Official Newsletter of the Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce
THE CHAMBER CORNER
August 2013
Volume 13, Issue 8
Does your company have a culture? It does and if you are not intentionally setting it then it’s being set for you!
Savor the date! The 14th Annual Taste of Eatonton will be held on Monday, Oct. 7. The 2013 location is a change from previous years in hopes of bringing in new attendees and restaurants. The Taste of Eatonton will be held at The Village at Harmony Crossing this fall and will begin rotating alternate years with The Plaza, returning in 2014 to The Plaza Arts Center. We’re currently signing up restaurants to participate and businesses to donate items for the silent auction. There are also sponsorship levels available. Tickets will go on sale Sept. 4. Visit www. tasteofeatonton.com for all the juicy details!
On Tuesday, July 30, Stewart Rodeheaver, president of Vizitech USA, a local high tech company and Chamber member presented the Chamber staff with new TechBooks. “These are open source tablet computers specifically designed by us for high speed graphics and educational programs. They are dual core, Android 4.0.2 tablets with the most current Ice Cream Sandwich operating system so that they will be able to handle the advanced graphics and details that students and businesses need,” said Rodeheaver. Vizitech focuses its business model on interactive training and education systems for the Department of Defense, schools from K-Secondary and commercially for companies such as Georgia Power and the Georgia Department of Transportation. “We developed these tablets because we were asked by so many schools to help them replace their written text books with technology driven systems. Our first shipment of 500 came in last week and was immediately purchased by Irwin County School System for the sixth through eighth grades. The school is ordering another shipment of 800 for high school students,” said Rodeheaver. Richard Boyer of Eatonton is the tablet program manager for Vizitech and is working with several school systems that are developing orders for the product. Boyer stated “the schools are really happy with the TechBooks because of the ability to load electronic textbooks, as well as the price of $250 per tablet.” For further information, please contact either Boyer at 478-414-8133 or Rodeheaver at 404-725-5104.
Join the Chamber for a half-day workshop on Corporate Culture on Thursday, Sept. 5 from 8:30 a.m. to noon at LakePoint Community Church. The workshop will be taught by Robert Betzel, Eatonton native, CEO of Infinity Network Solutions, and author of “The Company Culture Challenge.” Companies grow to over $1 billion based primarily on their culture. Developing a stronger company culture is the most important thing you can do as a leader to make your firm a fun place to work and motivate your staff to think like owners. An added benefit of a great company culture is having customers that are raving fans who spend more money with you and tell others about you. During this workshop, attendees will work through the foundation of their own great company culture. From your Why (Mission, Vision, Values) to The Perfect Client Experience (Experience Bookends and Always/Never Standards), Betzel will lead you through how he built a multimillion dollar IT business by intentionally focusing on company culture. The seminar is $25 for Chamber members and $45 for non-members and includes the workshop, a copy of the book “The Company Culture Challenge, a light breakfast, snacks and lunch. LakePoint Community Church is located at 940 Harmony Road, Eatonton, GA 31024.