Leadership Development - The topic of this week's Muskingum Valley Human Resource Management Association meeting is "Strategic Leadership Development: What it is & How to do it", presented by Tom Mobley.  Tom will:

• Outline 15 leadership competencies that are critical to organizational success and review how to determine if they are right for your organizations leaders 
• Review methods that your organization can use to obtain specific feedback on how your leaders are performing 
• Show you how you can develop a customized action plan for your organizations leaders after they are assessed 
• Demonstrate ways to provide your leaders with ongoing coaching and
• Summarize how to measure your assessed leaders progress 

The meeting is on Wednesday, March 12, from 8 am to 9 am at the chamber offices in the Welcome Center.  Chamber members are welcome to attend as guests of the HR association, and there is a $10 meeting registration fee. Be sure to RSVP to Joy Riddle at jriddle@zmchamber.com if you plan to attend. 

Visitors Guide - Zanesville and Muskingum County's new Visitors Guides are hot off the press. 105,000 guides are printed and ready for distribution throughout the year to leisure travelers, tour planners, meeting planners, and local citizens.  Designed to attract visitors and help build the local economy, the Visitors Guide includes information about accommodations, restaurants, shopping options, calendar of events, attractions, parks and recreation, and nightlife options, as well as feature stories, a community profile and "Did You Know?" section. . For a free copy of the new Visitors Guide call the Chamber of Commerce at 455-8282 or or email a request to kashby@zmchamber.com.

Peak Performance - Come check out our featured speaker at the annual Spring Break event, Bruce Boguski from The Winner's Edge.  Bruce is a long time peak performance consultant who has worked with business people and athletes to help them maximize their results and better motivate their teams. The Spring Break event is scheduled for Friday, March 21, from 7 am to 9 am, and it will be sponsored by Century National Bank, AT&T and the Zanesville-Muskingum Co. Safety Council.  This event is the Chamber's annual membership meeting where we celebrate business successes though the ACES awards program and the Safety Council awards.  "Spring Break" is FAR from a serious and formal affair, so break out your spring attire and your summer attitude and be sure to attend.  Reservations can be made online or by emailing jmasterson@zmchamber.com .

Energy Choice - The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has launched the new Energy Choice Ohio website, www.energychoice.ohio.gov, dedicated to consumer education regarding electric and natural gas choice in Ohio. The website features Apples to Apples charts to provide residential and small commercial consumers with a snapshot comparison of current electric and natural gas supplier offerings and contract terms. The Apples to Apples charts will now be updated daily and consumers will have the ability to filter and sort offers to better compare those they are most interested in.

Losing Customers - Inc. Magazine recently published a great article called Five Things That Drive Away Customers. Most of these are common sense, yet many of us continue to make these mistakes.  Share this with your staff, coworkers and management.

Grant Funding - OhioMeansJobs-Muskingum County has funding available to help offset the pay of new hires during on-the-job training.  Up to 50% of the cost can be reimbursed to your business through this federal grant.  For more information about the On-The-Job-Training (OJT) program contact Justy Cordray at OhioMeansJobs at CORDRJ01@odjfs.state.oh.us or 454-6211.

Submit Your Events - If you have an event coming up you should enter it in our online events and meetings calendar at zmchamber.com as a way to promote it.  It's free to members and it's simple to use.  There is a "submit new event" link on the right side of the calendar page.  Click it and fill in your details.  You can also find the calendar link at any time on the homepage of zmchamber.com.    

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