February B2B
Wed., Feb 13, 2013, 11:30 am
Chamber Community Room
Host Sponsor:  Shane’s Rib Shack

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Topic:  Business Planning: What Sunday Night Football Can Teach You on Monday Morning

Join us for the February B2B and find out why:

• Business plans should be like a football playbook: clear and contingent
• Like football players, businesses fail because they ignore the fact that they are replaceable
• Football does a better job than most businesses of actually executing strategy
• Achieving your goals requires discipline

2012 Small Business of the Year Awards – Nomination Form

Objective: To recognize and honor small businesses who have demonstrated exemplary planning, operations and community involvement.

Qualifying Criteria: Businesses may nominate themselves or another business for the Small Business of the Year Award.

To qualify the following criteria must be met:

• Must be a current chamber member for a minimum of 1 year
• Business in operation for a minimum of three years
• Must be a for-profit business
• Business has not won this award in the past three years
• 1-50 employees
• Each qualifying business will receive an application which must be completed and returned to the chamber by Friday, December 28, 2012.

Judging Criteria:
• Sound business performance
• Business growth
• Economic impact
• Chamber and civic involvement

Deadlines:
Nominating Deadline –Friday, December 7, 2012
Application Deadline – Friday, December 28, 2012

The selection committee will review all nominations that have been received by the nominating deadline (Dec. 7th) to ensure they meet the criteria. Each qualifying nominated business will receive an application to be completed for consideration for the Small Business of the Year Award.

The 2012 winner will be announced at the Fayette Chamber Annual Meeting & Awards Luncheon, on Friday, January 18, 2013 at Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center in Peachtree City.

NOMINATION FORM (please print & complete)

The chamber’s monthly Business After Hours is networking at its best in a casual, relaxed environment at the host sponsor’s location.

What are the benefits of hosting a Business After Hours? The Business After Hours event will bring approximately 100 chamber members to your business for this prime networking opportunity.  The host sponsor is recognized in pre and post-event promotions and has the opportunity to present a 2-3 minute business promo at the event.  Other promotional opportunities include: opportunity to give away promotional items, display company banner, display promotional materials, and have access to the attendee list.

How do I become a host sponsor? We invite any member who is interested to participate in the lottery drawing to be held at the November Business After Hours.  Interested members must register for the drawing by November 13th and a representative from your organization must attend the November Business After Hours in order to be selected.   Winners will have an opportunity to select the month of their Business After Hours based on the order in which they were drawn (i.e. the first winner will have the first selection).

How much does it cost? The cost for a Business After Hours Host Sponsorship is $500.  The host sponsor also must provide the location, food and beverage for the event.

If you’d like to participate in the lottery drawing, send an email to Sarah at Info@FayetteChamber.org by Tuesday, November 13th.

Tea & Talk is a new collaborative interest group created by the chamber to bring non-profits together to share and grow. The group consists of organizations run by 1 or 2 volunteers to those run by large staffs with significant budgets.  Led by Linda North of Little League Baseball and Softball and Boni Blackstone of 92.5 The Bear, Tea & Talk provides a forum for discussions, networking and sharing resources.

In addition to learning from each other, nonprofit representatives benefit by attending meetings that focus on subjects of particular interest to them:

At the kickoff meeting in April, Darryl Edwards of FocalPoint Coaching discussed “Into the Future.”  In May, the focus was “Marketing and Media,” with guest  speakers Chris Madrid of CAF Dixie Wing, who talked about media partnerships, and Carole Marsh of Gallopade International, whose topic was “Preparing Your Message.”  “How to Make a Great First Impression” was the subject of the recent June meeting:  Darryl Edwards returned to discuss “How to Get Your Foot in the Door,” and Jim Mothorpe of Capital Investment Companies addressed the group on “How to Develop a 60-Second Pitch to Make You Stand Out.”

Tea & Talk functions as a support group and encourages non-profit representatives to step out into the business community by participating in chamber activities.  Through chamber networking, they are able to form partnerships and liaisons which help their organizations grow. Chamber staff can help the non-profits tailor their participation in order to gain the maximum return on their chamber investment. Meetings are planned for July (grant writing) and August.   For more information on Tea & Talk, contact the chamber at 770.461.9983.

Non-Profit (Community Outreach) Members

The Fayette Chamber has announced plans to move to Waterfall, a destination property owned by Chick-fil-A founder, Truett Cathy.  The Waterfall center is located on the corner of Ga Highway 54 and Grady Avenue in Fayetteville.  The chamber’s facility at this new location will allow the chamber to expand and meet its needs for additional meeting and office capacity.  In addition to office space, the chamber’s facility at Waterfall will include a large community room which can serve up to 120 people, and a café area for local entrepreneurs, businesses and community representatives to meet.

“The chamber is so excited to be a part of Mr. Cathy’s vision for Waterfall,” relates Chamber President & CEO Virginia Gibbs.  “The space will accommodate the growth of our membership, and provide the chamber with a prime location that is easily accessible to businesses and the community.”  Chamber 2012 Board Chair Peggy Thomas continues, “The decision to move to this beautiful site comes at a perfect time for us.  As the chamber continues its focus on preparing Fayette for the future, being a central part of this growing area will help us carry out our mission to help our community thrive.”

The Waterfall center will be true to its name, with a large arc-shaped waterfall to be designed and constructed on the corner of the project.   Along with the chamber offices,  the Waterfall center will accommodate professional offices such as doctors, dentists and attorneys with space for one restaurant which is designed to be the only retail offering.  With a convenient location at the gateway to Fayetteville, the property is envisioned by Mr. Cathy to be a destination and a showplace for Fayetteville.

The chamber’s move is scheduled for late 2012.

Hot Tips & Cool Tools for Online Marketing
Wed., July 11, 8:30 am – noon
3rd Floor, Chamber
Cost: Members-$49   Non members-$59   Includes Continental Breakfast

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This 3-hour workshop presented by the SBDC will cover the latest tips and tools for SEO, social media and online advertising.  Come explore new ways to combine SEO and social media, use games to increase customer engagement, and make your marketing mobile.