Save the Dates: April 7, Business Before Hours, Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce, 7:45-8:45 A.M

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1 Save the Dates: April 7, Business Before Hours, Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce, 7:45-8:45 A.M Page 3 April 9, 2016 Special Needs Day for Special Needs Families, Shiloh Baptist Church 9:30 A.M -1:30 P.M April 10, 2016 FREE Community Event! Horse Whisperer, 8500 Celeste Road, 5 P.M Page 4 April 12, 2016 Monthly Luncheon, Saraland Central Church of Christ, 11:45 A.M Page 3 Inside this Issue: To navigate throughout this newsletter click the pages listed below Page 2 Page 3 President s Perspective Ribbon Cutting Recap April s Luncheon, Business Before Hours Page 5 Page 4 Leadership Saraland Recap, Horse Whisperer Event Page 6 Membership Renewals Business Card of the Month, Nick Dearmon, IET Systems Page 7 Spotlight of the Month BancorpSouth Page 8 Shiloh Baptist Church Event, Business Card ad Information on how to become Business After Hours Page 9 Board of Directors April Calendar Mission Statement Contact Information Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce Mission Statement To Promote economic expansion and enhance the quality of life in the North Mobile Area, by supporting businesses, encouraging community leadership and fostering communication.

2 PAGE Wired Business World Google Places name has changed to Google Maps. Customers find your business on their cell phone by searching for your company name or product. If you don t know what I am talking about, then you soon may be going out of business if you don t get up to speed. Here s what you see on Google Maps. At the top of the page is a map with a red dot showing your location. How many miles your customer is from your business location. Next is the name of your business, address and phone number. Reviews is where your customers can give your business a grade of one to five stars. Don t sleep until you get some five star reviews, so people won t look at your competition at the bottom of the page. Go to Google and search for the Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce, look to the right of the search page for Google Maps, then find Reviews and write a positive review for the Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce. Don t know what to say? Imagine a Spartan Run participate searching for Saraland on the web looking for a reason to come to Saraland, Alabama. What you write may make the difference. Did I mention Google Maps is free? -Ron Mitchell Farmer s Home Furniture Excited to announce that the ribbon cutting on March 10th went well and that Farmer s Home Furniture is now OPEN FOR BUSINESS! Thank you all for allowing us to be a part of your Grand Opening Ceremony! Enjoyed having Kim Holland (Store Owner), Mayor-Dr. Rubenstein, Wendell Sawyer (Landlord of Bayou Sara Shopping Center) and Terry Wigley speak at the Ribbon Cutting! We would like to thank the 2015 Platinum Sponsors of the Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce

3 PAGE Date: April 12, 2016 Time: 11:45 Location: Saraland Central Church of Christ Speaker: Tammy Little This month s luncheon will be held at Central Church of Christ at 11:45 a.m. Prices of the luncheon have increased to $8 if you are a member of the Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce and $10 if you are not a member. Please join us in attending our very first Business Before Hours event! Don t miss the chance for early morning networking, donuts, and coffee! February s Business After Hours is brought to you by:

4 PAGE 4 FREE COMMUNITY EVENT Show your support to College Park Baptist and visit their new property on Celeste Road for the Horse Whisperer event! Leadership Saraland Second class of Leadership Saraland met on March 17, A BIG thank you to Mayor-Dr. Howard Rubenstein for speaking on City Government and Matthew Lambert, City of Saraland Planner speaking on Community Planning/Comprehensive Planning! Discussing The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Jamie Warren and Captain Leroy Smith summed up "The Law of the Lid" and "The Law of Influence". Also, a shout out to Foosackly s for catering, we really enjoyed it. February s Business After Hours is brought to you by: CLASS ATTENDEES Jackie Benson Sharon Campbell Houston Cunningham Peggy Ford Kathie Hatchett Jeff Ludlam Shilo Miller Jeff Schmitz Judi Smith Captain Leroy Smith Jimmy Walker Jamie Warren Kirsten Warren

5 PAGE Saraland Chamber of Commerce Membership Renewals The Board of Directors and staff thank the following businesses for continuing their support of the Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce. Alabama Career Center Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services Alorica Calling Center Caring Hands Home Care Service Don Davis, Probate Judge Howell Printing Company Keith Mosley Construction Masland Carpet Moore Law Firm The Saraland Chamber of Commerce Welcomes our New Members IET Systems, Inc. Mobile Area Educatoin Foundation Reed Publications, Intl. Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce 939 Highway 43 South kirsten@saralandchamber.com shilo@saralandchamber.com Congratulations to this month s Business Card of the Month! Don t forget to submit your business card at the next luncheon for your chance to win a free advertisement in the next Newsletter! Click the business card to visit their website

6 PAGE 6 Spotlight of the Month- BancorpSouth Since 1875, BancorpSouth has met the banking needs of the communities in which we operate. BancorpSouth, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth Inc., operates in more than 300 locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, including an insurance location in Illinois. While BancorpSouth is a large regional bank, it is comprised of community banks close to its customers and the cities and towns it serves and provides all financial services. BancorpSouth chose to locate in Mobile eight years ago to participate in the rich history of the Port City and become part of what we see as an incredibly bright future full of growth and opportunity. The Mobile market provided an opportunity to participate in an area of economic growth second to none in our eight- state footprint, while filling in the missing piece of our other community banks in Montgomery, Birmingham and Huntsville. We now have 28 branches in the state of Alabama, including our two in Mobile and three in Baldwin County. Local Company Officials: Terry Harbin, market president; Hugh White, senior vice president and senior lender; John Hardin, vice president; Phil Domke, senior vice president; James Alexander, vice president; Patrick Ladd, vice president; and Kerry O Connor, community bank president, Baldwin County.

7 PAGE Business After Hours Procedures Hosting Hosting a Business After (or before) Hours is a wonderful opportunity to showcase your business. These events are extraordinary opportunities for our members, and potential members, to get to know each other.we all would rather do business with people that we know and respect. These events provide that venue. As a host, your business will gain additional profile. Our hope is providing these guidelines is to better understand how to get the most out of your Business After Hours. This is a networking opportunity and we encourage attendees to have their business card on hand. However, we do ask that you respect the business hosting the event and keep distribution of your promotional material to a minimum. Suggestions -Know why you want to host this event and articulate that with the Chamber staff. You might want to have as many people as possible at the Business After Hours or you might want to have a more targeted approach to getting a more specific audience to the event. -Business After Hours are often scheduled months in advance. The date is typically the 3 rd Thursday of each month. If you need to change the day, the chances of conflicting with other Chamber/community events increase dramatically. The Chamber tries not to schedule anything on the evening of a Business After Hours but by moving the date, scheduling conflicts become more possible. The networking event s typical hours are 5-7pm. The highest attendance will be from 5:45-6:30. With a Business Before Hours, the typical time period is 7-8:30. Business Before Hours is typically less attended. We do not have a calendar of Business before Hours so any date selected can be approved through the Chamber staff. -Recognize that people seek something to do with their hands. They also seek commonalities through which they can begin a conversation. Serving food often gives folks that option. We can provide you with a list of Chamber member caterers. You want to make this an experience people can remember and talk about in a positive fashion later. The Chamber staff will work with you to determine an approximate number of attendees. -Do something memorable. It m ight be a tour of your facility, or a 5-10 minute talk about what you do or provide an activity for the guests. (If you did the latter, make it no more than 15 minutes). -Provide door prizes it doesn t need to be many but some that might show off your product line/service would be great. The real value of door prizes is you will have the business cards of those that attended the event. You can send out a thank you note, , etc. to those attendees to make the evening more memorable. -Have fun people want to enjoy themselves. Have fun try to make this experience memorable. Try something new. To get a feel for how you want your Business After (or before) Hours to be memorable, go to others through the course of the year to determine what you liked or would change. If you would like your business to sponsor the next Business After Hours event, please contact the Saraland Chamber of Commerce by clicking here.

8 PAGE Promote your Business The Chamber is advertising business cards that are linked directly to your website for both the monthly newsletters and through our website. If you would like to promote your business, please contact the Chamber of Commerce. The cost for advertising your business card is $250 annually. Shiloh Baptist Church Come out to Shiloh Baptist Church and show your support for special needs kids and families! Lunch will be served and games will be played! Don t forget to register at specialneeds@shilohsaraland.com

9 PAGE Chairman of the Board: Rick Schaffer President: Ron Mitchell President Elect: Evelyn Gibson Treasurer: Scooter Thronson CO/VP Administration: Wayne Lyssy VP Membership& Diplomats: Houston Cunningham VP Econ. Development: Jeff Khan VP Community Development: Eddie Holmes VP Governmental Affairs: Bill Silver VP Public Relations: George Burroughs VP Special Projects: Donna Jones Greg Cawthon, Re/Max Gateway Eloise Frost, Individual Member Juanita Chandler, Chandler Properties Dr. Aaron Milner, Superintendent Brian Wilson, Walmart Sheron Atwell, Exit Realty Nick Patel, LaQuinta Inn Terri Pringle, SARPC Anita Clark, C Spire Jeff Schmitz, Alabama Power Bradley Flowers, Alfa Insurance Joel Ross, First Community Bank Jessica Neff, Mediacom Chris Mears, Mears Electric Tom Williams, Satsuma Council Ronnie Outlaw, Bama Auto Parts Del Williamson, Quint s Sporting Goods Chris McFarland, Smoothie King Tammy Little, Shell Chemical Joe Freeman, PNC Bank 5-Woman s Club, 10 am 5-Widowed Persons Service 5-Lion s Club Saraland United Methodist Church, Noon 5-Board of Adjustments Saraland City Courthouse, 6pm 6-Rotary Club of North Mobile Catfish Junction $10pp, Noon 7-Sunshine Club Senior Citizen Center, 11:00am 10-Horse Whisperer Event 8500 Celeste Road, Saraland Al City Council Pre Meeting 12-Widowed Persons Service 12-Monthly Luncheon, Central Church of Christ 11:45 am 12-Planning Commission 13-Rotary Club of North Mobile Catfish Junction $10pp, Noon 14-Sunshine Club Senior Citizen Center, 11:00am 14- Keep Saraland Beautiful Saraland Chamber of Commerce Noon 14-City Council Meeting 16-Disabled Veterans of America Saraland Civic Center, 9am-noon Contact: Tom Williams Widowed Persons Service 19-Lion s Club Saraland United Methodist Church, Noon 20-Rotary Club of North Mobile Catfish Junction $10pp, Noon 21-Sunshine Club Senior Citizen Center, 11:00am Saraland Municipal Annex, 6pm 25-City council Pre Meeting 25-Woodmen of the World 312 Celeste Road Saraland, 6pm 26-Widowed Persons Service 26-Board of Directors Meeting, Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce, 12:00 noon 26-Civic Forum 27-Rotary Club of North Mobile Catfish Junction $10pp, Noon 28-Sunshine Club Senior Citizen Center, 11:00am 28-City Council Meeting G.E.D Classes Monday-Thursday, 9:00 am- 12:00 pm Saraland Civic Center Contact information: James Williams Saraland Quilting Club Monday, Wednesday, & Friday, 1:00 pm Saraland Civic Center All ages & skill levels are welcome Chief J.C. West, City of Saraland Veronica Hudson, City Council If you would like to add an event or monthly organization meeting to the Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce s monthly calendar, please click here to the Chamber. 939 Highway 43 South Saraland, AL kirsten@saralandchamber.com shilo@saralandchamber.com Phone number: Fax number: Connect with us on: If you would like to know how your business can become the next Spotlight Business of the Month, please click here. Saraland Area Chamber of Commerce Mission Statement To Promote economic expansion and enhance the quality of life in the North Mobile Area, by supporting businesses, encouraging community leadership and fostering communication.