Celebrating 25 Years of Connections - Amarillo Chamber of Commerce

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Gary Molberg President/CEO Andrea McClintock VP of Membership Jason Harrison VP of Business Development & Governmental Affairs Penni Bentley Senior Director of Communications Christy Bigler Database Administrator Lindsey Arbeiter Membership Sales Coordinator Mary Garcia Business Development Coordinator Denise Rayford Director of First Impressions Dan Quandt VP of Convention & Visitor Council Mary Ramirez CVC Executive Assistant Eric Miller CVC Director of Communications Tina Brohlin CVC Director of Sales Kashion Smith CVC Director of Tourism Stephanie Andrews CVC Services Manager Hope Stokes CVC Interactive Media Manager Braley Hand CVC Tourism Coordinator Ashley Gutierrez CVC Sales Manager Hollie Hawkins CVC Sales Manager Kendra Knowles CVC Sales Coordinator PO Box 9480 Amarillo, TX 79105 806.373.7800 806.373.3909 fax Amarillo-Chamber.org

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Celebrating 25 Years of Connections Way back in 1992 the Chamber held its first BusinessConnection ® Tradeshow at the Amarillo Civic Center with a few dozen booths taking up only one exhibitor hall in the complex. Twenty-five years later, more than 350 businesses will pack 4 rooms and the adjacent hallways showing off their products and services to a crowd of several thousand show goers. Don’t miss this great opportunity to have new potential customers or clients get to know your business at this one-day business-to-business tradeshow...the largest show of its kind in the area! This event is the perfect way to showcase the latest trends in your industry and network with other business professionals. Returning exhibitors should have already secured their booths. If you haven’t, you should get online or call us to reserve it right away, as new exhibitors and Chamber members are signing up and filling up space daily. Booths start at just $275.

Thursday May 11th Amarillo Civic Center Complex VIP Show 10am—4pm FREE with VIP Ticket or Business Card General Public Show 1pm-4pm $5 admission Tradeshow Food Court 1130am-130pm $10 in advance $15 at door

If you own a restaurant, food/beverage, or catering company, you can also promote your great food as Gold Sponsor Representatives LtoR: Julie Imke, West Texas A&M University; Jay Ricci, AGN Media/ part of the Tradeshow Food Amarillo Globe-News; William Ware, Amarillo National Court for FREE. Space is Bank; Sherman Bass, City of Amarillo/Amarillo Civic Center Complex; and Barry Albrecht, Amarillo limited, so call Jason Economic Development Corporation. Harrison at 342.2018 for details. Food Court participants who have signed up already include: Café Venture Catering, Chick-fil-A Georgia Street/South Coulter, Fuddruckers, Gatti’s Pizza, Hoffbrau Steaks, Jason’s Deli, Joe Daddy's, La Bella Pizza, La Fiesta Grande, Pure Element, Sonic Drive-In, Vigil Pizza Ribbon Cuttings dba Domino’s, Ye Olde Pancake Station, and More!

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Thanks to these 2017 BusinessConnection® sponsors: Gold Sponsors—AGN Media, Amarillo Economic Development Corporation, Amarillo National Bank, City of Amarillo, and West Texas A&M University. Silver Sponsors—Amarillo Wireless, Bell Helicopter, Goodwill Industries of Northwest Texas, Southwest Airlines, Woodforest National Bank, and Zip Print.

Panhandle Days Recap

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New Members

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After Hours Networking

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Renewing Members

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Visit http://www.amarillo-chamber.org/businessconnection.html to sign up as an exhibitor or purchase Food Court tickets. Contact Jason at 342.2018 or [email protected] with questions.

CVC News & PRIME Service Editor’s Corner

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Click on http://bit.ly/RibbonCuttingsFeb2017 to download these pictures.

ABC 7 News One Broadcast Center

Fresh Start of Monroe, Inc. 609 S Jefferson

Contact Christy at 342-2004 for information on holding your own Ribbon Cutting or Groundbreaking event.

Panhandle Days Close to 80 representatives from the Panhandle of Texas traveled down to Austin this past February to spend a couple of days visiting with state legislators. The group was made up of community and business leaders who came together as a unified voice to talk about issues affecting the area. This issues included Agriculture, Arts & Tourism, Education, Healthcare, Insurance, Transportation and others. The “Panhandle Days” delegation broke into two large groups, with one group going to both the Senate and House floors to hear the readings of the proclamation and to support our local elected officials. The other group was further split into teams of 4-6 people representing the various issues as they visited with key committee members on how these affect the Panhandle. The delegation was also able to discuss key issues with each other and legislators from around the state at an evening reception. The entire group was given a “State of the State” address by Comptroller Glen Hegar at a breakfast event. Thank you to the following Sponsors for making this event possible and a big success…Amarillo Economic Development Corp, Atmos Energy, High Plains Water District and Xcel Energy. Top Right: the Panhandle Days group on the steps of the capitol. Lower Right: Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Barry Albrecht, Eddie Edwards, Lance Andrews, Michelle Reichert, Brooke Trammell, Senator Kel Seliger

WoodSpring Suites 4601 I-40 East

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Welcome New Members Thanks for Joining in February 4JW Remodeling Justin Wheeler 204 N Taylor Amarillo, TX 79107 (806) 331-6406 Fax: (806) 331-4146 General Remodeling, Bathroom Remodeling, Kitchen Remodeling. Allstate Insurance/Ashley Mauldin Insurance Ashley Mauldin Veronica Leiva 2300 Bell Street Suite 18 Amarillo, TX 79106 Fax: (806) 355-3304 https://agents.allstate.com/ ashley-mauldin-amarillo-tx.html Auto, Home, Life, and Retirement. We pride ourselves on being your trusted advisor and our mission is to make certain you are properly covered. Amarillo Vision Specialists (Georgia Street) Shauna Thornhill Dr. Lee Shuwarger 4215 Canyon Dr. Amarillo, TX 79110 (806) 372-1977 www.amarillovision.net Drs. Shauna Thornhill and Lee Shuwarger provide exceptional eye care at an affordable price for the entire family.

Amarillo Vision Specialists (Grand Street) Shauna Thornhill Adriana Sanchez 3700 Interstate 40 East Amarillo, TX 79103 (806) 372-1977 www.amarillovision.net Drs. Shauna Thornhill and Lee Shuwarger provide exceptional eye care at an affordable price for the entire family.

ple struggling with substance and alcohol addiction. We are a Christian organization that offers a safe place to learn and grow. My Next Step is a transitional program designed for people leaving residential treatment or for people whom are seeking alternative to inpatient.

Green Chile Willy's Margaret Glasscock David Tinklenberg 13651 Interstate 27 Amarillo, TX 79119 (806) 622-2200 www.greenchilewillys.com Family owned small steakhouse located between Amarillo & Canyon, specializing in great steaks, burgers, and made from scratch chicken fried steaks. Open Tues Sat for lunch and dinner.

Overhead Door Company of Amarillo Hoyt Sunday Mike Butler 4111 N W 10th Amarillo, TX 79106 (806) 372-5884 Fax: (806) 372-6978 www.overheaddoorcompanyofam arillo.com Locally, family owned Red Ribbon dealer of Overhead Door Company since 1969. Servicing Amarillo and the surrounding area with over 100 years of combined experience.

My Next Step, PLLC Eric Hammer Scott Walker 6500 Canyon Dr., Suite 200 Amarillo, TX 79109 (806) 452-8006 Fax: (806) 452-8007 www.mynextstepllc.com My Next Step, PLLC is an Intensive Outpatient Program for peo-

The Local Mailer David Esler PO Box 20481 Amarillo, TX 79114 www.thelocalmailer.com The Local Mailer is an advertising and event mailer designed as an attractive marketing piece that is distributed to Amarillo and Canyon each month.

Check the Week’s Sneak Peek for a list of upcoming ribbon cuttings, groundbreakings, committee meetings, and more! http://bit.ly/ChamberWSP

VH Photo and Video Victor Rosas Rosy Rosas 3801 Wolflin Ave Amarillo, TX 79102 (806) 282-0686 www.vhfoto.com Provide photogenic services to people needing pictures for weddings, corporate events/ headshots, high school seniors, sports photography, etc. We specialize in moments & keepsakes that will last forever! WoodSpring Suites Aaron Mullennax Bob Gass 4601 E Interstate 40 Amarillo, TX 79104 (806) 342-0222 www.woodspring.com At WoodSpring Suites we believe you shouldn't have to choose between a good value and a good night's sleep. You only pay for what you need. It's a refreshingly simple approach to travel. It's Simple done better.

We’re on Fun 99.7 every Tuesday at 8:30am to talk about the week's events, conventions & newest members. It’s the most jam-packed three-minute segment. If you miss it live, you can always check out the video recap with more information on our YouTube Channel, Facebook page or on the Week’s Sneak Peek page on our website.

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Free Networking at Chamber After Hours April 6 If you have yet to join us at one of these fun events, you can expect to meet some new faces, connect with some old friends, hand out some business cards, maybe win a door prize, enjoy some great food and beverages, and network, network, network. Best of all, they are FREE. We invite Chamber members to take advantage of this great way to meet new people who might want to know about your business. For more information about After Hours hosts and to view photos from our last event at The Venue, visit http://bit.ly/AmarilloChamberAfterHours. If you would like to host a future After Hours at your business, call Jason at 806.342.2018.

Thursday, April 6 5:00pm—7:00pm Rockwood Furniture Co. 11570 Interstate 27 (exit Sundown Lane) Chamber Members & Guests are invited to join us for another FREE Business Networking event. There will be hors d’oeuvres, drinks & door prizes. Adults only please.

View more photos from our last After Hours event at The Venue at http://bit.ly/AfterHoursVenuePics

Join the event on Facebook at http://bit.ly/AfterHoursRockwood040617

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41 Productions 806 Barber & Beauty 806 Sports ABC 7 News Accent Embroidery Adam's Air Affiliated Foods Airport Amarillo Fairfield Inn & Suites All World Travel Allergy A.R.T.S. Amarillo Advertising Federation Amarillo Area Tennis Association Amarillo Bulls Hockey Amarillo Consolidated Travel Inc. Amarillo Gear Company LLC Amarillo Greentree Village Ltd. Amarillo Independent School District Amarillo National Bank Amarillo Symphony Amarillo Travel Network American Cancer Society Apex Plumbing Heating and Air Asset Max Assiter & Associates, LLC Attorney Dean Boyd, PLLC Auto Inc. Autoplex Automotive, LP Battery Joe Belmar Bakery & Cafe Benchmark Business Solutions Bivins-Childers, Inc Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas BNI West Texas Buckthal, W P C&B Marketing Cameron Monroe Casters of Amarillo Inc. Cenveo Trafton Printing Chambers Electric, LLC Childers Brothers Inc Clarendon College - Amarillo Cosmetology Center Clift Land Brokers Cobblestone Custom Home Design Inc.

Commercial Industrial Builders Country Inn & Suites by Carlson Crossroads Technologies Davidson Oil Company Denman Building Products, LTD. Diversified Waste Management Double D Siding, Windows, & Gutters Fairly Group FIMC Commercial Realty First Mortgage Home Lending First United Bank Fluhman Outdoor Media Fountain of Health, Inc. George's Shoes Golden Spread Redi-Mix, Inc Goodcare Health Services Goodin's Jewelry Griggs Schooler-Gordon Funeral Directors Groovy Pop Gourmet Popcorn High Plains Dermatology Center Highland Park Village Hoffbrau Steaks Holiday Inn Express & Suites Amarillo West Interstate Insurance Agency Jack Knight Insurance Associates Jane Juett Jenkins Doors & Windows Jimmy Fincher Body Shop Junior League of Amarillo Karr and Hardee Dentistry Keller Williams Realty KHIVA Shrine Center La Quinta Inn LAV-Amarillo Le Chateau Pet Resort Lift With Your Legs Movers, LLC Logan's Roadhouse Lovett Chiropractic Pain Relief Clinic Lowe's Mary Kay Cosmetics/Cathy Welch Maxwell's Pumpkin Farm LLC McDonald's

Millers Cleaners Morgan Stanley Mullin, Hoard & Brown LLP NAACP, Amarillo Branch National Livestock Insurance Agency Neighbors Emergency Center NuStar Energy Office Service Systems Inc. Omega Electronics ONEOK, Inc. Pablo Energy II, LLC Pampa Chamber of Commerce Panhandle Human Resources Association Panhandle Presort Services Ltd. Physicians Surgical Hospitals Plains Internet Pop-A-Lock Public House Public Steel Inc Republic Services Richardson Seeds, Ltd. Rick Lovelady Carpets Ridgewood Apartments Rosa's Cafe & Tortilla Factory Scarborough Specialties, Inc. Sharp's Motorsports Inc Shepherd Concrete Smile Workshop St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral & School State Farm/Bill McDonald State Representative Four Price State Senator Kel Seliger Suite Escape Tasco Tascosa Brick and Fireplace Tascosa Road Fellowship/ Oneighty Texas Air and Space Museum Texas Blue Lake Pools Inc Texas Dodge Texas Legacy Land Title, LLC The Arbors The Canyon Lands, LTD.

Top of Texas Square & Round Dance Assoc. Tri State Ford U.S. Cleaners United Healthcare of Texas Upshaw Insurance Agency Vendors Flea Market, LLC Vibra Rehabilitation Hospital West Texas A&M University Western Builders of Amarillo Wiley Hicks Jr Inc Wilson Haag & Company P C Witt Flooring Center

REMEMBER: You can pay your Chamber invoices online and even update your membership listing, including address, phone, fax, email, website, description of services and more. Visit the MEMBERS ONLY section of our website or email [email protected] for your login name and password if you have forgotten it. Need help? Give her a call at 342-2004. Click here to go to the Members Only Login Section: http://bit.ly/MembersOnlyLogin

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WELCOME THESE SPORT & CONVENTION GROUPS TO AMARILLO April

Convention & Visitor Council 2016-17 Year-To-Date Statistics

7-8

Mission 2540 Feed, Clothe, Love and Lift

8-9

Southwest Trampoline & Tumbling Association STTA Texas & New Mexico State Championship

10-13

Rural Association for Court Administration Court Coordinators Conference

10-14

Texas Dept. of Transportation Travel Info Division Texas Travel Counselors Texas Travel Fair

17-20

West TX Justices of the Peace & Constables Assn. West Texas JPCA Annual

85

19-23

Construction Specification Institute CSI South Region Conference

85

20-22

Panhandle Press Association 107th Annual Convention

64

28-30

NexStar National Talent Competition Amarillo Talent Competition

100

5-7

National Club Baseball Association NCBA DI/II District VII Playoff Tournament

175

5-7

Toastmasters International District 23 Spring Conference

70

40

Tourism Occupancy Rate (February) Group Tour Buses (Fiscal YTD)

52.5% 82

Film Commission Information requests (Fiscal YTD)

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Sport & Convention Groups # of Conventions/Groups in Amarillo (Fiscal YTD) Delegates (Fiscal YTD)

25 47,605

20 250 65 105

May

Room Nights (Fiscal YTD)

2,361

Convention Delegates Booked-Future Conventions (Fiscal YTD)

1,225

Convention Delegate Room Nights Booked (Fiscal YTD)

1,822

20-21

Panhandle Reined Cow Horse Association Windy City Warm Up Horse Show

Attendees Booked-Future Sport Events (Fiscal YTD)

4,245

22-24

American Quarter Horse Association AQHA Affiliate Workshop/Training

150

Room Nights Booked (Fiscal YTD)

4,174

26-28

Tascosa High School Class of ‘67 50th Reunion

200

14-18

American Quarter Horse Association Region 8 Quarter Horse Show

540

20-23

National Corn Growers Association June Board Meeting

24

22-24

Jane Phillips Society National Convention 75th

50

30-7/2

Fields Family Reunion

65

Communications / CVC Website June CVC Website Visits (Google Analytics—February)

48,206

CVC Website Unique Visitors (Google Analytics—February)

39,736

CVC Website Page Views (Google Analytics—February) CVC Website Average Visit Duration (Google Analytics—February)

69,691

1:45

July 4-9

Amarillo Gun Club—Texas Trapshooters Assn. Texas State Trap Shoot

300

11-13

American Quarter Horse Association Youth Excellence Seminar (YES) Leadership Conf.

360

Social Media Facebook Page Likes Thru February (VisitAmarilloTX)

38,162

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Congratulations to these Prime Service Award Winners in February Members of the CVC’s Convention & Tourism Committee as well as other Chamber volunteers recently dropped in on the following businesses to deliver an AMA Prime Service lapel pin to these employees who provided someone with PRIME customer service.

62nd ANNUAL TEXAS TRAVEL COUNSELORS CONFERENCE DISCOVERS AMARILLO

By: Eric Miller, CVC Director of Communications What has 160 legs, is all ears and greets millions of visitors to Texas each year? The 80 travel counselors from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and city convention and visitor bureaus participating in the 62nd Annual Texas Travel Counselors Conference in Amarillo April 9-13.

TxDOT’s Travel Counselors are the friendly people staffing one of the 12 Travel Information Centers across the state. These travel counselors are well-trained and very knowledgeable about Texas. Each year, this conference visits a different part of Texas and spends several days on the road exploring area attractions and experiencing the area’s flavor.

If you receive outstanding service at an area business, nominate that person for a Prime Service award. Just call the CVC office at 374-1497 or visit www.visitamarillo.com/about-amarillo/primeservice/ Blake Becker

Joe Daddy’s

Sabrina Perkins (Dept. Mgr)

Walmart Grocery Pickup (Georgia) Nicole Banse

Walmart Grocery Pickup (Georgia) Nicole Boughton

Walmart Grocery Pickup (Georgia) Brittney Gomez

Walmart Grocery Pickup (Georgia) Margarita Mercado

Walmart Grocery Pickup (Georgia) Akira Tropez-Price

Walmart Grocery Pickup (Georgia) Moshtak Rhema

Walmart Grocery Pickup (Georgia) Andrew Sammons

Walmart Grocery Pickup (Georgia)

"The travel counselors are considered Texas’ Goodwill Ambassadors. They influence more than 93% of visitors to extend their stay, visit more attractions, or plan future trips,” Joan Henderson, TxDOT Director of Travel Services, says.

Toni Wood

Walmart Grocery Pickup (Georgia)

Arts Committee Phyllis Nickum has accepted the open seat left by the passing of committee member, Ann Crouch. Special thanks go out to the entire arts committee for their hard work on the 35th Annual Golden Nail Awards Gala coming up on April 6th including: Angela Knapp Eggers—Chair, Kathy Sheldon, Carol Lovelady, Bobby Steele, Kevin Ball, Mary Jane Johnson, Neal Nossaman, Sherman Bass, and Phyllis Nickum.

Do you get the Tuesday morning email updates for what’s going on around town with tourism, conventions, attractions and events? Email Eric Miller to be added to this fun and informative weekly email blast at [email protected].

VisitAmarillo.com

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The Chamber eNewsletter is published by the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, 1000 South Polk, Amarillo, Texas 79101. It is provided free of charge to Chamber members. Address correspondence to Chamber Communications at the address listed above, call 806.373.7800 or fax 806.373.3909. 2016-17 Board of Directors Executive Committee Chair Chair-Elect Finance Chair Past Chair President/CEO Membership Council Business Council Governmental Affairs Council Quality of Life Council Ag Council Convention & Visitor Council City of Amarillo

Jeff Mitchell William Ware Michelle Reichert Brice Sheets Gary Molberg Chris Reed Wes Wright Bob Murray Penelope Davies Leon Church Stephanie Price Mayor Paul Harpole

Directors Barry “Bear” Albrecht Randy Arceneaux Spanky Assiter Mark Bridges Brian Bruckner Randy Castillo Corey Cowart Dusty Doyle Bryan Kauffman Brandon Kuhn Sherry Kunka John Luciano

Does your business have a Facebook page? Write on our Facebook timeline and we’ll share your information with our 7,000+ fans.

7,495 Fans on http://on.fb.me/5DZVNH Facebook 4,530 Followers on Twitter http://bit.ly/hvluwj 20,794 Photos on Flickr http://bit.ly/ePVylz

Shannon Massey Greg Meador Cindy Miller Ed Nichols Garry Rich Aaron Sage Brandy Sanchez Ernesto Sanchez Joe Street David Terry Toby Tucker Dr. Dana West

Visit our website at: Amarillo-Chamber.org Penni Bentley, Editor

[email protected]

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Editor’s Corner

By: Penni Bentley, Senior Communications Director Direct: 806.342.2005 Cell: 806.674.7334 [email protected] Work should be fun. That doesn’t mean that every day has to be completely stress free and without deadlines, but I think it’s important to find “fun” in everything you do. Sure, we are the Chamber and our whole focus is about business. Serious business. But if you’ve been to any of our events, you see we like to incorporate a little bit of

Mark Your Calendar: 4/6

After Hours Networking at Rockwood Furniture

4/6

Golden Nail Awards

5/11

BusinessConnection

5/5-13 National Tourism Week 6/1

Cattle Drive Downtown

6/8

After Hours Networking at Nistler’s Lawn & Landscape

6/15

Summer Celebration

7/13

After Hours Networking at Scarborough Specialties

7/27

Chamber Open Golf Tournament

8/3

After Hours Networking at Keller Williams

9/14

Good Times Celebration Barbecue Cook-off

TBA

Chamber Challenge

I LOVE that each one of these awesome leaders didn’t just show up to smile and stiffly pose, but they really made the most of the theme and had fun with each other and the props. That made my job, and the photographer’s, a whole lot easier.

10/5

After Hours Networking at Casey Carpet One

10/19

Annual Banquet & Business Excellence Awards

11/2

After Hours Networking at FirstCapital Bank

Isn’t it funny how just a smiling and pleasant face or demeanor can instantly relax you and make you feel more at ease? Leaders that know how to laugh and cut up occasionally make it easier for people to follow them into the trenches when the real tough work has to be done.

12/7

After Hours Networking at Street Volkswagen

fun in them too.

Last week I coordinated a photo shoot with the awesome staff of Adair Photography to create the marketing pieces for our upcoming BusinessConnection® tradeshow to feature our Gold Sponsors. The picture on the cover of this newsletter was just one I just snapped with my iPhone as a teaser. (The professional ones are coming soon.) I asked these 5 business professionals to show up, and that we were trying to create an image that represented us celebrating 25 years of the event. So...think party for a silver anniversary.

I personally think a happy person is seen as more...human—or relatable maybe. The grouchy stiff who never smiles can’t possibly have hobbies or favorite shows or kids or grandkids that bring them joy. You think of them as some sort of Mr./Mrs. Grinch that no one wants to be around. But Santa, for instance, is happy and jolly and has tons of elves willing to do what it takes to bring joy to others. Sure, that’s a really simple comparison, and none of us probably have a boss like Santa Claus, but going to work with happy people every day sure beats the alternative. Unless of course, YOU are the Grinch of your office, and then...you probably won’t see the point of any of this and are truly annoyed by the happy people around you. And it’s you Grinches that should pay attention. People (your employees, coworkers, customers, family, friends) want to feel special...or at least valued. A simple way to make someone feel important is to take time to smile at them, ask about their day, take interest in them and appreciate the fact that they are spending their time or their money with you. I hate handing over my money to a grumpy or unpleasant clerk. Or giving up my time to someone that doesn’t care if I’m there. Happiness is a choice. So if your employees seem to always be miserable, maybe you could encourage them to try to be more pleasant. But you might also make sure that their demeanor is not a direct reflection of your leadership or example. If you haven’t heard the song “Happy People” from Little Big Town, you can listen to it here or read the lyrics here. It’s a catchy little tune that should make you smile. Unless you’re a total Grinch.  As always, tell us how we are doing. Give us your suggestions, feedback, and input. Feel free to write on our Facebook wall. Get involved. We are proud to be YOUR Chamber.