This Week At The Chamber

Tuesday, February 14 – Blood Drive
There will be a blood drive from 12 noon to 6 pm at First Baptist Church

Thursday, February 16 – Business After Hours
Please join us Thursday from 4 pm to 5:30 pm at the FSHS Career & Technical Center for a Business After Hours. See first-hand how the students perform in various areas. Enjoy refreshments made by the students, see examples of products manufactured by an award winning welding class and much more. Show support for our local school system and our students by attending this Business After Hours.

Friday, February 17 & Monday, February 18 – Chamber Office Closed
The Chamber office will be closed this Friday as well next Monday for painting.

Other News:

Community Wide Survey
Several members of our community have been appointed to the Barren River Community Health Planning Council. They have requested that you please participate in the quick survey and help them be more effective on this health planning counsel. They are seeking 1,200 completed surveys from Simpson County so please distribute this request throughout your organization. The opinions that you and hundreds of your neighbors provide in this survey will be compiled into a report by the Barren River District Health Department. You can view the survey report in April, 2012 at www.barrenriverhealth.org. Our Health Planning Council will use this information to improve local health care services and policies related to the Priority Health Issues above. Your privacy is important. Individual answers will not be shared. An external link will follow the survey for you to submit contact information to be entered in a drawing for a $100 gift card. Thanks for your valuable help! Survey Link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/brcommunitysurvey

A NOTE FROM STEVE:

Chamber Members, On more than one occasion I have mentioned Operation Preparation, a mentoring session where local business people will meet, one on one with an 8th grader or a 10th grader for a 20 to 30 minute session. I am sad to say our community has not responded to this request from the school system. The goal was to have volunteers to cover 400 units, a unit being a session with the student. Lately, the school system has been a big topic in our community with many expressing opinions about what should be done. While the current interest in our school system is wonderful, interest without action does no one any good. Robin Hollingsworth at Community Education is spearheading this program and needs volunteers. PLEASE, if you can spend a morning volunteering to help, you, in one morning could account for as many as 8 units, thereby helping us achieve the 400 volunteers we are looking for. As things stand now, the high school will have to rely on teachers to do this during their planning period. With ACT right around the corner and AP testing less than three months away, the time the teachers must take out of their schedule to volunteer as members of the community is not productive. Due to the current designation, teachers have more paperwork and more planning to do as they prepare to teach. This is a burden we can take off of them if we are only willing to put action to our words. If you truly care about the school system as many have expressed, now is the time for us to step up as a community. Call Robin at Community Education at 586-3809 or me at the Chamber at 586-7609 and VOLUNTEER TODAY. Our future is in our children, now is the time for us to guarantee a successful future.

Community Health Fair

Please mark your calendars for the F-S Chamber of Commerce Community Health Fair, presented by The Medical Center at Franklin, on Saturday, March 3 from 7:30 am to 11:30 am at the F-S Middle School Gym. Last year, screenings valued at over $600 were provided by more than 30 different organizations. All of these screenings were free of charge. Booths are available at a cost of $100 for businesses and $50 for non-profits.

Chamber of Commerce Gift Certificates & Cookbooks

The Chamber still has a few of the Franklin Favorites Cookbooks available. They make great gifts. The cookbooks are filled with over 400 recipes from the best cooks in Simpson County. The cookbooks are 12.95 plus tax for Chamber members and 14.95 plus tax for all others. Stop by the Chamber and pick up your cookbook today.


Chamber of Commerce Gift Certificates
Make Christmas shopping easier this year by using Chamber of Commerce Gift Certificates. The certificates can be purchased in any denomination and can be used at over 40 participating Chamber merchants. Accepted at gift shops, restaurants, grocery stores and many other merchants, the certificates are a perfect gift for anyone on your list…and allows the money to stay in Simpson County. (Gift Certificates are available only at the Chamber Office.)

If your business is not a participant and you are interested in participating in the Chamber of Commerce Gift Certificate program, please give us a call at 586-7609.

To view the participating member list, click here.