2018 Mar/Apr Connections

Community.

At The Bank & Trust, we believe an exceptional community deserves an exceptional bank! As a locally owned community bank in the Brazos Valley, we will take the time to get to know you and your financial needs while offering superior customer care.

Our bankers are members of the community, just like you. We are also proud members and volunteers of the Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce because, together, we support the businesses that serve our community.

Your continued patronage makes that possible. If you are already our customer, THANK YOU. If you are not, we invite you to become one today.

Call (979) 260-2100 or visit us online at www.banktbt.com.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Crystal Dupre

Chairman

Vicki Reim

Chair-Elect

David O’Neil

Immediate Past Chairman

Jason Cornelius

Vice Chair of Leadership

Tom Wallis

Vice Chair of Finance & Physical Resources

Melanie Motley

Vice Chair of Business Development

Mary Mike Hatcher

Vice Chair of Communications

Phil Shackelford

Vice Chair of Community Enhancement

Grant Graham

Vice Chair of Membership Enhancement

Brad Beard

Ricardo Diaz

David Doss

Gabriel Garcia

Susan Gipson

Bobby Gutierrez

Tracy Kyle

James Larkin

Tai Lee

Sylvia McMullen

Shane Phelps

Jay Primavera

Kori Rich

Travis Rollis

Claudia Smith

Greg Zweiacker

STAFF

President/CEO

Glen Brewer

Community Liaison

Royce Hickman

Manager of Membership

Carrie Archer

Manager of Finance

Tom Tilton

Acting Manager of Business Programs

Jordan Prihoda

Membership Investment

Representative

Brian Miller

Communications Coordinator

Kate Chapman

Communications & Business

Programs Assistant

Katy Jo Richards

Executive Assistant

Bonnie Loehr

Receptionist

Linda Espiriqueta

presidential PERSPECTIVES

Howdy!

We are coming to see you!

That’s right. March 29th is Chamber Day. Thanks to Title Sponsor Brazos County, another Chamber Day is here. Our goals are set high, but we are looking to continue breaking records this year under the leadership of our Chamber Board Chair Crystal Dupre of The Eagle. Your Chamber Day committee wants to hit the streets with 250 volunteers that we will break into smaller groups and pair with a member of law enforcement or the fire department. We will then head out to different locations and try to knock on over 1,500 doors to meet the people running Bryan/College Station business every day.

If we have missed you in the past, or you want to make sure we visit you this year, give us a call at the Chamber and we will make sure that a group makes it to your place of business.

Now looking back, many thanks go out to everyone associated with this year’s Chamber of Commerce Economic Outlook Conference. That includes the volunteer committee that plans the event, the many excellent speakers at the event and all of the 550 attendees to the event! The feedback indicates that this was one of the best conferences we have presented to date.

As I have said before, your Chamber works to achieve our mission of “enhancing the economic well-being of the businesses in the communities we serve” in many different ways. If you have any ideas of how we can continue to develop our mission, please come by the Chamber offices or give me a call at 979-260-5200.

As we celebrate our 100th year we want to continue to improve and grow as we promote business and commerce in our world class community!

Glen Brewer President/CEO

chamber CALENDAR

March 2018

03/08/2018 Business After Hours

Bridal Association of the Brazos Valley

03/16/2018 Crawfish Boil

Brazos County Expo

03/29/2018 Chamber Day 2018

Brazos County Expo

03/29/2018 Business After Hours

Allen Honda

April 2018

04/05/2018 Watercooler 5K

Wolf Pen Creek

04/19/2018 Business After Hours The Ranch Harley-Davidson

04/26/2018 Spring Job Fair Sponsor by Reynolds & Reynolds

04/30/2018 New Member Orientation The Chamber of Commerce

May 2018

05/07/2018 Annual Federal Delegation To Washington, D.C.

05/10/2018 Business After Hours Easterwood Airport

05/31/2018 Business After Hours The Physicians Centre Hospital

2 presidential PERSPECTIVES

4 new MEMBERS

5 business AFTER HOURS

6 volunteer FOCUS

7 b/cs CHAMBER DAY

8 legislative AFFAIRS

9 chamber PROGRAMS

11 chamber PHOTOS

13 ribbon CUTTINGS

Whataburger

Mad TacoCaprock Crossing

Downtown Elixir & Spirits Company

New Inner Circle Members

1451 Wellborn Rd. College Station, TX 77807 (979) 446-5239 www.whataburger.com

1664 Greens Prairie Rd. W College Station, TX 77840 (979) 704-6137 www.madtaco.com

120 S Main St. Bryan, TX 77803 (979) 822-2120 www.lasalle-hotel.com/downtownelixir

Four Downs Sports Bar

700 University Dr. E, Ste. 101 College Station, TX 77845 (979) 324-809 www.facebook.com/fourdownsbcs

Integrity Tax Solutions & Financial Services

The Angry Elephant College Station

HoM Realty

Symetria Recovery

Taco Cabana

Classic Rock Coffee Company Navasota

Balanced Body Works

Mobility Worldwide Brazos Valley

4010 Stillmeadow Dr. Bryan, TX 77803 (979) 492-5508

650 William D. Fitch Pkwy College Station, TX 77845 (979) 704-5110

1716 Briarcrest Dr, Suite 860 Bryan, TX 77802 (979) 232-2017

1651 Rock Praire Rd., Suite 101 College Station, TX 77845 (979) 220-1689

701 Texas Avenue South College Station, TX 77840 (979) 693-1904

129 E Washington Ave. Navasota, TX 77868 (936) 825-4754

11400 State Hwy 30 Suite 202 College Station, TX 77845 (979) 704-5150

2211 Bomber Dr. Bryan, TX 77801 (979) 821-2222

Brazos Transit District

BCS Urban Air LLC

ReconMR

1759 N. Earl Rudder Fwy. Bryan, TX 77803 (979) 778-0607 www.btd.org

1758 Briarcrest Drive Bryan, TX 77802 (281) 620-6612 www.urbanairbryan.com

1103 University Dr. E, Ste. 200 College Station, TX 77840 (512) 757-8102 www.reconmr.com

New Members

M.A.R.C.S.-Manny’s Applicance Repair & Cleaning Service

Marinewife Fitness

Cilantro Mexican Grill

GuardTexas, LP

Regus

Checkpoint Services

A Pineywoods Home Services, Inc.

Garza EMC, LLC

1311 Danville Court College Station, TX 77845 (979) 492-3634

4406 Longthorpe Court College Station, TX 77845 (571) 236-1521

106 N. Parker Avenue Bryan, TX 77801 (979) 704-6751

809 E. University Dr. College Station, TX 77840 (979) 774-7020

1716 Briarcrest Dr.. Ste. 300 Bryan, TX 77802 (979) 691-7150

4120 Rio Bravo Suite 215 El Paso, TX 79902 (915) 581-1185

3608 E 29th St, Ste. 108 Bryan, TX 77802 (979) 704-5044

7708 Rialto Blvd, Ste. 125 Austin, TX 78735 (512) 298-3284

Connections MAR/APR 2018

volunteer FOCUS

Ambassador of the Month

Visit www.bcschamber.org for program details and an Ambassador application or contact carrie@bcschamber.org.

I am extremely honored and thankful to be named Ambassador of the Month. Having been an Ambassador for almost 4 years, a current Ambassador Captain, and a Leadership Brazos alumni, I enjoy representing the chamber through the Ambassador program. Serving the community through the Chamber as an Ambassador has allowed me the privilege of welcoming and building relationships with other key business owners in the area. It is these strong relationships that allow other businesses to confidently refer my company’s services, trusting us to extend their own values.

I am blessed to work at Service Insurance Group who believes in giving back to our community. Being in business for more than 30 years, Service Insurance Group knows the importance of having a strong chamber community to support local businesses.

I look forward to seeing you all out and about at chamber events, and if you are interested in having a positive impact on the community we all live and work

Kathy Savell

chamber DAY

2018 Chamber Day

Sponsored by Brazos County

March 29th

Every year on Chamber Day, teams of volunteers visit with local businesses in the Bryan/College Station area to show their thanks and support. Chamber Day provides volunteers the opportunity to visit with business owners to learn what role the economy plays in affecting business performance. In the past, volunteers have been able to visit over 1,200 local businesses in one day!

During Chamber Day visits, teams conduct a short survey about each business’ view on our local economy and thank them for doing business in Brazos County.

Chamber Day 2018, sponsored by Brazos County, will kick off with the morning session at the Brazos Expo Center at 8 a.m. The lunch session will start at the Expo Center at 12 p.m.

The Chamber Day 2018 Volunteer Sign-up is open! To sign up, visit the B/CS Chamber of Commerce website (www.bcschamber.org/pages/ chamber-day) . For more information email carrie@bcschamber.org or call (979) 260-5200.

legislative AFFAIRS

The Importance of Economic Development

“The Bryan, College Station, and Brazos County community is the home to hundreds of businesses, both large and small, new and established, and it has a large number of outstanding entrepreneurs. This community is a magnet for national and international companies to operate here due to the Texas business friendly atmosphere, Texas A&M University, Blinn College and our friendly, excellent quality of life.

At the same time, we know that businesses need an environment at the local, state and national levels in which to prosper and grow, and the Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce works to be an advocate at these levels. Thus we address topics and support steps that we believe, if implemented, will benefit B/CS, Texas and the nation. Our Chamber uses guiding principles in considering positions on issues. At the heart of these principles is the certainty that the strength of a nation, a state and a community is a reflection of the strength of their

economies. Wealth and jobs are created through economic development in a free society by means of free enterprise. Businesses, especially small businesses, are the engines that drive economic growth, and they rely on an atmosphere conducive to that growth.”

John Anderson, with Merrill Lynch, is the Economic Development contributor for the 2018 Federal Legislative Action Plan (FLAP) as well as a member of the B/CS Chamber of Commerce Legislative Affairs committee. The Legislative Affairs committee meets the first Wednesday of every month at 1:00 PM at the Chamber of Commerce. If you are interested in participating on the Legislative Affairs committee or any of the Chamber’s legislative efforts, please contact Carrie Archer at carrie@bcschamber.org.

John Anderson Merrill Lynch

chamber PROGRAMS Crawfish Boil

20th Annual

Title Sponsor:

Hosted by the B/CS Chamber of Commerce Agribusiness Council Friday, March 16th • Brazos Valley Expo Center

Join the Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce and Title Sponsor College Station Utilities for our 20th Annual Crawfish Boil! Profits from Crawfish Boil benefit 4-H and FFA students at the Brazos County Youth Livestock Show. Purchase your tickets today!

Tickets are available for $100 per couple or $50 per individual. Your ticket includes all you can eat crawfish, fried catfish, fried shrimp, burgers, french fries, and hush puppies as well as FREE beer and margaritas!

Thanks to Kristen Distributing, we will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with green beer at this year’s Crawfish Boil!

For more information visit the Chamber of Commerce website (bcschamber.org), call (979) 260-5200, or contact jordan@bcschamber.org.

For more information, contact Jordan Prihoda at jordan@bcschamber.org or call (979) 260-5200.

Spring Job Fair

Thursday, April 26th • The Hilton

Have you been searching for job openings in the B/CS area? Is your company looking for the right fit for a position?

Join us and our Title Sponsor Reynolds & Reynolds for the 2018 Spring Job Fair at the Hilton College in Station Thursday, April 26th from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The Job Fair will reach approximately 500 to 800 potential employees from throughout Brazos Valley. For job seekers, bring extra copies of your resume, dress professionally, and be prepared to meet with over 50 businesses currently hiring in the area.

chamber PROGRAMS

B/CS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE APRIL 5th, 2018

fun run & walk

The Watercooler 5K is a fun run and walk open to members of the Bryan/College Station community. Companies are encouraged to sign up teams to promote workplace wellness! All levels of runners are encouraged to participate. Race participants will receive a t-shirt. Register today!

Registration Deadline: March 22nd

*To guarantee your shirt and size, register by March 22nd*

SPONSOR

TITLE SPONSOR

chamber PHOTOS

CSISD Superindent Clark Ealy and BISD Superintendent Christie Whitbeck pose for a photo at the 2018 Economic Outlook Conference (EOC).

Over 550 attendees gathered for the 2018 Economic Outlook Conference sponsored by

Chamber

Spencer

Chair

Dr.

and

David O’Neal with Title Sponsor Wells Fargo introduces keynote speakers Dr. James Nelson with the RELLIS Campus, Spencer Clements with ATLAS and Tim Crowley with Towerpoint Development.

Wells Fargo.

Board

Crystal Dupre with the Eagle poses with keynote speakers

James Nelson with the RELLIS Campus,

Clements with ATLAS,

David O’Neil with title sponsor Wells Fargo and Chamber President Glen Brewer.

Jimmy Byrd with Blinn College and Mike Connor with Bryan Texas Utilities take a coffee break at the 2018 EOC.

(RIGHT) Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Crystal Dupre with the Eagle, pictured with Matt Prochaska with the Research Valley Partnership, Russell Dempsey with Express Employment Professionals, Chad Wootton with TAMU Office of the Provost, and Chamber President Glen Brewer after the Workforce Development Session at the 2018 Economic Outlook Conference.

(BELOW) The Leadership Brazos Class of 2018 poses behind the news desk at KBTX-TV during Arts & Communications Day. The 2018 Class has 38 members representing businesses across B/CS.

chamber PHOTOS

(BELOW) LB Class of 2018 stopped by the old Bryan Ice House to check out renovations during their visit to Downtown Bryan during Arts & Communication Day.

(BELOW) Members of the Junior Leadership Brazos Class of 2018 take a break from the Texas A&M Challenge Works Rope Course during their Kick-off Retreat. The 2018 Class has 40 members representing high schools from across Bryan/College Station.

William D Fitch Pkwy College Station, Texas 77845 (979) 398-2787 alphasportschiro.com

CONNECTIONS

Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce

P.O. Box 3579

Bryan, TX 77805-3579

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