ODDS & ENDS

So far, our efforts to partner with SMSU for their AG Bowl Celebration seem to be moving forward nicely. We'll soon be sending to our members a flyer with sponsorship opportunities that will allow them to hold a customer appreciation type event during AG Bowl...sort of a tailgate party with a business - customer feel to it. Should be fun. The good folks at SMSU have put plenty of time, energy and effort into the plans and it's exceptional of them to be willing to partner with the business community to allow for the ag/customer appreciation component.

Attention Young Professionals under the age of 40. Sometime in the next few months, your chamber will be launching an effort designed exclusively for folks between the ages of 21 and 40, specifically designed with networking, professional development, and community engagement as the main focus. Stay tuned for details.

Are you old enough to remember the word: "Plethora"? It came into vogue about twenty years ago in a detergent commercial. Thank goodness its popularity went away. Now if the same thing could happen for the word: "Robust." It found its way to popular use a couple of years ago from our elected leaders in Washington, D.C. who thought the word to be a great adjective sound bite. Now for me, it just bites.

As a newcomer to Marshall it's been a hoot exploring my new environment. Short day trips to surrounding communities have been a great way to learn about our region, not to mention getting a feel for where other communities lie. Now if only our relocation materials could include a regional map. Hundreds of people every year are recruited to take a job in our community. Often times they've begun the house hunting research prior to the interview or job offer. When I was contemplating the move here, I couldn't tell you where Ghent was, much less Tracy or Balatan or Tyler. Yet, homes in each of these communities are listed as for sale. It would have been nice to have seen a map of the surrounding communities in relationship to their distance and access to Marshall. Will need to get working on creating a map to go into our relocation and recruitment materials. Like the old saying goes, "if you want something done, it's sometimes best to do it yourself." Anyone know any good cartographers?