The Chamber of Commerce is pleased to be working with one of our newest members, and a new health care provider here in Smyth County, to host a ribbon cutting and open house event.  Blue Ridge Cancer Care, a regional practice with 18 physicians, has recently opened the doors to their new clinic on Terrace Drive in Marion.  Doctors Jerry Goldschmidt and Bob Rotche will serve patients with medical oncology, hematology, genetic risk assessment, and clinical research in this practice.  Seeing a need in the Smyth County community, Blue Ridge Cancer Care is dedicated to providing a comfortable setting for treatments in a location that is closer to home.  

The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Open House event for Blue Ridge Cancer Care will be held on Thursday, February 23 at 12noon.  We invite our members to attend this event to show your support of new businesses and to learn more about the services offered at this clinic.  Blue Ridge Cancer Care is located at 1020 Terrace Drive, Suite 101 in Marion. For more information call the clinic office: 276-781-1400 or on the BRCC website. 

The Chamber of Commerce has been partnering with Marion Downtown and our other local government leadership and businesses on a project to attract the film Wish You Well to our community.  We submitted an application in the fall of 2011 to the production company, Life Out Loud Films, and have recently heard back that we are still in the running!  The company has narrowed the applications down to approximately 6 semi-finalists and are very interested in the assets that Smyth County has, such as the Lincoln Theatre, our historic buildings, old schoolhouses, courthouse, and the beauty of the farms and countryside.  We have submitted additional information to Life Out Loud producers and expect to hear a response from them soon!  In addition to the locations and other physical assets that Smyth County has, the company is looking for a community who's citizens will be supportive of the project.  The Wish You Well Movie has a Facebook page where photos, videos, and comments may be submitted to promote your community!

The Chamber of Commerce of Smyth County, Inc. continues to update our use of technology and expand our media outreach. With the development of the new Chamber website nearly complete, the Chamber has added another social media outlet where visitors, businesses, and citizens can find us online.  We have created a YouTube Channel dedicated to the work of the Chamber of Commerce of Smyth County, Inc.  Our first upload is a video promoting the assets of our community.  While it is a brief 36 seconds, the video highlights many of our local businesses, attractions, and the overall beauty of Smyth County.  The title of the video is "Find Yourself in Smyth County, Virginia" and it can be found on the SmythChamber channel.  

The Chamber plans to grow our video uploads with features of our events, workshops, and stories about local businesses.  If you are interested in participating, please contact the Chamber office: 276-783-3161 or info@smythchamber.org

The Chamber of Commerce of Smyth County, Inc. has been working diligently to update our use of technology by developing a new website, integrating social media, and moving many of our systems to online management.  These types of updates are necessary for all governments, businesses, and community organizations as we work to stay competitive in today's technological world.  

The Chamber has also hosted several presentations at events with themes about technology and growing our community's outreach with younger generations.  Because so many people rely on Internet resources, it is important that Smyth County have a strong online presence.  This will help to build our reputation in our region, with businesses, and among visitors.  At a recent County-sponsored dinner, Chamber Director Kristin Untiedt-Barnett presented information to our local government representatives about steps that can be taken to help create a strong online presence for Smyth County.  Everyone in the community can participate in making contributions with steps as simple as going online to review content of local websites, providing content and information, and viewing online posts such as blogs and videos to improve site rankings.  

For more information about what you can do to help build our community's presence on the web, contact the Chamber office: 276-783-3161 or info@smythchamber.org.