DID YOU TAKE OUR MEMBER SURVEY?
 Have you taken our 2017 Blount Chamber membership survey? If so, we thank you and want you to know that your responses will be looked at, analyzed and agonized over to give you more for your investment. If not, now's your chance to complete it.
SURVEY. We appreciate you taking the time to let us know your opinions.
If you or someone you know is looking for a job, please check out
www.BlountAreaJobs.com. Additionally, if you need employees, please utilize the job board to advertise your open positions. Click
here to get started.
Be sure to check out our 77th installment at the bottom of the email where we visit with Jonathan Halley, president of
Big Slate Media.
STATE LEGISLATIVE BRIEFING
Mark your calendar for April 7 at 8 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville) for our next
state legislative briefing presented by
First Tennessee Bank and Twin City Dealerships with Sen. Doug Overbey and Reps. Art Swann and Bob Ramsey.
HR FOCUS GROUP
 You don't want to miss our next
HR Focus Group which meets next Thursday, April 13 from 8-9 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville). The topic will be "Building an Accountability Culture" presented by Susanne Dalton Dupes of Dalton Dupes Agency.
To be great, teams and managers need to hold themselves and others accountable. Similarly, great companies need to foster a culture of accountability throughout the organization. During this session, we will explore what an accountability culture looks like. Participants will create a common understanding of accountability and look at the fundamentals of an accountability culture. Please
RSVP to Amy if you plan to attend.
GLENN SHEPARD SEMINAR RETURNS APRIL 19
 The Glenn Shepard Seminar, "How to Manage Problem Employees," returns to the Blount Partnership on Wednesday, April 19 from 8 a.m.-noon. In the seminar, he'll show you how to motivate your people, not just manage them. How to get them to follow you because they believe in your goals, your skills as a leader, and they are committed.
He'll also explain why The Millennials require such a different supervisory style than Gen X or Baby Boomers, and how to apply Dr. Ken Blanchard's (author of The One Minute Manager) principles of situational leadership to get all the different generations to work together as a team.
The cost is $129 for Blount Chamber members (When three from a company register, the fourth is FREE). The non-member fee is $149.
Register here.
FOCUS ON BLOUNT COUNTY WEEKEND AD OPPORTUNITY
 WTNZ-TV FOX 43 will be teasing, highlighting and encouraging people to visit Blount County all the through the month of April with the last week (April 24-30) airing every business's custom 30-second commercial all through the week as per the included schedules.
Anyone can get involved. This is a great way to have a business stand out and show community support while the station is highlighting the area.
There are 3 levels of participation
outlined in the package. Sign up by Friday April 7 with
Samantha Dintsch.
Free Production of :30 commercial (that alone is worth the value of these packages)
Inclusion in elements highlighting the area as well as own creative running the entire week of April 23
SIGN UP FOR NEXT SOFT SKILLS CLASS
 Registrations are currently being accepted for a free soft skills session set for April 28 entitled "Time Management." You're busy, but how productive are you? Join us to learn effective strategies for managing your time and boosting your effectiveness at work.
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.
BLOUNT TOURISM AMBASSADOR CLASS SET
 The next Blount Tourism Ambassador Program (BTAP) class is set for Wednesday, April 5 from 1-4 p.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville). BTAP is based on a nationwide certification program geared toward those working in the tourism industry. The Blount County program is the first of its kind in Tennessee and the Southeast.
The three-hour course gives front-line personnel information about the county and region. They are provided up-to-date information about events, happenings and the "inside story" in order to better serve their customers. There are continuous learning opportunities throughout the year to help satisfy annual certification renewal requirements.
More than 200 people have been certified since the program's inception in 2012.
Email Deborah if you or your employees are interested in attending.
JOIN THE BLOUNT COUNTY JOB FAIR
The Blount County Job Fair sponsored by Cirrus Aircraft and Pellissippi State Community College is coming to the Second Harvest Food Bank on Friday, May 19, 2017, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. If your business is interested in participating to hire new employees,
email Claire for more details.
MEMBER-TO-MEMBER PROMOTIONS FOR APRIL
 April Member-to-Member promotions are in. With over 50 merchants participating, there's something for you. Check out the
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
WRITING AN EFFECTIVE BUSINESS BIO
 Small businesses are constantly telling others the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of their business. Who do you sell to? What do you sell? When are you open? Where are you located? Why did you open? These are all questions worth answering, as "word-of-mouth" marketing will always be important for small businesses. But, much of the chatter occurs online in this day and age. That means your small business is responsible for providing this general, yet important information to the online world; on your website, and on your Save Local Now digital platform. How? Try writing a business bio. Here are a few ways to make that bio concise and effective:
Read more
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.
REMEMBER TO SHOP LOCAL
 Think local first + Buy local when you can = Being a local!
Shop small every day that you can. Need milk, eggs, bread, or beer? Go to the local corner store instead -- Say "hey" and get to know the owner who's paying taxes to keep your neighborhood in tip-top shape.
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
"Dizzy," recorded by Tommy Roe completed its four-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week in 1969. It was also No. 1 for one week on the UK Singles Chart in June 1969, and was No. 1 in Canada in March 1969.
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