MAY 2006 NEWSLETTER
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MAY MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Our monthly membership meeting will be held on Thursday May 4^th at 8am at the Mt Airy Fire Hall (corner of Watersville Rd and Main St, park at the rear/lower level and enter through the back doors).In our continuing experimentation with our introductions, three members will have the opportunity to give five minute presentations. These three had their business cards drawn at our April meeting: Tamarah Clarke, Jeanne Bussard Center; Harry Johnson, AFLAC; Amy Green-Phillips, Acupuncture Center of Mt Airy.

SPEED NETWORKING EVENT

Our first speed networking event will be held on May 9^th, 7:30am - 9:30am. The event will be run a little different than any other exchange we have had. Adventure Park USA will be hosting the event, Costco Wholesale will be providing breakfast and Jeannie Bussard will be running the exchange.Please RSVP to Leslie Brenneman at w330mbr@costco.com or (301) 644-1483.Here's how it works.....Everyone will be assigned a table upon arrival, each table will consist of 5-8 members, once we are all seated you will be given 1 min each to talk about your business, then everyone will get up and move to new tables with different members and do the same thing over again. This will happen 3-5 different times depending on time constraints. So work on your elevator speech for this event, you will need it! If you would like to enjoy breakfast and mingle before-hand please arrive 15 min early. We would like to start at 7:30am. [Leslie Brenneman, Costco]

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR

Our next seminar - "Guerilla Marketing" for Small Businesses will be held on Tuesday, May 16, 2006, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Mount Airy Senior Center, 703 Ridgeville Avenue (above the Library).The workshop is FREE to Chamber members. To register, please (410) 386-8012 or email mtitus@carrollcc.edu.[Professional Development Committee chair, Marlene Titus, Carroll Community College]

BUSINESS CARD EXCHANGE - TUESDAY MAY 23^rd

Our next Business Card Exchange will be held Tuesday May 23^rd from 4-7pm hosted by Lorien Mt Airy Assisted Living on Midway Ave. This card exchange will be co-hosted by Watkins Limousines, Paradise Title and The Catherine Ditman Group.

[Social Committee Chairs: Ray Miller, Re/Max Realty & Leslie Brenneman, Costco]

BUSINESS FAIR 2006

The third annual Discover Mount Airy Business Fair was held Saturday April 29^th at the Carnival Grounds and was a great success.Over 300 people visited the 69 business exhibitors and enjoyed a wide range of activities and entertainment.Dozens of doors prizes were given away as well as the grand prize of a $1,500 grill from Costco. A total of $297 was raised for the MAYAA fields fund.Thank you to our exhibitors and sponsors for supporting this event and to the entire Business Fair committee and volunteers for all their hard work and dedication to this venture.[Business Fair Committee Chair Archie Rogers of Rogers Engraving + Stamps]

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

The following five businesses joined the Chamber in April:Arbonne International, Diana Hemphill, 410-652-7983Folb Builders. Jeff Folb, 301-831-5298PMR Enterprises, Patricia Bragg, 410-259-8262Premier Safety Solutions, Mike & Donna Stecker, 301-829-2416Sandy Spring Bank, James Scales, 1-800-399-5919 x6779Membership is currently 275 members.[Membership Chair and Member Emeritus Audrey Stapf].

CANDIDATE FORUM

The Greater Mt Airy Chamber of Commerce and the Mount Airy Gazette sponsored the Mount Airy Candidate Forum, Tuesday, April 18^th at Parr's Ridge Elementary School Cafeteria.The Forum featured candidates for Mount Airy Mayor and Town Council. More than 120 people attended.

CARD EXCHANGE REPORT

A Business Card Exchange was held at the Mealey’s Restaurant on April 25^th. The event was co-hosted by Rogers Engraving + Stamps and Rouchard Lawnscapes who also provided several door prizes for the more than 50 people in attendance (including seven guests).The food and refreshments were excellent (obviously!) and we would like to thank our hosts and sponsors for putting on such a successful event.

CHAMBER FOLDERS

The Greater Mt Airy Chamber of Commerce now has pocket folders available for all members to use. The glossy folders include four interior sheets: committee descriptions, Chamber events, leadership and an application form.Thank you to the Ambassador Committee for all their hard work in bringing this project to fruition.

PARR’S RIDGE SCOREBOARD

The scoreboard at the Parr’s Ridge Elementary school gymnasium has been installed! The scoreboard features a large plaque with the name "Greater Mt Airy Chamber of Commerce".The $5,000 for this project came directly from proceeds from the 2005-06 Mount Airy Phone Book.An official ribbon cutting ceremony is being planned for later in the year.

GET INVOLVED ­ JOIN A COMMITTEE!

If you would like to become more involved in Chamber activities, we welcome you to join one of our committees. The list of committees can be seen at www.mtairybusiness.com/leadership.htm Alternatively, please contact Chamber President Carol Cahall of The Main Event at 30-829-4444, or any of the committee chairs.

INFO TO SHARE?

If you have information you would like to share with other Chamber members – either through the monthly newsletter, the Chamber website, or Yahoo e-mail list – please contact Advertising & Marketing Committee Chair Keir Knight of Plain English Writing & Design at (301) 829-1982 or klknight@pipeline.com

Event Announcement

Event Announcement

First Annual Charity Mini-Golf Tournament8am - Thursday, June 8thAdventure Park USA, New MarketAll Proceeds to Benefit The Jeremy Foundation and The Erik Lerch FoundationFlier / application is on the Chamber website!