Chamber Corner

March Edition - The Monitor

by Tanya Hale, Founder

Businesses are kicking it up a notch in Dinwiddie, despite the doom and gloom portrayed on the evening news. Our businesses met for Coffee and Networking at the Bank of Southside Virginia's Dinwiddie Branch on the 5th. County officials also came to network, answer and ask questions of those who came out. Our Chamber members are designing ways to fulfill our purpose statement and getting results!

Dinwiddie County Chamber of Commerce Scholarship applications are due soon. The annual Christmas Parade registration fees provide the funding for this offering to our Dinwiddie High School Seniors each year. This year's successful Christmas Parade has afforded us the opportunity to present two (2) scholarships to our 2010 graduating class. For an application, log on to our website at dinwiddiechamber.org and download an application for your graduating senior.

Our 2nd Annual Poker Run will be hosted April 17th starting at Colonial Harley in Colonial Heights. This is always a fun event for bikers and can also be enjoyed by car-drivers as well! Our website has registration forms and all the details for this event. Sign up today. Proceeds from this event will support the Dinwiddie Sports Backers Club and the Dinwiddie Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber Members are working with the Crater Workforce investment Board to match and teach skills needed by existing business and industry. The latest announcement is of "Green Technology" training soon to be offered. A grant from the Cameron Foundation will fund this training.

Students are our future workforce and as such, Chamber members have spoken to students throughout the county during February's career and technical education month. I spoke twice at the Middle School, discussing TEAM philosophy. This acronym is Time; being on time and prepared to work. Effort; doing what needs to be done, looking for more work to be done and putting forth your best effort for your employer - going the extra mile. Attitude is huge for our youth and teachers, parents, deputies alike agree that our youth's attitudes need to change. Your attitude is a reflection of your work ethic and needs to reflect determination, willingness and cooperation. More is the last of this philosophy and that is a repeat of the going the extra mile. This also includes doing more to educate yourself about the job, your industry and your environment. This "more" can secure your job and propel you into moving upward in the company or press you toward entrepreneurship and starting your own business. Simply learning more about the company you work for and how YOU can enhance the company and bring your ideas forward can mean the difference in the experiences you have into the future. I encouraged these youth to volunteer in their community, as there is a wealth of experience just waiting to be shared with them. Beginning their work ethics and habits through their daily education will carry them far. Assimilating, attending school is the precursor to work. Being on time and ready to board the bus and ready for class, a neat and orderly book bag and locker, studying a little each night instead of cramming at the last minute. Realizing that tests are not evil, they are a way of noting what you have learned and how well you have learned it...this happens on the job, it's just not a formal test, but rather showing that you comprehend what your boss or supervisor has instructed you to do. Then, do you take the time to dig deeper? Employers highly value employees who research more, study their work and do that little extra after hours to improve themselves and the business who employs them. Students who do more research understand their class work better and excel. Being a student trains you to be an employee, the efforts you put forth now to develop good habits will carry you the rest of your life...IF they are good and worthy habits. Please feel free to contact us to speak to your students or group!

Though our future workforce is important, Chamber members feel that current economic times compel us to also assist in the economic development of our county. One of the areas our county ranks low in is a skilled workforce for the business and industry looking to move to Dinwiddie. With this in mind, your chamber members are planning a Job Skills Day at Eastside Enhancement center in May or June. This job skills day will be open to the public and will have such things as: resume and job application skills, mock interviews, potential hiring companies on site for actual interviews, job skills training workshops and providers. There is a wealth of assistance available to those who are currently out of work or who are anticipating a career change. We want to share this information with our community so that in turn we can assist them in becoming the higher paid and more specialized workforce that new potential business and industry is looking to hire. For this day, we will be inviting guests like Virginia Employment Commission, Crater Workforce Investment Board, Virginia's Gateway Region, along with local colleges and universities. We will be putting front and center what skills are needed to be employed and stay employed. As the date is set and more information is available, we will be passing this on through our monthly Monitor Calendar and placing it on our website.

Membership in the Chamber of Commerce is growing and businesses are finding that Chamber Membership has it's benefits! Check us out at dinwiddiechamber.org and plan to attend our Membership Meeting Wednesday, April 14th, 11:15-12:30 for lunch! RSVP reservations to info@dinwiddiechamber.com or contact a chamber member today!