February Chamber Newsletter

Chamber News

Issue 10
February 2010

Dear Chamber Supporters & Friends,

Hope you had a chance to attend some of our GREAT January events! The Village to Village Run was a HUGE SUCCESS and over 600 people participated. Please click HERE to see pictures! We also had two well-attended GO & GROW seminars and hosted a Career Assistance Network. January was BUSY and we're not slowing down...

MOUNTAIN BROOK CHALLENGE:
Please read about our MOUNTAIN BROOK CHALLENGE below - a new wellness initiative for our entire community!

ANNUAL MEETING:
Our ANNUAL MEETING on January 27th highlighted a tremendous year in which we upgraded events, added new means of communication, initiated a marketing campaign with BIG Communications, introduced our new board members, and celebrated the efforts of staff and volunteers! I hope you were able to attend. Hear our merchants talk about the chamber in this video by clicking HERE!

FACEBOOK PAGE:

We now have a presence on Facebook and have bookmarked all the merchants that we can find who are also using Facebook and we are passing on info regarding their events on Twitter or on our blog. FACEBOOK FANS CLICK HERE Check the sidebar for merchant information and the box for blog posts.

GUIDEBOOKS:
If you did not attend our ANNUAL MEETING, please drop by the office to pick up some brand new guidebooks! They are WONDERFUL!

WINTER SALES AND MERCHANT EVENTS:
Check back frequently for a full listing of Winter Sales & Merchant Events. Special winter sales and discounts, trunk shows, booksignings, artist appearances, and in-store events will be featured here. Merchants, please notify us if you'd like for your sale to be listed here. READ MORE and VIEW THE COMPLETE LIST If you have a special Valentine's Event, we'd like to include it here, so please let us know as soon as possible so we can remind shoppers of what's available for their special Valentine!

VALENTINES DAY!
N

eed some Flowers for Valentine's Day! Visit our florist and landscaping merchants by clicking here!
Learn to TANGO for Valentine's Day with new member, Fred Astaire Dance Studio, and benefit the Children's Dance Foundation!

PLEASE RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP:
It's a GREAT TIME TO BE A MEMBER! You should have received an invoice to renew your membership. We will be sending out a separate email soon with your new member log-in in order to renew your dues HERE. Not a member yet? Please click HERE!

In the meantime, we will work hard to continue to add value to chamber membership, while supporting our entire community of merchants in order to provide visitors with shopping information about our unique community. Any ideas? Please pass them on!

Calendar of Merchant Events
Search Engine at top of our blog
Access past newsletters by clicking here!

The Village to Village Run was a HUGE SUCCESS!

Over 650 people registered and the weather was chilly but perfect! Thank you to all who worked tirelessly to make this a great event including our committee chairs of Steven Hydinger, Becky Ingalls, and Beth Nigri. And thank you to all who participated! This event is a big fundraiser for the chamber, and wonderful public relations for the community. Again thank you! Pictures are posted HERE. Have some more pictures that you would like to share? Please email them to us!

A SPECIAL THANKS TO NORTON FLORISTS who donated over 500 roses and personally handed them out to winners as they crossed the finish line!

Continue your WELLNESS GOALS with the MOUNTAIN BROOK CHALLENGE!

The Mountain Brook Challenge is a community-wide event focusing on fun competition to encourage Mountain Brook Challenge Logo

healthy lifestyle choices. The Challenge will use the expertise of local health providers and health-related businesses to support teams trying to become healthier. Current chamber events will be incorporated and supported by the Challenge, including the kick-off, which was at the Village to Village Run in January. Emphasis will be placed on getting kids started off right in making healthy lifestyle choices, as well as supporting those individuals trying to achieve specific health and wellness goals. VISIT OUR WEBSITE BY CLICKING HERE!

Facilitators:
Beth Nigri (Owner, The Fitness Center)
Christopher Groom (Owner, Mountain High Outfitters)
Brad Hassig, D.C. (Hassig Family Chriopractic)

Would you like to be a sponsor or know of a company who might be interested? Please contact the chamber!

SPECIAL VERIZON OFFER TO NEWSLETTER READERS ONLY

Mountain Brook Chamber Members

Valentine's Day Specials

Cliff Lumpkin of Cellular Sales & Verizon Wirelesswould like to extend a Valentine's Day offer good for the month of February 2010!
This special is good for all Mountain Brook Chamber Members at the Mountain Brook Plaza 280 location only.

Please bring in a copy of the Chamber newsletter and receive a 20% discount on all accessories. All fees will be waived (upgrade, set up, and contact transfer fees) with the purchase of your new Verizon Wireless equipment.

Valentines Cliff Lumpkin

is a great time to surprise your sweet heart with that new Verizon Wireless gift of technology. Cellular Sales and Verizon Wireless offer the new Droid products along with our fantastic Blackberry line for full connectivity to the internet and email. Verizon Wireless broadband devices are also on sale! What a great way to stay connected to the internet as you live, work, and travel in our nationwide coverage area!

Call Cliff Lumpkin at 205-401-3599 to set up a private appointment and personalized service.
With an appointment, Cliff can also redeem your Village Gold gift certificates. What an awesome way to support your Mountain Brook Chamber!

Valentine's Bouquets from Lagniappe Designs in Crestline!

Don't forget your sweetheart this Valentine's Day! Lagniappe Designs in Crestline has Valentine's bouquets that can be delivered! New containers are arriving daily!

Call Carole Sullivan at 870-5061 for details, or visit their website by clicking HERE!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Meet our New Board Members

Thank you to our new board members for agreeing to volunteer your time and resources to promote the mission and goals of the Chamber! We're looking forward to a great year!

(left to right)
Sam Gaston
Elizabeth Lyman
John Rucker
Howard Torch
Lee Perry
Derick Belden
Not pictured: Chuck Branch

Welcome New Member, Royal Cup Coffee

We are delighted to welcome new member, Royal Cup Coffee, not just because it's a great company, but because we LOVE our Royal Cup coffee that we drink every single morning here at the chamber!

Ben Pitts has been with Royal Cup for 21 years. He is originally from Clinton, South Carolina and has

three daughters and a son, who is the oldest and a sophomore at Auburn.

We asked Ben, "What do you love best about Royal Cup Coffee?" And "Where was this picture taken?"

It is a tie between the level of commitment I see in our people, and the interesting nature of the work. Our culture is one of intense customer service and every day you see Royal Cuppers do incredible things to make customers happy. What I love about my work is the opportunity to meet so many unique people and travel to interesting places. We work with many different types of customers in restaurants and food service. It is always a learning experience to see how they run their businesses. The chefs, coffee bar baristas, and coffee producers and roasters are truly artists; their passion and creativity are amazing.

I always drink drip or steeped coffee black, cappuccino with whole milk. I am partial to coffees from Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia. These make great single origin offerings. My favorite blend is our H.C. Valentine Signature blend, made in our artisan micro-plant here in Birmingham.

This photo was taken in Panama, in the coffee growing region of Boquete. I had the privilege of being a judge for the specialty coffee harvest, visiting farms and evaluating coffees with other coffee people from around the world. Panama has this boutique coffee industry, with incredible specialty coffees that are typically available to roasters through on-line auctions only. The winning coffee fetched $98 per pound! If you have ever had coffee at Hot & Hot Fish Club, or Highland's Bar & Grill, you have had Royal Cup Coffee. You may have also had it at your local Cracker Barrel, or when you stayed at a Hampton Inn or other Hilton property.

You may purchase Royal Cup for your home by calling our Espress Ship Department at 1-800-366-5836 or by visiting our website by clicking HERE

Welcome New Member - ServisFirst Bank!

ServisFirst Bank - Our Name is Our Mission

"There are basically two types of banks, big banks and community banks. We're neither. We're an urban bank which means we offer a higher level of service than big banks can give and more sophisticated services than community banks."

Tom Broughton
President | CEO

IMAGINE Mountain Brook!

Imagine Mountain Brook!
The Mountain Brook Chamber is pleased to announce an exciting new initiative to help Mountain Brook explore possibilities for creating a positive future -- Imagine Mountain Brook! The initiative is designed to envision Mountain Brook at its very best.

JOIN THE DIALOGUE!
Add your comments to our Imagine Mountain Brook blog by clicking HERE!

Merchants, are you Twittering about your events?

The Chamber wants to create a network of chamber members and Mountain Brook merchants who are twittering about local events. We have posted an online tutorial to get you started on the bottom of our blog. We have also posted a list of merchants and chamber members who are already on Twitter. Add them to your list as friends! Find out what your fellow merchants and members are doing! Not convinced? READ THIS ARTICLE!

Are you on Twitter but not on this list? Send us a tweet to @shopmtnbrook and we'll add you! Or add this hashtage #mtnbrk with any tweet and we can find you that way as well.

What have you MISSED? Click on the links below!

Chamber members, we will continue to update our chamber list and provide additional benefits to our chamber members only. Please drop by and pick up the new "Welcome to Mountain Brook - Guidebook". Welcome mats are still available for $45 and are a great way to advertise your support of your community as well as extend a hearty welcome to all your customers. Please email the chamber for details.

We now have a member log-in on the membership directory and will be adding benefits and additional information here. You will receive your log-in and password information soon.

Visit our new online shop! It's a great way to support your community and your chamber! And we will be adding new products and designs frequently. Have an idea? Let us know! We'd love to hear from you! Products are produced and ship directly from the manufacturer - it's quick and convenient. Try it!

Thanks for helping us help you!

Sincerely,
Suzan Doidge

Suzan Doidge
Director, Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce

P.S. Missed a past issue? They are now archived on the News page of our new website. You can continue to forward them if there is an article of particular interest with live links up to 90 days past the publish date.

We will continue to maintain a calendar of all upcoming merchant sales through the winter season so that merchants can coordinate dates and shoppers know what's coming up. If you have something to add, please contact us as soon as possible.

Please urge your friends and neighbors to join our mailing list to receive our monthly email newsletter. And thanks for forwarding this information using the links below.

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