One of my favorite activities as “unofficial chapter historian” is occasionally getting to blow the horn for other members in our chapter who have made the news for one reason or another. (Hopefully always a good reason!) So, without further ado, here are some stories featuring Business Power Network , and its members, “in the news”…
First and foremost is the big news about our chapter as a whole: We have just moved from our former location at Dining By Design to our new meeting place at The Clubhouse, next to Coyote’s Adobe Cafe, 1742 S. Glenstone, Springfield MO 65804. (For a map and driving directions, click here.) We’ve only had a couple of meetings at our new home so far — including one with 29 guests! — but we’re excited to be there, poised to take our chapter to the next level… and the food is great. Come see us soon!
Our chapter also made the news recently when Martin Sansom of Diamond Mind Web Design was interviewed by the Springfield Business Journal for an article on business networking called “Networking On Steroids.” Specifically, Business Power Network was highlighted in the article for being the first BNI chapter in southwest Missouri to actively make use of LinkedIn as a chapter resource. All members are encouraged to join LinkedIn, with the idea in mind of recreating the BNI environment online. After all, we all have dozens or even hundreds of contacts, and LinkedIn’s “Connections” structure allows members to directly see who all of the other members are connected to, and request online introductions to second-tier, or even third-tier connections. While the chapter’s LinkedIn program is still in its infancy, the potential for creating referrals and visitors is seemingly unlimited. To read the article in full, click here.
On to the members! Going all the way back to November, 2009, two businesses in our chapter were selected as finalists for the Springfield Business Journal’s Choice Employer Awards: GHN Architects/Engineers, and Ollis & Company. GHN came in at #3 in the 5-24 employee category, two notches up from where they were when also honored as a Choice Employer in 2008. Read the full article about GHN here. Ollis & Company also came in at #3, in the 25-100 employee category. Read the article about Ollis, including an interview with our very own Brittany Helton, here.
Brittany was also interviewed by SBJ earlier this month for an article entitled “Insuring Long-Term Stability”. The article discussed the increasing use of life insurance as a means to financial stability in a volatile investments market, although nationwide interest hasn’t translated to a huge increase in life insurance sales locally. However, Brittany stressed the importance of life insurance for reasons other than simply its lack of volatility in today’s wintry economic climate: “Most families do live on two incomes, and if one of those incomes is lost, it would really change the way the household has to live,” Helton said. “We rarely see people overinsured. More often than not, they’re underinsured.” Read the entire article here.
In another February article in SBJ, David Martin of Murney Associates, Realtors, and his wife Karen, were honored with a fine editorial regarding their charity work for the American Cancer Society Cattle Baron’s Ball, titled “How To Chair A Regional Fundraiser And Gross Half-A-Million Dollars.” After being heavily involved with the inaugural event in Springfield in 2009, the Martins are co-chairing this year’s Ball, and are looking to top last year’s contribution total. How? By putting in a lot of hard work, and keeping it fun at the same time. (Sounds like our chapter!) “You got to have fun at it, and you got to have the drive,” David Martin said. “You put an event on like this, it can get pretty stressful for some people. But if you’re not having fun, it takes away from it.” Read the full article here.
Mark Moore of G.L. Moore Tire is another BPN member who has been putting in plenty of work lately, improving how his company does business both on the technology side and in its customer service. Last fall, Moore had new equipment installed that allowed his shop to replace the air in tires with nitrogen, resulting in increased fuel efficiency and tire life. (Read an article about G.L. Moore and nitrogen here.) Mark followed that up in January by becoming “Certified Female Friendly” through askpatty.com, one of the premier nationwide sources for automotive advice for women. Finally, G.L. Moore is once again in the running for a Top Shop Award through Tire Review, the tire industry’s #1 online source for news and analysis. Last year, G.L. Moore was in the top 20 shops in the entire country (read the profile here); if you’d like to nominate them again this year, follow this link.
Last, but certainly not least, our own Marketing Director, Chris Jarratt of Jarratt Design, was the recipient of not one, not two, but THREE Addy Awards at this year’s 32nd Annual Addy Awards Banquet. Already a multi-award winner in the past, Chris won the honors this year for his creative design work for Barnett-Davis Dental, BPN’s own Maples Properties, and… (wait for it…) Business Power Network! Yes, we can once again say that we are “an award-winning” chapter! 🙂 Congratultions Chris, and congratulations and great work to all our members who are working hard and doing things right.