CHAMBER MATTERS
The Douglas County Chamber's mission is to support, promote, and attract business for the advancement of our community.
FEBRUARY 2018 In this Issue:
Lead the Way: Apply for Leadership Douglas 2019! The Douglas County Chamber is now accepting applications for the 2018-2019 Class of Leadership Douglas. The mission of Leadership Douglas is to identify, encourage and develop leadership abilities so that its participants grow both personally and professionally. Participants in Leadership Douglas benefit from getting to know one another and from the exchange of ideas and experiences. They gain knowledge and understanding on crucial issues facing our community, while also attaining leadership skills. They also develop a network of relationships with other leaders of various backgrounds throughout Douglas County. This professional leadership curriculum is achieved through a ten-month program of structured activity where students become familiar with all aspects of our community. Leadership Douglas utilizes professional leadership trainers while also utilizing community resources for courses such as Health and Recreation, Economic Development, Arts and History, Public Safety, Social Services, Education, Government Affairs, and Water Resources. To download an application, visit www.douglascountygeorgia.com or contact the Chamber at 770.942.5022. Applications are due no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 15th.
Shop Local - Win Big: Participate in 'Downtown Love' in February! Main Street Douglasville is excited to once again host Downtown Love for the month of February. This promotion is similar to last year’s promotion as well as Restaurant Week and the Buy Local, Win Big promotion. The Chamber is pleased to partner with Main Street Douglasville to Support downtown businesses. HOW TO PARTICIPATE: STEP 1 - Shop or dine at a local downtown Douglasville Business. STEP 2 - Fill out the bottom of the form* and attach receipts (copies are accepted). Only receipts from February 1st-28th will be eligible for the Downtown Love giveaway. There is no limit to your number of entries. Make sure to use one form per receipt. STEP 3 - Drop off or mail your receipt and this form to the Main Street Douglasville Office (currently located at the Chamber) at 6658 Church Street Douglasville, GA 30134 - must be postmarked by February 28th. STEP 4 - If your receipt is drawn, you will win $250 and the participating business from the winning receipt will win $250! STEP 5 - The winner will be announced on Facebook LIVE on March 2nd at 12 p.m. *Forms can be found in this issue of Chamber Matters, on the Main Street Douglasville Facebook page, on the Chamber website, and in the February issue of Chapel Hill News & Views. 6658 CHURCH STREET, DOUGLASVILLE, GA 30134
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770.942.5022
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• Welcome New Members • February Calendar • Member News • January Snapshots • Chamber CHOW Corner ...and MORE!
JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
www.douglascountygeorgia.com
2018 Seniors: Apply for the Foundation Leadership Scholarship by March 15th. The Douglas County Chamber Foundation is proud to offer multiple scholarship opportunities to high school students from Douglas County schools. These scholarships will be awarded to high school seniors exemplifying outstanding leadership qualities. The first place scholarship is $1,000, second place scholarship is $500, and the Board Scholarship awarding $500. Applications are due by March 15th at 5 p.m. For more information visit www. douglascountygeorgia.com.
WWW.DOUGLASCOUNTYGEORGIA.COM
MEMBER NEWS... We are pleased to support and celebrate our member's accomplishments!
Douglas County Board of Commissioners Votes Martin and Valentin into Director Positions Douglas County Commission Chairman Dr. Romona Jackson Jones and the Board of Commissioners recently voted to approve the appointments of Rick Martin to be the Director of Communications and Community Relations and Miguel Valentin to be the Director of Transportation for Douglas County.
WELCOME RICK & MIGUEL! Douglas County Natives Promoted in County Government The Douglas County Communications and Community Relations Department has announced T.J. Jaglinski will serve as Station Manager of dctv23 in addition to his current role of Assistant Communications Director and Lena Hardy will be joining the team as a Communications and Media Specialist on January 16, 2018.
CONGRATULATIONS T.J. & LENA! For more member news, visit www.douglascountygeorgia.com.
Belletti Photography Selected as Top 19 Portrait Photographers in Atlanta Congratulations Shannon Belletti for being selected as a Top Portrait Photographer in Atlanta by Expertise! Belletti Photography provides portraits, headshots, wedding, and event services for clients in the Atlanta Metro area. Shannon has won several awards, including from Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Awards, Wedding Industry Experts, and Georgia Bridal Association.
Landmark Christian School Appoints New Head of School
The Landmark Christian School Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Jason McMaster as Head of School for Landmark effective July 1, 2018. Dr. McMaster comes to LCS from Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, California, where he has served since its founding in 2000. Landmark is excited to welcome Dr. McMaster and his family to the community and looks forward to continuing the Landmark mission of preparing students to impact the world for Jesus Christ.
February Member Spotlight HAWTHORNE AT MIRROR LAKE APARTMENTS Established in 2002, Hawthorne at Mirror Lake offers a variety of options for apartment living. They are located in Villa Rica. Hawthorne is currently planning for new and exciting things in the upcoming year including adding a controlled access gate at the entrance, resurfacing tennis courts, revamping the swimming pool, adding a pool kitchen with grill and mini fridge. They are currently building 96 brand new apartment homes; three buildings, four stories with elevators. Also coming in 2018 is a brand new Amenity Building featuring a brand new fitness center, business center and pet wash! The staff at Hawthorne at Mirror Lake welcome any visitors or prosepctive resident to come tour the community! For more information, visit their website www.HawthorneAtMirrorLake.com, or follow them on Facebook at Hawthorne at Mirror Lake.
Sonya Donahoo | 770.459.6400 9400 Conners Road | Villa Rica
Sonya Donahoo, Community Manager and Chelsea Montgomery, Assistant Community Manager.
January
SNAPSH TS The Diplomats enjoyed lunch at O'Charley's for their January meeting and welcomed new volunteers to the group.
Kerry Rigdon, Kara Pearson, and Athena Bryant socializing over breakfast at the Georgia Power Business4Breakfast at WellStar Douglas Hospital.
Chairmans Club members and community leaders enjoyed a morning of networking at the Georgia Chamber Eggs & Issues breakfast.
The spring group of Youth Leadership Douglas began with team building games at their retreat in early January.
Thank you to this month's networking event sponsors: LD students had fun playing pickleball during their class day.
Thank you Foxhall Resort for allowing our staff to stay at your villas for our staff retreat.
We celebrated the new location of Safelite AutoGlass with a ribbon cutting!
Joe Harris and Robin Siekerman share their thoughts on the 2018 Economic Outlook given by Dr. Joey Smith.
Great conversations and networking can always be found at the Business4Breakfast events!
What an awesome group! We celebrated the completion of the inaugural Youth Leadership Douglas Mentor Program.
Leadership Douglas students bundled up for the Health and Wellness Day at WellStar Douglas Hospital and DC Parks & Recreation.
As the January luncheon keynote speaker, Dr. Joey Smith met with our Chairmans Club members at a special reception.
For information about upcoming 2018 networking events, visit www.douglascountygeorgia.com.
Georgia Power Business4Breakfast Sponsored by: WellStar Douglas Hospital GreyStone Power Luncheon Sponsored by: Connally, Jordan & Associates, P.C., CPA
YLD students found a film trail spot in Downtown Douglasville.
Connally, Jordan & Associates, P.C. CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
Thank you Connally, Jordan & Associates P.C., CPA. for sponsoring!
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS! PRESENTED BY
GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS AT&T Bank of the Ozarks Comcast DC Economic Development Authority HRC Engineers, Surveyors & Landscape Architects Kaiser Permanente
RA-LIN & Associates, Inc. Regions Bank Servis1st Bank Sherrod & Bernard P.C. Synovus United Community Bank
AUCTION SPONSOR Hawkinson, Muchnick& Associates, CPA
PHOTOGRAPHY SPONSOR Belletti Photography, LLC
For information about Chamber event sponsorships, contact the Chamber at 770.942.5022.
Reflections from the 2017 Chairman of the Board Looking back at 2017, we had another great year in which we conducted over 35 networking events, 37 Ribbon Cuttings, our 72nd Annual Community Awards & Winter Ball, our always fun Chamber Raffle and the most successful Chamber Golf Classic to date. We also continued with our great community programs: Leadership Douglas and Youth Leadership Douglas. We ended the year with a Big Thank You by enlisting our Board Members and Diplomats to visit all of our members to personally thank them during Member Appreciation Month and then hosted everyone for the annual Member Appreciation Cookout at the Chamber. I am grateful to all our volunteer leaders who played a significant role in making the Cookout the best attended ever! In 2017, we were also able to launch several new programs and expand and improve existing programs to better benefit our membership. Here are the highlights: • Multiple collaborations with organizations in Douglas County including the creation of Douglas UnitE3 which is focused on an 5-year implementation of the Community and Economic Development Strategic Plan. The Chamber partnered with the city, county, WSA, Schools, GreyStone and GP and local business owners to achieve the plan and we have already begun to work on implementation. We also welcomed the City of Douglasville Main Street and CVB offices to our building while their office is being renovated. • Partnering with Main Street Douglasville, Douglas County Economic Development Authority, Main Street Villa Rica for the Buy Local, Win Big Contest in December. With over 2,000 entries and the largest prize winnings for a shop local contest to date, the event was a BIG WIN for the community as well as the Chamber. • Valuable professional development opportunities for our members including the B.O.S.S. (Business Owners Sharing Solutions) Summit in May which featured “business rockstars” providing best practices for our members in customer experience and social media. • Implementing the inaugural Youth Leadership Douglas Mentor Program for high school seniors. These students were paired with business professionals that guided them through a five month mentorship to help them prepare for the next chapter of their lives as well as providing value to the mentors in an act of shaping future leaders. • Seeing our Chamber President & CEO, Kali, be recognized as the Georgia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (GACCE) Legacy Award recipient this summer, on her birthday, was one of the greatest surprises I have been involved in. I am proud of and for you, Kali. The rest of Georgia finally recognized what we knew all along - YOU ARE AN AMAZING CHAMBER EXECUTIVE.
As my time as Chairman has come to an end, I want to take a moment and thank my wife and family for their support and understanding when chamber duties called me away from home and Bank of the Ozarks for allowing and encouraging me to serve. I would also like to thank you, my fellow members, for your support during 2017. And, finally, but surely not last, to the best chamber staff in Georgia - Thank You! I could not have done this without you. You Rock! As we look forward to 2018, join me in support of our new Chairman, Kara Pearson. Sincerely,
CHAMBER CHATTER Learn more about Douglas County Chamber programs and events.
Safelite AutoGlass Opens New Location in Lithia Springs Safelite AutoGlass general manager, Norm Towne, staff, and Chamber representatives celebrated the grand opening of their location by holding a DC Chamber Ribbon Cutting on January 11th. Safelite AutoGlass is now at 420 Thornton Road Way in Lithia Springs.
REGISTER NOW for the Live2Lead Leadership Development Conference on February 2nd
COMING SOON: Apply to be Teacher 4 a Day on March 27, 2018 The Douglas County School System is pleased to announce its continued partnership with the Douglas County Chamber, for “Teacher 4 A Day.� This program will take place on March 27th at all Douglas County Schools. Guest teachers will be exposed to the many exciting programs offered in our schools as well as gaining firsthand insight into the challenges that schools face on a daily basis. Applications will be available on the Chamber website this month.
Chamber Welcomes Two New Chairmans Club Members for 2018 The Douglas County Chamber is pleased to announce two new members of the 2018 Chairmans Club: Mark DeNyse with DeNyse Companies, and Jessica Fulton with McDonough Bolyard Peck (MBP). The mission of the Chairmans Club is to convene community-minded, senior level business people to be visionaries for the Chamber and a voice for business in our community.
For more Chamber news, visitwww.douglascountygeorgia.com.
Welcome 2018 Chamber Committee Chairs!
Corner
ADVANCING MODERN PROFESSIONALS IN DOUGLAS (AMP'D) Laura Mullins
Check out this month's featured restaurants!
HRC Engineers, Surveyors & Landscape Architects
Chamber Diplomats Tonya Jackson
Week of February 4th
Week of February 18th
Week of February 11th
Week of February 25th
RA-LIN & Associates, Inc.
Government Affairs Committee Deyanna Jones Comcast
Chamber Connections Leads Groups Margaret McCarley Brookview Apartment Homes
Small Business Committee Valerie Howell, Merle Norman Cosmetics
Kyle Gable Coupons MUST be printed. Find your copy in a Douglas County Sentinel or at www.douglascountygeorgia.com
For information on joining a committee, contact the Chamber at 770.942.5022.
WellStar and Mayo Clinic. Working together. Working for you.
WellStar Ad
As a proud member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, WellStar is even closer to achieving our vision of world-class healthcare. Through this innovative collaboration, WellStar doctors have special access to Mayo Clinic knowledge, expertise and resources while patients continue to receive care delivered right here, close to home. And now with even more WellStar locations working together with Mayo Clinic, you get peace of mind knowing that we are here for you. Innovation. World-class care. WellStar. For more information, please visit wellstar.org/mayo. For physician referral, please call 770-956-STAR (7827).
WellStar Health System, the largest health system in Georgia, is known nationally for its innovative care models, focused on improving quality and access to healthcare. WellStar consists of WellStar Medical Group, 240 medical ofďŹ ce locations, outpatient centers, health parks, a pediatric center, nursing centers, hospice, homecare, as well as 11 inpatient hospitals: WellStar Atlanta Medical Center, WellStar Atlanta Medical Center South, WellStar Kennestone Regional Medical Center (anchored by WellStar Kennestone Hospital), WellStar West Georgia Medical Center, and WellStar Cobb, Douglas, North Fulton, Paulding, Spalding Regional, Sylvan Grove and Windy Hill hospitals. As a not-for-proďŹ t, WellStar continues to reinvest in the health of the communities it serves with new technologies and treatments.
We believe in life well-lived.
MEMBER RENEWALS Thank you for your continued investment in the Chamber! AMG Business Solutions Bojangles' Chick-fil-A, Arbor Place Mall Digital Solutions Inc. Douglasville Heating & Air & Appliance Repair, Inc. Enjoy Life Cleaning, LLC Hartley, Rowe & Fowler, P.C. Hawthorne at Mirror Lake Apartments Junior League of Douglas County, Inc. Marvis Simpson State Farm Insurance Motel 6 Newell Recycling of Georgia Douglas County Proof of the Pudding Strategic Business Services Sweetwater Camera Club, Inc. Sweetwater Mission The UPS Store #1690 Uniform Sales of America, LLC Vineyard Streetball Classic, Inc. Wayne Crook Agency, LLC
BUY LOCAL. Shop Chamber Members.
FEBRUARY CALENDAR OF EVENTS 1st
8a – 5p Leadership Douglas Economic Development Day
2nd
8a – 1p Live2Lead West Georgia Encore Event Featuring John Maxwell & Dave Ramsey At West Georgia Technical College
6th
9a Chamber 101: Member Orientation* 2 – 6 p Youth Leadership Douglas Meeting*
7th
8a
8th
8 – 9a Georgia Power Business4Breakfast Sponsored by West Georgia Technical College 11:30a Ribbon Cutting at Georgia Blue Foot & Ankle
9th
8a 8a
Good Morning Connections Leads Group* BIG Success Leads Group At West Georgia Technical College
10th
7p
Winter Ball and Community Awards Presented by GreyStone Power Corporation At the Douglasville Conference Center
13th
8a Board of Directors Meeting 11:30a Chairmans Club Reception 12p GreyStone Power Luncheon Sponsored by WellStar Douglas Hospital 2018 Political Perspective Featured Speakers: Tharon Johnson & Todd Rehm At the Douglasville Conference Center
14th
9a 12p
19th
Chamber Closed in Observance of President’s Day
Douglas County Day at the Capitol
Government Affairs Committee Meeting* Chamber Diplomat Meeting*
22nd 11:30a Ribbon Cutting for Belletti Photography* 5p
Comcast Business After Hours Sponsored by Chapel Hills Golf Glub
23rd
8a 8a
Good Morning Connections Leads Group* BIG Success Leads Group At West Georgia Technical College
27th
9a
Small Business Committee Meeting
* Event held at the Chamber
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS! ATLANTA WEST KIA
GO BELT
John Brislin 1301 Thornton Road Lithia Springs, GA 30122 678.715.5399 www.atlantawestkia.com
Calvin Willis 404.319.6303 www.itsgobelt.com
ARK RESTORATION Doug Bailey 770.577.4146 www.arkdisasterresotration.com
MEET OUR CHAMBER DIPLOMATS! The Chamber Diplomats play a very important role in our Chamber. Enjoy getting to know our volunteers and their favorite things about being a Chamber Diplomat!
GAIL MOORE, CUSTOM PLASTICS & MORE
RITA FASINA-THOMAS, STRATEGIC BUSINESS SERVICES
MILLWOOD PARK APARTMENTS Keisha Dewberry 8242 Duralee Lane Douglasville, GA 30134 770.949.8440 www.millwoodparkapts.com
CLEARVIEW INSTALLATIONS, LLC
What is your favorite Chamber event?
Monica Easter P.O. Box 478 Douglasville, GA 30133 770.838.3966 www.clearviewinstallations.com
It's hard to pick just ONE - I'll say it's a tie between the Business After Hours and Luncheons. Interested in becoming a member? Call TODAY at 770.942.5022 or visit www.douglascountygeorgia.com.
What is a fun Chamber fact you found out when you became a Diplomat? I had no idea how fun it would be to serve as a Diplomat, such a great way to be involved!
Who is your go-to Chamber member?
When I'm not at Chamber function, where can you be found?
I love Farmer's Table!
Either walking or at home with family.
Learn more about our Diplomats at www.douglascountygeorgia.com.
THANK YOU TO OUR 2018 CHAIRMANS CLUB
douglas county
NOW AVAILABLE! The 2018-19 Official Map of Douglas County, Douglasville and Villa Rica is now available at the Chamber office. Stop by and pick up your FREE copy TODAY!
Meet OurChairmans Club Gary Miller
THE CHAIRMANS CLUB IS THE CHAMBER’S EXCLUSIVE LEVEL OF MEMBERSHIP FEATURING TOP EXECUTIVES IN DOUGLASVILLE AND DOUGLAS COUNTY. MEET TWO OF OUR MEMBERS!
GreyStone Power Corporation is a member-owned electric cooperative dedicated to providing their members with the best electric service at the lowest possible rates. Because GreyStone is locally owned and operated, customers, known as members, receive responsive and focusedservice. Located on the west side of Atlanta, GreyStone Power serves portions of eight metropolitan Atlantacounties including Douglas, Paulding, Fulton, Coweta, Cobb, Fayette, Carroll, and Bartow. GreyStone Power is a nonprofit cooperative incorporated under Georgia law.
Randy Whitaker Bank of the Ozarks takes great pride in knowing their customers. They understand that these relationships, along with expertise, are the best ways to discover just the right financial solutions to suit customer's needs. Bank of the Ozarks offers an array of personal and business banking services geared to offer convenience and safety while helping customers attain their desired goals. Their purpose is not to be the biggest bank – but to simply be the best one. Be sure to follow our Facebook page for an exclusive interview with our Chairmans Club members each month!
POWERING Our Community
Your Community Partner From attracting new jobs and retaining
Round UpÂŽ and partnering with area schools,
existing businesses, to prescription savings
GreyStone Power is your Community Partner.
and other shopping discounts, from scholarships for local students, to
Because real power comes from making
helping neighbors through Operation
life better for the people we serve.
Your Community Partner
GreyStone Power is an equal opportunity provider and employer.