ATTORNEY SAYS CONNECTING OTHERS IS HOW SHE MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Lori T. Williams named Ambassador of the Year

Birmingham, MICH., January 18, 2012 – The Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber has named Lori T. Williams, Owner and Managing Attorney of Your Legal Resource, PLLC as Ambassador of the Year for 2011.

“Volunteers are the backbone of the Chamber,” said President Joe Bauman. “With a small but mighty staff of four, we could not execute our programs and serve the more than 650-member businesses of the Chamber without dedicated volunteers. Lori is very active and provides exemplary service to the Chamber and we’re pleased to recognize her as Ambassador of the Year.”

Williams founded Your Legal Resource in 2004, after practicing family law for 14 years prior. It started as a legal referral service connecting the right client with the right legal professional and then grew to include consulting for attorneys and other professionals to help them grow their practice. Williams describes her business as a personal, professional, and spiritual convergence.

“I was in a course at my church in January of 2004, studying the book Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, when the light bulb went on that my purpose was to connect others. I had to laugh initially, because I ended relationships as a divorce attorney, prior to building relationships for a living through Your Legal Resource. It gives me great joy to connect others, whether in my business, at the Chamber, or in the community. Others tell me they really appreciate my efforts and that it makes a big difference for them.”

Williams also serves as Membership Chair for the Women’s Bar Association, which is the Oakland Region of the Women Lawyer Association of Michigan. She is also an active member of The Collaborative Group, based in Birmingham, is a blogger for Birmingham Patch, is active at the Birmingham Campus of Kensington Community Church, and is the mother of two sons attending the Birmingham schools.

Your Legal Resource, PLLC is a member of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber, a membership organization dedicated to promoting economic development, strengthening the business climate and improving the quality of life in Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township and Franklin. For more information, visit www.bbcc.com.

Governor to speak at chamber meeting

Gov. Rick Snyder will be the keynote speaker at the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber's Government Forecast breakfast scheduled for Friday, Feb. 17, at the Townsend Hotel.

Snyder is expected to speak on his first year as governor, and discuss his plans for the state in 2012 and beyond. A question and answer session with chamber members and guests will follow the governor's remarks.

“The Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber is pleased to welcome Governor Rick Snyder as our featured Forecast speaker,” said Alicia Green, 2012 Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber board chairwoman. “We are happy to continue to provide exceptional presenters and opportunities for our members.”

The Government Forecast program is scheduled 7:30-9:30 a.m. and includes networking and a plated breakfast. Tickets are $40 in advance for chamber members and $50 for non-members and guests. Corporate tables of eight are available for $290. Register online at www.bbcc.com or call (248) 644-1700.

Corporate sponsorships for the event are available. Call Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber Marketing and Event Manager Andrea Kaczmarek at (248) 644-1700, ext. 24, or e-mail at andreak@bbcc.com for details.

Joe Bauman is the president of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber.

The Perfect Bite, The Perfect Price

The city's crowd-drawing Birmingham Restaurant Week event will be held from Jan. 30 - Feb. 3 and Feb. 6 - 10. The delicious dining event happens just once per year.

Take advantage of this opportunity to dine at the city's finest restaurants featuring specially created menus at extraordinary prices. Delve into three-course lunches for $15 and three-course dinners for $30. Brand new this year, Forgotten Harvest is the official charity partner for Restaurant Week. The campaign is called “5 Feeds 25”; a $5 dollar donation will provide 25 meals for those in need.

Participating restaurants have already set out collection canisters and hope to collectively raise $10,000 to provide meals for 50,000 meals to Metro Detroit families in need. Participating restaurants include 220 Restaurant, Barrio Tacos & Tequila, Big Rock Chop & Brew House, Cafe' Via, Cameron's Steakhouse, Chen Chow Brasserie, Elie's Mediterranean Cuisine, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Forest Grill, Luxe Bar & Grill, Mitchell's Fish Market, Phoenicia, Salvatore Scallopini, South Bar, Streetside Seafood, The Rugby Grille, Toast, Townhouse Bistro and Zazio's. Check out the event Web site, www.birminghamrestaurantweek.org

Written by Marianne Gamboa Observer & Eccentric Correspondent

2012 promises to be another exciting year for the Chamber

So much for down time.

The Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber completed its event calendar for 2011 when we hosted our annual Holiday Mixer Dec. 7 at Edison’s in downtown Birmingham. Owner Judi Roberts and her team did an awesome job providing a festive atmosphere, sumptuous food and innovative libations for our members and their guests.

With a successful 2011 in the rear view mirror, the Chamber staff already is hard at work planning out the first quarter of 2012 to ensure our member businesses realize even more benefits in return for their investment in the Chamber.

First up is our annual Membership Directory, which is set to go to the printer as I write this column. The directory is distributed to thousands of homes in our six member communities, and is a yearlong resource for area residents. Look for it in early January as a supplement to Birmingham Bloomfield Lifestyle Magazine.

We also are very excited about a new event we are planning for March. The Chamber is partnering with Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital on a health and wellness event. The breakfast program will feature a keynote address from the hospital’s President and CEO, Gerard Van Grinsven, about revolutionary changes that are taking place in the industry, as well as a panel of exports who will discuss the challenges the private sector faces in providing health care benefits to their employees in the face of ever escalating costs.

While the Chamber’s programs and events are the most visible evidence of what we do, the core of our mission is simply working with our member businesses on a daily basis to ensure their success. We receive hundreds of referral requests on a yearly basis, and it is gratifying to be able to recommend one of our members that we know will provide that referral with an outstanding business experience.

Happy holidays, and I hope to see you soon at a Chamber program or event, or simply drop by our offices at 725 S. Adams in the Adams Square shopping center to hear what we have in store for 2012.

Joe Bauman is president of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber. He welcomes feedback at joeb@bbcc.com

Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber Announces New Directors

The Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber has appointed Sunny Connolly, Gail Evo, Monica Haider, Donald Lee and Chris McLogan to its 2012 Board of Directors for a three-year term.

Connolly is senior partner with the Bingham Farms-based Patterson Bryant Group. He has been a Chamber member since 2008.

Evo is corporate director of integrative medicine for Royal Oak-based Beaumont Health Systems. She has been a Chamber member since 2007.

Haider is vice president of Birmingham-based Shore Financial Services. She has been a Chamber member since 2010.

Lee is chief marketing officer for Clark Hill PLC. He has been a Chamber member since 2005 and works out of the law firm’s Detroit and Birmingham offices.

McLogan is a real estate sales professional with Birmingham-based Max Broock Realtors. He has been a Chamber member since 2009.

In addition to the new appointments, Alicia Green was named Chair of the Board of Directors for 2012. Green, a resident of Bloomfield Township, is owner of Troy-based Aqua Advantage. She has been a Chamber member since 2003, and has served on the Board of Directors since 2007.

Also named as officers for 2012 were Bruce Kridler, senior vice president of Huntington Bank’s Wealth Advisory Group, 1st vice chair; Karen Pifer, a partner with the Honigman law firm, 2nd vice chair; Mark Smith, a partner with Mellen, Smith & Pivoz, PLC, CPAs, treasurer; and Linda Hatfield, vice president of marketing for the Birmingham Bloomfield Credit Union, secretary. Brian Henry, commercial services counsel for eTitle and chair of the Board of Directors for 2010-11, will serve as past chair. For more information contact Joe Bauman joeb@bbcc.com

First Citizen Larry Neal leads Bloomfield Hills' library effort

Larry Neal, this year's Birmingham Eccentric First Citizen, knows something about libraries. And he loves them.

So when Bloomfield Hills, his hometown for 29 years, broke with the Bloomfield Township library eight years ago, he, like many residents, felt adrift. And when opponents of a library agreement spread information that he felt was incorrect, he was moved to act.

“That sort of started it for me,” Neal said. He met with some like-minded neighbors, including then-mayor Dave Kellett, approached the Bloomfield Hills City Commission and the township library board to possibly hammer out an agreement.

“We did come up with a proposal in 2009,” said Neal. That was in March of that year and by May it was on the ballot. “I was organizer of the millage process,” Neal said. He brought friends and neighbors into the process, but there just wasn't enough time between March and the election in May to sell the proposal to the community. It lost by just 90 votes.

Still, Neal said, “I was thrilled to see that this could progress this far.” And he was encouraged not to give up.

“People have a very strong interest in the library,” he said. “They see it as an integral part of the community.” And he worried. “I saw a generation of kids growing up without a connection to the library,” he said.

That led to the second millage effort, a massive (by Bloomfield Hills standards) campaign effort, including lawn signs and door-to-door visits. “I hate lawns signs,” Neal said. “But I ended up designing one.”

It all came to a head at Northern Lakes seafood restaurant on Tuesday, Nov. 8, where Neal gathered with a small group of friends to anxiously await the results of the millage vote. And anxious it was, early result were extremely close, with the yes votes slightly ahead. The tension was lifted a short while later when the results came in — the three-year .39 mill question had passed. It wasn't an overwhelming victory — 548 to 509 votes — but it was enough to allow the city to execute a contract with the Baldwin Public Library. At last, the city had its own library again.

“I'd like to say I was relieved,” Neal said. “But three years is not a long time.” He's advised millage supporters to keep their lawn signs handy for the next go-round.

That 84,000-square-foot facility is state of the art, even offering services for the blind. Some days the library is so packed that there isn't room for cars in the lot. That alone, he said, shows that libraries aren't obsolete or even threatened by today's modern technology.

Still he plans to make people aware of what the Baldwin Library has to offer. That shouldn't be too difficult. Bloomfield Hills residents already have flooded over to Baldwin to get their library cards. And they thank Neal.

“City residents have use of Birmingham's Baldwin Public Library because of Larry's outstanding leadership and perseverance,” said Mary Joseph, “a proud Baldwin library card holder,” in her nomination of Neal for First Citizen.

“He has improved the quality of life in our community through his tireless volunteer efforts to lead the “Library YES” vote and should be recognized for his exceptional service to our residents. Because of Larry, we have a happy ending to the Bloomfield Hills library story.”

Her comments were typical in the dozens of nominations for Neal that were submitted.

“Without Larry's dedication to the cause he so firmly believed in, I do not think that we would have a contract with the Baldwin Library today,” said Carol Young, in her nomination of Neal. “My family and I would like to recognize Larry with the prestigious First Citizen award because he truly led (in first position) the team that worked with him to get the contract with Baldwin. I signed up for my library card on Nov. 15 at 11 a.m., the first day of our contract.”

That tied into exactly the message Neal plans to deliver: “Get your library card, and I'll see you at the library.”

Written by: Greg Kowalski Eccentric Staff Writer

Richard Astrein: This year's leading business person

It is hard to believe the holidays are upon us and 2011 is crashing toward a conclusion. It has been a very busy year here at the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber, and we are grateful to our members and sponsors for helping to make it a memorable and successful year.

We have lots of exciting plans for 2012, all geared toward helping our members increase their spheres of influence and ultimately grow their business. And we will continue to support the many charitable organizations that comprise our Nonprofit Network to help them realize their goals, develop relationships with the private sector, and continue to improve the quality of life in the “Five Bs and beyond.”

Before we shift our focus to 2012, there still is some important business to be completed this year; namely, thanking our volunteers who give so generously of their time, talent and treasure on behalf of the BBC, and to recognize the 2011 Business Person of the Year. We do this at the chamber's annual meeting, scheduled for 8-9:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, at The Community House in downtown Birmingham.

Those attending the breakfast meeting (and we hope to see all of our members and friends there) likely will immediately recognize this year's Business Person of the Year. And that is exactly why Richard Astrein is so richly deserving of the recognition.

Richard, along with his brother, Gary, has operated Astrein's Creative Jewelers on Maple Road in the heart of downtown Birmingham for nearly 35 years. Richard always has shared his family's business success with the community, supporting a multitude of charities including the pediatric cancer programs at Beaumont Children's Hospital, the Alzheimer's Association, Common Ground and the Birmingham Bloomfield Community Coalition, to name a few.

Astrein also is a tireless promoter of Birmingham, and is a founding board member of the Birmingham Principal Shopping District, and a former director and still ardent supporter of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber. He truly loves this community, and has gone light years beyond many of his peers in supporting the community, its residents and its institutions.

With the holiday shopping season upon us, Astrein will be easy to spot in his store and in downtown Birmingham. If you find yourself near his business, stop in and thank him for all of his hard work and efforts. And please consider coming to the annual meeting to share in his well-deserved accolades. Visit the chamber's website at www.bbcc.com for more details.

Joe Bauman is president of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber. He welcomes feedback at joeb@bbcc.com.