Business Excellence Dinner is tonight at The Casino
Chamber energy program deadline is tomorrow
Chamber Foundation Board meets Wednesday
Executive Committeee to consider change to membership policy
Dairy Day promotion set for Friday in Hollidaysburg
GRYP Summer Kickoff is Friday
Chamber offering resources for small business members
Next Leadership Blair County class forming
Final "Issues" program on healthcare begins this week
Chamber's trip to Ireland: Nine days of fun and history
Dusel wins "Immaculate Reception" photo
Congratulations . . . 

Business Excellence Dinner is tonight at The Casino   The Chamber’s Annual Business Excellence Dinner will be held at The Casino at Lakemont Park tonight beginning with a reception at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. This year the event pays tribute to a longtime leader in the business community – Mike McLanahan of McLanahan Corporation who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Business Excellence. Keynote speaker for the dinner is Michael McGrann, Executive Director of the S. Dale High Center for Family Business at Elizabethtown College . Testimonial comments will be provided by Dick Scholton of S&T Bank, Tim Sissler of Reliance Bank and Dr. C. Scott McLanahan, a pediatric neurosurgeon from North Carolina who is the brother of the honoree. Mike McLanahan is the ninth recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Chamber energy program deadline is tomorrow  

If you’re a member of the Blair County Chamber who’s concerned about the future electrical costs at your business, you have one more day to register for a program provided through The Chamber that will guarantee that you’ll pay less than your utility provider will charge you. The Chamber Energy Program, created through an arrangement with ChamberChoice and OnDemand Energy, currently is serving thousands of customers throughout Pennsylvania where the caps on electricity have already come off. Businesses in the Penelec area are preparing to offset increases that will take place beginning Jan. 1, 2011. To download an Electric Program Enrollment Form, click here.

Chamber Foundation Board meets Wednesday 
When the Blair County Chamber Foundation Board of Directors meets on Wednesday, the agenda will reflect an ongoing theme.  “Like most foundations, we’re seeking whatever monetary donations we can find to assure that our programs can continue to be successful,” offered Cindy Cessna, Foundation Board Secretary/Treasurer.  “We’ve got a good Board with a lot of good ideas.  It’s more a matter of determining what projects make the most sense.”  The Foundation’s primary focus continues to be the Leadership Blair County Youth program.  “There are so many positives to our community from that program that we need to do whatever possible to keep it thriving,” Cessna admitted.  For more information on the Blair County Chamber Foundation, contact Cessna at 943-8151.   

Executive Committee to consider change to membership policy
Should members of the Blair County Chamber who fall more than three months behind in their membership dues continue to be retained at an inactive status or should the membership be discontinued and the business be recruited as a new member?  That’s one of the issues that The Chamber’s Executive Committee will wrestle with at Thursday’s meeting, set for 7:30 a.m. at the Devorris Center.  The membership issue was raised as the result of the growing costs related to database management.  “We make a concerted effort to keep our membership dues from increasing by cutting costs anywhere we can,” remarked Chamber President Joe Hurd.  “Continuing to bill inactive members for sometimes up to two years is costly and time-consuming.  We need to re-evaluate our policy.”     

Dairy Day promotion set for Friday in Hollidaysburg 
The free ice cream sundaes are back! This Friday, The Chamber’s Farm City Committee will once again hold a Dairy Day promotion in front of the Blair County Courthouse from noon until the ice cream runs out. Representatives from the Blair County Dairy Court will be on hand to help committee members serve the sundaes. “Dairy continues to be a huge part of the county’s economy,” noted Stacy Hoover of The Chamber. “Dairy Day provides an opportunity to remind people of that. We’re grateful to our committee for taking the time to help out and to Ritchey’s Dairy for donating the ice cream.”   

GRYP Summer Kickoff is Friday  
The Chamber's Growth and Relationships of Young Professionals group will hold its second annual Summer Kickoff networking event this Friday at the Park Hills Country Club. The event features all-you-can eat and drink food and beverages, live entertainment and tons of door prizes. "The Kickoff is a little more pricey than other GRYP networking events, but with food, drink, live entertainment and the chance of dozens of door prizes, I believe members will get their money's worth," said Mike McMullen of The Chamber. Door rpizes are still coming in, and GRYP is excited to be able to offer some great prizes donated by many Chamber Member businesses. To register, call The Chamber at 943-8151 or register online. The Kickoff is sponsored by Furrer Beverage and Freelance Audio. 

Chamber offering resources for small business members
The Chamber recognizes that many small businesses have a difficult time in things like hiring, regulatory compliance and recordkeeping.  For that reason, the organization has purchased several publications that it is willing to lend to interested Chamber Members. The publications are: Principles of Payroll Administration, Pennsylvania Human Resources Manual, Model Policies and Forms for Pennsylvania Employers, An Employer’s Guide to Employee Benefits, Guide to FMLA and ADA, Employment Verification and Employer’s Guide to Wage and Hour. To borrow a publication, contact Joe Hurd at 943-8151. 

Next Leadership Blair County class forming
The 17th class of The Chamber’s Leadership Blair County Adult program will begin its yearlong journey into servant leadership in September. The application process is taking place now and ending June 30. “We always have a high amount of interest at this time of the year and we still restrict our classes to 24 people,” explained Judy Juda, The Chamber’s Vice-President of Programming & Membership Education. “It’s important that interested people apply as soon as possible so that we can set up interviews.” People may apply online or can secure an application by calling The Chamber at 943-8151. 

Final "Issues" program on healthcare begins this week 
The final of three “Issues” programs on Healthcare Reform, to be broadcast on the Altoona Public Access Channel, will begin showing today and will air every Monday at 11 a.m. and every Tuesday at 9 p.m. throughout the months of June and July. The focus of this third show is on healthcare providers and includes a panel consisting of Christine Cox of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Maureen Frucella of Preferred Healthcare System, David Duncan of Blair Medical Associates, Dr. Zane Gates, and Dr. J. Grant Hormell. Sponsors of the program are: Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Preferred Healthcare System and Young, Oakes, Brown & Company.

Chamber's trip to Ireland: Nine days of fun and history

Ever have the opportunity to spend a night in a medieval castle?  That’s just one of the many great amenities to The Chamber’s first-ever tour of Ireland . The Chamber, in cooperation with Classic Travel and Collette Vacations, has put together a nine-day excursion to the Emerald Isle that will be unsurpassed in fun and excitement. And each day, more and more people are getting the traveling bug. If you’ve always wanted to visit Ireland but didn’t think you could afford it, contact Donna Wilt at 696-3558.  

Dusel wins "Immaculate reception" photo
In order to raise funds to support its adult scholarship program, Leadership Blair County raffled-off an autographed Franco Harris “Immaculate Reception” photo. The beautifully framed photo is 16x20 and includes a certificate of authenticity. At last Thursday’s Leadership Blair County Adult Graduation, the drawing for that photo took place and Barb Dusel, a member of the 2010 graduating class, was the winner. The Chamber thanks everyone who purchased a ticket for their support of LBC. 

Congratulations . . . 
. . . to Word Processing Services, Inc. (WPS) who was the first-place winner of the 2010 Managed Print Services Leadership Award competition, beating-out 53 other companies. 

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