|
Welcome New Chamber Members!
Davis Wealth Services
575 Mall Blvd.
Dyersburg, TN 38024
P: 731-285-0097 F: 931-422-9987
www.daviswealthservices.com
Business Representative: Emily Billingsley
The Top Floor
500 S. First St.
Union City, TN 38261
731-223-9922
Business Representative: Bobby Moore
Obion County Farm Bureau
1212 Stad Ave.
Union City, TN 38261
731-885-9303
www.farmbureau.org
Business Representative: Hadley Malone
|
|
Board Member Name: Greg Dozier
Company Name: Leaders Credit Union
Position: Business Development Manager
Work Phone: 731-885-4808
Email: gdozier@leaderscu.com
Areas of Expertise: 
Knowledge of various industries: manufacturing, media, industrial sales, and finance from previous and current employment. Knowledge of diverse employment gained from working and living in larger cities (Brooklyn, NY and Chattanooga, TN).
Other Interests:
Golf, travel, and community involvement
Why did you join the Chamber?
"The chamber membership allows me to promote Leaders Credit Union through business events co-sponsored by the Obion County Chamber. It provides great opportunity, in a professional setting, for knowledge of what Leaders Credit Union has to offer the community."
Why do you serve on the Board of Directors?
"To further my contribution to community events and activities, and to work to meet the goals of the Chamber."
What is the Chamber's role in the business community?
"To network small businesses to be a part of local events and community activities that benefits all citizens of Obion County. The help increase local employment opportunities along with securing more industries for future development in the community."
|
|
April Small Business Spotlight
Thunderbolt Radio Stations Shine at Associated Press Convention
 When the winners were announced at the Tennessee Associated Press Convention in Nashville last week, KYTN and WCMT radio stations were recognized for five "first place" awards! Charles Choate and Steve James combined for outstanding local news coverage recognition for" Best On the Spot News, Best Breaking News, Best Serious news, Best Local Weather Coverage, and Best Radio Newscast. Charles and Steve work closely each day covering the daily "beat" and produce twenty news casts that are heard on KYTN-FM, WCMT AM/FM, WCDZ-FM, and WQAK-FM.
The Thunderbolt Radio News focus is primarily on Obion, Weakley and Fulton Counties but also provides coverage regional news in West Tennessee and West Kentucky. Information is not only on the local radio stations but is also on the Thunderbolt web site thunderboltradio.com where many local news stories appear first and then on the air a short time later.
Steve and Charles are particularly proud of their "on the scene" coverage for weather and breaking news. They get the story on the air quickly and accurately. They are also well respected by their peers across Tennessee and Kentucky. The two veteran Thunderbolt newsmen also produce a thirty minute weekly community affairs program focusing on local events and programs with local in studio guests.
Charles and Steve know the news makers and the news makers know them. Congratulations Thunderbolt Radio News on your Associated Press awards and the great job of keeping our community informed!
Pictured: Steve James (Right), Paul Tinkle (Middle), Charles Choate (Left)
|
|
Johnson Heating & Air Receives Rising Star Award
*Photo compliments of the Union City Daily Messenger
|
 Obion County Being Certified ACT Work Ready Community The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) has initiated a partnership with Iowa-based nonprofit ACT to help DRA counties and parishes create the infrastructure and policies that support local workforce development and training systems through a region-specific version of the ACT Work Ready Communities Academy. "The most important asset to a community in attracting business investment and creating jobs is having a skilled and trained workforce," DRA Federal Co-Chairman Chris Masingill said. Community officials and educational leadership from the following Tennessee counties in the DRA region are participating in the ACT Delta Academy: Tennessee: Benton, Carroll, Crockett, Dyer, Gibson, Haywood, Henry, Lake, Lauderdale, Obion, Tipton, and Weakley The ACT Work Ready Communities initiative is intended to help communities link education and workforce development, certify the skill levels of the local workforce, and respond to the needs of employers by helping to match qualified individuals with available jobs. Certified ACT Work Ready Communities are regarded as the optimal places for businesses to locate or expand. At the core of the ACT Work Ready Communities initiative is the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate®(ACT NCRC®). This nationally recognized and portable credential is based on three essential workplace skill categories: applied math, reading for information, and locating information. Since January 2006, more than 2.75 million Americans have earned an ACT NCRC. The ACT NCRC helps assure employers that the people they hire and promote have the skills necessary to succeed. Counties that have sustainable, ongoing certification efforts are attractive to employers in terms of economic development. Of the DRA-region counties and parishes participating in academy workshops, two parishes in Louisiana--Avoyelles and Rapides--are already certified as ACT Work Ready Communities. The DRA-ACT partnership seeks to increase the number of counties and parishes in the DRA region with a skilled workforce prepared to attract and retain jobs through new business investment and expansion. Read full article here. |
|
Obion County has once again been recognized as one of the top places to live in Tennessee
A new study from SmartAsset has ranked Obion County as one of the best places to get a mortgage in the state. The financial technology company previously ranked Union City among the top 10 places to retire in the state.
"For the second time within a month, Union City/Obion County has been highlighted as a top community in the state of Tennessee. This time Obion County was recognized as the No. 10 best place in Tennessee to get a mortgage. Just a couple of weeks ago, we were awarded the recognition of being the No. 9 best place to retire in Tennessee," said Lindsay Frilling, Economic Development Director for the Obion County Joint Economic Development Council.
"Obviously these successes beautifully complement each other. I believe Obion County is an excellent place to live for retirees, youth and all of those in between. Our community is what we make it and our greatest asset - our people - make it a destination to both tourists and potential residents. I'm proud to call Obion County home," she said.
According to Smart-Asset's website, to determine the best places in the country to get a mortgage, officials there looked at four factors: overall borrowing costs, ease of securing a mortgage, cheap property taxes and cheap annual mortgage payments.
To calculate the overall borrowing costs, the company looked at the expected costs over the first five years of a $250,000 mortgage with a 20 percent down payment, including closing costs. It then calculated the ease of getting a mortgage as the ratio of mortgage applications to actual mortgage originations (secured mortgages) in each county.
"We based annual mortgage payments on the annual principal and interest payments for a $250,000 loan in that location, using average mortgage rates in each county," the website states.
Finally, the company ranked locations based on these four factors and then averaged those rankings, giving equal weight to each factor. The areas with the lowest average rankings are the best places to get a mortgage.
The top 10 counties secured their ranking due to the high likelihood of closing a mortgage application (loan funding rate), low mortgage rates, low average cost of ownership over five years and low property taxes.
They include No. 1 Macon County, No. 2 Sumner County, No. 3 Chester County, No. 4 McMinn County, No. 5 Humphreys County, No. 6 Trousdale County, No. 7 DeKalb County, No. 8 Pickett County, No. 9 Bedford County and No. 10 Obion County.
The SmartAsset website was launched in July 2012 to use data and technology to provide financial models to help consumers make more informed and better financial decisions. The company was founded by Michael Carvin, an expert in private equity and a graduate of Princeton; and Philip Camilleri, a computer programmer and software developer in the field of investment banking.
Story courtesy of Union City Daily Messenger
|
|
Site Selection Magazine: Big Muddy Cup Award
Union City, TN Ranks Fifth for Private-Sector Facility Projects Per Capita
ATLANTA - Dyersburg/Dyer County is the recipient of the Big Muddy Cup, an award from Site Selection magazine recognizing the top metro area along the entire length of the Mississippi River for private-sector facility projects per capita. The Union City metropolitan area, which reaches into Kentucky, ranked fifth.
The award from the 61-year-old Atlanta-based magazine is based on new and expanded corporate facilities tracked over the 18 months ending Dec. 31, 2014, by Site Selection publisher Conway's proprietary New Plant Database. Corporate projects in the Dyersburg area, which totaled 14 in 2014, are coming from such companies as Nortek Global HVAC (featured in the article), PolyOne, Eaton and NSK Steering Systems.
"There's a culture of manufacturing here that has persisted over the last 50 years, and by design we try to keep it diverse so we're not dominated by just one industry," Allen Hester, president and CEO of the Dyersburg/Dyer County Chamber of Commerce for the past 14 years, told Site Selection.
Lindsay Frilling, economic development director for the Obion County Joint Economic Development Council, said, "Obion County is deeply rooted in manufacturing, several of those operations being locally owned. One family-owned and operated business, Jiffy Steamer, recently celebrated 75 years. Our economic development team works diligently to recruit new business but works even harder to retain our existing businesses because we genuinely appreciate those that have already invested and are providing quality jobs in our community."
Ranking just behind Dyersburg/Dyer County were Natchez, Miss.-La.; last year's Big Muddy Cup winner Dubuque, Iowa; and Burlington, Iowa-Ill.
The Top 10 Mississippi River Corridor Metros, per capita corporate facility projects include:
1. Dyersburg - population 38,255, projects 14.
2. Natchez, Miss.-Lousiana area - population 52,487, projects 12.
3. Dubuque, Iowa - population 95,097, projects 17.
4. Burlington, Iowa-Illinois area - population 47,383, projects eight.
5. Union City-Kentucky area - population 37,865, projects five.
6. Red Wing, Minn. - population 46,336, projects six.
7. Blytheville, Ark. - population 45,562, projects five.
8. Baton Rouge, La. - population 815,298, projects 79.
9. Paducah, Ky.-Illinois area - population 98,539, projects nine.
10. Clinton, Iowa - population 48,717, projects four.
Top Five Mississippi River Corridor Metros, total corporate facility projects include:
1. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wisconsin area - population 3.4 million, projects 86.
2. Baton Rouge, La. - population 815,298, projects 79.
3. St. Louis, Mo.-Illinois area - population 2.8 million, projects 77.
4. New Orleans-Metairie, La. - population 1.2 million, projects 75.
5. Memphis-Mississippi-Arkansas area - population 1.3 million, projects 47.
Site Selection's New Plant Database focuses on new corporate end-user facility projects with significant impact. New facilities and expansions included in the analyses must meet at least one of three criteria: (a) involve a capital investment of at least $1 million, (b) create at least 20 new jobs or (c) add at least 20,000 square feet of new floor area.
Site Selection magazine, published by Conway, delivers expansion planning information to 49,000 executives of fast-growing firms. The senior publication in the development field, Site Selection is also available via Site Selection Online. The publication also publishes or co-publishes e-newsletters, including The Site Selection Dispatch, Life Sciences Report, Aerospace Report and Energy Report; Site Selection International; The FDI Report; and TrustBelt.com.
Conway is an international publishing, consulting and association management company headquartered in Atlanta. Conway owns and manages Conway Lead Generation; London-based Conway Events, organizer of worldwide FDI events; Berlin-based Conway Advisory; New York-based Conway PR & Marketing, a leading PR and lead-generation firm; and manages the Industrial Asset Management Council and the Global FDI Association. Early in 2015 Conway signed an exclusive agreement for US location advisory services with Silverlode Consulting. Conway's Custom Publishing Division since 2013 has published major economic development guides for California, Kentucky, Mississippi, Iowa, Oklahoma and Wyoming, and later this year will publish the second edition of "The World's Most Competitive Cities" report.
Story courtesy of Union City Daily Messenger
|
|
|
Topic:
"Regions At Work Employer Presentation"
Offering financial seminars on location to help relieve financial stress in the workforce
Presenter:
Lance Young, Branch Manager
Brandy Mitchell, Area Consumer Sales Manager
When:
April 21, 2015
8:00am-9:00am
Where:
Obion County Public Library
Sponsored By:
Regions Bank
|
|
First Baptist Church Proudly Supports Healthier Tennessee
First Baptist Church's secretary Cheryl Williams and Dr. Sewell created and donated two Union City digital billboard on Reelfoot Avenue to promote Healthier TN!
|
March Business Matters 
Business Matters this month was sponsored by AmeriClear Rx with guest speaker Jason Kizer on how pharmacy benefits affects your bottom line! Be sure to join us the third Tuesday of every month at 8 am at the Obion County Public Library for Business Matters!
|
|
|
2015 Tennessee Vacation Guides Now Available!
The Tennessee Tourism programs are evolving more and more as tourism continues to grow statewide. The over 3.8 million visitors to tnvacation.com with over 11 million page views is more robust than ever, offering banner advertising and featured content to showcase your story.
An exciting report from third-party research in the State of the American Traveler reports that travel expectations are high with 32% of Americans planning to increase leisure travel spending in the next 12 months. And, more exciting, 43.8% of American Leisure Travelers are using print publications in trip planning, with 13% (or almost 1 in 6) US Travelers reporting use of an Official Visitor Guide. (Research from Destination Analysts) These are all strong evidence that the official Tennessee Vacation Guide, backed by the $12 million marketing budget, is a great place to make your money go further and reach farther into the Tennessee Visitor market. For your own 2015 Tennessee Vacation Guide click here.
|
|
The Tennessee Career Center at Union City is offering Resume' Writing workshops on Tuesday afternoons at 1 PM. Job seekers interested in attending a workshop will need to complete a resume' worksheet prior to attending a session. Space is limited, so registration is required. Register by calling 731-884-3868 between 8-4:30 Monday - Friday.
|
|
The New Customer Loyalty Program-LoyalBlocks
LoyalBlocks is the first fully automated, mobile-based loyalty solution for brick & mortar merchants and their customers.
LoyalBlocks automatically recognizes customers as they walk into a business, punching their mobile punch-card and sending tailored promotions their way. Customers don't even have to open the app, they simply walk-in and a tailored experience is triggered!
LoyalBlocks creates a seamless, sustainable customer-merchant relationship: Customers gets hassle free incentives to visit their favorite spots, and merchants get a highly effective method of communicating with customers, incentivizing foot traffic and rewarding loyalty.
For more information click here: http://www.loyalblocks.com/
|
|
Baptist Hospice-Union City is looking for caring and compassionate adults who are interested in volunteer work. Opportunities to assist patients include offering emotional support, assisting with errands, and providing caregiver relief. Hospice volunteers provide comfort and enrich the quality of life for those served. Anyone interested in volunteering should call Baptist Hospice-Union City at 884-8617 to register for the next volunteer training session, which will be held on March 18 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in the administrative conference room at the hospital. Lunch will be provided.
|
|
List Your Available Commercial Property With Us
Let us help you spread the word about your available commercial property by listing it at www.obioncounty.org. If you have commercial property you would like to list, please contact Lindsay Frilling, Economic Development Director.
lfrilling@obioncounty.org
|
South Fulton Community Alerts
For community alerts in the South Fulton area...text "SOUTHFULTON" to 888777 and enter your zip code when directed. For more information visit www.nixle.com
|
Interested in sponsoring Business Matters or Business After Hours?
Contact Lindsay Frilling at
731-885-0211 or lfrilling@obioncounty.org
|
|
Any time you want to "visit" or to know what's happening in Union City and the surrounding area, just pop into this site and catch up:
|
|
