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Business Notes: September 1, 2014 [Tyler Morning Telegraph, Texas :: ](Tyler Morning Telegraph (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 01--RECIPIENTS Shari Rickman and Susan Travis, of the Tyler Convention & Visitors Bureau, are recipients of the Texas Destination Marketing Certificate program to reward excellence in the convention and visitor bureau industry. The Texas Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus' program offers industry professionals an educational framework for marketing Texas as a destination for both tourism and group business. The program includes Texas heritage/cultural tourism, administration/finance, communications/technology, group sales, group servicing, marketing, tourism sales and visitor services. AWARDS At the 2014 Texas Association of Convention & Visitors Bureau Annual Conference in August, the Tyler Convention & Visitors Bureau was presented with awards for Best Convention Promotion Campaign, Best Cooperative Marketing Campaign, and Best Sports Marketing Campaign in the annual Idea Fair. The Best Convention Promotion Campaign was presented for the bid video created by Glow in the Dark Media and bid presentation that won Tyler the Harley Owners Group Rally for 2015, which is expected to bring an estimated 3,000 visitors to town. Best Cooperative Marketing Campaign was presented for the Tyler Coupon Map created by Get Smart Creative, which is distributed across the state and available at the Tyler Chamber of Commerce. The Best Sports Marketing Campaign was presented for the publicity earned for creating and hosting the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award. CLOSING West Place Nursing Center in Athens will close its doors and cease operations on Nov. 1. The long-term care center will not accept new admissions. All new admissions will go to South Place, near ETMC Athens. Residents will be offered the option of relocation to South Place, while those that chose to relocate elsewhere will receive assistance from West Place to find another residence. Family meetings will be held to ensure that West Place accommodates needs, answers questions and offers needed assistance and advice during this transition. Individual transfer plans have been initiated for each resident and West Place will work closely with each resident to ensure smooth transitions. Much of the current West Place Staff will transfer to South Place. LUNCH & LEARN There will be a Lunch & Learn on Sept. 16 about "Best Practices for Hiring Veterans" at the UT Ornelas Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Ornelas Center is at 3402 Old Omen Road. Admission is complimentary, with lunch provided. Register atwww.eventbrite.com/e / lunch -- and-learn-best-practices-for-hiring-veterans-sept-16-registration-12397217411. MEETING Historic Tyler Inc. will have its annual meeting at 7 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Peoples Petroleum Building. More than a 100 guests will enjoy a tour of the newly renovated building, as well as hors d'oeuvres by Dakotas, auctions, and cocktails. A brief meeting will take place as departing board president Lucinda Kittrell installs the seven new board members and incoming board president Bruce Faulkner. The Preservation Award will be presented at 8:30 p.m. This honors individuals who have been active in preservation efforts in Tyler. Last year's recipients were Patrice and Mike Carmichael. Proceeds from the event will help fund restoration projects and Preserving Tyler's Treasures Grants. Recipients are the Cotton Belt Rail Historical Society, Tyler Woman's Building and the Bergfeld Park Neighborhood Project. For more, email historic@sudden linkmail.com or call 903-595-1960. EARNED Paula Anthony, vice president and chief information officer for East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System, earned a doctorate in organizational development and change from the College of Business and Technology at The University of Texas at Tyler. Her dissertation topic was "The Meaning and Measurement of Employee Engagement." Ms. Anthony has a bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University and a master's in business administration from Case Western Reserve University. She is a fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives. PHYSICIANS Physician leaders from Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics and representing nine Texas health care systems gathered in Dallas in July as part of the Texas Care Alliance (TCA) to discuss collaborative efforts to accelerate medical innovation in-patient care across the state. TCA was founded by Baylor Scott & White Health and Trinity Mother Frances in 2013 to improve the overall health of a defined population by developing health care service models that are patient-centered and physician-driven. TCA also includes Good Shepherd Health System in Longview. HIRED Lodging Host Hotel Corp. hired Shawn Sanchez as general manager of Holiday Express & Suites. Sanchez has nearly 9 years of experience in the hotel industry. He began as the chief engineer at Staybridge Suites, Las Cruces, New Mexico before relocating to Port Aransas as the general manager. Lodging Host Hotel Corp. is a hotel management company located in Longview, with properties in Texas and New Mexico. DIVIDENDS Texas Mutual Insurance Co. recently began distributing $200 million in dividends among about 40,000 policyholders. Based on each company's premium size, loss ratio and history with Texas Mutual, dividends reward policyholders who share the company's commitment to preventing workplace accidents and helping injured workers get well and back on the job. As part of this year's dividends, Texas Mutual will distribute $1,730,740 in dividends to 383 Smith County policyholders. This is the 16th consecutive year Texas Mutual has paid dividends, bringing the total to almost $1.6 billion. The company has paid $1 billion since 2008. PLATFORM PersonalWeb announced the launch of its latest version of StudyPods, a free social-learning platform created for college students to store their files, share content and collaborate on assignments with other students worldwide. The newly released version includes a notes feature that allows students to take notes directly in StudyPods and save and share them in 5 GBs of free cloud storage. StudyPods also has a textbook price comparison tool. The site was created with the help of students from The University of Texas System. DIRECTORS The Whitehouse Chamber of Commerce announced three new directors. Michael Hall is a 1992 graduate of Whitehouse High School with a bachelor's degree from Texas A&M at Texarkana. He has worked for Silverleaf Resorts Inc. for more than 20 years, serving the past five years as vice president of resort operations. Nick Moss has been a resident of Whitehouse for 32 years and has been employed with Moss Concrete for 17 years. He served 15 years as a volunteer for the Whitehouse Fire Department and eight years for Ducks Unlimited. Zack Briscoe, of Whitehouse, started with Republic Services in 2002. He is a division manager over operations in East Texas including Pinehill Landfill (Kilgore), Greenwood Farms Landfill (Tyler), Royal Oaks Landfill (Jacksonville), Southern Power (Plant Nacogdoches, Sacul Texas) and Hauling/Solid Waste Collection, and Recycling Operations for Multiple City Franchises and Rural Customers in Greg, Smith, Van Zandt, Henderson, Cherokee, Rusk, Houston and Anderson counties. CHALLENGE Capital One Bank is calling for applications for its third Financial Literacy Challenge in East Texas, an awards program designed to encourage money management practices among kids and adults in Anderson, Angelina, Camp, Cherokee, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Nacogdoches, Rusk, Smith, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood counties. Capital One is looking for schools that are interested in financial education programming, through a variety of mediums. The open application period ends on Sept. 19. Capital One Bank will award five $2,000 grants to East Texas K-12 schools in October. Any 501(c)3, 501(c)4, 501(c)6 and branches of city, state or local government are eligible to apply. The winners will be notified in October so programs can be implemented between January and May 2015. The application can be found atwww.cybergrants.com/cap italone/easttexasfinancialliteracy challenge. COMPETITION The Kiepersol Blind Tending Bartenders Competition has begun and will culminate on Nov. 11 at KE Bushman's Celebration Center, with the semifinals and finals taking place the same day. The event is called Blind Tending because the semifinal event is judged by the audience who will select the best bartender without seeing them. The event will feature specialty cocktails made with Texas-made Kiepersol spirits brands: Dirk's Vodka, Pierre's Rum or Jimmy's Bourbon. Kiepersol hopes to expose the bartenders to Texas distilled spirits while also defining the standard for bartending Texas style with Texas pride. The top three finishers will divide $10,000 of prize money. For more, visitwww.kiepersol.com . NAMED Capacity Trucks named J.P. "Jerry" Looney as its new national sales director. Looney will focus on fostering relationships that will result in greater business opportunities from the company's national accounts, such as UPS and Fed Ex. Looney has been with Capacity Trucks since 2007 and has more than 20 years of professional experience in sales and strategic management to his new position. Looney attended Texas Wesleyan University and holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology. ATTENDED Alan M. Roseman, owner of Roseman Wealth Advisors, attended the NFP Retirement Summit in Chicago. Collaborating with other top retirement plan advisors from around the country, Roseman and his peers explored the subject of "Courageous Plan Design -- Readying Employees for Retirement through Bold Leadership." Through its relationship with NFP, Roseman Wealth Advisors leverages the strength of a leading national corporate benefits organization that offers the retirement resources, relationships and reach that only organizations of its size and scale can. SESSIONS The Internal Revenue Service, in partnership with the Texas Society of Enrolled Agents, Texas Chapter of the National Associations of Tax Professionals and Texas Small Business Development Centers, will offer informative sessions from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 16 at Tyler Junior College-West Campus, 1530 SSW Loop 323, room 104. Completion of the sessions provides up to seven continuing education hours to enrolled agents. Other tax professionals may qualify for the credits depending on the requirements of their organizations. Registration is $50 and includes lunch. Register atwww.tjc.edu/continu ing studies/info/15/registration_form or call 903-510-2900. Topics will include employment tax issues, heath care taxes and divorce-related tax issues. ANNIVERSARY Rocket Fizz Tyler will celebrate is first anniversary on Saturday at 4129 S. Broadway Ave. Rocket Fizz Tyler carries more than 500 different glass bottled soda pops and unique and nostalgic candy, gag gifts, toys, and retro posters. For more, visit www. rocketfizz.com. COMMEMORATING Fred's Super Dollar is commemorating the fallen heroes of 9/11 through a fundraiser for the emergency teams that serve the Fred's stores' communities. Through Sept. 12, stores will be selling "Hero Hats" for $1 each. Proceeds will go to emergency teams that would be first responders in the event of a 911 crisis in that particular store's area. Operating profits from store sales on Sept. 11 will be donated. Fred's in Tyler is at 1803 E. Gentry Parkway, as well as stores in Gladewater, Hawkins, Kilgore, Lindale, Whitehouse, and White Oak. For more, go to www.freds meds.com. WORKSHOP The Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce will hold its 2014 Business Workshop on Sept. 11 at the Tyler Rose Garden from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Presentation topics will include Culture by design, Supercharge your team's Productivity, Improving Workplace Communications, Social Media /BYOD: Workplace Issues, and Responding to a violent intruder and associated legal issues. Registration is $70 per person and can be made at 2014busworkshop.eventbrite.com, fax at 903-593-2746 or by mail at 315 N. Broadway Ave., Tyler, 75702. Make checks payable to the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce. ___ (c)2014 Tyler Morning Telegraph (Tyler, Texas) Visit Tyler Morning Telegraph (Tyler, Texas) at www.tylerpaper.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |