Business Connections, April 2024

The Shelby County Chamber

April 16 Chamber CoffeeNET

Plan to join us Tuesday, April 16 for our first quarter CoffeeNET, which is sponsored by Shelby County Newsmedia, Inc. and Cahaba Valley Computer Services. CoffeeNet will be hosted by Alabama Credit Union (2675 Valleydale Road, Birmingham, AL 35244).

Bring plenty of business cards, and come ready to make some serious business contacts from 8:30-9:30 a.m.

Register by noon on Monday, April 8, by emailing jordan@shelbychamber.org, calling 205-663-4542 or visiting online at shelbychamber.org.

The Shelby County Chamber’s Program “12th Annual Student and

Educator of the Year”

The Shelby County Chamber is pleased to announce its “Annual Student and Educator of the Year” recognition program. Educators play a vital role in the lives of Shelby County children, impact our communities every day and help develop the workforce in which our Shelby County businesses and organizations will need in the years ahead. As such, the Chamber has launched this recognition program to celebrate excellence in the teaching profession and inform our community of the exceptional quality of instruction delivered throughout Shelby County. All nominees will be recognized, and four recipients (elementary, middle and high school educators) will receive a one-time financial investment to assist their continuing development.

Shelby County students are our potential business and community leaders and will comprise a significant portion of our workforce in the future. The Chamber has

launched this recognition program to celebrate student excellence in the classroom throughout Shelby County. All nominees will be recognized and five recipients, which include two academic leader standouts, two career pathway stand-outs and one future leader, will receive a one-time financial investment to assist their continuing development.

The Chamber will recognize all of the nominations and announce the recipients at the program on Wednesday, April 17 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. This program will be presented by America’s First Federal Credit Union at the Grande Hall at Old Mill Square (105 West College St, Columbiana).

Register by Monday, April 15 to cami@shelbychamber.com.

2024 Career Corps Program

For the third year in a row, the Chamber and 58 INC are offering Shelby County Career Corps. This program is designed to provide paid internships for educators, who wish to learn more about the variety of career pathways that exist for students and how to make subject matter relevant in the classroom.

Shelby County businesses can participate by hosting an educator this summer at no cost and showcasing their operation, departments, opportunities and challenges. To host an edu-

cator, businesses would be asked to provide three things:

1) Attend an orientation meeting in May.

2 ) Host an educator on-site for three days in June or July, so they can experience actual workplace projects, processes and/or products firsthand.

3) Inform educators of career pathways to share with students.

Also, as a result of a company’s participation, business owners would be helping to in-

fluence classroom lesson plans as each of the participating educators will be asked to put together lesson plans based upon what they learned through their experience in the 2024 Career Corps program.

For more information or to register for the 2024 Career Corps program, please contact Karen Williams, Chamber Manager of Business and Workforce Development, at karen@shelbychamber.org.

Washington Update Luncheon with U.S. Congressman Gary Palmer

On Thursday, April 4 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Congressman Palmer—first elected to represent Alabama’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014—will provide participants in the meeting with an update on the issues facing Congress this year.

The program, which includes lunch, costs $35 per person for investors with any of the host organizations. Reserved corporate tables of six are also available for $220 per table.

Please RSVP to info@shelbychamber.org by Monday, April 1.

This event is co-hosted by The Shelby County Chamber in collaboration with the Gardendale, Hoover Area, Montevallo, Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills chambers of commerce.

2024 Shelby County Small Business of the Year Nominations Now Being Accepted

Calera Main Street, Chelsea Business Alliance, Columbiana Main Street, Montevallo Main Street, Montevallo Chamber of Commerce and The Shelby County Chamber are once again collaborating on a joint Small Business of the Year program. The Small Business Awards program in five categories is part of this year’s annual Small Business Celebration, which is being presented this year by Regions Bank. Submit nomination packets by Friday, April 22 to The Shelby County Chamber.

The five categories which will be recognized

for the 2024 Shelby County Small Business of the Year are:

- Category I (1-5 Employees; Open 1 Year or More)

- Category II (6-10 Employees; Open 1 Year or More)

- Category III (11-20 Employees; Open 1 Year or More)

- Category IV (21+ Employees; Open More Than 1 Year)

- Category V (Less than 25 Total Employees; Open Less Than 1 Year)

All 2024 nominees and the recipients in each category will be recognized and announced at the Shelby County Small Business of the Year Awards program, which is scheduled for Wednesday, May 22. Nomination packets are available online at shelbychamber.org or by contacting any of the host organizations.

For additional questions, please contact The Shelby County Chamber at 205-663-4542 or at karen@shelbychamber.org.

2024 TSCC Offi cers and Board of Directors

(as of 2/24/24)

OFFICERS (EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE)

Chamber Chair

April Harry

Warren, Averett, LLC

Chair-Elect

Kevin Morris

America’s First Federal Credit Union

Vice Chair, Business Development & Support

Rux Bentley

Rux Carter Insurance

Vice Chair, Communications & Marketing

Jeff Purvis

A. C. Legg, Inc.

Vice Chair, Community & Career Development

Amiee Mellon

University of Montevallo

Vice Chair, Finance & Administration

John Collier United Community Bank

Vice Chair, Governmental Affairs

Melissa Dixon

CDI Janitorial Services

Vice Chair, Investor Relations

Keith Brown

Jefferson State Community College

Immediate Past Chair

Mechelle Wilder

ARC Realty

DIRECTORS

Traci Fox

T Fox SalonSpa

Kimberly L. Jackson Alabama Power Company

William Norwood PNC

Benji Sawyer Sawyer Solutions, LLC

Chad Scroggins Shelby County

Teresa Vick Regions

Holly Dean Shelby Baptist Medical Center

Meribeth Gilbert McLeod Software

Bruce Gouin

Express Employment Professionals

Nedra Moore

Creations Galore and Moore

Chris Stricklin Dunn Companies

Chris Wilder

Sealing Equipment Products Company

Josh Coker Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama

Julie Godfrey

Shelby County Schools

Scott Gossett Spire Alabama

Wade Kallaher

Birmingham Coca Cola Bottling Company

Keith Strickland Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood

Terri Williams A T & T - Alabama

Tampia Anderson

The Arc of Shelby County

Ken Delgreco Urban Home Market

Alec Etheredge

Shelby County Newsmedia, Inc.

Micah McLaughlin Irons Media Group

Brian L. Wilson EBSCO Industries, Inc.

The Hon. Brian Puckett (ExOfficio, SCMA) City of Helena

Amy Sturdivant (Ex-Officio) 58 INC

January 13 – February 9

- Chamber Facebook: 53 “new follows,” 8,612 “post reaches” and 7, 073 “total followers”

- X (Twitter): 16 “tweets,” 583 “tweet impressions,” 48 “profile visits” and 2,950 “followers”

- Instagram: 1,710 “followers,” 362 “post reaches” and 10 “new follows”

- LinkedIn: 987 (36 new) “followers,” 63 “unique visitors” and 1,921 “post impressions”

-WBC Facebook: 516 “followers” and 601 “post reaches”