On a pleasant late summer's eve, a record crowd of more than 650 people gathered to enjoy some of the best food in Blount County as 26 area restaurants, food trucks and grocers took part in the 17th annual Taste of Blount hosted by the Blount Partnership at the Theater in the Park.
Congratulations to the all the participants and those who enjoyed a wonderful night out. Here's the event winners.
2018 Taste of Blount People's Choice Winners
Best Appetizer: Metz Catering
Best Sandwich: REO Cheesewagon
Best Beverage: McAlister's Deli
Best Main Course: Rocky's Jamaica Sunrise
Best Dessert: Lambert's Southern Pies and Bake Shop
Best Presentation: Metz Catering
Best Overall: Rocky's Jamaica Sunrise
2018 Taste of Blount Culinary Excellence Award Winners
Best Appetizer: 1. The Walnut Kitchen, 2. Metz Catering, 3. The Soup Kitchen
Best Sandwich: 1. Small Town BBQ, 2. REO Cheesewagon, 3. Roland's Bistro
Best Beverage: 1. Mattie Moox the Coffee Camper, 2. Quick Fix Coffee, 3. The Artistic Bean
Best Main Course: 1. Daddy O's, 2. Aubrey's, 3. Rocky's Jamaica Sunrise
Best Dessert: 1. Lambert's Southern Pies and Bake Shop, 2. Sullivan's, 3. Bruster's
Best Overall: The Walnut Kitchen
Two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback and University of Tennessee All-America Peyton Manning is the guest speaker for the
Blount Partnership's Best of Blount Awards, Nov. 1 at 6:30 p.m., at the Clayton Center for the Arts on the Maryville College campus.
Tickets are on sale for $70 (plus taxes and fees) by calling the Clayton Center at 865-981-8590 or
online.
The question and answer show format features queries provided by fans submitted at
www.blountchamber.com/ask-peyton prior to the event.
Awards will be given for Philanthropist of the Year, Community Impact Award, Bright Future Award, Business of the Year, First Responder Award and the Tourism Award.
Event sponsors are Massey Electric, Pilot Flying J, Cherokee Millwright, Blount Excavating, DENSO, T.W. Frierson Contractor, C2RL Engineering, McCarty Holsaple McCarty, Stowers Caterpillar and First Tennessee Foundation.
MARKETING PLAN WORKSHOP
Make a plan to make a plan with Epic Nine. A marketing plan is the compass of your business's marketing efforts. Without one, you risk getting lost in the forest of boosting Facebook posts, or stranded on the mountain of inefficient Yelp ads. Join use Sept. 18 for our DIY Marketing Plan workshop. At the end you will have a marketing plan that will help you reach your best customers, stay focused, create goals and measure results.
REGISTER HERE.
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Make plans to attend our next
Women in Business meeting on Monday, September 17 at noon at Airport Hilton (Bar Area) led by Sharon Hannum. In order for us to have enough time for the meeting if you are planning on eating please arrive at 11:45 a.m. and go ahead and get your lunch and bring to the bar area.
This will be a Dutch treat lunch from Cooper's Restaurant. The menu is soup or salad bar for $8.95 + tax, this includes drink, and dessert or the whole buffet for $12 (Including tax) and includes drink, buffet and dessert.
ENJOY A LUNCH BREAK AT GREEN MEADOW COUNTRY CLUB
Join us for a Power Connect Lunch on September 25 at 11:30 a.m., at Green Meadow Country Club (1700 Louisville Rd, Alcoa). Meet, Mingle, Lunch, Connect, Nibble, Engage and Network with other influential professionals.
While you (and the other guests) will have an opportunity to introduce your business, current areas of focus and/or anything you could use help with, all I ask is that everyone shows up with a focus on how they may be able to add value for the other attendees.
Open to ALL Blount County Chamber members, but you must
RSVP online. This is a Dutch Treat lunch.
Event chair Tony Saddy of Get Fit Maryville will lead the event..
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS BRIEFING
Join us as we hear from
Superintendents; Brian Bell, Alcoa City Schools; Rob Britt, Blount County Schools and Mike Winstead, Maryville City Schools to give us an update on what is happening in our local public education systems. The event takes place Sept. 21 from 8-9 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville).
EXPLORING THE NEW CURRENCY
Join us Sept. 26 from 9:30-11 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St. for Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies: Exploring the NEW CURRENCY The number two most searched word last year in Google was Bitcoin. What is Bitcoin? What are Cryptocurrencies? Blockchain? John Cannon of Simply Data Centers, member of ETSU Innovation Lab, explains cryptocurrency foundation technology, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies. How do you use it? What are the tax implications? Explore cryptocurrency business opportunities existing in the new technology? Cryptocurrency has been described as the next generation of internet technology and has the ability to influence markets similar to the introduction of Google. Is this the future of Money?
REGISTER HERE.
SUPERVISOR'S TRAINING
Running a business is more than dollars and cents; there's a legal element that many human resource professionals, supervisors and managers deal with daily. To that end, the Blount Partnership, along with the law firms of Wimberly Lawson and Lewis Thomason, is hosting a three-part supervisors training - human resource/legal seminar on Friday, Sept. 28, 2018 from 8:30-11 a.m. at the Blount Partnership office located at 201 S. Washington St., Maryville, Tenn.
Topics to be covered include the Worker Comp/ADA/FMLA for supervisors presented by Lynne Peterson of Lewis Thomason. Kurt Greene of Arrow G Consulting will present Fire Them Before They Start and Howard Jackson of Wimberly Lawson Wright Daves & Jones will discuss Interviewing/Hiring and Conducting Performance Evaluations.
The cost is $50 per person for non-Chamber members and $25 per person for Chamber members.
REGISTER HERE. If a chamber member sends two more employees, registration is $20 per employee.
NITTY GRITTY ON THE TN DRUG FREE WORKPLACE
Make plans to attend our next HR Focus Group on Wednesday, October 3 at 8:30 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville). The topic will be "The Nitty Gritty on the TN Drug Free Workplace" by Charity Suttles of Tennessee Drug Testing.
With updates that have taken effect in 2018, now is the best time for a workplace to join the state sponsored drug free workplace program! From policy development, testing requirements, training solutions, EAP resources, and more, this presentation will provide an overview of what it takes to participate in the program. We will also explain the newest updates so that you can see how simple and effective a drug free workplace can be. Your organization can be a part of the TN Drug Free Workplace program and reap the benefits it has to offer!
RSVP online here.
SOFT SKILLS SESSION FOR SEPTEMBER
It's Your Career! That's the focus of four free soft skills sessions offered in partnership by the Blount County Public Library, the Adult Education Foundation of Blount County and the Blount County Chamber of Commerce that are scheduled over the next five months.
Registrations are currently being accepted online at
www.blountchamber.com for a class entitled Improving Your Presentation Style - Speaking set for September 28. This course qualifies for .2 CEU's awarded by Pellissippi State.
The other classes offered include Improving Your Presentation Style - Strategies for Engaging Presentations, Making Your Social Media Look Good and Creating Infographics for Promoting Your Business.
All classes are conducted in the Blount County Library's learning lab located at 508 N. Cusick in Maryville and limited to 50 participants. A complete class description is located on the registration site. All classes run from 8-10 a.m. with networking beginning at 7:30 a.m.
ALL THINGS GOOGLE LUNCH AND LEARN SERIES
This Lunch and Learn series meets in the new Learning Lab at the Blount County Public Library on Fridays each month from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There is no registration fee, but a box lunch can be ordered from the Bookmark Cafe for $10 up to one day prior to the class. Participants are also free to bring their own lunch. Each of the topics offered will be divided into 3-4 weekly sessions that can stand alone or be taken consecutively. A total of 50 classes will be offered with a new schedule released each month.
To register for classes in the Lunch and Learn Series please visit the Blount County Public Library website
http://www.blountlibrary.org/248/Technology-Classes.
SEPTEMBER MEMBER-TO-MEMBER PROMOTIONS
Member-to-member promotions are needed for September. Submit to the email below. Check out the offers from Relocation Division, Home Care Assistance and Cell Phone Repair. See these and other promotions at
member-to-member promotions. New offers are being posted almost daily, so check out the Blount County Chamber of Commerce Member-to-Member promotions online. This Member-to-Member Promotional Program offers you and your company the opportunity to market your products and services to the membership.
Here's how it works:
1. Submit a PDF of a service, product or discount you'd like to offer to the Chamber membership to
jmuir@blountpartnership.com. Be sure to include an expiration date.
2. An email with all the promotions will be sent out on the final Monday of every month to our member database.
3. All promotions will be posted on
www.BlountChamber.com
REMEMBER TO SHOP LOCAL
Think local first + Buy local when you can = Being a local!
The multiplier effect created by spending locally generates lasting impact on the prosperity of local organizations and residents.
GOT AN EVENT OR NEWS? WE'D LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT
Is your organization hosting an event in the community? Submit it
here on our community calendar. If it's a tourism event or any good news about your business, please
send it to us. We'd love to share it with the community.
REMEMBER WHEN
Topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week in 1983 was "Maniac" by Michael Sembello. The song was used in the 1983 film
Flashdance. It is one of the highest-grossing songs ever written for a film. The song was nominated for an Academy Award. Another song from the film, "Flashdance... What a Feeling" performed by Irene Cara, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1983.
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| Michael Sembello - Maniac |
