BRIGHT SPOTS - Did you know that Ballas Egg Products processes over 1.7 million eggs each day which become ingredients in brand name food products? Learn about this and other bright spots in our community by visiting our This is Zanesville & Muskingum County, Ohio webpage, and check back frequently to see new content.

SAVE ON WORKERS COMP- The Chamber manages the BWC sponsored Safety Council program.  Companies that participate can save up to 4% on their workers comp premiums. The new year starts July 1 and you have to enroll by July 31 to be eligible for the rebate. For more information visit www.zmsafety.com. Also, the monthly Safety Council meeting for June is this week, on Wednesday at 8 am at the Country Club.  Bo Keck, director of the Muskingum County Emergency Management Agency is the speaker.  Chamber members are welcome to attend.  The admission fee is $10 per meeting. A buffet breakfast is served. 

GITOMER ON SALES - Our partnership with sales expert Jeffery Gitomer continues with this week's column titled You Can Not Ignore the Present - It's Where Your Sales Are. "Here are seven realities to get your thinking started: FIRST REALITY: Traditional selling is aggressive - telling, pitching, manipulating, and closing. This old-world approach to sales is over and has been for more than a decade"....read more.

MARKETING - Here's a good article from Entrepreneur Magazine on three common marketing mistakes: "1. Marketing to everyone, appealing to no one. 2. Marketing channel execution on steroids. 3. Practicing Hail Mary marketing" Read more.

SALES SKILLS - Sales training is available to Chamber members at a reduced rate through www.gitomervt.com (which stands for Gitomer Virtual Training), the online education site for Jeffrey Gitomer, the popular sales author and speaker. The activation fee is waived for Chamber members when you take a course - just use the coupon code zmchamber when you register. Course offerings include "The 21 Unbreakable Laws of Selling", "The Little Red Book of Selling", and many more.

BUSINESS PLANS - MCBI is hosting a 10 week long business planning workshop series. The workshops will be held every Tuesday at 5:30 pm starting July 8 and ending September 9. For more information or to register call 74-453-3649 or email jwhite@mcbi.info .

HEALTH INSURANCE - A free webinar on the Affordable Care Act is available on June 26 at 10 am. This presentation by Marc Fishel will focus onwhat employers need to know as we move through the rest of this year and into next year. Register now. 

BUSINESS CHECK-UP - We can now provide a comprehensive business assessment of your company. This new service is available via our partnership with MCBI (www.mcbi.info) and it includes a confidential and unbiased review of your business strategies and practices. The result is a set of recommendations you can implement right now to grow and save. This fee based service is available for the special price of $99 for chamber members; the price is normally $135.  If you ever wanted a fresh set of eyes to look over what you are doing then you should consider this new service. For more information contact Wendy Edgar at MCBI at 740-453-3649 or wedgar@mcbi.info.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE - The national Consumer Confidence Index edged up in May for the fourth time in six months and was within 0.9 points of March's six-plus year high (highest since January 2008); however with the Index registering at 83.0, it remained below the 90.0 level that is considered to be a healthy reading. Source: www.insperity.com

YOUNG BUYERS - "Millennials" are buyers in the 20 to 37 year old age bracket, and understanding their spending and shopping preferences are critical to the success of many companies. This article from CP Executive Magazine provides great insight into where and why this important demographic spends money.

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. Events entered in our online calendar also automatically posted to the Chamber's Facebook page.

 THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS