Happy New Year to all Chamber members!  2013 was a very busy year and this year should be the same.  In 2013 the Chamber conducted 30 grand openings and 2 ground breakings for new and expanding businesses.  Our sales staff signed up 104 new members and our total membership increased again to over 700 members.  The Chamber's Visitors' Information Center also was busy in 2013.  Our staff distributed newcomer information to people from 16 different states and we had 14, 753 visitors to our website.

Already, two grand openings have been scheduled for January.  The first is planned for January 16^th at 5:00 pm for First Federal Savings Bank's newly opened West Lincoln Branch.  Following the ribbon cutting, First Federal will sponsor the Chamber's first Business After Hours of the year, beginning at 5:30 pm.   The second grand opening will be held on January 30^th in East Lincoln for Carolina Eye Care's new office at 5:30 pm.  Invitations on these two grand openings will be e-mailed soon to our membership, so please mark your calendars to attend!

Another date to mark on your calendar is February 19^th.  That date will be our first Networking Luncheon of the Year.  A new member orientation will begin at 11:00 am, followed by networking at 11:30 am and then lunch at  12 noon.  The program that day will be given by representatives from Sherrill Blake & Harrison on the topic of Tax Law Changes.  This will be a very interesting meeting and very valuable to your business.

On January 23^rd at4:00 pm, the Chamber's Education committee will meet for the first time to begin planning for this year's Adult Spelling Bee, which will be held March 25^th.  Any member wanting to serve on this committee should call the Chamber at 735-3096, and we will be glad to add you to this committee.  Last year the Adult Spelling Bee raised nearly $14,000.00, which is a fund raiser for the Chamber and the Lincoln County Public Education Foundation.

The Chamber also has other committees in which our members can sign up to serve.  They include:  Business Expo Committee, Promotions Committee, Governmental Affairs Committee, Transportation Committee, Ambassadors Committee, Annual Banquet Committee, Golf Outing Committee, and four different Leads Groups, which meet to share new business leads.  The Leads Groups are non-compete and we have a total of four that meet in both East Lincoln and Lincolnton.  To sign up for any of these committees or Leads Groups, please call the Chamber today at 735-3096.

Lastly, I wanted to mention that our 2014 Chamber Membership Directory, which will include our Program of Work and member ads, will be produced in February.  Ads are being sold to our membership in order to help with the cost of the directory and anyone desiring to place an ad in the directory should call Shirley Smith at 735-3096.  Deadline to place an ad is January 22^nd.

Thanks so much for your support of the Chamber and I look forward to seeing you at one of our future Chamber events!