Volunteers of the Year announced
Join us in congratulating our 2014 Volunteers of the Year! Each winner will be honored at the Chamber's 137th Annual Meeting on January 28, 2015. As volunteers, these individuals supported the Chamber both with their time and their talents, and have significantly enhanced the Chamber's mission to take on the biggest challenges facing businesses in Austin.
2014 Volunteers of the Year:
Ambassador: Casey McKinney, Cogent Infotech Corporation
Communications: Michael Westgate, W20 Group
Economic Development: Mike Wilson, LegalZoom
Education: Tony Budet, University Federal Credit Union
Federal/State: Janis Carter, Winstead PC
Innovation/Technology: Bob Metcalfe, University of Texas at Austin
Membership: Mary Dawson, Embassy Suites
Regional and Local Policy: Hi Thai, Windstream Communications and Rene Campos, MarketMailPrint
Regional Mobility: Bill Blackstone, Rackspace
SXSW Chamber member exclusive | Ending soon!
The Chamber has negotiated an
exclusive, members-only badge offer for SXSW Interactive 2015.
Thousands of industry innovators from across the country and around the world attend the event, so SXSW Interactive is a great place to make essential business connections with the digital leaders of tomorrow. SXSW Interactive will take place March 13-17, 2015 in Austin. This incredible offer will be ending soon, so purchase your badge today! If you are not already a member and would like to know more, please contact
memberinfo@austinchamber.com.
Visit South Africa with the Chamber
Looking for your next adventure? Join us as we visit South Africa on April 9-21, 2015! We have a few seats left -- contact Jan Riepen if you're interested. We are also hosting an information session about our 2015 South America trip next fall on January 14. Click here to learn more about our travel opportunities. To view photos from our 2014 South Africa trip, click here.
Join us in supporting economic development
There are two important agenda items in front of City Council this Thursday. Stop by City Hall and register in favor of Item 25 and let Council know that you oppose a more difficult economic development policy by registering against Item 221. If passed, Item 221 prevents companies with economic development agreements from protesting their property tax appraisals. This state constitutional right provides for fair taxation for all taxpayers. The City's performance-based policy already provides many protections for Austin's residents. You can send a message to all Council members by clicking here.
Austin's Innovation Economy
The Chamber's 9th Annual Economic Outlook program, took place last Thursday. Thank you to our visionary speakers that explored Austin's dynamic innovation economy and outlined next steps for Austin to remain an innovation leader! A summary of the event, including presentations from our speakers, can be found on our blog. Click here to view.
Help Austin become a net zero greenhouse gas emissions city
The Austin Community Climate Plan Survey was created to determine what individual actions the residents of our community have taken, and would be willing to take, to save time and money and also reduce their individual carbon footprints. Please take the survey here.
