4A | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS | ForsythNews.com
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015
Horizons
A publication of the Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce
Prestige Members
ANNUAL DINNER & CELEBRATION
Your Voice. Your Story. Your Chamber. Use your voice, tell your story and celebrate your Chamber at the 2015 Annual Dinner and Celebration, presented by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. On Oct. 23 we will network, enjoy delicious cuisine and lively entertainment and celebrate the successes of our community. This year’s black tie optional affair will be held at the Forsyth Conference Center Ballroom located at 3410 Ronald Reagan Boulevard, Cumming, Georgia 30041. A cocktail reception begins at 6:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $150 per person and can be purchased by calling 770-887-6461 or by visiting www. cummingforsythchamber.org. Partners include Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Forsyth, Georgia Power, Kubicek Information Technologies, AT&T, Carter Goble Lee, Hansgrohe, PNC Bank and Hayes, James and Associates to name a few. Opportunities are still available to sponsor this unique event. If interested please contact the Chamber’s Membership Services department at 770-887-6461. Don’t miss this elegant networking opportunity!
How Wellness Drives Business Performance
Northside Hospital-Forsyth Premier Corporate Sponsor
Forsyth County Government
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
The City of Cumming
DeKalb Office
Business Accounting & Tax Services LLC
Taubman
Lou Sobh Honda
Digitel Corporation
Georgia Power
Alpharetta Children’s Dentistry
Kaiser Permanente
Atlanta Landscape Group
Month in Review Chamber Golf Tournament
The 2015 Healthcare Summit, presented by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Forsyth will cover healthcare employees’ wellbeing and how it can affect a business’ bottom line. Jack Curtis, founder and CEO of Corporate Health Partners, will describe how an effective wellness program can improve overall organizational performance. The 2015 Healthcare Summit will answer the following questions: • How can an effective wellness
program improve organizational performance? • What key organizational metrics can be improved besides direct medical cost? • What is required for a wellness program to effectively improve performance? • How can I gain top management support for an effective program? The Summit will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015 at the Forsyth Conference Center (3410 Ronald Reagan Boulevard, Cumming, GA 30041).
This is a joint event between the Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Lanier Forsyth. The event will be held from 7:30 to 9 a.m. and cost $15 for Chamber Members and $30 for Non-Members. To reserve your spot please contact the Chamber at 770-8876461 or visit the Chamber’s website at www.cummingforsythchamber.org.
The 2015 Chamber Golf Tournament First-Place Team.
Member Spotlight: SEMS Technologies, LLC • SEMS Technologies, LLC is a recognized industry leader with more than 25,000 drinking and waste water services utilizing their Emergency and Environmental Compliance Management Software. • SEMS is focused on technology that makes government regulation less burdensome and easier to complete, at a reasonable cost. They are committed to help utilities be more efficient, save money and ensure compliance with state and federal regulations. • SEMS achieves these goals by providing software that enables utilities to create an inventory database, automatically generate work orders for routine maintenance, customize work order management details and
Golfers hope for a hole-in-one to win a car from RBM of Alpharetta.
Business After Hours institute a capital improvement plan. • SEMS’ clients stretch from as far as Hillsboro, Kansas to Fayette County, Ga. Copman • President and CEO, Mitch Copman, has been with SEMS for more than five years. He is
Treasurer of the Board for the Council for Affordable Rural Housing (a national industry association for rural, affordable housing). He also serves on the Greater Alpharetta Tech Network, the GA Association of Water Professionals Asset Management Committee, Leadership Forsyth and the Lanier-Forsyth Rotary Club.
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City honors veterans Flags unfurled for Memorial Day By Crystal Ledford
cledford@forsythnews.com Micah Green Forsyth County News
Soldiers release doves Friday during the Memorial Day ceremony at the Veteran’s Memorial in Cumming.
Eleven more veterans have joined the ranks of those who are honored by the city of Cumming every Memorial Day weekend.
On Friday, city leaders held their annual holiday observance at the Veterans War Memorial. As part of the ceremony, the families of the 11 deceased veterans unfurled flags in their memory, joining the city’s Avenue of Flags along
Veterans Memorial Boulevard across from the Cumming Fairgrounds. Each year, during Memorial and Veterans Day events, the Avenue of Flags is displayed. Each American flag represents one or more veterans from the Forsyth County area. The display has grown to include more than 200 flags, which are See VETERANS | 5A
Teachers Last day excitement finish up first year edUCAtIoN
Feel mix of relief, accomplishment By Jennifer Sami
jsami@forsythnews.com
Photos by Micah Green Forsyth County News
Kaitlyn Woodcock and Raine Wilson, second-graders at Chestatee Elementary, wait for the bus to pull out Friday, the last day of school before summer vacation. Chestatee Elementary teachers wave goodbye to their students Friday as they head home for summer vacation. The 2014-15 school year begins on Aug. 7.
As they approach the end of their first school year as teachers, Megan Barton and Kendall Robinson are both tired and inspired. It’s been a year of learning. It’s been a year of firsts. But both young educators said they are more confident in their career decisions now than they were on the first day back in August. As part of an occasional series, the Forsyth County News has followed Barton and Robinson throughout the school year. For the final installment, the FCN caught up with them last week as they prepared to release students Friday for summer vacation.
Megan Barton Barton is going to miss her first fourth-grade class at Midway Elementary, whom she said taught her so much during her first year as a teacher. They were a great group to learn from and one that she’s really “grown to love.” Their parents have been even more helpful and generous during her first year, according to Barton. As she heads back for a few days of post planning this week before her summer officially begins, Barton paused to reflect on the past 10 months. “It’s definitely been a learning year for me, but it went really well,” she said. “You never have another first year ... I’ve experienced See TEACHERS | 5A
Optimists award scholarships Recipients include students from each public high school By Crystal Ledford
cledford@forsythnews.com Crystal Ledford Forsyth County News
West Forsyth senior Carlos Lopez, center, receives a scholarship from Forsyth-Cumming Optimist Club member Mike Miller on Thursday as teacher, Erik Moore, right, watches.
Members of the Forsyth-Cumming Optimist Club awarded $10,000 in scholarships during a meeting Thursday. The club honored 10 members of the class of 2014 from all five of
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Forsyth’s public high schools. Bob Flowers, vice president of the club, said most of the funding for the scholarship program comes from the club’s Avenue of Flags program, in which club members places American flags in front of homes or businesses on certain holidays. “All the flags you see in neighborhoods that are about to pop up over this weekend, that’s our doing and that’s how we fund these scholarships,” Flowers said. For a fee of about $35 a year, the See OPTIMISTS | 5A
Jennifer Sami Forsyth County School
Midway Elementary teacher Megan Barton is nearing the end of her first year as a teacher.
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Bruce Wing and Nick Bruner enjoy Business After Hours, hosted by the Holiday Inn Express & Suites.
ForsythNews.com | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS | 5A
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015
Horizons
Presented by
A publication of the Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce
Upcoming Events Sept. 29 Member Power Networking Lunch, 11:30 a.m., Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q
Chamber, Rotary and County to Host Transportation Summit
Oct. 6 Member Power Networking Lunch, 11:30 a.m., Rick Tanner’s Bar & Grille
Oct. 6 Women Who Mean Business, 7:30 a.m., Gregory’s Paint & Flooring
Oct. 7 North Atlanta Startup Coffee, 9 a.m., Wildflower Eatery
Oct. 8 Business After Hours, 5 p.m., Hansgrohe
Oct. 13 HR Seminar: Employee Attendance, 9 a.m., Forsyth Conference Center
Oct. 13 Member Power Networking Lunch,11:30 a.m., Rosati’s Pizza & Sports Bar
Oct. 20 Member Power Networking Lunch, 11:30 a.m., Blue Fin Sushi & Thai Grill
Oct. 23 Annual Dinner & Celebration, 6:30 p.m., Forsyth Conference Center
Oct. 27 HCA Summit, 7:30 a.m., Forsyth Conference Center
Oct. 27 Member Power Networking Lunch, 11:30 a.m.,
Key to the events Member Power Networking Lunch — Meets every Tuesday at noon at a different location and includes casual networking for 20-35 other business professionals. Business After Hours — Meets the second Tuesday of every month from 5-7 p.m. at a different host location every month. The purpose is networking and to experience new businesses in the community. Women Who Mean Business — Meets the first Tuesday of every month at 7:30 a.m. This is a specialized networking group of over 50 female business professionals. Join them for breakfast. • Please visit our Event’s Calendar at www.cummingforsythchamber.org to see a full list of events, more information and registration.
Transportation continues to be a hot-topic in Forsyth County for both residents and the business community. In an effort to encourage conversation and preplanning the Chamber is once again partnering with the Forsyth County Government and the South Forsyth Rotary Club to host a Transportation Summit. To have your voice heard and your questions answered mark your calendar for the 2015 Transportation Summit. This lunch event, will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. at the Forsyth Conference Center, 3410 Ronald Reagan Boulevard, Cumming. The cost of this event is $15 and includes lunch and the opportunity to hear from and ask questions of invited guests: Rudy Bowen (Board Member, 7th Congressional District of the State Transportation Board), Russell McMurry (Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation), and Forsyth County Commissioners Brian Tam and Cindy Jones Mills. In addition to the presentation, attendees can celebrate the groundbreaking (taking place earlier that day) of the Ga. 400 widening project. The meeting is open to the public and seating will be available at no cost to those declining the lunch option. The program will begin at noon and will conclude at 1:30 p.m. To register to attend visit www.cummingforsythchamber.org or call 770-887-6461.
We’re honored to serve you It’s an honor to be recognized as the nation’s leading hospital for maternity and newborn care. Look a little closer and you’ll discover that Northside performs more surgeries and diagnoses and treats more breast and gynecologic cancer than any other hospital in Georgia. While people chooseNorthside for our expertise, they also know us for our exceptional compassionate care. Visit us online at www.northside.com