Written by Administrator | 21 January 2010

March Newsletter

Happy March, one step closer to spring!

We have been very busy planning our events for 2010. It is the hope of our new President Nadine that you
will try to attend one or more function this year. We have planned a variety of networking mixers, luncheons,
dinners, seminars, Tri and Bi Chamber events, and much more…. Not to mention our 1st Annual Taste of the
Slate Belt planned for this fall. These functions give you the opportunity to learn more about other Slate Belt
and surrounding area businesses, network with each other and learn about their products and services.
Remember Support Our Members; They Support Our Community!

 Special “Thank You” to Rosemarie Murphy of The American Cancer Society for speaking at our February
Breakfast. Did you know that the cancer society has free educational programs for people facing cancer-either
personally, or as a friend or family caregiver. Programs such as I Can Cope, and the Look Good...Feel Better.
They also have a Hope Lodge, this is a free, overnight facility offered to cancer patients and their families
needing a place to stay while receiving cancer treatment. The Road to Recovery program is trained volunteers
provide cancer patients free transportation to and from outpatient cancer treatments. These are just a few of the
programs offered, for more information contact the American Cancer Society directly at 1.800.ACS.2345 or
www.cancer.org.

Appreciation also goes Greg and his staff at Five Points Inn & Deli for your hospitality.

 Just a reminder we will be going to press with the 2010 Membership Directory in March. If you have not
done so, please remit your membership renewal application along with your dues as soon as possible. This will
ensure your business listing in this years Membership Directory. Deadline 3/15/10. Credit Card and payments
are accepted by contacting the office at 610.863.0315.

 We are still looking for donations for this years Chamber Pathways Breakfast. Items such as school supplies,
inspirational books, cosmetics and other items of your choice will fill a goodie bag for our 20 female students.
If you would like to make a small donation towards the breakfast we will then purchase items and list you as the
donor/sponsor. The program goal is to build confidence in students as they begin to develop plans for their
lives after high school; to encourage and motivate students to continue their education or to develop a plan that
will enable them to be successful as they join the workforce after graduation.

We are happy to announce that the SBCC is now on
FACEBOOK
Add us as a friend now!
The SBCC will be posting chamber event details and more…..
Just another way to get your business information out...
www.facebook.com
NEW SBCC MEMBERS FOR FEBRUARY

 

 

Augie’s Spare Time Restaurant
Augustine a. Pullo
455 American Bangor Rd.
Bangor, PA 18013
Mailing: 203 Bangor Junction Rd.,
Bangor, PA 18013
610-599-0319, Fax: 610-599-0320
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Family Restaurant located inside Bangor Bowling Center.

Fast Pro Restoration
David & Kellen Heckman
80 Savercool Ave.
Pen Argyl, PA 18072
610-863-6811, Fax: 610-863-6817
E-Mail: fastprorestoration.com
Web Site: www.fastprorestoration.com
Fire & water restoration.

Gold Silver Trading Post
Michael Walz & Martin Gerardo
102 S. Broadway,
PO Box 67
Wind Gap, PA 18091
601-863-1100, Fax: 610-863-1105
Web Site: www.goldsilvertradingpost.com. Buying & selling gold, silver coins & jewelry, antiques & other collectables.

Committee to Elect Joe Emrick
2312 Blue Jay Drive
Nazareth, PA 18064
610-759-3213, Fax: 610-759-0411
E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web Site: www.joeemrick.com
Candidate for State Representative in the 137th House District.

Plan Before You Advertise

 First and most important before you do any advertising or promotion you have to have a Marketing Plan. Advertising and
promotion is the end result of your plan. Marketing is simply “Communication and Education”.

 The following are the 9 things you need to do to put together your plan prior to and after you have done your advertising.

1. Develop your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). What makes you different and this needs to be defined and communicated
in your advertising.
2. What is your GUARANTEE? You need a guarantee to lower the risk of people doing business with you. It doesn’t have to
be a money back guarantee.
3. WHO is your target market? Defining your WHO is the most important. Everything else is predicated on knowing who
you are selling to or better yet who you want to sell to. You may have multiple target markets but they need to be defined
and start with the one that makes you the most profit.
4. WHERE is your target market in the highest concentration?
5. WHAT do you want your customers and prospects to buy?
6. WHY should they buy from you? How do they benefit from using your product or service?
7. HOW is the best way to communicate your USP and message to them; direct mail, print, radio, TV, web, etc.
8. CALCUALTE YOUR BREAKEVEN for every advertising campaign before you execute it. If it doesn’t make sense or
doesn’t look like it will generate enough business to cover the cost of the campaign don’t do it.
9. MEASURE and TEST Measure the results of your marketing/advertising campaign to see if it is working. If not is there
anything you could do to improve it.
If you follow these 9 Steps in developing, executing, and following up your marketing plan you will enhance your success in
generating leads to your business and help get your current customers to buy more.
Coach Bill Skinner
ActionCOACH of NEPA

Celebrating Women’s History Month: The Future is Bright for Woman Business Owners

March is Women’s History Month, and it is a good time to examine the place of women business owners in the American economy.
2002 U.S. Census Bureau statistics show that there were nearly 6.5 million woman-owned businesses in 2002, with women owning 28
percent of all nonfarm businesses. And there is no doubt that those businesses are making their mark on the American economy,
providing more than 7.1 million jobs.

Despite the great entrepreneurial strides that women have made—logging an increase in the female self-employed population
consistently over the last three decades—a 2009 report developed under contract with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
shows that women are still much less likely to become self-employed than men. It is clear that there is work yet to be done to
encourage future entrepreneurship among women. The good news is that empirical data bears out what has been apparent all along—
America’s entrepreneurial women are hungry for real, sustained business success, and that success will help create the kind of
opportunity and wealth in their communities that will surely carry this nation to economic recovery and beyond.

Every day, the SBA is working to make that kind of success possible for America’s women entrepreneurs, and the SBA’s Office of
Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO) is a prime resource to help lead the way. The OWBO provides information and support on
issues that are specific to women-owned firms and helps find local sources for training, technical assistance, and financing. The
OWBO promotes the growth of women-owned businesses through business training and technical assistance programs; and by
providing access to capital and opportunities in international trade and federal contracting.

Additionally, the SBA provides free counseling and low-cost business training through its Resource Partners—Small Business
Development Centers (SBDC), SCORE, and Women’s Business Centers. These organizations offer a variety of innovative programs,
including Internet training and courses in different languages.

Since its founding in 1953, the SBA has been determined to help woman entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses the right way.
In that spirit, the SBA continues, today, to work with its Resource Partners to make its programs and services as accessible as possible.
The Agency invites woman entrepreneurs at every business stage—from pre-venture to going concern—to take advantage of its
offerings and to visit any of the following websites to learn more about them.

SBA Philadelphia District Office Resource Guide

http://www.smallbusiness3.com/pdf/english/pennsylvania-philadelphia.pdf

SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO)

http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/onlinewbc/index.html

SCORE Chapters—Eastern Pennsylvania

http://www.sba.gov/localresources/district/pa/phil/counselingt/PA_PHILSCORE.html

SBDC’s Eastern Pennsylvania

Press Releases:
Scout Troop 33 Builds Bird Boxes for Grand Central’s Wildlife Habitat

 Spring is just around the corner and Bluebirds will soon be nesting in Grand Central Sanitary Landfill’s bird boxes. Thanks to the
boys in Scout Troop 33, the Bluebirds, House Wrens and Tree Swallows will all have a box to call home. Grand Central began their
nest box project in 2005 with a handful of bird boxes. The scouts soon teamed up with the wildlife habitat committee at Grand Central
and began erecting boxes around the landfill. More than 70 Bluebird boxes can be found around the 534-acre property and Troop 33
built them all.

 “Over the last few years, our bird box program has grown significantly with more scout troops getting involved. In 2009, we had girl
scouts build several boxes too. Many of their boxes are around the Environmental Education Center, which sits on property adjacent to
the landfill,” said Adrienne Borger, Community Relations Coordinator.

 The scouts met at the Grand Central Environmental Education Center to construct 15 more boxes for the landfill. The new boxes
will replace worn and weathered ones. The scouts earn community service hours for their hard work.

 The scouts branded their boxes with the number “33” to identify them in the habitat area. Even Waste Management’s Adrienne
Borger constructed a box. “It was a lot of fun! The boys helped me along.”

 Troop leader, Chris Witmer encourages the scouts to get involved with environmental projects, because it provides hands on
learning. “By working with Waste Management, the Scouts have learned about land conservation, wildlife species and their backyard
environments. Grand Central and the scouts have worked together to develop environmental projects that provide the boys with
community service hours, meeting Scout requirements. Some of our boys have even completed their Eagle Scout projects at Grand
Central, which have become a part of their wildlife habitat initiatives,” said Witmer.

 Grand Central recently acquired Wildlife at Work re-certification through the Wildlife Habitat Council.

 “The habitat wouldn’t be what it is today, without the help of our community partners. The scouts have contributed many hours to
our habitat programs and we appreciate their hard work,” commented Landfill District Manager Scott Perin.

 Waste Management landfills and facilities provide over 24,000 acres of protected land for wildlife and 73 of those sites are certified
by the Wildlife Habitat Council.

Saturday March 20th from 10 to 2 pm at the Bangor Elks Lodge #1106, 120 Broadway, Bangor PA come meet

Representatives. Learn of programs for uninsured children under 19, Unison Kids. This is a CHIP program. Individuals who have
Medicare Part A and Part B, Unison Advantage, and Unison adult Basic plan. Although all are welcome, we appreciate you
registering your attendance for the event by contacting Kathy Ballesteros, Community Outreach and Education Specialist at 866-2093213
ex 69184. Please provide your name, telephone number and number of people attending the event. RSVP by March 17th.
Applebee’s Flapjack Fundraiser: On Saturday, March 27th, from 8-10 am, a Flapjack breakfast will be held to raise money for the
Chase Away Autism team. This team is raising money for education and research through Autism Speaks. The breakfast will be
held at the Applebee’s on Nazareth Easton Hwy., Easton, PA. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $6 per person or $20 for 4
tickets by calling Jessica Hudnall 610.863.6999 or Jewel Williamson-Burns 610.863.7655. Thank you for your support!

NCC Offers a Big “Byte” of Apple through Authorized Seminars

 Registration is now open for teachers, business people and other Mac users who would like to enroll in the following seminars that
will be offered at Northampton Community College's Apple Authorized Training
Center in March:
Introduction to Final Cut 7: Monday-Wednesday, March 8-10 , OR Monday-Wednesday, May 10-12, $1049
Introduction to iLife ’09: Thursday-Friday, March 11-12, OR Saturday-Sunday, April 10-11, $429
Introduction to GarageBand : Saturday, March 13, $189 Introduction to Motion: Monday-Wednesday, March 29-31, $1119

 All the courses will be taught by Apple Certified Trainers. Participants would like to take a certification exam or recertify for an
existing credential can call 610-861-4550 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
to register for a test.

 Before the center opened at Northampton last summer, anyone looking to take an Apple Authorized course or achieve certification
had to travel to Philadelphia, New York City, or Montgomery County to find an AATC. Now courses in Apple software programs are
taught at NCC’s Fowler Family Southside Center in Bethlehem.
To register or view course descriptions, visit www.northampton.edu/apple. To join the user group and support forum visit
http://groups.google.com/group/northamptonaatc. For more information, call 610-861-4550.

SBCC Officers & Directors
Officers:

Nadine Moyer, President
Mary Marshall, 1st Vice President
Steve Hurni, 2nd Vice President
Fred Curcio, Secretary
Rosemary Albert, Treasurer
Paul Donovan, Jr., Chairman

One Year Directors:

David Dent, Paul Donovan, Frank Russo, Patti Guarry, Fred Curcio, Victor Rodite, Richard Guarry

Two Year Directors:

Rosemary Albert, Mary Marshall, Chuck Niclaus, Dianne Newman, Jewel Williamson-Burns, Nadine Moyer,
Steve Hurni, Jeff Ott

SBCC Mission Statement:
To promote and enhance positive business activity and growth in the Slate Belt region with special emphasis on
community involvement.

Log onto the SBCC web site at www.slatebeltchamber.org for current chamber info, members benefits, local
maps & more!

Proudly sponsored by:

ESSA Bank & Trust

Lafayette Ambassador Bank

Merchants Bank

Ott Consulting Inc.

The First National Bank of Palmerton