​​These O’Fallon Chamber members celebrated opening their doors with a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce & Industries and the City of O’Fallon.

​July 22, 2016
Harmony Christian Counseling
7128 South Outer 364
O'Fallon, MO 63368
636-578-9201

July 22, 2016
Inspired Hope
7128 S Outer 364
O'Fallon, MO 63368
314-223-6976
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The O'Fallon Chamber of Commerce & Industries is committed to promoting the economic vitality of O’Fallon and the St. Charles County Region by engaging its members in networking and educational opportunities, while advocating for pro-business public policy.

Meet April Porter with 9Round...
April Porter grew up in Kansas City, MO, attended (Southwest) Missouri State University for college, where she was captain of the Sugar Bears, and graduated from Washington University School of Law in 2000. Upon graduation, she began serving the public as a Prosecuting Attorney. After 10 years, she retired to open her first 9Round in 2014 and has since grown her company to four locations and 16 employees. 

9Round is the largest kickboxing franchise in the world. With a mission of providing personal attention without the high price, 9Round eliminates the obstacles that keep people from reaching fitness goals. With no class times and 30-minute workouts that include a certified trainer, 9Round members begin seeing results in as little as three weeks.

April joined the O’Fallon Chamber due to its superb reputation. It has exceeded expectations through valuable education, growth opportunities, and friendships.  

9Round Winghaven
3026 Winghaven Blvd 
O'Fallon, MO 63368
314-392-9538 ​

​The O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce & Industries is pleased to announce that the 24th Annual Golf Tournament presented by Country Financial will be held at The Falls Golf Course in O’Fallon, MO.  This annual event is open to the public. Everyone is encouraged to participate, from first-time golfers to weekend warriors; this is an opportunity to enjoy eighteen holes of golf and all of the extra tournament fun at a great price.
 
Monday, September 12, 2016
10:30 am – Registration
11:30 am – Shotgun Start
The Falls Golf Club, 1170 Turtle Creek, O'Fallon, MO 63366
$125 per person or $500 for a foursome 
           
All golfers will receive a goodie bag filled with great donations from O’Fallon Chamber members, 18 holes of spectacular golf with cart and drinks on the course, lunch catered and sponsored by Quintessential Catering, and an awards dinner sponsored by People’s Savings Bank.
 
On course activities planned include the ever popular Cooler of Fun from Delmar Gardens & Garden Villas of O’Fallon plus many more activities. The planning committee works to ensure that all participants have fun with on the course games like “Big Break” and “Does a Bear Chip in the Woods”. Cash prizes will be awarded for the top teams in A & B flights following the tournament, along with prizes for the Longest Drive, closest to the Pin, and a Putting Contest.
 
Don’t miss this opportunity to play an amazing course. Call the Chamber office at 636-240-1818 or go online to www.OFallonChamber.org/Golf to register. No clubs – no problem! Call The Falls Golf Club at 636-240-4653 to rent a set for the day for only $25.
 
A big thank you to the 2016 sponsors: Country Financial, Quintessential Catering, People's Savings Bank, BJC, City of O'Fallon, Country Side Flooring America, Spectrum Business, Bob Engert Edward Jones, Extreme Electrical, CenturyLink, Vogelsang Pest Control, and Platinum Systems.
 
Golf Tournament proceeds to benefit the mission of the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce & Industries: The O'Fallon Chamber of Commerce & Industries is committed to promoting the economic vitality of O’Fallon and the St. Charles County Region by engaging its members in networking and educational opportunities while advocating for pro-business public policy.

A small business owner recently made national news for firing an employee via text message. If that is any indication of the communications taking place in his business on a normal workday, it's amazing he has any employees left to fire. Regardless of the size of your company, It doesn't matter what size of company, internal communications are crucial. Your employees need to know what's going on so they can stay up to date and feel like they are part of your team. 

Internal communications are a key ingredient of business success, yet many business owners and managers focus on keeping vendors and customers in the loop, but fail with their employees. Managers need to communicate with those they manage; departments need to communicate to keep interrelated functions running smoothly; and all employees need to be kept informed about company activities to stay motivated and on board. All of these modes of communication need to be regular and part of a larger communication strategy. 

To improve the internal communications in your company, you need to look at the following areas:

Department Communications
Different departments or areas of your company may need different approaches to communications. Management and supervisors may be informed on certain things that that the rest of the staff isn’t, so they typically need less communication to be brought up to speed. The accounting department may need more specifics than the art department and so on. Take your message and tailor it to make sure that each employee is informed and proper information is conveyed. 

Encourage Participation
Many managers have an open-door policy, encouraging employees to share problems or concerns. If you haven't made that option known to your staff, communicate it immediately. In addition, encourage routine departmental staff meetings that can provide a forum for communications and a place where employees can make their voices heard.

Select a Method
While newsletters are what some companies use for communication, some have become more about picnics and bowling leagues and less about company news. While those things are also important in the scheme of internal communications, you need to find a clear way to communicate company news. If a newsletter has become more social than company-oriented, you might want to refocus the publication or start sharing your news via email to be sure it isn't lost in the shuffle.  

Companywide Meetings
It's important to occasionally hold a company-wide meeting that every employee is able to attend. Whether you have everyone come in early, or open your doors late, it is important to give each department a chance to provide interesting news and updates about the work it is doing. This is also a great way for you to share changes, goals, and future growth plans.  The knowledge that can be shared, and communications goals that can be achieved in just an hour each quarter, can do more for your internal communications than anything. 

Put these tips to work and in just few minutes each week, you can transform your company's internal communications. ​

​I would like to thank everyone who came out to celebrate the Chamber’s accomplishment last week (especially in 100 degree weather), and of course, I hope you had a lot of fun! Keep an eye on the Chamber’s social media accounts to find out if we’ll be named as the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives Chamber of the Year Wednesday night. I assure you, no matter which Chamber holds that title, being named as one of the top 3 in the Nation is a HUGE honor, and for my money- we are definitely #1!
 
For many of you this month means back to a normal schedule with the kids going back to school. For my schedule, with no kids at home (nor a Destructo-Boy) it means going from ridiculously busy, to a normal busy as well. I would encourage each of you to make sure that you’re including the Chamber in whatever your normal schedule is. If you have always wanted to get more involved through a Leads Group, Connect@Lunch, Lunch ‘n’ Legislators, O’Fallon Young Professionals, or any of the other offerings from the Chamber, this is a great time to make it happen. If you want to know just what opportunities exist through the Chamber, attend next month’s New Member Briefing on Thursday, September 1st. Each month the Chamber hosts these meetings for not only new members, but for any member who wants an update on what services and benefits are available through their membership. Can’t make a meeting? Set up a 1-2-1 with Nina. How ever you get it done, make Back to School season, Back to the Chamber for you.
 
I hope that the first thing on your calendar is this month’s networking membership meeting, Tuesday, August 27th.
 
Until next month,
Mark Crank
2016 Chairman of the Board