Spring Business Meeting - April 12, 2011

City of Summersville Awarded Business of Excellence Award
By Marianne Taylor

The City of Summersville was the recipient of the 2011 first quarter Business of Excellence Award presented by the Summersville Area Chamber of Commerce at the Spring Business Meeting, held on April 12 at the Summersville Arena & Conference Center. 

“This award honors a business that has demonstrated immense commitment to this community, working to make it a safe and thriving place to live for all its residents,” said Marianne Taylor, Director of the Summersville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Mayor Robert Shafer proudly accepted the award on behalf of the City and its employees.

“I am proud to accept this business award, which signifies the City of Summersville as a business, not as a government agency.  This means the City operates as a business, signifying a fiscal responsibility to its residents,” the Mayor said. 

The Spring Business Meeting began with a welcome from Administrative Assistant, Karen Cherry followed by the invocation said by Dennis Cherry, Director of Missions, Allegheny Association of Southern Baptists.   Dinner included gourmet pizza and salad along with a variety of delicious desserts prepared by Beth Goette of the Celtic Cook. 

Following dinner, Marianne presented a brief overview of Chamber events and projects for the year.   She mentioned the three fundraisers scheduled for the year, including Monte Carlo Night held in February to be followed by a pancake breakfast in June and the 2nd annual golf tournament in the fall.  Projects for the year include a summer reading program for elementary students and the entrepreneurial leadership challenge for high school students to begin in the early fall.   In addition, the Chamber will be awarding a scholarship to a graduating high school student. 

Marianne also spoke about member benefits, including the new and exciting website with opportunities to advertise and link your business as well as Business During Hours, the important monthly networking opportunity.  The weekly newsletter is very popular and a second educational business meeting for members will be held in the fall.

One of the highlights of the evening was guest speaker, Tony Caridi of Pikewood Creative.  He enlightened members about some marketing strategies to enhance their businesses.   Tony referred to Outbound Marketing as the opportunity for business to use such mechanisms as billboards, newspaper, television, and radio to allow customers to learn about business offers and store away for future reference.  He then mentioned Inbound Marketing, which is electronic marketing, using such routes as facebook and twitter.  These are the wave of the future and when used in combination with outbound marketing, can make for a very successful marketing campaign. 

Following the marketing ideas, Tony then spoke about the upcoming season for the WVU football and basketball teams.  He reminded all in attendance that, “It is great to be a Mountaineer, wherever you may be.”

Pam Casto, president of the Summersville Area Chamber of Commerce presented Tony with a gift and thanked members for attending.

“It has been such a pleasure to have Tony Caridi as our guest speaker for the evening.   He has really given us some valuable information to help our businesses improve on marketing campaigns.  We have also had some fun hearing about the Mountaineers from the “Voice of the Mountaineers."

The evening ended with the awarding of several door prizes, donated by Summersville Lake Retreat, Nicholas Pharmacy, and Aaron’s Sales and Lease, as well as the floral centerpieces. 

For more information about the Summersville Area Chamber of Commerce, please visit www.summersvillechamber.com or call 304-872-1588.
 

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