiring Others and Demonstrating Leadership. To register, contact Jeff Davis at 931-1963. 

Time to update your Membership Directory information

As The Chamber and Hampton Publishing continue the extensive task of preparing the 2011 Blair County Chamber County Profile, Membership Directory and Buyers Guide, it becomes important that Chamber Members provide accurate, up-to-date information for that publication. Take an opportunity to update contact information, key personnel and anything about your business that might have changed in the past year. Also, it’s a good time to provide email addresses of your staff people who you would like to have receive The Chamber’s Business Bulletin each week.  Call The Chamber at 943-8151 for details or log onto the Members Only section of The Chamber website to update your information.   

Congratulations . . .
. . . to Blair Candy Company, whose website has been named by Internet Retailer magazine as one of the Top Hot 100 Retail Websites. 

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