January 2007 Newsletter
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JANUARY MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Our monthly membership meeting will be held on Thursday January 4th 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).

We will have our usual hour of introductions, committee reports, discussions of new and old business – plus an officer election (see below).

Remember that minutes of all our monthly meetings can be found on the Chamber website at www.mtairybusiness.com

Every month members also get to see all the advertising, newspaper coverage and correspondence for the past month.

NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION

We will be holding a New Member Orientation immediately following our regular January meeting. All new members are invited, and our invitation extends to any interested Chamber member regardless of your length of membership.

We will begin the orientation meeting by 9.15am, and will adjourn by 10am. You will hear about the many benefits of Chamber membership, and all your questions will be answered. Refreshments will be served. We are looking forward to seeing you!

[Ambassador Committee Chair Ellie Bonde, Blossom & Basket Boutique].

MEMBERSHIP REPORT

The following 7 businesses joined in December:

Fairbanks Printing, Inc.

Illuminations Massage and Healing Therapies.

KCH Business Solutions, Inc.

Lane & Sons Painting, Inc.

Re/Max Realty Group/Run With The Stallions.

Signature VA Services.

Smart Dog University, LLC.

We have 182 members signed up for 2007. If you were waiting until the new budget year to send in your 2007 dues please don’t forget! Applications are on the website or call me at 301-831-5885.

[Membership Committee Chair Dennis Emerson, Sherman Emerson Insurance.]

PHONE BOOK UPDATE

The countdown to the new 2007 Mount Airy Phone Book is well underway.

Detailed information and application forms are available on the website – the deadline for applications is Friday February 16th.

All advertisers from the 2005 Book (plus new businesses that opened since then) will receive a 5% discount. All display advertisers will receive a $95 credit if they join the Chamber for 2007.

For additional information please contact Keir Knight at (301) 829-1982 or by e-mail phonebook@mtairybusiness.com

OFFICER ELECTION

As announced at the December 7, 2006 membership meeting, the re-election of our president Carol Cahall, for a second term, means that there is a vacancy on the Board of Directors.

That position would normally be held by the Past President. The By Laws provide that in that instance, an AT LARGE position on the Board of Directors should be filled by election of an eligible member.

We are accepting nominations for this AT LARGE director position between now and the next regular membership meeting scheduled for January 4, 2007. So far we have one (1) nominee for this position. If you are interested in nominating someone, please contact either myself (301-829-3146) or Keir Knight (301-829-1982) prior to the meeting date.

If no one else is nominated we plan to have a voice vote at the aforementioned meeting, for the one nominee that has volunteered to run for the position.

[Bob Cage, Hippocratic Systems, Chairman Nominating Committee]

CHAMBER WEBSITE

The new Member Listings page on the Chamber website is up and running - featuring searchable listings and categorized listings. These new pages feature all the members who have re-joined for 2007.

Now is a great time to send in your member profile!

We are also looking for sponsors for the site – if you are interested in signing up as a sponsor please contact Keir Knight at (301) 829-1982 or by e-mail klknight@pipeline.com

COMMUNITY EXPO 2007

The 2007 Mt. Airy Chamber Community Expo will be held on April 21, 2007,
11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at the Mt. Airy Volunteer Fire Co.'s Activities
Grounds.

Register today as one of sponsors or exhibitors by visiting our website at
www.mtairybusiness.com/expo2007 and mail it with your check by
March 23, 2007, to Filomena Thompson c/o The Greater Mt. Airy Chamber of
Commerce, Community Expo, P.O. Box 15, Monrovia, MD 21770.

[Expo Committee Chair, Filomena Thompson, Events Made Simple]

DROP-IN NETWORKING LUNCHES

This program from the Ambassadors Committee is an informal meeting of Chamber members and guests - meeting at Noon every second Tuesday.

On Tuesday, January 9th, at 12 Noon, interested chamber members (and friends) are welcome to come to the New York J&P Pizza, Mt. Airy location, for an opportunity to meet other members and share their business information.
A special menu will be available for the Chamber group, with a fixed price, to include taxes, and gratuity.

On Tuesday, February 13th, we'll meet at 12 Noon at the Olive Leaf, in the Twin Arch Shopping Center.

Information on these and future lunches will be posted to the website at www.mtairybusiness.com/dropinlunches

SPEED NETWORKING EVENT

A speed networking event will be held on Thursday February 8th, 8 - 9.30am. Adventure Park USA will be hosting the event – they are located on West Baldwin Rd, New Market.

Please RSVP to Leslie Brenneman at w330mbr@costco.com or (301) 644-1483.

If you didn’t attend our event last year, 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 8am. [Leslie Brenneman, Costco]

SECOND E-MAIL LIST

The new Chamber e-mail group "mtairybusinessgeneral" is now live.

Unlike the main group, this new group is not moderated and members
are free to post anything related to their own business or to the
local business community in general.

To view messages posted to the group, or to join, please visit:
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/mtairybusinessgeneral/
An edited digest of postings is submitted to the main e-mail group once a week.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Keir Knight at (301) 829-1982 or klknight@pipeline.com

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.

The folders are available at all Chamber events and meetings – or by contacting Ambassadors Committee Chair Ellie Bonde of the Blossom & Basket Boutique at (301) 831-0010.

They are perfect to use to introduce potential members to the Chamber.

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 lists – please contact Advertising & Marketing Committee Chair Keir Knight of Plain English Writing & Design at (301) 829-1982 or klknight@pipeline.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!