Chamber Partners
President’s Perspective
Fort Lee CMC MMFI. Make Me Feel Important. That wa was the message from Patrick Henry, th the talented speaker—er, singer—at the Ch Chamber’s recent Annual Dinner. Whether yo you’re a barista at Starbuck’s or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you should en envision “MMFI” on the forehead of every cu customer and employee. To paraphrase th the famous Virginia patriot of the same na name, the message of speaker-singer Pa Patrick Henry could also be “Give Me Empathy or Give Me De Death (of a Salesman)!” An underlying theme of Patrick’s was perseverance. For ten years, he lived his dream as a professional songwriter and musician in talent-rich Nashville. To keep up with his “really great” co-performers, he began crafting stories in addition to writing songs. He persevered and, as those at the Annual Dinner can attest, is a really great business speaker-singer-motivator. Calvin Coolidge famously said that “nothing in the world
can take the place of perseverance.” That was true for Patrick, and is true now—in business and in all other areas of life. In my previous President’s Perspective message, I wrote about the parallels between this past Boston Marathon and the Chamber. I said that they were both about perseverance, and urged us to stay the course. Since then, the Boston Marathon invited every runner who was unable to finish the 2013 race due to the bombings, to come back in 2014. The vast majority of those 5,633 runners immediately vowed to return and finish the race. Talk about perseverance. The Boston Marathon takes place on “Patriots’ Day.” Patrick Henry would be proud. This is my last message as your president. I am grateful to all of you for the opportunities that I have had. From what I have seen and learned, I am bullish about business in Hopewell, Prince George, and the entire community. Have a wonderful holiday season, and best wishes for 2014. Stefan Calos, Chamber President
(Civilian Military Council)
Annual Dinner Committee Breaks Tradition Even though the dinner meeting was held on Thursday, October 10, at the traditional venue: the Lee Club on the Ft. Lee campus, the presentation was something breaking tradition from the usual serious Chamber meeting. It was funny, musical and heart-warming. Interspersing his talk with songs and laugh-out-loud stories, Henry connected with his audience of 277 diverse business leaders, elected officials and community partners during his 30-minute presentation on customer service. “People want to do business with friends - people they like, people they trust,” he said. “We chose this program because every organization needs exceptional customer service,” said committee member Chris Jones of Stay-Over Storage. HCA John Randolph Medical Center CEO Suzanne Jackson and her team sat with Henry during dinner and each received a signed copy of his book, The Pancake Principle. In a recent meeting with Ms. Jackson she complimented the chamber on the program and showed us her notes in the margin of her copy. During networking the chamber featured the opportunity for face time with special guests: Dr. John Thomas and Nancy Gansneder of The Weldon Cooper Center; Dr. Ted Raspiller,
President John Tyler Community College; David Goode representing FOLAR; Chris Dawson, Alex Salas, Milena Salas representing DreamItDoItVirginia Manufacturing Technology Camp; and Brad Wells of The Wells Group and the Beacon Theatre. To highlight the importance of the hospitality sector to our economy the chamber also featured a Stay-Cation Raffle sponsored by Omni Financial, PART, Baymont Inn & Suites, and Virginia Manufacturers Association. Special thanks to event sponsors: EVB, Care Advantage, Prince George Electric Coop, Old Dominion Electric Coop, City of Hopewell Economic Development Authority, John Randolph Medical Center, Rock-Tenn, CFS, Rolls-Royce, Honeywell, Stay-Over Storage, Community College Workforce Alliance (CCWA), Columbia Gas of Virginia, Evonik Industries, Strosnider Chevrolet, HMA, Timmons Group, CAPUP, Harlan Construction Co., Inc. Also, special thanks to Hopewell resident David Ellis who donated his expertise and his great sound system; and to our amazing publicist, Polly Elmore of PR Works, LLC who keeps our members and our programs in the news.
Prince George Promise
Chamber Partners are a diverse group of organizations, dedicated to ongoing, long-term efforts alongside the Chamber to advance economic prosperity and community excellence.
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