Newsletter - March 2007

The second annual Awards Luncheon was held on Thursday March 29, 2007 at Cross Creek Country Club with over 115 in

attendance. Our Event Sponsor was Northern Hospital of Surry County; Award Sponsors; Burke Robertson & Associates, Inc. Colonial Mayberry Mall, Hampton Inn of Mount Airy, Renfro Corporation and Southern Community Bank.

Dr. Frank Sells, President of Surry Community College gave the key note address sprinkled with lighthearted humor highlighting his upcoming retirement.

The Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce was honored with The Russell C. Hill Award from the Old Hickory Council Boy Scouts of America. This award recognizes outstanding achievement by organizations or individuals in the area of character education through the support and implementation of the Learning for Life program. A program that fosters character education among the area’s youth.

Membership Verification Reports - If you have not responded back with your verification report and your correct information, please do so as soon as possible. Your correct information is critical to us being able to communicate with you and for visitors to our website being able to communicate with you. Please forward all reports/questions to Robin Dollyhigh, our Membership Specialist.

New Online Access to the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce website -You will be receiving an email from admin@mtairyncchamber.org that will provide you with a Username and Password that will give you access to features and functions found at the Chamber website http://www.mtairyncchamber.org/. This is a valid email with important information so do not delete. Upon receipt if you should have any questions please feel free to contact Robin Dollyhigh, Membership Specialist at 336-786-6116 X4.

Website Listing – Each Chamber member has a complimentary listing under the business directory. The Chamber can now offer your business an upgrade to your listing with the Enhanced Listing. This special feature enables your business to include up to two (2) photos and a business description along with the complimentary features. The following businesses have been upgraded to the Enhanced Listing: Gobble & Associates, Park Avenue Limousine, SMARTTSOLUTIONS, Opie’s Candy Store and Management Recruiters, The Mayberry Group.

For a comparison of a complimentary listing and an enhanced listing please go to the chamber website at http://www.mtairyncchamber.org/

The Enhanced Listing offers a business individuality, where it’s own unique personality can stand out. Being a visual person, if I can see a photo I am more apt to become interested verses having only text. Your business can stand out from the rest….call Robin Dollyhigh our Membership Specialist at 786-6116 ext. 4 for more details.

One reason might be the average of 166,070 website hits or 9224 direct visits to the Chamber’s website monthly….where else could you advertise to this potential customer base? We believe this is an invaluable tool to our membership. Please see the statistics below…..

Bowman Gray School of Medicine NC Fort Mill School District SC PaeTec Communications, Inc. NY

The Chamber Surprise Patrol paid a surprise visit to Chamber members this month; BB&T Blue Ridge Burke Insurance and Haynes Strand & Co. Gail Theard at Blue Rige Burke and her staff and Sam Gentry, Jeff Gordon and the entire staff at Haynes Strand were greeted by Chamber Ambassadors with cookies, candy and balloons. The Chamber Surprise Patrol just wanted to let these Chamber members know how much we appreciate their support of the chamber! Photos from the surprise visit are on our website. The Chamber Surprise Patrol will be making surprise visits at least twice a month…will you be next?

The Member to Member Discount Program Update - We have decided to offer a Member to Member card verses an on-line discount/coupon. We have our proto-type card ready and are currently working out some of the delivery details. Additional information about the program and how to get involved will be emailed out to our membership within the week.

We recognize the importance of doing business locally and keeping our dollars here at home but also the importance of doing business with other Chamber members. This unique advertising opportunity will result in Chamber members coming in your front door to do business with you! Contact Robin Dollyhigh, Membership Specialist at 336-786-6116 X 4 to get on board!

The Good Neighbors Program has been a big success from the member’s standpoint and from the Chambers standpoint. We have been able to sit down and talk face to face with our members without taking away from their daily work routines by having lunch together. Thanks to our Chamber member, Sagebrush for making the Good Neighbor’s Program possible. So far we have invited 20 different businesses/chamber partners to lunch with the most recent being: Carolina Carports, Park Avenue Limosuine and Veterans Park Officials.Photos from previous Good Neighbors Program are on our website. We hope to be contacting your business to join us for lunch real soon!

Relocation to Mount Airy /Surry County – The Chamber continues to get an amazing amount of inquiries from our website and phone calls asking for relocation information. Our standard package includes information about the quality of life here in Mount Airy and Surry County. We package the information (brochures, rack cards, etc. / provided by these providers) that we currently have on hand

Our quest is to add additional information in the package that every newcomer would need such as municipal services, county services property tax rates, entertainment diversity, service and interest organizations, available health care facilities, local school information, religious organizations, shopping and service diversity, real estate opportunities, recreation opportunities, services for seniors, continuing education, etc.

This is an amazing opportunity for you and your business to partner with the Chamber in the production of a quality brochure that will meet the needs of an interested newcomer to our area. Not only are these relocation packages being requested by retirees but also young families. The Surry County School System and the Mount Airy City School system have also expressed a need for this relocation tool as they continue to recruit potential new teachers to our area.

Just yesterday the Chamber received a letter from a gentlemen who was sent a relocation package to Las Vegas, Nevada on September 10^th 2006 …….his NEW RETURN ADDRESS is Mount Airy NC! He has moved here.

Eighteen (18) relocation packages have been mailed out this month and this does not include packages that walk-ins ask for. What a great advertising vehicle this could be for businesses such as: real estate offices, banks, investment businesses, etc. For more information contact Betty Ann at 786-6116 X 6.

SCORE can help you with free and confidential counseling. Learn to write a business plan, apply for a loan, hone management skills and become a more confident business owner. The local SCORE group has one-hour confidential counseling

Services. SCORE not only serves the new potential business owner BUT any existing businesses. Contact Membership Specialist Robin Dollyhigh at (336) 786-6116 to schedule an appointment.

Looking for an employee gift, reward, incentive … while keeping dollars in the community? CertifiChecks is a gift certificate program offered by the GMACC redeemable only at Chamber member businesses. Log on to http://www.mtairyncchamber.org/ : go to Membership Information tab - Chamber Benefits tab.

Chamber’s monthly calendar along with current event photos can be viewed at http://www.mtairyncchamber.org/ …just click on chamber calendar tab. Community events and entertainment can be viewed by clicking on the community events tab. We encourage you to visit the calendar so that you don’t miss any of our upcoming events and programs!

**We are currently scheduling 2007 Business after Hours events and we would love to include your business on our calendar.** The interest has been so great that we are booking more than one Business after Hours a month!This is a great way to show off your business while meeting and networking with other Chamber Members and their guests!

For more information about planning a Business after Hours event call the office today…336-786-6116

· Mount Airy Library – 145 Rockford Street Mount Airy, NC.336-789-5108, www.nwrl.org. The Mount Airy Public Library provides books, audio-visuals, computer use and programming, and information resources to the residents of Mount Airy and Surry County. Local Librarian, Pat Gwyn invites you and your family to visit the library and to explore the wonders of knowledge that the library offers. Hours of operation Monday – Thursday 8:30am – 8:00pm, Friday 8:30am – 5:00pm, Saturday 10:00am – 1:00pm Closed Sunday.

· B&L Custom Jewelers – 245 City Hall Street Mount Airy, NC.(Main Oak Emporium) 336-755-9776 www.mtariyjewelers.com. Brandt Scholtz is the owner of this unique retail jewelry business that specializes in custom designs, genuine colored stones, diamonds set in gold, platinum and silver. Additional services available: appraisals, repairs and battery replacement. Mother’s Day is just around the corner!

· Eye in the Sky Video, Web Design & Hosting – 940 Sylvatus Highway, Hillsville, VA 24343. 276-730-4836 www.eyeintheskyvideo.com . Eye in the Sky provides internet solutions such as web design, redesign and hosting; specializing in flash and informational videos. Graphic design such as business cards, postcards, brochures and more. Quality products at competitive prices. Contact owner, DeDe Dalton for more information.

· Old North State Winery & Scuppernongs– 308 North Main Street Mount Airy NC. 336-789-9463, www.oldnorthstatewinery.com. Established in 2002 Old North State Winery features North Carolina wines produced on the lower level of the main building. Scuppernongs Deli and Restaurant is now open, located within the Old North State Winery! Full service fine dining restaurant serving lunch and dinner. In a hurry… try the selections offered at Scuppernongs Deli! Tom Webb President and Mike Thomas Vice-President invite you to stop in for dinner or to taste one of the many North Carolina wine selections offered.

WorkForce Carolina was recently recognized in The Business Journal as the 10^th largest temporary Placement Firm in the Piedmont Triad Region out of the top 25. This local firm is independently owned and operated by Teresa Lewis and is celebrating its 20^th anniversary.
Advanced Electronic Services was recognized by the Better Business Bureau of North Carolina as an honorable mention receipt of its 2007 Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics. One of eight companies honored at a recent BBB awards luncheon. The awards are designed to recognize “companies” who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to exceptional standards in relationships to their customers, employees, suppliers, competitors, shareholders and communities as well as their reputation of ethical practices in the marketplace.
John S. Clark was presented the N.C. Building Star Award from the N.C. Commissioner of Labor. The Star Award recognizes the implementation and execution of safety practices within a company.
Northern Hospital of Surry - The Business Journal ranks Northern Hospital 5^th out of the 20^th Largest Triad Acute-Care Hospitals.
Pike Electric Corporation –The Business Journal ranks Pike Electric 44^th in North Carolina Public Companies.
Insteel Industries – The Business Journal ranks Insteel Industries 52^nd in North Carolina Public Companies
Surrey Bank & Trust – The Business Journal ranks Surrey Bank 93^rd in North Carolina Public Companies.
Edward Jones the financial-services firm recently ranked as a top company for training according to Training magazine’s 2007 Top 125 list.

Registration Deadline is April 2, 2007; Free of charge: space limited to first 75 participants: contact Janice Lowe 336-386-3388 or lowej@surry.edu

As we have all heard from many experts, Learning is and will continue to be a Life Long Experience. We and our workforce can not rely on the education that we have already achieved in order to be/stay competitive. We must continue to learn, grow and develop in order to stay competitive in today’s workplace. The Chamber of Commerce co-sponsors with Surry Community College various seminars and programs throughout the year FREE to our membership. Last week 16 Chamber members attended “Effective Networking Practices” presented by Denise Ryan. Each of us left with new ideas, suggestions and information about effective networking practices. We also got to meet and network with other members that we may not have known before. I encourage you and your staff to take advantage of the corporate and continuing education seminars offered by Surry Community College and partnering agencies.

Introduction to Biotechnology April 17^th 2pm-4pm Surry Community College Paul Knott, NC BioBusiness Center

Incident Investigation Workshop April 18^th 1:30-4:00pm Surry Community College Randy Cranfill, NC Industrial Commission

Business Bookkeeping April 24^th 6:30-9:30pm Surry Community College Jerry Sawyers

Overloaded, Overwhelmed, & Over it April 26^th 1:30-4:30pm Surry Community College Denise Ryan

Beyond the Basics: Starting an eBay Store May 10^th Surry Community College Nick Hawks

The mission of the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce is to be the leading advocate for business, to facilitate community alliances, to provide valuable benefits and services to our members, all in a financially responsible manner.