Sam's Club CEO to Highlight 2009 Annual Banquet

Save the date for the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers. This annual gathering of 800 - 1,000 Northwest Arkansas business leaders celebrates accomplishments of the previous year, honors outstanding businesses and individuals in our community and sets the tone for the coming business year.

The Chamber’s annual banquet is the largest such gathering of business leaders in Northwest Arkansas. A long list of distinguished previous speakers includes Lee Scott, Arkansas Governors Clinton, Tucker and Huckabee, Senators Bumpers, Pryor (Sr. and Jr.), Boozman, Hammerschmidt, both Hutchinson brothers, Ara Parsigian, Tommy Lasorda, Rogers Penske, Mean Joe Green and NFL Ref. Buddy Coleman. Commentary and introduction of Steven S. Little, former Inc. magazine consultant and small business expert by Greg Spragg, J.B. Hunt and Dick Bond of Tyson Foods.

Brian Cornell, CEO of Sam's Club, will serve as keynote speaker for the 2009 Annual Banquet, reflecting the aligned focus of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce and Sam's Club as premier membership organizations focused on the wellbeing of small to medium businesses in Northwest Arkansas and beyond.

As the premier regional business event of the year, the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet celebrates regional accomplishments, recognizes leadership and serves as an excellent platform for the business community. The evening also features current Chairman of the Board Wayne Callahan of H.J. Heinz, who has led the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce throughout 2009.

The annual banquet on February 11, 2010 begins with an evening reception at 6:00 p.m. followed by dinner featuring the keynote speaker and annual awards at 7:00 p.m. Stay tuned for details at www.RogersLowell.com and mark your calendar to attend - you won't want to miss this outstanding gathering of Northwest Arkansas business leaders.

A limited number of event sponsorships are available to Chamber businesses wishing to participate in this prestigious event. Contact Shelle Summers at 479-619-3187 or ssummers@rogerslowell.com for details.

Ready for your business to thrive rather than just survive?

We are tremendously excited around the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce of late regarding the NWA Business Conference & Expo scheduled for August 6.  Granted, we're pretty excited about everything we do for our member businesses, but this is different.  This is BIG!

As previously mentioned in a teaser back in February (http://tinyurl.com/ol5cec), the NWA Business Conference & Expo will be a world-class event offered in partnership with the Arkansas World Trade Center and the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.  What makes the NWA Busines Conference & Expo presented by Sam's Club (www.samsclub.com) and Your Community Phone Book (www.yourcommunityphonebook.com) so exciting this year is the combination of seminars and keynote speakers along with an  Expo presented by Cherokee Casino (www.cherokeecasino.com) showcasing businesses, products and services.  It's going to be a fantastic, one-stop business-building shop.

It's hard to contain our enthusiasm over the international component for the event as well, afforded by the engagement of the Arkansas World Trade Center.  The day will include seminars and presentations from international-caliber speakers with topics related to three dedicated tracks: Small Business, General Business and International Business.  

This year's keynote speaker sponsored by Cox Communications will be Clyde Fessler, former VP Business Development for Harley Davidson Motor Company.  His story of marketing what has become one of the most recognized brands in the world and turning around a company on the brink of bankruptcy is inspiring and appropriate for businesses of every size.  Stay tuned for a fantastic event publication from the NWA Business Journal in late July, as well.  We encourage businesses to register no later than June 12 to be included.

The schedule of events will be available soon at www.NWABusiness.org, where you'll also find additional information as well as keynote tickets, all-accesspasses, booths, sponsorships and more details.  Or, call the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce at 479-636-1240 - any member of our staff can help you!

NWA Business Conference & Expo

We are so excited to announce an "arranged marriage" between two of our previous successful events, creating the Northwest Arkansas Business Conference & Expo to be held on August 6, 2009.

The Arkansas World Trade Center and the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal have joined the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce as event partners, bringing significant resources and cutting edge ideas to the table.

For example, the team at the Arkansas World Trade Center (http://www.awtc.org/) led by Dan Hendrix is helping us to bring national caliber presenters on topics that may include the benefits of importing and exporting for businesses large and small, as well as pitfalls to doing business globally and international finance seminars.

Similarly, our pals Darin Gray, Jeff Wood and the team at the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal (http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/weekly_nw.asp) are working on sessions related to niche marketing, sales and emerging technologies. By the way, "team" is an understatement... Ronie Sparkman and Wende Willbanks truly make that ship float!

On our team at the Chamber, Gretchen Laffoon and Stacey Calhoun are working fast and furiously along with our Small Business Council conference planning committee to tackle the small business track as well as all the event day logistics. And here's the fun news: our keynote speaker is Clyde Fessler (http://www.clydefessler.com/), former VP of Business Development for the Harley Davidson Motor Company. His message will resonate with everyone, from potential entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 team leaders!

The event is presented by Sam's Club and Your Community Phone Book, and it will definitely be a can't miss event - mark your calendars now and stay tuned for details! We'll hold a press conference announcing the event on February 11, and all the specifics on the event will be at http://www.nwabusiness.org/. The NWA Business Conference & Expo is definitely going to knock your socks off!