Senator Gary Peters to Speak at Southern Wayne County Legislative Forum; Birmingham Bloomfield 2016-2017 Community Guide & Directory; GLMV Chamber sets 'A Starry, Starry Night' annual dinner; Brinegar Asks Lawmakers to go Further With Pre-K; Chamber partnership: Linbrook Park spec building ready for tenants; Chamber news: Burlington offers new Hot Chocolate Fest; Northern Virginia Chamber to Host 2017 Gov Con Symposium; Free small business consults at Glasgow Barren County Chamber of Commerce; Town Square Publications Chamber Membership Directories and Community Profiles: The best in Michigan

Good morning #Chamber World! It's going to be a GREAT day!



Senator Gary Peters to Speak at Southern Wayne County Legislative Forum

 Senator Gary Peters will address local business leaders and the public at the Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber of Commerce Legislative Forum luncheon on Monday, February 27, 2017 from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm at Crystal Gardens Banquet & Conference Center in Southgate. The event is presented by Comcast, and is open to the public.

Peters is the second speaker in this popular Chamber series, following Congresswoman Debbie Dingell who spoke in January. The series is designed to promote communication between business and political leaders, and to inform the downriver community about what is taking place in local, state and federal government.

 “We are delighted to host Senator Gary Peters,” commented Ron Hinrichs, president of the Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber of Commerce. “I strongly believe that this is a remarkable opportunity for our members, and the entire community to learn about what is taking place in Washington, D.C., and how it will directly impact the way we conduct business in our region.”

Space is limited and registration is requested for this event. Tickets are $20 each, and can be purchased at www.swcrc.com, or by calling the Chamber office at 734-284-6000. Tickets are available at the door for $25 per person.

Corporate Sponsors for this event are AT&T, BASF, DTE Energy, Monroe Bank & Trust, The News-Herald, S.E.M.C.A, United States Steel, Wayne County Community College District, and Public Service Credit Union. 

For More Information, Contact:Ron Hinrichs, president, Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber of Commerce Tel: 734.284.6000





Birmingham Bloomfield 2016-2017 Community Guide & Directory  

The Birmingham-Bloomfield is available at the Birmingham-Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce today! Thank you to Joe Bauman and the Chamber team for their help and direction putting this together! 

Town Square Publications  (www.townsquarepublications.com) can help you accomplish your chamber's gloss map, directory, community profile or publication needs at no expense to the chamber. Please email John Dussman at jdussman@tspubs.com or call (847)-427-4633.

GLMV Chamber sets 'A Starry, Starry Night' annual dinner

The GLMV Annual Membership Dinner "A Starry Starry Night" will be held from 6-10 p.m. Feb. at Independence Grove.

The GLMV Annual Dinner also features Cocktail Network Reception; Special Keynote Presentation by local business owner Sarah Potempa, celebrity hairstylist and inventor of Beachwaver; Board of Directors Introductions; Awards; Elegant Sit Down Dinner; Silent Auction; VIP Photos; Fun & More ... all in spectacular setting with breathtaking views.
"This is a must attend event for the business community and their guests," said Scott Adams, GLMV President. "We look forward to a successful evening for all."

For more than 15 years, Keynote Speaker Sarah Potempa has styled hair for the covers of magazines, movie premieres, ad campaigns, celebrities, and even styled the President. With a vision to help teach all women how to style their hair like a celebrity, Sarah created her own line of tools that are innovative and easy to use. One of the first tools she invented is The Beachwaver Pro, a Professional Rotating Curling Iron. It has become a favorite and already won five awards including Allure's Best of Beauty Award.

Guests are welcome, including spouses, business associates, colleagues, co-workers, friends, family and others who would enjoy this special event.

The Silent Auction is a highlight of the event! As such, awesome Silent Auction items are needed ($25+ value) gift baskets, gift certificates, sport items, wine, entertainment packages, spa/salon services, etc. If you would like to showcase your business by donating a silent auction item, contact Silent Auction Chair Marian Rodriguez marian.carstar@gmail.com

Dinner: $90 per person / $720 table of 8. Sponsorship is available to further showcase your business. and includes additional recognition benefits ... a win-win for all. Read more: Daily Herald

Brinegar Asks Lawmakers to go Further With Pre-K

A measure to expand state-funded pre-kindergarten into more counties has been approved by the Indiana House. Indiana Chamber of Commerce President Kevin Brinegar supports House Bill 1004, but is urging legislators to go "as far as they can afford to, as fast as they can" with a bill to at least double Indiana's current investment level. Brinegar says $10 million in additional funding for pre-k could be requested through the biennial budget process, but he says some coalition partners would like to see up to $50 million pumped into an even wider expansion. During an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Brinegar said there are challenges facing final approval.

He said "first and foremost, is the funding. Is there going to be enough money available in this very tight budget year. Two, there are some legislators who are not believers in the importance of good, quality education in a pre-kindergarten experience." Brinegar also added that some religiously-centered day cares that don’t have an education component but currently receive federal dollars are fighting pre-k expansion, so they don't lose students to the publicly-funded centers that do offer the educational component. Read more: Inside Indiana Business

Chamber partnership: Linbrook Park spec building ready for tenants

Lincoln County Chancery Clerk Tillmon Bishop spelled it out in fisherman’s terms.

“If this is a pond you’re in,” Bishop said, looking around the inside of the lone building in the Linbrook Business Park. “This thing is the bait and we’re looking for a big fish.”

The pond is the 400 acres of land just west of I-55 with infrastructure in place to accommodate most businesses and industries.

The bait is the 50,000-square-foot building that sits on 12 acres in the vacant park.

It looks like a large gray airplane hangar right now, but hopefully soon it will be filled with workers and machinery inside instead of elected officials mingling and shaking hands.

And the trophy bass the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Economic Development Alliance, Lincoln County Board of Supervisors and Brookhaven Board of Aldermen hope to catch is any businesses or industry who wants to bring their operations to Linbrook.

The county and city years ago put up $2.2 million each, along with the Chamber’s $500,000 and a $1.1 million grant from the Mississippi Development Authority to build the park, Bishop said

It was a wise investment at the time, since the existing industrial park neared capacity and the boards had the expectation that a new business park would soon welcome tenants.

Then came the Great Recession, derailing those hopes. The park has sat empty since.

The Alliance is a group that governs Linbrook and is led by Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Garrick Combs. It partnered with industrial development company Agracel and Southwest MS Electric Power to construct a spec building to hopefully entice a business to locate there. Combs and elected officials are hopeful the first industry to locate in the park will catch the eye of others who will follow suit once they see a successful business. Read more: Daily Leader

Chamber news: Burlington offers new Hot Chocolate Fest

Chocolate: It’s not just a springtime celebration anymore.

Burlington — Wisconsin’s Chocolate City and home of May’s annual ChocolateFest — plans to keep the flavorful festivities flowing this winter and beyond with a new event called Hot Chocolate Fest, set for Feb. 10-12.

In addition to celebrating its namesake, hot chocolate, the three-day festival will be a seasonal celebration, featuring a variety of outdoor activities including a Pond Hockey Tournament, open ice skating, pick-up broom ball games and the Cabin Fever 5K Run. Attendees will also have the opportunity to share stories and s’mores around a campfire with members of the Burlington Fire Department both Friday and Saturday.

And, on Saturday, they can enter a snowman-decorating contest and have their photo taken with Milwaukee Admirals mascot Roscoe and Morsel the Moose, the Chocolate City U.S.A. mascot, among other activities.

Just because it is cold outside, doesn’t mean there isn’t fun to be had out there, said Jan Ludtke, executive director of the Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s fun to have something to look forward to at this time of year,” Ludtke said.

Tasty offerings

Much of the weekend’s fun will take place in Echo Park, 595 Milwaukee Ave., beginning with Hot Chocolate Fest’s opening ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 10, and continuing through the championship game of the Pond Hockey Tournament, scheduled for Saturday night, Feb. 11, and the Cabin Fever 5K Run on Sunday morning. There will also be hot chocolate- and chili-tasting contests on Saturday, with tastings offered at a variety of restaurants and other businesses in the Downtown Burlington area.

To participate in the hot chocolate- and chili-tasting contests, attendees must purchase a $5 tasting ticket (a separate ticket for each contest), which entitles them to sample a variety of hot chocolate or chili, and cast votes for their favorites. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce (beginning Feb. 6), 113 E. Chestnut St., or at Echo Park and participating tasting locations on event day, Ludtke said. Read more: Journal Times

Northern Virginia Chamber to Host 2017 Gov Con Symposium

Tysons, Va. – The Northern Virginia Chamber will host 2017 Gov Con Symposium: Post Transition Centers of Gravity on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, from 7:30 – 11:30 AM at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner (7920 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102). The event will focus on the new administration and its implications on the government contracting industry over the next two fiscal years.

Dr. John Hillen, George Mason University, will moderate a keynote presentation featuring an interview with Joe Jordan, CEO of FedBid and former Administrator, Office Federal Procurement Policy and Associate Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Following the keynote, guests will attend breakout panels focused on government leadership, strategies for driving value in mergers and acquisitions, and business strategies for the new administration’s initiatives.

Panels Include:

Government Leaders – how can the new administration and the government contracting industry come together to further innovate and collaborate

Erin Andrew, Assistant Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration

Christopher Harrington, Director, Office of Small Business Programs, U.S. Special Operations Command

John McGinn, Ph.D., Principal Deputy Director, Manufacturing & Industrial Base Policy, U.S. Department of Defense

Bill Zielinski, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Category Management, U.S. General Services Administration

Moderator: Rich Gross, Esq., Partner, Fluet Huber + Hoang PLLC

Strategies for Driving Value – how to pivot in the post-transition environment to address new opportunities and improve investment strategies

Matt Calderone, Senior Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton

Timothy Conway, President, Public Sector, NTT DATA Inc.

Michael Lustbader, Managing Partner, Arlington Capital Partners

Moderator: John Song, Managing Director, Aerospace Defense Government Group, Houlihan Lokey

Centers of Gravity – navigating the post-transition marketplace to identify future contracting opportunities and develop strategies to pursue them

Introductions: Greg Wheeless, SVP, Regional Manager, Government Services Group, Wells Fargo Capital Finance

Sandy Corbett, Founder & CEO, InCadence Strategic Solutions

Kevin Kelly, CEO, LGS Innovations

Brad Schwartz, President & CEO, Blue Canopy Group, LLC

Julian Setian, CEO, SOS International

Moderator: Dara Castle, Managing Partner, Washington Metro Offices, RSM US LLP

Follow the event on Twitter @NOVAChamber and #GovCon. Registration is available online. Entry is $100 for Northern Virginia Chamber members and $125 for non-members.

Members of the media who plan to cover the event should contact Northern Virginia Chamber Director, Communications and Marketing, Alex Thompson, athompson@novachamber.org, to register.  703-752-7526




Free small business consults at Glasgow Barren County Chamber of Commerce


Miller Slaughter a management consultant with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) of Western Kentucky University will be at the Glasgow Barren County Chamber of Commerce from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Feb. 21 providing free small business consultations. The mission of the SBDC is to provide confidential one-on-one counseling at no charge for area business owners and those desiring to start a small business. 

The WKU Small Business Development Center is committed to helping small business and entrepreneurs in the area. For the past 30 years, their highly trained staff has been assisting small businesses in South Central Kentucky with starting, financing and growing their business. All of their services are free, confidential and professional.

Their current consultants combine both formal and practical experience in business. Collectively they have more than 40 years of hands on business experience. In addition, each of the consultants has actually started and managed their own small business. They are able to draw upon their formal education, training and business experience to give you the small business help needed.

Call the chamber office at 270-651-3161 to make an appointment for your free consultation. Read more: Glasgow Daily Times

Town Square Publications Chamber Membership Directories and Community Profiles: The best in Michigan.

Town Square Publications, a division of the Daily Herald Media Group, is a national chamber custom publishing group that specializes in developing partnerships by producing high-quality print and digitally integrated publications along with other added value programs dedicated to creating relevancy for local chambers of commerce and other membership focused organizations interested in raising non-dues revenues.

Town Square Publications parent company, Paddock Publications, has over 100 years’ experience of print product development and dedicated customer service in communities throughout the Midwest. Our experience allows Town Square Publications to offer you attractive royalty and non-dues revenue share streams, provide direct distribution of your custom designed printed publications, including digital and mobile integration, and all with the quickest turn-around times available in the industry. Town Square also offers multi-media maps in both print and online formats, both with our No-Cost guarantee. More information: Town Square Publications

Chambers of Commerce and member focused organizations serve as a valuable resource in the local marketplace. The networking opportunities and representation with a wide variety of diverse businesses in your community is the catalyst of a successful organization. For further information about Town Square's publishing partnership with chambers of commerce and our No-Cost guarantee and Earned Revenue Share Program, To request your chamber publication or map proposal, contact Town Square Chamber Proposal