Celebrating 95 Years 1922 2017

March / April 2017

CONTENTS:

3rd Annual Taste of Bessemer and Business Expo……………..……………………..……….……………1

Business News………………………………………..……......2, 3

Community News……………………………..………….……4

Chamber News…….………….……………………………….... 5

Business News………………………………………..……............6

Taste of Bessemer & Business Expo………..7

2017 Chamber Sponsorships……….……….…...…8

Chamber 2017 Calendar…………….………..…….....9

Candlelight Vigil…………………………………..…………..10

City Wide Clean Up……………………………………..….11

Business After Hours……..……………………….………. 12

Chamber Information…………………..………….13, 14

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3rd Annual Taste of Bessemer and Business Expo

The 2017 Taste of Bessemer and Business Expo is set for Thursday, April 20, 2017 at the Bessemer Civic Center. The purpose of

this event is to create new customers for vendors by allowing attendees to see all the great businesses and organizations that reside

in the Bessemer area. Last year’s event was a tremendous success. Over 450 came out to see exactly what’s available in the

Bessemer Area. While vendors will have the opportunity to display their products, attendees will enjoy food samplings from

restaurants and caterers and visit with local business vendors. There will be live entertainment and door prize drawings. You still

have time to sign up as a vendor and purchase tickets.

The deadline for display vendors has been extended until Wednesday, April 5th. The deadline to purchase your tickets is Friday,

April 14th.

This year’s sponsors are:

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BUSINESS NEWS

Bessemer’s New City Hall is Open for Business

It was a sunny day, filled with excitement as hundreds gathered for the ribbon cutting and grand opening for Bessemer’s New City Hall on

Sunday, February 12. The last City hall was built in 1938 and had outlasted its use. The excitement of the elected officials and employees

became contagious as the audience waited to see the inside of the beautiful building. Mayor Gulley is not one to blow his own horn, but we

must commend the Mayor and the Bessemer City Council on their leadership and accomplishments leading to the grand opening. We have a

state of the art city hall. Make it your business to stop by for a tour.

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BUSINESS NEWS

TJ MAXX Opens Store in Bessemer

The grand opening for the new TJ Maxx at the Tannehill Promenade was held on Sunday, May 5 at 8:00 a.m. During the grand opening

ceremony, TJ Maxx presented the Latch and Live Foundation with a check in the amount of $5,000.00. TJ Maxx is located at 4917 Promenade

Pkwy, Bessemer, AL 35022.

Bessemer BPW’s

“Women Mean Business

Luncheon”

The Bessemer Area

Business and Professional

Women’s Organization

hosted the program Women

Mean Business “A Healthy

Lifestyle, A Healthy Heart

Luncheon” on Tuesday,

February 9 at Lawson State

Community College -

Bessemer

Campus. The special guest

speaker was Dr. Mia Cowan

of the Mibella Wellness

Center. Dr. Cowan spoke on

women’s health issues,

including heart health,

obesity, hormone balance

and other topics.

City of Bessemer’s Annual Hydrant

Inspection Program

The City of Bessemer Fire Department will begin their

annual hydrant inspection program on Monday, April 3,

2017. The hydrant inspection program is designed to

test all of the hydrants within the city of Bessemer to

determine whether or not they are operating efficiently

and effectively.

COMMUNITY NEWS

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"You have cancer", three words that will take the breath out of anyone.

Probably more uncertainty in those three words than anything else. Hear that

your child has cancer and your world will drop. After you catch your breath

and your heart beat slows back to near normal you try and figure out what's

next.

The new path that the patient will walk, along with their family and friends

in tow, can be a scary one. The great thing is that many have traveled that

path before, many obstacles have been marked, the rough patches have been

made a bit smoother and there will be many along the way lending a helping

hand. That's where Pink Heals Central Alabama chapter, along with the

other two chapters in the state of Alabama, want to be.

When we were working to form our local chapter, it was mentioned by one

of the "core four" that he wanted this to be more than just "during the month

of October". We are working toward that goal. The chapter has been

formed, we have two vehicles and we are working on getting them into the

community.

The Pink Heals organization believes in "keeping it local". That's where our

main efforts need to be. By keeping it local we are supporting those closest

to us. We are helping to keep our communities strong. We wear pink not

because of a certain type of cancer but because we want to honor the women in our lives, our mothers, wives, daughters, grandmothers, sisters

in laws.... Without women, we do not exist. Just because a cancer cell shows up in one part of the body instead of another does not make it any

less important or the treatment any less scary.

How can I help? It's easy, you know of someone battling cancer? Many times offering a quick word of encouragement makes that person’s day

but you can take it a step further. Offer to grocery shop one day a week or go along to help. How about a couple of hours of house cleaning or

doing the laundry? Making sure the grass gets cut? I could type all day with suggestions.

What if we all did one hour a week of some type of service to a woman and or their family who is battling cancer? Could you imaging in the

central Alabama area what a million hours of service could accomplish!!

The opportunities are out there. If you see one in front of you, we here at PHCA challenge you to act. If you see one above what you can do, let

us know. We will do what we can to show that Pink Heals!!!!!

Students from Bessemer City High School Visited the Chamber and

the Mayor of Bessemer

You can reach us at 205-601-9380 or find us at

www.facebook.com/pinkhealscentralabama.

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CHAMBER NEWS

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Chamber Hosts St. Patrick’s Day Business After Hours Sponsored by Shoals Ambulance and Medical West

BUSINESS NEWS

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Lawson State Community College presented its Annual Career Health & Wellness Fair on Tuesday, March 14 at the Bessemer Civic Center.

The Investiture Ceremony of

District Attorney Lynneice

Washington, 10th Judicial Circuit of

Jefferson County Bessemer

Division, on Friday, February 17,

2017.

The Investiture Ceremony of Judge

Reginald L. Jeter as Jefferson

County Circuit Judge, Place 25 took

place at the Bessemer Justice

Center in downtown Bessemer on

Friday, March 10, 2017.

Friday,

The Concerned Citizens of The Bessemer Cut-Off held their Thirty

Third Annual African-American Heritage Banquet on Thursday,

February 23 at the Bessemer Civic Center. The theme of this year’s

Banquet was “The Crisis in Black Education. The Speaker for the event

was Dr. Perry Ward, President of Lawson State Community College.

33rd Annual African-American Heritage Banquet

Congratulations to

Bessemer City Council

member Cynthia

Donald, District # 3 for

being appointed to the

Alabama League of

Municipalities

Committee on Human

Development (HD).

SAVE THE DATE!

National Day of Prayer

Thursday, May 4, 2017

11:45 am – 1 pm

Location – To be announced

Place Your Ad

in the Chamber

Communique

FULL PAGE AD

$75 per

occurrence

SMALL AD

$50 per month or

6 months for

$240

CHAMBER CALENDAR

2017 CHAMBER

AMBASSADORS

Coordinator

Lori Chisem, Lawson State Community College

Co-Coordinators

Daryl Owens, Bessemer City Schools

Andie Sloan, Comfort Care

Secretary Lula Walter, City of Bessemer

Sadie Harris, Retired

Mara Allen, Latch and Live Foundation

Sarah Beasley, Joe Beasley Memorial

Foundation, Inc

Sarah Belcher, Retired

Tamala Briggins, Oak Trace Care &

Rehabilitation

Trisston Wright Burrows, Moore Coal Co.

Erin Cooney, Holt Insurance Agency

Shirley Horn, Retired

Latesia Jefferson, Oak Trace Care &

Rehabilitation

Doris Lewis, City of Bessemer

Claire Mitchell, Bessemer Board of Educ.

Dorian Waluyn, Lawson State Comm.

College

Ambassadors are the key resource in

extending hospitality in the Bessemer

area and are experienced in business,

community, and promotional arenas.

An Ambassador must serve as an active

public relations arm of the Chamber and

be prepared to meet visitors, local

businesses, and various forms of the

media.

We encourage you join the ambassador

program. The ambassadors meet on the

1st Tuesday of each month at 8:30am at

the Bessemer Area Chamber of

Commerce.

APRIL

Tuesday, April 4, 8:30 am Ambassador Meeting

Tuesday, April 18, 11:00 am Executive Committee Mtg.

Tuesday, April 18, Noon Board of Directors Mtg.

Thursday, April 20, 5 – 7 pm Taste of Bessemer & Business Expo

MAY

Tuesday, May 2, 8:30 am Ambassador Meeting

Thursday, May 4, 11:45 am National Day of Prayer Service

Tuesday, May 16, 11:00 am Executive Committee Mtg.

Tuesday, May 16, Noon Board of Directors Mtg.

Thursday, May 18, 5 – 7 pm Business After Hours

(Membership Drive Wrap Up Party)

The mission of the Bessemer Area Chamber of Commerce is to promote the

economic well-being of regional businesses and represent the business

community in economic, political, civic, educational and cultural development of

the region.

We hope you will consider supporting the Bessemer Chamber of Commerce

programs in 2017. This investment is tax deductible, so sign up today!

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Bessemer Area Chamber of Commerce 2017 Sponsorship Investments

Diamond $10,000

Platinum $ 7,500

Gold $5,000

Silver $3,000

SBP $1,000

Call us at 425-3253 for more details

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2017 BOARD MEMBERS

Mitch Avery

Alabama Gas

Lynn Brown

Alabama Splash Adventure

Michael Talerico

Legacy YMCA

Louis Jones

Mt. Hebron Baptist Church

Charles King

Regional Paramedical

Services

Vicki Lane

AAA Bessemer

Candice Lee

TBGS Holdings / Masonry Arts

Judy Mathis

Moore Coal Company

Kela Pryor

City of Bessemer

Cristy Richardson

America’s First Federal Credit Union

John Sides

Alabama Power Company

Keith Stewart

Bessemer Board of Education

Randy Tate

Comfort Care Home Health

Trina Vines

Oak Trace Care and

Rehabilitation Center

Bryonda Williams

Chambers Funeral Home

Jerry Yarbrough

Bessemer Utilities

Past Chairman

Joni Holt

Holt Insurance

Agency

Chairman

Nathan Clark

Medical West

Chairman

Elect

Connie Fuell

Dex Imaging

PROMOTIONAL ITEMS IN STOCK at the Bessemer Area Chamber of Commerce

The Bessemer Area Chamber of Commerce

has promotional items for sale.

Bessemer T-shirt $25

Bessemer Golf Umbrella $25

Bessemer Camp Chair $20

Bessemer Beach Towel $20

Bessemer Tote Umbrella $20

Bessemer Stainless Steel Cup $15

Bessemer Hat $10

Bessemer Shot Glass $ 5

Stop by and pick up your items at 321 18th

Street N., Bessemer, AL 35020.

2017 Investors

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

SMALL BUSINESS PARTNERS

Alabama Splash Adventure

America’s First Federal Credit Union Chambers Funeral Home

Comfort Care Home Health & Hospice Engineering Environmental Forestry Service

Legacy YMCA

Paden & Paden, PC Pinnacle Motorsports

Regional Paramedical Services

TBGS Holdings Trustmark National Bank

United Prosthetics and Orthotics

William Parsons CPA

Treasurer

Reggie Mays

United

Prosthetics &

Orthotics

Finance

Chairman

Carlton Jackson

Edge Realty

Group