| Issue No. 266 Serving the Entire Business Community October 2006 | |||
VISIT OUR SPONSORS  |
| Chamber Gift Certificates, sometimes referred to as Chamber Bucks, keep customers Shopping Plymouth First. This Gift Certificate program is very easy and safe to use. If your business receives payment by cash or check for the goods or services you provide, then your company should be able to participate in the Chamber's gift certificate program. The recipients of these gift certificates will look at the list of participating businesses that is provided with each gift certificate and may choose to spend their gift for something that has never occurred to them before. Gift certificate (s) may be ordered from the Chamber office and online (From our web front page, see CHAMBER GIFT CERTIFICATES at the top bar and click.) by any person or company in our community. These gift certificates are then presented as general gifts or, as part of an employee bonus or Christmas gift program. There is no cost above the face dollar value of the certificate. The purchaser picks up the certificate (s) order at the Chamber office (120 N. Michigan St.) and tenders payment to the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce in cash or by check (sorry, no plastic). The gift certificate is a legal check, purchased by any gift giver and can be accepted by any participating Chamber member business with the same confidence as a cashiers check or as cash, and thus is treated as cash. The certificates are individually typed with the pertinent information - the dollar amount (up to $100.00 per certificate), the recipient's name, if applicable, and in the memo area, a greeting of up to 30 characters or the name of the company giving the gift certificate (s). Personalizing these with the recipient's name will make these second party checks and therefore must be endorsed, but remember that these are pre-purchased gift certificates. The money goes directly into one bank account specifically for gift certificate purposes only, thus making these checks 'as good as cash.' The merchant treats these checks like cash and makes change just as if he or she has received cash. Each certificate is then placed in an envelope along with a cover letter and the list of participating Chamber member businesses from which the recipient of the gift certificate selects the place in which to make their purchase or purchases. The list of participating Chamber member businesses is also online from the front page of the Chamber's website. Please note, a Chamber member's business is not automatically put on this list when they join the Chamber. Chamber member businesses must let the Chamber office know they want to be included on the gift certificate participating merchant list. Gift certificates will bring new and existing customers to the participating store. This is a form of advertising dollars that Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce member merchants do not have to expend. Enclosed with this NewsMonth is our current list of participating members. If your business is not listed and you want to participate, please call us at 936-2323 and have us add your business to the list. If for any reason you no longer wish to participate, let us know and we will remove your listing. Every year there is a tremendous increase in the purchase of Chamber gift certificates. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of these Chamber Bucks have been in circulation over the Christmas Holidays. A vast number of these certificates are purchased by many of Plymouth's Industrial businesses for their employees. And throughout the year, individuals purchase gift certificates as gifts for all occasions. All Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce members are invited to take advantage of this program, both as gift givers and especially as participating businesses. It is a great way to give and a great way to keep our member businesses in the public's spending loop. Shop Plymouth First! That is what this is all about! The Christmas season is fast approaching Our Holiday Basket promotion is now a Chamber tradition, anticipated by our community with great delight. We want to thank each of you for your past participation and we want to extend this invitation to all members, present and new, to sign up to be apart of this special promotion this 2006 season. The Christmas Basket promotion continues to be a very successful community effort and terrific exposure for our membership. Thousands of customer entries are received each year through the member businesses that sign on as registration sites. Gift Baskets filled with products and services either sold or produced here in Plymouth is given away, one each week, during the four weeks before Christmas. Retailers may want to contribute specialty items they would like to promote. And, every year, the Retail Merchants Committee extends an invitation to our Industrial members to feature products manufactured here, for example, Del Monte Foods Corporation ketchup or Bay Valley Foods, products. Highlighting these products will raise public awareness of items sold and produced in our community. For those who sign on as registration sites, this promotion brings customers into your store each week to sign up for these four drawings. Each week the participating business is to bring that week's sign up slips to the Chamber office by the following Monday. Customers must sign up each week. Each drawing is made from that batch of sign up slips gathered the preceding week. For a Chamber member business to participate, please call us at 936-2323 to let us know to expect your participation, as a gift giver and as a registration site. Then, bring your four like items, the goods or services you want to donate from your store or business, to the Chamber before 4:00 P.M. on Friday, November 17. Remember to make sure your business is identified (business name and location) on each product item. And remember too, your own in-house gift certificates, will bring the recipients back into your store. We will give you the sign-up slips, bucket, and posters. We prepare the gift baskets and display the contents of one basket in our front window along with the list of participating businesses beginning the week of Thanksgiving. The first drawing will be Monday, November 27, followed by drawings scheduled for December 4th, 11th and 18th. Our Chamber members are the gift givers and registration sites. They benefit with name recognition and the influx of customers during this promotion. Your Chamber Staff facilitates the promotion for you and we reap the most delightful benefit- - presenting the baskets to the winners. Over the years, the very grateful recipients have tugged at our heart strings and made this a very 'giving' promotion! Thanks for your help in this promotion! We wish everyone a prosperous holiday season!   VIRTUAL ASSISTANT - YOUR ADMINISTRATIVE PARTNER 2524 Hillcrest Ave., Plymouth; 574-935-5077; www.yourvirtualadminpartner.com A Virtual Assistant (VA) is a highly skilled professional, who provides administrative/secretarial support to business professionals. As an independent contractor who works from their home office, a Virtual Assistant uses advanced technology to communicate with clients and performs an array of administrative/secretarial tasks to work on different projects. Marla Murasko has over 15 years experience and has worked with large companies such as Johnson & Johnson, to small companies such as Little Blessings Preschool in Illinois. Her past experiences allows her to serve business needs with the utmost integrity and professionalism from administrative support to event and meeting planning. For further information, contact Marla at (574) 935-5077 or email at Virtuallywrite@aol.com. McCormick Electrical Services, Inc. 28620 S.R. 4, North Liberty; 574-656-3500 / 574-674-8029; www.MEservicesinc.com McCormick Electrical Services Inc., recently introduced a program that is designed to assure homeowners of their safety and security when inviting a contractor into their homes. The 'Technician Seal of Safety' is a nation wide symbol that conveys to a homeowner a contractor's commitment to conducting criminal background checks and regular drug testing on technicians who enter private homes. It has long been the policy of McCormick Electrical to conduct background checks and perform regular drug testing as allowed by law. "We know how important it is to make a homeowner feel safe when a technician enters their home," said Tom McCormick, president of McCormick Electrical Services Inc. Hundreds of incidents are reported each year involving homeowners being victimized by home service technicians. "It's scary to learn that only a handful of all contractors actually practice this policy of conducting background checks and drug testing - that's why we feel it's so important to give homeowners a visual symbol that tells them their personal safety is not at risk when they hire a contractor who displays the 'Technician Seal of Safety'," he added. "When hiring a contractor to come into your home, most people don't consider their personal safety or the safety of their family," mentioned McCormick. "But we want to make sure that homeowners, including women who may feel uncomfortable at home alone with a technician, the elderly, or disabled, realize the importance of calling a contractor who displays the 'Technician Seal of Safety'. At McCormick Electrical, we stand behind the Seal to demonstrate how strongly we stand behind our customers and our community," he added. For more information about the Technician Seal of Safety, visit www.mysafetyseal.com. McCormick Electrical Services, Inc., in business since 1999, is an Electrical Service & Repair company. They provide residential & commercial customers with 'Same-Day' service in the North Central Indiana area. New Members
October 2006
October Inserts
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Providing Rehabilitation of the Highest Standards