CHAMBER NEWS - November 7, 2018

ARKANSAS SMALL BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CENTER DIRECTOR MEETS WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS, TOURS BERRYVILLE

Last Friday I had the privilege to meet the director of Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, Mary Beth Brooks, who came to town to tour Berryville and see for herself all the exciting progress happening here.

I was happy to see once again that Berryville is on the radar of the University of Arkansas's office that offers a whole host of innovative business training and support services. She pledged to provide any workshop materials that the Berryville Chamber needs to help us continue offering informative, relevant training workshops for our Chamber members, and she summed up her visit by saying: "I had a fantastic visit to Berryville. It is great to see a town where the mayor, the Chamber and the Economic Development Director are all singing off the same page and are laser-focused on the growth of your great town."

She added: "It’s interesting to me because you and I really have the same mission. Our Center provides consulting, workshops and research to assist small business to launch, grow, transition and innovate. We are an outreach of the University of Arkansas and we are partially funded by the Small Business Administration so we are able to provide our services for free. Supporting business --- it’s what we do."

Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney said of her visit: "I am impressed that another official from UA would take time out from her busy schedule to come to Berryville to see for herself the innovative ways we are building our workforce from the ground up. Mary Beth showed a genuine interest in the Carroll County students participating in our C4 Program. I think she was impressed by the business climate we are building here. We appreciate Cornerstone Bank president Jason Tenant in arranging Mary Beth Brooks’ visit to our community."

Chris Claybaker, director of the city's economic development department, described the visit by Brooks as signalling that a new era of economic progress is now dawning in Berryville.

"First, the visit here from the Vice-Chancellor of Economic Development of the University of Arkansas, and now a visit from the director of the UA Small Business Development and Technology Center, demonstrates the UA’s commitment to extending the benefits of the university beyond the campus walls in Fayetteville," he said. "Allowing us to partner with the SBD&TC and the Berryville Chamber’s Business Development Workshop series will help further our economic development goal to “Grow our Own.”

"I’m really excited about UA’s outreach into our community. Combine that with NorthArk’s recent opening of a full-fledged satellite campus in Berryville and it spells good economic development news for Carroll County," Claybaker said.

Jason Tenant was joined by James Myatt of the Berryville Branch of Cornerstone Bank, who has been so helpful in providing the Berryville Chamber with free workshop space which allows us the chance to provide free business training to all our members. Here are a few of the photos of Mary Beth Brooks' visit:

SPEAKING OF WORKSHOP TRAINING IN BERRYVILLE...

DON'T MISS OUT! ATTEND OUR FREE SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP TOMORROW, THURSDAY, NOV. 8TH -- We are excited to host another free workshop for Berryville Chamber members tomorrow. Crystal Lyle, an incredible website creator and social media expert, will present on the basics of effective social media management. Some of the things she will cover is finding your voice, what to post, business etiquette for social media, plus simple tips and tricks for success. The title of this free workshop is "The Fundamentals of Effective Social Media Management" We are so happy to have her share her great ideas and practical training with us. She has prepared a PowerPoint slideshow and there will handouts available.

This workshop will be held in the downstairs meeting room at Cornerstone Bank in Berryville. It will run from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 8th. Attendees are encouraged to park in parking lot behind Cornerstone Bank. There are only a few seats still available for you to attend this workshop, available on a first-come, first-served basis. So call today to reserve your spot in this powerful, practical workshop that you can attend and put the know-how into action as soon as you complete this free workshop! Call us at (870) 423-3704, or email the Berryville Chamber Office right now at info@berryvillechamber.com

MERCY CLINIC IN GREEN FOREST

Mercy Re-Opens Green Forest Clinic -- Last Thursday, Nov. 1st there was a blessing ceremony and an open house at the Mercy Clinic Family Medicine in Green Forest. It was held at 10 a.m. at the clinic which is located at 100 Medical Circle, Green Forest. Refreshments were served at the open house which celebrated the re-opening of the clinic in the local community. Mercy officials, clinic staff, local Green Forest officials and a local doctor were introduced to the community and spoke at the event. Photos of the event are shown below:

Photos from the

CARROLL COUNTY HEALTH UNIT
HOSTED THE NOVEMBER
'FIRST FRIDAY COFFEE'

Below Lisa Holt of the Carroll County Health Unit in Berryville is shown introducing the staff at her office last Friday, as attendees of the November 'First Friday Coffee' learned about the wide range of services that the Health Unit now offers to local residents. The second photo shows Lisa presenting Donna Hodges with door prize drawn during the event. The monthly coffee is held at 8 a.m. on the first Friday of each month, and continues to be a popular networking event for Berryville Chamber members.

FEATURED MEMBER OF THE MONTH

Allen Squires Law, PLLC was selected our November 'Featured Chamber Member of the Month' at last week's 'First Friday Coffee' in Berryville. The firm's primary business services include legal services. Areas that they focus on are included on their website www.allensquireslaw.com.

They are located at 105 S. Springfield Street, Berryville, Arkansas. Their phone number is (870) 423-4630.

Dawn Allen has provided professional services to Berryville and Carroll County for almost 20 years. She opened her law practice in 2011 which Tyler eventually joined to form Allen Squires Law, PLLC in April 2016. They celebrated their grand opening at their current location in January 2017.

Dawn has been an active member of the Greater Berryville Area Chamber of Commerce for how many years: Allen Squires Law, PLLC joined in 2017

They are both very active in civic/community outreach. Dawn has served in the following organizations:

Kiwanis Club of Berryville - Officer
Ozark Guidance Board of Directors
Loaves and Fishes Food Bank of the Ozarks - Officer

Tyler A. Squires has served in these organizations:

Berryville Chamber Board of Directors
Berryville Lions Club - Officer

Dawn is licensed as both a CPA and an attorney in Arkansas and Missouri. The firm's attorneys are also licensed in multiple jurisdictions. Dawn is licensed in Arkansas and Missouri and Tyler is licensed in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

"We were both raised as members of the community and are happy to be able to continue to live in Berryville and provide services here," Tyler said. "We are greatly honored to be the first 'Member of the Month' for the Berryville Chamber of Commerce."

If you'd like the opportunity to be selected as a 'Featured Chamber Member of the Month' make sure you join us at our monthly 'First Friday Coffee' networking events. We choose a business card at random to reward one of those in attendance at our great monthly networking events, and the winner gets a free business showcase in 'Chamber eNews'

Bright Futures Assist Berryville Students, Families -- Our town is full of amazing people who give freely of their time to ease the lives of others. One of those groups is Bright Futures in Berryville. This past Saturday I had the honor to work side by side with them, providing a free "Wash Day" for local students and their families at a local laundromat, where they provided free laundry soap, fabric softener and hundreds of dollars in quarters to wash clothing, bedding, rugs -- anything that families needed. Here are a few of the members of Bright Futures Berryville who deserve our hearty congratulations for another job well done. Tell them how much you appreciate what they do for others when you see them around town!

Here are just some of the volunteers who make a positive impact in our community by volunteering for Bright Futures Berryville:
Top picture (from left to right):
Janice McKelvey, Brenda Norris, Linda Winkle, Anna Summers, Lacey Powell
Bottom Picture (from left to right):
Mindy Hicks, Karson Casey, Jamie Casey, Heather Lehr

These people make our town better and I'm proud of each and every one of them and what they do to touch lives and make a difference in our community! Learn more about Bright Futures Berryville by visiting their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BrightFuturesBerryville/

Purvis Named Vice President Facilities Director and Special Assets/Appraisal Coordinator

Our congratulations to George Purvis who was recently promoted to the position of VP/Facilities Director and Special Assets/Appraisal Coordinator for Cornerstone Bank, according to Jason F. Tennant, President and Chief Lending Officer, Cornerstone Bank.

Tennant stated: “George has been an asset and ambassador for our bank as he has shown his commitment and is most deserving of this promotion.”

Purvis has been with Cornerstone Bank since 2006. He started his career with the bank’s deposit services area. He then moved to the bank’s Lending Department, where he was named Assistant Vice President/Consumer Lender. He joined the bank after graduation from Arkansas State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. He also was graduated from the Graduate School of Banking in Colorado is 2014.

Purvis is a native of Eureka Springs and graduated from Watson Chapel High School. He has been very active in the area as a civic leader, with terms on the Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce Board, ECHO, and the Carroll County Community Foundation. He currently is serving on the Executive Council for the 2018-19 Emerging Leaders Council for the Arkansas Bankers Association, and will be the incoming President of the Council. He and his wife, Danielle, live in Eureka Springs with their son, Miles.

Princess Ball Is Great Success -- The Rotary Club hosted the inaugural Princess Ball last Saturday night, and the crowd had a great time. Here are just a few of the photos of this community event:

Biz Tips:

"How Brainstorming Can Help You and Your Team Find New Ideas To Improve Your Business"

The purpose of brainstorming isn't just to list ideas, but rather to bounce these ideas off each other. There needs to be feedback and a selection process to narrow your list down and select only the right workable ideas that will move your organization forward. Two important steps in brainstorming that help you accomplish this objective include:

Evaluating Your Ideas

Decide how many ideas you need to generate
Decide to select a handful for post-brainstorm feedback and evaluation
Evaluate based on a few criteria
Think feasibility
Carry out some research as part of the process

Building on Existing Ideas

Ways to build on existing ideas might include:
- Having groups members add to other members’ ideas
- Adding twists to old ideas
- Combining two ideas
- Separating ideas into parts
Ideas don’t need to be set in stone
You can also alter ideas you already have

We are developing a new online e-course for members of The Greater Berryville Area Chamber of Commerce that will help you get the most out of utilizing the power of brainstorming and uncover new ideas to take your business to the next level. Stay tuned as we roll out this new exclusive online tool for our members next month.

In the meantime, check out some of these online tools we’ve listed below that can help you explore the power of brainstorming.

Brilliant Brainstorming Techniques With
Online Tools & Resources

Mind Mapping Tools

Freemind

Xmind

bubbl.us

MindMup

Mind Meister

Mind 42

Text2mind map

MindMap Free

MindMaple

Coggle

SpiderScribe

Popplet

Groupmap

Mindomo

Wisemapping

Freeplane

MindApp

DON'T FORGET... THE CHRISTMAS PARADE COMING TO BERRYVILLE DEC. 1ST!

(Photo courtesy of David Bell)

The 2018 Christmas Parade in Berryville is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1st. You can download the entry form by clicking here

Want more info? Click here to get all the details on our website.

HONORING THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED
Thanks to all who have served to protect our freedoms, as well as the families and all citizens who support our troops. Tell a vet "Thank You For Your Service!" sometime this coming Veteran's Day.

And once again, please don't forget to check out all the messages and special announcements posted by other Chamber Members as well as our updated calendar of events for what's happening locally during November.

We want to thank you so very much for sharing the news we've added in every issue of 'Chamber eNews' ... we do appreciate it! We're seeing more readers download our free e-newsletter with each passing week.

Please continue to share us to your social media pages, and invite your friends and associates to subscribe to our free weekly e-newsletter. It's free, and everyone can subscribe; you don't need to be a member of the Berryville Chamber to get 'Chamber eNews' in your inbox every week. Please e-mail us anytime with news and any suggestions you have on how we can make our weekly e-newsletter better.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,
Steve Johnson
info@berryvillechamber.com