by MATT HUGHES
J-E Editor
When the Providence- Webster County Chamber of Commerce hosts it’s annual Christmas Banquet on Tuesday, November 17, it will be a year of first. This will be the first event held since the chamber changed its name to encompass all of Webster County, and it will be the first time the banquet has been held outside the city limits of Providence. This year’s event will be held in the Webster County Annex on the Dixon Campus of Webster County Schools.
Chamber President Elizabeth Holloman said the decision to move the event from the Providence General Baptist Church, where it has traditionally been held, was not an easy one, but is one that was necessary. According to Holloman, as the event has grown larger through the years, it has eventually outgrown the fellowship hall.
The Chamber has two guest speakers on tap for the event. Jim Ray, the owner of Jim Ray Consulting Services, is a business consultant who specializes in helping smaller companies grow and become strong through business development and analyzing marketing and sales.
“I work with a lot of smaller firms who don’t have the budget to compete,” Ray said. “I try to find things that impact them on a local level. A lot of small business owners aren’t business people, they are people who had an idea and ran with it.”
Ray has spent part of the last twenty years working for and with Fortune 500 companies like GE, Xerox, and WESCO.
“I gained valuable perspectives through extensive training and being held to high standards,” said Ray. “That’s part of the advantage I now offer. However, I’m not just a corporate guy who doesn’t understand how a small business, with limited resources, operates. My background might surprise you. I’ve run two regional distributorships with profit and loss responsibility and multi-million budgets. I’ve built territories and managed sales teams. I’ve had to make tough staffing decisions, negotiate with vendors and refine internal business processes. I understand the importance of delivering net margin to the bottom-line.”
Also on the schedule for this year’s chamber banquet is guest speaker Tod Hill. Hill, a Hopkins County native, is a leadership and motivational speaker with 35 years of experience in the mining industry, 20 of those in management. He will be speaking on having a passion for excellence and integrity.
“Every good business wants to hire people with enthusiasm, excellence and integrity,” Hill said. “If they don’t have that foundation of integrity they will ruin your business.”
Entertainment for the night will be provided by Webster County’s own ‘Joy Boys’, featuring Mack Townsend, Dale Darnell and Steve Duncan.
Tickets to the banquet can be purchased at Animal House Veterinary Clinic in Providence, or at Clint Prow’s office in Providence. Tickets can be purchased prior to November 12, 2015 for $20. After that date tickets are $30 per person.
Reach MATT HUGHES
at 270-667-2068 or
matt@journalenterprise.com
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