Temple Terrace Chamber Spotlight Blog 1

This is the first Temple Terrace Chamber Spotlight blog, where we will be writing about praise worthy people and businesses. Our first Johnny-on-the-spot is a solid gold Marine whose life is now dedicated to health science and compassionate care to those in need.

Anthony DeSantis served four years as an Infantry Officer with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. DeSantis has had a worldwide journey witnessing poverty, disease, and socio-economic disparities in Fallujah, Iraq which ultimately inspired him to help rebuild the city and alleviate those in need to the best of his ability.

After fulfilling his active service, Anthony returned to school to finish a master’s degree in Biomedical Science at the University of South Florida. Now he is pursuing a Medical Degree with a concentration in Health Systems Engineering.

Anthony will be in attendance at the Veteran’s Day Celebration event, sponsored by the Greater Temple Terrace Chamber on November 11, 2014 at 3p.m.  The Lightfoot Center, 10901 N. 56th St. Be there to show support to all those who have served our country, including Anthony DaSantis will be using real life knowledge and experience to guide him on his way to becoming an amazing healthcare provider.

New Burger King in Temple Terrace

TEMPLE TERRACE, FLA., – October 8, 2013 – The Greater Temple Terrace area will have a new Burger King location. The groundbreaking ceremony of the new Burger King location will be 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013, located at 8755 N. 56th St.

The new Burger King building is unlike any other Burger King because it will debut trellis window canopies, Spanish-style parapets, a cedar arbor, a decorative arch doorway, and other architectural details. The building will be 3,104-sq.-ft.

The owner and CEO Daniel Fitzpatrick of Quality Dining Inc., used the Mediterranean-Revival of Temple Terrace’s downtown redevelopment as inspiration to develop the new Burger King location.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Mayor Frank Chillura and Quality Dining’s top officials will be there. Construction of the new location will begin immediately and take about 60 days to build.

Forgotten American Heroes

As Americans we wear red, white, and blue proudly. We sing, “Let freedom ring!”, without having experienced the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. It is easy to enjoy our well-fought for freedom through the comfort and solace of our own homes, many times forgetting that those who paid the ultimate sacrifice are without homes or solace. Liberty Manor, located at 10015 N. 9th St. Tampa, Fl 33612, provides these homeless veterans with shelter. Currently, the home houses about 20 Vets, many of them suffering from combat-related ailments/injuries. All those who care for these heroes donate their time to insure the best for our vets. However, Liberty Manor’s veterans are still without solace. Liberty Manor is in dire need of new AC equipment for their property. $12,000 is needed from the community to help our heroes and bring comfort into Liberty Manor. These men and women have fought for us with their lives; we can fight to bring them comfort in their living situation. Please let us continue to wear our colors proudly knowing that we are doing all we can to give back. All donations and cheerful giving is appreciated. You may send checks to Liberty Manor at 10015 N. 9th St. Tampa, Fl 33612. You may also contact David Long of Business Ink Printing at (813) 988-4656 or email David at david@businessinkprinting.com for more information and questions.

 

Elizabeth Fairchild, Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce Intern

The Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce Welcomes A New Executive Director

TEMPLE TERRACE, FLA. – August 22, 2013 – The Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce welcomes a new Executive Director, Dustilyn Amatangelo. Amatangelo will replace Barbara Sparks-McGlinchy, who has been with the Chamber since 2009.

Amatangelo, who prefers to be called Dustie, has been employed by the Brandon Chamber, the Tampa Tribune and has also been very active in the Kiwanis Club. She started training at the Chamber office on August 5^th. She will be officially taking over on September 1st.

Amatangelo will be formally introduced as the Executive Director during the Annual Awards and Installation Banquet on August 27^th 2013 at MOSI.  The new Chamber President and Board of Directors will also be installed at this momentous event. If you would like to purchase tickets please visit the Chamber website at www.templeterracechamber.com.

Leading the business community is the Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce with its strong and committed membership. The Chamber provides many opportunities to get involved and make a difference for you, your business and your community. If you are not currently a member of this Chamber, we strongly suggest you join us and become part of this dynamic group. For more information please visit www.templeterracechamber.com.

The Importance of Social Networking

Social networking is everywhere. With sites such as Facebook and Twitter, one can keep in touch with friends and family from all areas. These sites are not just important for personal lives; in fact, they can be beneficial in the work place too.

According to the Fortune 500, Twitter is the number one social media outlet for top companies. While you can only write 140 characters per tweet, the advantages are endless. Twitter allows for quick communication and loads of information at our fingertips. Twitter’s search feature allows followers to find people, information, and conversations that are relevant to their business. Simply add a hashtag to your tweet, and potential customers could come across your site.

Another widely used form of social networking is Facebook, with over one billion active users, it is no wonder companies flock toward this social media outlet. Facebook is more personal, allowing businesses to connect with customers more freely through pages, posts, and messages. Additionally, businesses can purchase ad space that allows for targeted demographics, thus finding potential new clients. Similar to Twitter, Facebook has search features that allow businesses to connect with their community, customers, and business partners.

Growing in popularity in the social networking realm are picture-based sites included Instagram and Pinterest. Instagram is a program that allows for users to share pictures and write captions underneath, adding hashtags to make their picture searchable. Additionally, users can like and comment on photos of others, as well as follow users with like interests. Pinterest works in much the same way. Users can like, comment, and ‘pin’ pictures. Businesses can add their own photos to the site, in which potential new clients can find their products with simple word searches.

With so much social networking options, which will you choose?

Eileen Roundtree

Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce Intern

What’s Special About April

April is one of the most beautiful months of the year that is jammed packed with different causes and fun perks!

Stress Awareness Month

Stress Awareness Month has been held every April, since 1992.During this annual thirty day period, health care professionals and health promotion experts across the country join forces to increase awareness about the causes and cures of stress. Make it a point to do something relaxing!

National Autism Awareness Month

Every year, autism organizations around the world celebrate with unique fundraising and awareness-raising events. Research from the Centers for Disease Control shows that one out of 110 children has a diagnosis of autism. Visit AutismSpeaks.org to learn how you can get involved.

National Poetry Writing Month

National Poetry Writing Month (also known as NaPoWriMo) is a writer’s challenge to write a poem a day for the month of April!  NaPoWriMo was founded in 2003, when poet Maureen Thorson decided to take up the challenge and challenged other poets to join her. Every year the number of participants gets larger and larger. This is a fun contest to do in the office to help enhance team building skills and just to have fun!

Administrative and Professionals Week

The last week of the month is Administrative and Professionals Week. Formally known as “National Secretaries Week” this day honors everyone who makes the office work. Since being founded in 1952, Administrative and Professionals Week is one of the largest workplace observances outside of employee birthdays and major holidays. Make sure to show your office staff some love!

Are there any other special days that make April a wonderful month? Comment below and share your thoughts.

Happy April!

Christine Lewis, Coordinator of Member Services.

24th Annual Temple Terrace Chamber Business Expo & Taste of the Terrace

24^th ANNUAL BUSINESS EXPO AND TASTE OF TEMPLE TERRACE

The Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce presents the 24^th annual Business Expo and Taste of the Terrace on Tuesday, March 5^th from 3pm to 6pm.The expo will be hosted at the TPepin’s Hospitality Centre, 4121 N. 50^th Street, Tampa, and is sponsored by the Law Office of Jack L. Townsend, Sr. P.A.
In addition to businesses showcasing their products and services to fellow business professionals and community members; this year you can also “taste” the best of Temple Terrace.  Local restaurants will be providing tastes from their menus accompanied by samples of Budweiser beer products provided by the TPepin’s Hospitality Centre.

Attendees have a chance to win a Carnival Cruise for two awarded by Cruise Planners and American Express. Tickets are priced at $5 and can be purchased at the door or by calling the Chamber at 813-989-7004.

Leading the business community is the Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce with its strong and committed membership. The Chamber provides many opportunities to get involved and make a difference for you, your business and your community. If you are not currently a member of this Chamber, we strongly suggest you join us and become part of this dynamic group. For more information please visit www.templeterracechamber.com.

Do Your Business a Favor and Increase the Social Media Budget- You Won’t Regret It!

Okay so you’ve set up the social media for your business but now what? Are you using social media to the best of you’re abilities and do you know the benefits of doing so? For those business owners who have created their social media profiles, you’re on the right track but you may be unaware of the amount of time it takes to successfully manage your accounts and the benefits of expanding your social media budget -both of which are key factors to social media success.

The Social Skinny provided the top 10 reasons why businesses should increase their social media budget in 2012. Although this year is coming to an end, these are helpful tips that can also be used when focusing on growing your business in 2013.

I have chosen the top 5 reasons from this list that I believe businesses should focus their attention on when increasing their budget for social media management.

1. Earn Money back with ROI: It’s pretty easy to create a Facebook, Twitter, Linked in, etc.  What’s not so easy is maintaining those accounts, which requires research and takes away time that could be focused on other aspects of your business. Lucky for you, there are businesses that specialize in social media management, but with any valuable service it can come with a hefty price attached. Developing a social media strategy for your business may not be cheap but you can gain 5 times more than you spend on management with the ROI. If your business’ social media is well managed, it can easily out perform some of your more expensive marketing techniques and grow customer loyalty.

2. Social Media Analytics: Social media gives you immediate access to important insights about your company. It gathers information about everything from how many people viewed your page in one month to the customer service skills of your receptionist. Many companies shell out large amounts of money to get these insights about their businesses when it’s really unnecessary- it’s provided to you through your social media mediums.

3. Engaging Conversation: To piggy-back off of No.2- If you took a second to think about some of the marketing efforts you have in place for your business, it’s likely that you will find that most of them are communicated in one way to your public through TV commercials, flyers and brochures or websites. As an owner, you have to make a difficult decision about what you believe you’re public wants to know about your business instead of letting them tell you. By using social media, it gives your business the opportunity to hear positive or negative feedback by engaging them in conversation.

4. Target Audience Marketing: By using more of the old-fashioned marketing techniques, your business, is forcing its products or services on its audience. By only using a couple techniques to marketing your business, it can be assumed that out of all the people you try to reach with print or television marketing styles, about half of the people reached will value and retain the information of your message. On the other hand, with social media, the people who like your Facebook or follow your business on Twitter are doing so because they have a standing interest in your products and services and want to continue to receive information. 

5. Company Awareness: Once your customers have connected with you through  social media, it’s essential to continue engaging them and keep their support- social media helps in that way. Even on the lower side of social media usage- The Social Skinny explains that if your business posts social media at least once a week, thats one message your customers can expect to see a week directly from your business. So when the time comes that they need your services or products, they will immediately remember your business over others.

Don’t miss out on social media marketing for your business just because you’re resistant to change. Using social media is not a reason to abandon the marketing techniques that you already have in place. Instead, think of it as the missing key piece to a well-rounded marketing strategy your business.

 By: Shaleria Faison, Temple Terrace Chamber Intern

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Event Recap: YEP After Hours Networking Event 10/9

Members of Young Elite Professionals of Temple Terrace welcomed a good amount of professionals representing their businesses at yesterday’s after hours networking event.

A special thank you to Tequila Mexican Restaurant and Grill for providing a great venue and atmosphere to network and make some new friends while enjoying authentic mexican food. 

 

Aside from networking, the event requested a $5 dollar donation to benefit Liberty Manor for Veteran’s Inc.– a non-profit organization, which accepts donations to assist veteran’s who have served and sacrificed for the well-being of this country.

We look forward to seeing you at the next YEP After Hours Networking event, hosted by The Patio on Tuesday, November 13th at 5:30 p.m.

Send your reservation by Friday, November 9th to ltice@templeterracechamber.com and a $5 donation benefiting Hope Lodge and you can enjoy complimentary appetizers and happy hour drink specials while networking with young professionals from the Temple Terrace area.

By: Shaleria Faison, Temple Terrace Chamber Intern

43-year Chamber of Commerce Veteran Discusses His Thriving Business and Benefits of Chamber Membership

Ralph Lupton started Lupton’s Buffet as an extension of Fat Man’s Barbeque back in 1969, the same year he became a member of the Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce.

“My wife and I built this business from nothing. At this stage in our lives, our sons do all our hard work while Nancy and I play and work in the office,” said Lupton, who also owns a 200-acre Plant City ranch, which caters to private parties.

Lupton could remember when the city of Temple Terrace only had four police officers and a local newspaper called The Beacon. During that time, business owners used word-of-mouth to find out how to grow their business in this area.

“It was easy to keep up with the gossip in Temple Terrace back in those days, which is how I found out about the Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce,” said Lupton.

 Of the many reasons Lupton continues his membership with the chamber, he expressed that networking and knowing that he has paid his dues to the city of Temple Terrace are the perks he enjoys the most.

“For 43 years I have paid my dues. I have served on every chamber committee since becoming a member.  After all these years I think I enjoy that chamber members can do business with other chamber members the most,” said Lupton.

At the conclusion of our session, Lupton left some words of wisdom to those businesses in the area that have not joined the chamber as a member.

“My one piece of advice is that every business owner in this area needs to join the chamber to promote their business,” said Lupton.

By: Shaleria Faison, Temple Terrace Chamber Intern