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It's
afternoon mixer week, so make plans to join us Thursday, Oct. 13, at 3:45 p.m. at Camellia Trace Apartments. Get out of the office after work and unwind. The mixers are designed to offer you the opportunity to build business relationships with other members and to gain exposure for you business or organization in an "open house" setting.
Also, please come out to the
Ray Hightower State Farm Insurance ribbon cutting on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 10:30 a.m. Safelight will be on hand offering FREE auto glass repair. ABRA Auto Body & Glass and ServePro will also be there providing snacks and other goodies. So drop by and see what Ray can do for your home and business.
 MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY JOINING TN ACHIEVES
Do you have one hour per month to help students in your community transition from high school to college? tnAchieves, local partnering organization to Gov. Haslam's TN Promise, needs 9,000 mentors to work with high school students from the Class of 2017. Mentors remind students of important deadlines, serve as a trusted college resource and, most importantly, encourage students to reach their full potential. The time commitment is small, but the impact can be life changing for a first generation college student trying to navigate the college going process. Learn more or register at
https://tnachieves.org/mentors/requirements/.
 NASCAR HALL OF FAMER RUSTY WALLACE TO SPEAK AT BEST OF BLOUNT AWARDS
Get ready to rev up your engine with Rusty Wallace, a member of NASCAR's Hall of Fame, as he takes the pole position as 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 $30 and available by calling the Blount Partnership 865.983.2241,
online or at the Partnership office located at 201 S. Washington St., in Maryville. A premium $45 ticket is available for special seating and a photo and autograph opportunity with Wallace prior to the event.
The Best of Blount Awards focus on the Blount County community as a whole rather than only on the business sector. It celebrates those individuals and businesses that give their time and resources to make this area an outstanding place to live and work.
Awards will be given for Philanthropist of the Year, Community Impact Award, Bright Future Award, Business of the Year and the Tourism Award.
 GRAINS AND GRITS TO BRING DISTILLERS TO BLOUNT COUNTY
Whiskey lovers from East Tennessee and beyond are invited to attend an unprecedented event in Blount County on Saturday, November 5. Grains and Grits, a celebration of Southern spirits and gourmet grub, will bring more than two dozen Tennessee distilleries to the Townsend Visitors' Center.
The festival showcases a who's-who of Tennessee whiskey legends, including Jack Daniels Master Distiller Jeff Arnett, who will be participating in his first-ever East Tennessee tasting, and other national whiskey names such as George Dickel. A bevy of craft distillers from throughout the state will also sample their spirits to attendees, including Old Forge, Popcorn Sutton, Thunder Road and Chattanooga Whiskey.
Grains and Grits is being arranged and hosted by the Tennessee Distillers Guild and the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority (SMTDA).
While Tennessee whiskey serves as the event's focus, there will be plenty of offerings for non-whiskey-drinkers. Several area restaurants will serve food, and many area breweries and wineries will be in attendance.
World-renowned resort Blackberry Farm will serve both food and beer. Live music will provide a backdrop for the celebration.
Grains and Grits is an opportunity for distillers to connect with customers face to face, and nearly two dozen of them have signed up to offer samples at the event.
Tickets for Grains and Grits are $60 online and $70 the day of the event, and VIP parking is $10. They can be purchased at
www.GrainsAndGritsFest.com. The website also includes more information about the event.
 SOFT SKILLS CLASSES ARE BACK
It's Your Career! That's the focus of eight 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 eight months.
Registrations are currently being accepted for the first class entitled Effective Networking set for Oct. 21.
All classes are conducted in the Blount County Library's learning lab located at 508 N. Cusick in Maryville and limited to 50 participants. Those interested must register online at www.blountchamber.com/community/soft-skills. 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.
The other classes offered include Make Your Social Media Look Good Using Free Tools, Managing People & Personalities, Tips for Public Speaking, Hiring Good Employees, Motivation and Burnout, Time Management and Managing Change in the Workplace.
 MEMBER-TO-MEMBER PROMOTIONS FOR OCTOBER
If you haven't checked out the October
member-to-member promtions, please do. New offers are being posted weekly, 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
 5 REASONS YOUR SMALL BUSINESS NEEDS CONTENT MARKETING
Constantly clamoring to grab the attention of prospective customers, small businesses are competing with a lot of noise. Consumers are cutting through clutter by fast-forwarding television shows, subscribing to ad-free digital radio, installing ad-blockers to browse their favorite websites sans-ads and customizing what's in their social media feeds. Here are some of the ways content marketing drives results for small businesses:
Read more here.
Learn more about marketing your small business in a digital world, ask questions about social media, and take the time to discuss future campaign ideas. What are you waiting for? It's free with your chamber membership.
Schedule your FREE session today.
If you have any questions regarding your free digital marketing member benefit (
Save Local Now), your digital platform, or online marketing in general please reach out the Blount Chamber's
Rachel Coffman. She is here to help you in the year ahead and will keep you on track as you fulfill your resolutions in 2016.
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, please email
Ashlee so she can post it on
www.SmokyMountains.org.
Also, please
send us any news releases or good news about your business. We'd love to share it with the community.
REMEMBER WHEN
This week in 1973, "Half-Breed" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. It became Cher's second solo and third overall No. 1 hit.
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