As January 2011 quickly draws to an end, we wanted you to know that the Marion County Chamber has been hard at work finalizing plans for the upcoming year and helping assist members with business related issues.

It’s Legislative Season and for us that means great changes.  Senator Roman Prezioso was recently appointed the Chair of Senate Finance.  A powerful committee in the Senate, Prezioso should have no trouble leading the charge.  His experience and hard work in the Senate paid off as he was selected for this honor. 

The MCCC met with all our local Delegates at the Annual Legislative Breakfast earlier this month. They were presented with the Chamber’s key legislative issues that we feel are important to all Chamber members.  You can find the entire 2011 Legislative Agenda listed under the Advocacy tab above.

The MCCC held a Board of Directors meeting and Work Session on January 21^st at the Fairmont Field Club.  Committee Assignments were made and committees met to establish goals and objectives.  Board meetings will be held bi-monthly for 2011 with the Executive Committee meeting monthly.  MCCC members are encouraged to serve on committees which include:  Governmental Relations, Small Business, Education, Finance, Special Events, and Membership.  All are welcome and we encourage our members to be involved.  Call the office at 304 363-0442 if you would like to serve.

As always, we invite all members to call us with any questions, comments or suggestions on ways we can help your business!

Happy Holidays from the Marion County Chamber of Commerce.  We hope all our members, friends, and families enjoyed a peaceful and joyful Christmas and are excited about 2011.  As the MCCC gears up for another successful year, we are excited about what’s to come for Marion County. 

We applaud Congressman Mollohan, Senator Manchin, the Marion County Commission, the City of Fairmont, the WV Department of  Highways along with the Federal Department of Highways on the hard work and dedication displayed in completing the Fairmont Gateway Connector.  Wow……..what a great addition to our community!  The Connector is fully open and we encourage all of you to please take a drive on the new highway into Fairmont and Marion County.  It is truly a state of the art parkway and the exciting part is the future that it holds for all businesses.  Now that it is open, we all must do our job to create new opportunities for our existing and future businesses.  Stay tuned on details for a ribbon cutting and dedication of the new parkway in the coming months.

We hope you have received your invitation to the 2011 Legislative Breakfast.  With some new faces, you will not want to miss this event.  It will be held on Friday, January 7^th in the Robert H. Mollohan Research Center (I-79 Technology Park) and will begin at 8:30 am.  The Legislative Session begins the following week, so this will be the perfect time to talk to our Delegates about important issues facing Marion County businesses in the coming year.   Thanks to nTelos for their sponsorship of the breakfast and to all our table sponsors.  The MCCC is able to keep the cost of this to a minimum because of these dedicated members.  If you have questions, please call us at 304 -363-0442.

The MCCC would like to welcome the new members to the Board of Directors; Jim Haney, Allegheny Energy; Dr. Doreen Larson, Pierpont Community & Technical College; Shirly Roets, createTank; and Chip Vanalsburg, Frontier Communications.   We would also like to thank Guy Baroni, Scott Robertson, Teresa Rundle and Dave Shaw who will be leaving the Board after serving two terms.

As always, we invite all members to call us with any questions, comments or suggestions on ways we can help your business!

Happy 2011.

Congratulations to all who were involved in passing the Marion County School Bond.  Because of a very dedicated Bond Committee, Marion County school personnel, and community support, we will soon have a new middle school for East Fairmont.  This community should be proud of that accomplishment and look forward to future school projects.  This was definitely a win for economic development in Marion County!   Now we can move on to some very exciting events in the next few months.

First, the Marion County Chamber, along with the Fairmont State Alumni Association and the Harrison County Chamber will honor Dr. Doreen Larson on November 17^th.  Dr. Larson is the new President of Pierpont Community and Technical College and a welcome reception will be held, in her honor, at the Research Center in the I-79 Technology Park on the 17^th.  The event will take place from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm and is open to all chamber members and their guests.  Refreshments will be served and Dr. Larson will make brief remarks at 6:00 pm.

The MCCC’s Small Business Expo will also be held on November 17^th at the Middletown Mall.  Billed as a one day, one stop networking event, numerous businesses will be on hand from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm showcasing their products and services.  We invite and hope that all members and their employees to attend and hope they will stop by at some point during the day to support their fellow businesses.  Additionally, we’d like to thank the Middletown Mall for providing the venue for this event.

Please mark your calendars for a very special reception to honor Congressman Alan B. Mollohan scheduled for December 8, 2010.  The Chamber is planning this event to say Thank You to Congressman Mollohan for his 28 years of service to our District.  It will be held in the Research Center at the I-79 Technology Park from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm on that date.  Tickets can be purchased by calling the chamber and are $25.00 for Chamber members and $40.00 for non members.  Any business wanting to sponsor the event can also call the Chamber.  Sponsorships are $500.00 and include a table of eight along with program and signage recognition. 

As we wind down the year, the MCCC will be electing new board members and begin the planning for 2011.  First event will be the Legislative Breakfast on Friday, January 7^th.  More information will follow in the coming weeks.

Title: Welcome Reception
Location: I-79 Technology Park Research Center
Description: Join Marion, Harrison and Morgantown Chambers of Commerce for a reception in honor of Dr. Doreen Larson, President, Pierpont Community & Technical College. For more information call (304) 363-0442.
Start Time: 17:30
Date: 2010-11-17
End Time: 19:30

In the upcoming election, Marion County voters will have a unique, economic development opportunity before them.  We will be voting for a new school bond that will build a new East Fairmont Middle School and replace the current, aging junior high and relieve overcrowding at three East Fairmont grade schools.

I say this is a unique opportunity because Marion County voters, if passed, will only pay for approximately ½ of the total cost of the new school.  The state School Building Authority (SBA) has approved and allotted $14.4 million toward the project, if the bond passes.  That means Marion County will receive a new, $30 million school for $15 million.  Add to that, the construction jobs and other needed services during the building phase, and Marion County will be in a much better position economically speaking.

What it boils down to as a taxpayer is pennies a day.  For approximately $3.68 per month or .12 a day per household, Marion County middle school students, in the East Side attendance area, will be in a new school with new technology, new furnishings, and a new regulation size football/soccer field. In addition, the current East Fairmont Junior High gymnasium will be renovated to accommodate school and community needs.

It is apparent that we have many educational needs throughout the entire county, and we have to start addressing them as separate projects instead of trying to solve them all at once.  By working with the community and the state SBA, we can begin a new era of looking in each school attendance area and addressing individual needs.  Having the state SBA’s financial support on this endeavor is a huge win for all of Marion County.

I encourage you to talk to neighbors, friends, and families and tell them to become informed on this issue.  We want our residents to understand the importance of passing this bond and what it would mean to the future of Marion County. 

More information can be found at www.marioncountypride.com

Back by popular demand is the Marion County Chamber of Commerce and MRDC Tailgate Party at Fairmont State’s first night game September 30^th.  Partnering with campus and community organizations, the Chamber will host a cookout prior to opening kickoff.  The event will begin at 5:30 pm and will last until game time at 8:00 pm.  Hamburgers, hot dogs, side dishes, desserts and drinks will be provided and will be compliments of our members who will be donating all the food and drinks.  Grills will be set up, entertainment provided, and games are being planned.  We hope to have members, employees and their families attend.

The Chamber encourages our businesses to get involved and decorate store fronts the week of the game.  Business owners and employees can wear maroon and white to show their support and it would be great to have a large Chamber crowd cheering on the team.

Members can call the chamber for more information and/or if they would like to donate something for the event.  Hope to see everyone there!

Now that summer is behind us, students are back in school and our Annual Dinner is put to bed for another year, your chamber is busy planning for fall and beyond.

The Chamber’s Annual Dinner was a huge success and we honored our award winners and scholarship winners.  Congratulations go to:

Tuscan Sun Spa and Salon                     Small Business of the Year
Aspire Uniqueness Boutique               Retailer of the Year
Earl McConnell Jr.                                   Chairman’s Award
Jennifer Weist                                            Presidents Award
Frank Pulice Jr.                                        Rev. Donal “Jack” Squires Lifetime Achievement Award

 Winning college scholarships were Andrew Bonasso, Wittlee Retton, Sarah Stiles, Maleena Gump, and Samantha James. 

The MCCC congratulates all of them for their commitment to Marion County.

Looking ahead, we will plan the opening of the Gateway Connector, the construction of the new WV State Office Complex, construction of the new Advanced Technical Training Center, opening of Allegheny Energy’s new Transmission Headquarters and construction of the new Fairmont Armed Forces Reserve Center.

Your Chamber will keep you updated and informed of all the progress on these projects and new ones to come.

The Marion County Chamber of Commerce would like to express deep sympathy on the passing of Senator Robert C. Byrd. West Virginia is in such a better place because of his dedication and years of service supporting economic development projects. His legacy will live forever throughout our entire state in the infrastructure, technology, aviation, educational, veterans, arts, research, and recreational projects that are here today because of him.

As we move through the summer, we are preparing for the MCCC 57th Annual Dinner. Scheduled for August 11th on the campus of Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College, the dinner is also the night that the annual awards and student scholarship are presented. Be on the lookout for your invitation arriving soon.

In other news, the Chamber as partnered with the City of Fairmont, Main Street Fairmont, and Marion County Commission in a series of workshops called “Let’s Get Connected.” With the anticipation of the opening of the Gateway Connector, workshops are being held for business owners on Merchant Street along with residents to discuss ways to enhance and upgrade not only their own properties, but also the public areas. Final workshop is scheduled for July 13th at 8:30 am in the Gear Up facility on Merchant St. The event is free, although reservations must be made by calling the chamber. Breakfast will, once again, be provided by Freedom Bank.

Coach Nick Saban, Marion County native and Alabama head football coach, will be honored by the MCCC, at a reception on Tuesday, May 25th at 3:00 pm in Colebank Hall on the campus of Fairmont State University.  The event, being sponsored by numerous chamber members will be the first of a two-part appearance for Coach Saban that day.

After the chamber reception, at approximately 4:30 pm, Saban will move into the Falcon Center Gym 1, where all of North Central WV has been invited to hear him talk about his most recent National Football Championship and his memories of growing up in Marion County.

Tickets to the Chamber reception are $25.00 each and can be purchased by calling the office at 304 363-0442. A few sponsorships remain at $500.00 which includes 6 tickets, program recognition, and signage. Refreshments will be served during this event.

The public event, at 4:30 pm, is free of charge and we hope to have several of his former Marion County teammates and coaches in attendance.

If the old saying is true that March goes “ out like a lamb”, then whoever wrote it could not have imagined what life in Marion County and at the MCCC will be like over the next two months. In our Chamber world, April will come in like a lion and stay that way for a while. However, it’s exciting and will be lots of fun for our members and the community.

 We are very proud to be honoring Nick Saban, hometown hero who recently won the National College Football Championship coaching his Alabama team to victory. Coach Saban grew up in Monongah, played football in Marion County, and will be the Chamber’s guest of honor at a reception on May 25th at 3:00 pm. Members and their guests are invited to the reception and tickets are $25.00 each as the Coach helps the Chamber raise funds for student scholarships we present each year. Reservations must be made so we can prepare for the food and drink and if any member is interested in sponsoring the event, please let us know. Sponsorships are $500.00 and include 6 tickets along with advertising and signage. After the Chamber reception, Coach Saban will move into the Falcon Center for a community-wide celebration in his honor.

The Chamber Annual Golf Outing is scheduled for Friday, May 7th at Green Hills Country Club. This event has been one of the most popular events the Chamber sponsors throughout the year. Lunch, dinner, green fees, cart rental, snacks, drinks, and giveaways will be a part of the day. Anyone interested in playing in the outing, please contact the Chamber. Right around the corner is Monte Carlo Night scheduled for April 17th at the YWCA in Pleasant Valley. Tickets are available at the chamber for $40.00/couple or $25.00/person and attendees will enjoy a night of fun “Vegas” style games trying to win as much funny money as possible. The more money you win, the more chances you will have for one of the many prizes including an overnight stay and breakfast at the Greenbrier. The evening will begin at 7:00 pm with lots of food, drink and fun. Bring your friends and join us. Tickets are available at the Chamber.