CHAMBER NEWS

With the holiday season just around the corner, the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce encourages you to celebrate a time-honored tradition that not only enriches your community but also makes your gift-giving more meaningful - shopping local. You have the opportunity to shop local during the Greater Huntington Candy Cane Trail starting on November 1 through January 1!

The Greater Huntington Candy Cane Trail is a free mobile passport that promotes and incentivizes supporting local for the holiday season. Beginning on November 1, residents of and visitors to the Huntington area can sign up for the passport. Throughout the Trail, participants can earn points by checking in at participating businesses, redeeming exclusive offers, and attending events. Points can then be redeemed for prizes, which include a commemorative ornament, commemorative ceramic mug, and entries into a drawing for a $1,000 cash grand prize!

In this blog, we'll explore the reasons why choosing local businesses for your holiday shopping is a gift in itself.

This episode, we're joined by Brock Meadows, fanchise owner of Orange Theory Fitness in Barboursville and other locations in West Virginia, to discuss the art of crafting a positive work environment, nurturing a vibrant work culture, and honing the essential skill of team building.

UPCOMING CHAMBER EVENTS

Special thank you to our table sponsors; West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Benefit Plans Services, Inc., and Guyan Golf and Country Club.

MEMBER NEWS

Photo and article by The Herald-Dispatch

Nucor Steel West Virginia not only broke ground on its new $3.1 billion steel mill at the Mason County, West Virginia, it also broke a world record in the process.

After 550 people in a nearly half-mile line used shovels for the groundbreaking ceremony, an official with Guinness World Records declared the site as the world record for the most people in a single line dig.

We had a "dynamite" of a time at Sandy's Racing & Gaming last night at their grand opening and ribbon cutting! Congratulations to one of our newest members, Sandy's, and our neighbors in Boyd County on this $75 million investment and the creation of 250 new jobs!

Congratulations to Goodwill Industries of KYOWVA Area, Inc. on celebrating 50 years of serving our communities! The Huntington Regional Chamber attended the celebration and annual meeting on October 26.

In 2022:

• With the help of 80,054 donations, the Goodwill KYOWVA retail stores (10 brick-and-mortar) generated $4,950,244 in total sales across 280,765 shoppers! 88 cents from every dollar in stores is returned to their Mission Services.
• Goodwill's Food Scarcity Backpack Program provided 11 schools and 1,143 children with food to sustain through weekends and holidays.
• Goodwill KYOWVA served 489 people with 17,482 Job Readiness sessions. The Workforce Development Programs are designed to equip students with necessary skills in order to be successful in any workplace.
• Goodwill KYOWVA recycled more than 2 million pounds of materials!
• Goodwill Counseling and Therapy Services attended 27 community outreach events and connected with 1,173 individuals. They also provided a number of group therapy classes to people in need.
• Goodwill KYOWVA provided 423 coats through the Positive People Association, Spring Valley High School, and Harmony House.
• Goodwill KYOWVA Business Services Department contracted with 20 organizations for industrial cleaning and janitorial services.
• 26 individuals enrolled in the Debt Management Plan Program. Goodwill KYOWVA also partnered with Chase Bank to provide financial education classes to local schools and other nonprofit organizations.
• Goodwill KYOWVA suited 126 men through Hire Attire for a variety of jobs, from skilled labor to office positions.
• In collaboration with Facing Hunger Foodbank, hosted 5 mobile food pantry events, which provided 451 households with high-quality food.

Congratulations to Alcon Research, LLC, on their new building expansion, a $70 million investment, located at 2 Vision Lane in Lesage, WV!

Alcon Research, LLC produces 6 million lenses a year and currently has 500+ employees.

Alcon is the global leader in eye care, dedicated to helping people see brilliantly. With their 70-plus-year heritage, they are the largest eye care device company in the world – with complementary businesses in Surgical and Vision Care.

Please contact Liz Watson at 304-523-6029 x26 to schedule your shift!

The Huntington Museum of Art will host a new exhibit titled Carpe Lucem: France in Super Blue – Seeing France in a Different Light from November 4 through February 11, 2024.

The opening reception for this exhibit of work by Gary Schubert will take place at the Huntington Museum of Art on Friday, November 3, 2023, at 6 p.m. Admission to the opening reception is free.

The SBA is accepting nominations for the 2024 National and District Small Business Week Awards. All nominations must be submitted electronically no later than December 7, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. ET

National Awards Include:

- Small Business Person of the Year

- Small Business Exporter of the Year

- and more!

Local Awards include:

- WV Family-Owned Small Business of the Year

- WV Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year

- WV Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year

Questions? Contact Nikki Bowmar at nikki.bowmar@sba.gov.

Edwards Comprehensive Cancer Center (ECCC), a member of Marshall Health Network, has received accreditation under the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Commission on Cancer (CoC) Accreditation Program.

The ACS CoC is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for patients with cancer by setting and raising standards. 

Juan Bastidas, MD, FACS, has joined St. Mary’s Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons (SMMC). Dr. Bastidas is a cardiothoracic surgeon with a special interest in esophageal and lung surgeries. 

Dr. Bastidas received his medical degree from Universidad del Rosario, Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Senora del Rosario in Bogota, Colombia. He completed his residency in general surgery at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, and his fellowship in thoracic surgery at the Loma Linda University Medical Center, California. A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Bastidas is board certified in both thoracic and general surgery.

The Elk River Trail Foundation has been awarded $1,365,000 in grant funds by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for the Harnessing the Economic Power of the Elk River Trails Project, designed to kickstart the implementation of the Elk River Trails plan to intentionally grow business and downtown development alongside the expansion of the Elk River Rail and Water Trails.

Lainey Wilson announced she will be performing 35+ dates across North America including a stop at the Charleston Coliseum on November 3, 2024, on her headlining “Country’s Cool Again Tour” next year, produced by Live Nation. 

Already this year, Wilson has won four ACM Awards, two CMT Music Awards, three PCCA Awards, in addition to being honored as Billboard Women in Music’s 2023 “Rulebreaker,” and the most nominated artist at this year’s CMA Awards with a record breaking nine nominations. 

COMMUNITY NEWS

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS

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Please note that the deadline for submissions for "In the News" in the Monday Morning Memo is at 

4 p.m. each Wednesday for inclusion the following week. Submitted items will only appear one time in the memo unless discussed and agreed upon with Chamber staff.

Email all submissions to Rebecca Kasey, Director of Marketing, at rebecca@huntingtonchamber.org.

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