Blount Partnership News and Events

CBBC BANK RIBBON CUTTING AT ALCOA HIGH SCHOOL

Join us September 12 at 4 p.m. for a ribbon cutting for the CBBC Bank/The Official Bank of Alcoa High School (1205 Lodge St., Alcoa). The AHS CBBC Bank is located within Alcoa High School and operated by students for students under the instruction of CBBC Bank. The bank offers checking and savings accounts to help students lean the importance of saving and financial responsibility.

BEST OF BLOUNT AWARD TICKETS ON SALE

Former U.S. Army pilot and author Mike Durant, whose saga was chronicled in the 2002 Oscar Award winning movie Black Hawk Down, is the guest speaker for the Blount Partnership's Best of Blount Awards held at 6 p.m. on Nov. 14 at the Clayton Center for the Arts.

Sponsored by Charter Spectrum, Cherokee Millwright, DENSO, Blount Excavating and Massey Electric, tickets, which go on sale Sept. 9 at 10 a.m., are $35 (plus taxes and fees) and can be purchased from the Clayton Center ticket office at 865-981-8590 or online at www.claytonartscenter.com.

The Best of Blount Awards celebrates those individuals and businesses that give their time and resources to make this area an outstanding place to live and work.

Awards are given for Philanthropist of the Year, Community Impact Award, Bright Future Award, Large and Small Business of the Year, First Responder Award and the Tourism Award. Nominations are open for the awards, so please submit the name of someone you think is deserving by logging on at www.blountchamber.com until Sept. 20.

TAKE THE CHAMBER MEMBERSBHIP SURVEY

The Blount Chamber wants feedback on how it's doing while gathering your thoughts on what the things we need to be working on to help the business community. Please take a few minutes to let us know your thoughts. Take the survey.

VISIT THE DIALOGUE

Check out The Dialogue in this email where we visit with Holly Roe, owner of Cinnaholic, a gourmet cinnamon roll bakery.

PCS LUNCH & LEARN

Join PCS as it presents a Lunch & Learn workshop on September 13 from noon-1 p.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St., Maryville). Networking and lunch begins at 11:30 a.m.

The topic is "Prepare Now for Microsoft Changes That Will Impact Your Business's IT Security." Dan Spear of PCS, Inc., will discuss the serious security implications for your business if you continue to use Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 after January 14, 2020. There's a lot to consider before you upgrade, so it's crucial you start planning now. Let them show you what to consider and how to protect your business.

RSVP TODAY to Crystal at cburnes@pcsknox.com

POWER CONNECT LUNCH

Join us for a midday networking lunch on September 17 at 11:30 a.m., at Smoky Mountain Brewery. 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 MEETING

Join us as we hear from Superintendents Brian Bell, Alcoa City Schools, Rob Britt, Blount County Schools and Mike Winstead, Maryville City Schools as they give us an update on what is happening in our local public education systems on September 20, 2019 from 8-9 a.m. at the Blount Partnership (201 S. Washington St.). RSVP ONLINE.

PARENT OPEN HOUSE AT DENSO

Career Exploration Showcase: Help Your Student Soar. Seats are limited, please register to get free tickets. Parents of high school juniors and seniors (age 16+) - join us to explore DENSO career pathways for your student! Topics to be covered include: - Advances in high tech manufacturing - Safety - Training - Non-college and college bound career opportunities - Benefits - & more! Students (age 16+) are welcome to attend, but not required. Long pants and closed toe shoes must be worn. Attendees will also have a chance to win a $50 restaurant gift card. Call Karen Armstrong at 865-982-7000 Ext. 2566

GET PLACEMENT IN 2020 BASICALLY BLOUNT

The 2020 Basically Blount lifestyle magazine and membership directory is entering production once again. This annual, full-color lifestyle magazine and chamber membership directory is initially distributed to all Chamber members starting Feb. 2020, along with distribution four times throughout the year via area professional offices, newcomers, visitors, and new businesses all looking to relocate to Blount County.

We are pleased to offer a variety of advertising opportunities at cost effective rates through our media kit. We have contracted with Marcon Marketing Consultants, a local Chamber member, to handle production and ad sales.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of Basically Blount, the importance of supporting the Chamber, and how to get your business involved, contact: Rick Ford of Marcon Marketing at 865-705-8580 or Vicki Hawkins of Marcon Marketing at 865-310-2963

SIGN UP FOR THE LATEST SOFT SKILLS CLASS

It's Your Career! That's the focus of a free soft skills session offered in partnership by the Blount County Public Library, the Adult Education Foundation of Blount County and the Blount County Chamber of Commerce.

Registrations are currently being accepted online at www.blountchamber.com for a class entitled Empowering and Motivating Employees on September 27. Empower employees and enable better performance. Learn strategies to help employees be the best they can be.

All participants will earn .5 CEUs per session for participating. They will also receive an email survey two months after workshop participation to assess application of new ideas.

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.

YOU CAN POST YOUR OWN MEMBER-TO-MEMBER DEALS

Blount Chamber members can now post their own Member-to-Member deals on this page at no charge. Simply login to your account, Click on the "New Coupon" button, fill out the form and click save. It's that easy.

Click here if you need access to your login information.

Of course, we will be happy to add your coupon. Just email information about the product or discount you'd like to offer to the Chamber membership to jmuir@blountpartnership.com. Be sure to include an expiration date.

View the latest deals.

REMEMBER TO SHOP LOCAL

Think local first + Buy local when you can = Being a local!

Find what you're looking for in the Chamber Directory.

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 1998 was "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith. The song was written for the 1998 natural disaster film Armageddon which lead singer Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler starred in. The song stayed at number one for four weeks.

The Dialogue

This feature is a question-and-answer session with a new Blount County Chamber member. So, here we go with our 144th installment visiting with Holly Roe, owner of Cinnaholic, a gourmet cinnamon roll bakery.

What is Cinnaholic? When we tasted these for the first time we knew we had to bring the first ever Cinnaholic to the state of Tennessee! Describe what your business does. We have a gourmet cinnamon roll bakery. We make everything from scratch daily. We don't own a freezer so you get a truly hot fresh cinnamon roll that was made that same day when you visit us. We have 20+ frosting flavors and 20+ toppings to choose from. You can customize your cinnamon roll. We also have cookies, brownies, cookie dough scoops, and we cater large and small events.

How did you get started? We were on a family trip in Colorado and stumbled upon one of these bakeries. It was the best thing we had ever tasted. We knew then that we needed one in East Tennessee.

What is your background? It has always been a dream to own a bakery. My grandmother had a love for serving people and cooking. Working with people much smarter than me helped me get the business set up and running logistically. Skills such as a desire to serve others, customer service, and personality are a lot harder to teach someone. That's why at Cinnaholic we always hire for personality and friendliness over experience every time!

Who is your mentor? My inspiration was my grandmother who came here from Egypt as an immigrant and made an impact on her community for her kindness and always giving all she had to serve others, my mother who is much like her, my husband who is my rock, and my business partner David Shanks who is one of the most helpful, generous and smart guys I know! David was the key to getting our business going and we will be forever grateful.

Describe your customers. AMAZING!!! That's the very best part of our job. I had never worked with the public before opening this bakery and what I found is that 99.9% of people are just truly genuinely nice!! We love that we know our customers by name and they keep coming back. Our bakery is vegan So we are able to serve people who have food allergies and are not able to eat sweets elsewhere. It's our joy to make people so happy and watch children who are allergic to milk and eggs light up when we tell them they can have anything in the entire bakery!

What do you enjoy about the business? The people!! Not just customers but our staff! We've been open less than a year and we still have all of our original employees except for one. Our team is amazing. They are kind to each other. We are a family and everyone helps each other out. When your employees love each other so much that they hang out when work is over you know you've got a good team.

View previous Profiles

	Events

	September 9-15 September 10-15 -- Fred Weiser at the Townsend Visitors Center September 10 -- SOLIDWORKS September 10 -- Public Stewards of Children training September 10 -- Appalachian Dulcimer Civil War Songs Class September 10 -- Our Appalachia Class - A Short History of Travel in Appalachia September 10 -- Garden Series: Preparing for a Fall Garden and Putting your Garden to Bed September 11 -- Knoxville 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb September 11 -- Groundbreaking for Clayton-Bradley Academy Upper School September 12 -- CBBC Bank/Alcoa High School - Ribbon Cutting September 12 -- Basic Digital Photography Class September 13 -- Industrial FANUC 6 Axis Robotics Class September 13 -- PCS Lunch and Learn September 13-15 -- Ford Truck Show September 14 -- Dancing Bear Bike Bash September 14 -- Smart Bicycling Traffic Skills 101: Ages 16 and Up September 14 -- Return To Downton Abbey Tea September 14 -- Bear Necessities September 15 -- "Gotta Tri" Kids Triathlon September 15 -- Slow Food Tennessee Valley Pesto Festo September 16-22 September 16 -- Women in Business September 17 -- Power Connect Lunch September 17-19 -- Paulette Miller, Tammy and Dan Schlosser at the Townsend Visitors Center September 19 -- 7th Annual Blount Award honoring Dr. Reverend Willa Estell September 19 -- Wynonna & The Big Noise September 20-21 -- Barbara and James Dull at the Townsend Visitors Center September 20 -- CAM Cabin Crafts Fall Craft Fair September 20 -- United Way of Blount County Music Fest Save the Date September 26 -- Coffee Club sponsored by United Way of Blount County October 10 -- Afternoon Mixer at Epic Nine October 15 -- How to Maximize Your Membership October 22 -- Network Training Class with Raeus Cannon /div> You can access the Bount County Chamber events calendar here or the community calendar here.

	Premier and Presidential Partners