Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber 65th Annual Meeting at Birmingham Athletic Club


2012 Business Person of the Year Award

Congrats to Linda Hatfield, Vice President of Marketing
Birmingham Bloomfield Credit Union

To View More Photos, Click Here

Friday, October 26, 2012

Two events signal the end of another busy year



It is hard to believe another year is quickly coming to an end, with thoughts of snow and cold a persistent reminder of what (likely) is to come. It seems like just yesterday we were complaining about the long, hot summer and how it was keeping rounds of golf played at local courses down and diners away from bistro patios.

But that’s the great thing about Michigan weather. As the saying goes, if you don’t like it, wait a day. It will change. That certainly has been the case this week, where we have seen temperatures near 80 degrees one day and near-winter conditions just two days later. Talk about the risk of wardrobe malfunction.

Fortunately, the weather last weekend was picture perfect for the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber’s annual Halloween Parade, our last weather-dependent event of the year. Partnering with the Junior League of Birmingham’s Pumpkin Patch, the family-fun day brought thousands of folks to downtown Birmingham for fun and games, and a chance to march the streets of downtown in full costume.

Fortunately, the Chamber’s final two, big events of the year will not only be held indoors, but in two of the finest private facilities to be found anywhere. Both of the venues – the Birmingham Athletic Club and Oakland Hills Country Club – are loyal Chamber members and we are grateful they are happy and proud to open their doors to the rest of our members and guests.

2011 Business Person of the Year Award
Richard Astrein

The BAC is first up when it hosts the BBC’s 65th annual meeting from 8-9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6. We’ll report on the successes of the year to our membership, thank our outgoing Directors for their service and support of the business community, and introduce our new slate of officers and Directors.
In addition, we will honor the BBC’s Business Person of the Year and shine a deserving light on an individual or team that goes above and beyond to support the greater community while operating a successful business. There is still time to nominate a deserving individual. Details and nominating forms can be found on the Chamber Web site at www.bbcc.com

The Chamber will close the book on 2012 at Oakland Hills on Wednesday, Dec. 12 with our 65th holiday mixer.  Members and guests will be treated to eye-popping holiday decorations and displays as well as sumptuous food and beverages while giving thanks to the many blessings we all have received over the course of the year, celebrate achievements and welcome 2013 with a renewed sense of purpose. The fun is scheduled for 5:30-8 p.m. and promises good times, good networking and no speeches.  Details can be found at www.bbcc.com and we look forward to having the opportunity to say thank you to our many loyal members and friends.

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




Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Halloween Fun in Downtown Birmingham







Photos from 76th annual Birmingham Halloween Parade, hosted by the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber on 10/21/12 near Shain Park, Birmingham. 

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Developing a Social Media Strategy Presented by: Emily Hay, Hay There Social Media











Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber Photos from Professional Edge Workshop 10/4/12
We discussed the elements of a Social Media Content Strategy, Topics and a Frequency Calendar.



Friday, September 21, 2012

Chamber Celebrating Significant Anniversaries in 2013



Two of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber’s signature events are celebrating significant anniversaries in 2013. We are especially proud of the fact that both events – Village Fair, which turns 50 next year, and Vine & Dine, which is marking its 10th anniversary – not only support the Chamber’s operations but raise thousands of dollars for local charities and nonprofit organizations.
The Village Fair truly has become part of the fabric of the greater-Birmingham community. Each year we hear stories from fair-goers of how they went to the fair as children, and now they look forward to bring their children to the fair. The Village Fair really is a community fair, held smack dab in the middle of downtown Birmingham, and drawing an audience made up mainly of neighboring residents.
Thanks in large part to Chief Executive Officer Danny Huston and his North American Midway Group’s generosity, the chamber has distributed grants totaling nearly $80,000 to our nonprofit partners just since 2008. Huston believes the Village Fair is one of the longest-running carnivals in the entire country, and said Birmingham always is one of his team’s favorite stops on the annual circuit in large part due to the warm reception they receive from the community.

We at the Chamber already are working on making the 50th-annual Village Fair the best ever, and are looking to expand the role of our nonprofit network to help spread the word of all the terrific work they are doing to help those in need and improve the quality of life in metro-Detroit. The 2013 Village Fair is scheduled for May 30-June 2. Mark your calendars now and plan to join in the celebration.
While the Village Fair allows the Chamber to showcase our nonprofit partners, Vine & Dine shines the light on the dizzying array of restaurants and beer and wine retailers and distributors in our membership. We are deeply appreciative of our members who donate not only their culinary masterpieces at the event, but also staff time which allows us to partner with Gleaner’s to provide thousands of meals to needy families in the area. And of course, our corporate sponsors play a huge role in making the event a financial success.
Nearly 400 guests attended this year’s Vine & Dine, held Sept. 5 at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, and we are looking to “kick it up a notch” next year in honor of Vine & Dine’s 10th anniversary. Stay tuned for more details.

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

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Nominate First Citizen

The Bottomless Toy Chest display table at the
2011 Community Leadership Luncheon.
Each year, the Birmingham Eccentric — in cooperation with the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber — honors the First Citizen.

The award is given to a person from the Birmingham-Bloomfield area who has made a contribution to improve the quality of life through his or her volunteer services. The award this year will be presented a bit earlier than in past years to coincide with the Chamber's annual Community Leadership Luncheon Oct. 10 in the Radisson Hotel in Bloomfield Hills.

The Birmingham-Bloomfield area is blessed with many fine people who donate their time, talent and money to make the community a better place. These days, that is more important than ever as the need is greater than ever.

Communities everywhere are cutting back on services they offer. Charitable organizations have been hit by declining revenue and curtailed and even closed some operations. Increasingly, people are turning to the private sector for aid in a variety of areas.

Many people in our community volunteer their time and contribute money to a host of organizations. Some favor the arts, others give to educational, health and other community services. All make a difference. They deserve to be recognized for the valuable contributions they make. Nominations should include name and contact number for the nominee and the person who nominates him or her.

Nominations should be sent to the Birmingham Eccentric, 6200 Metropolitan Parkway, Sterling Heights, MI 48321 or e-mailed to gkowalski@hometownlife.com. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Dry cleaner brings ‘fresh’ to Beverly Hills


Entrepreneur Vikki Hardy Brown says she was looking for another business that embodied the customized customer service model of their Edible Arrangements franchises and found that dry cleaning was a perfect fit. Brown celebrated the grand opening of Fresh & Clean Dry Cleaners of Beverly Hills, along with family, friends from the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber and local officials with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“Part of being a good neighbor is to encourage customers to participate in our hanger, garment bag recycling and fundraising programs, while promoting our full list of services,” Brown said.

“From suits to sweaters, scarves to sheets, coats to comforters … we commit to being a part of making your cleaning needs environmentally-friendly and worry-free.”

Fresh & Clean Dry Cleaners, Inc. is a privately owned, metro-Detroit based company. All garments are cleaned on-site with state-of-the-art dry cleaning equipment, and fresh solvent is used in every load. Each garment is inspected prior to being placed for pick up or free delivery. “No garment leaves with missing buttons, clothing is hung on caped hangers, and all customers are encouraged to participate in a hanger and garment bag recycling program,” said Brown. An environmentally-friendly cleaning process avoids the use of harsh detergents, keeps clothes fresh, clean, and bright. Fresh & Clean Dry Cleaners is a proud member of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber located at 17620 W. 13 Mile Road at Southfield Road in Beverly Hills. Call 248-433-3800 or visit www.freshandcleandrycleaner.com for more information.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Free Shred Day helps combat Identity Theft




All of us no doubt either know someone – or have fallen victim our self – to identity theft. This crime can wreak havoc on a person’s credit rating and literally can take months, or even years, to resolve.

One great way for individuals and businesses to combat identity theft is to make sure sensitive documents containing social security numbers, bank account information and the like are destroyed in a safe and secure manner when no longer needed. To help our business members and community residents with this process, the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber is happy to partner again this year with mBank of Birmingham and the Adams Square Shopping Center to host our second-annual Community Shred Day.

This year’s shred day is scheduled for 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 31 in the Adams Square parking lot, located at 725 S. Adams in Birmingham.  The event is free of charge and open to all BBC member businesses and their employees, all mBank customers, all Adams Square tenants and all residents living in one of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber’s member communities of Birmingham, Beverly Hills, Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, Bingham Farms and Franklin.

Last year at our inaugural event, we were amazed at the response as hundreds of folks took advantage of the free service. We packed the giant shredding truck to capacity, and this year we plan to have a second truck on call just in case. A great advantage to our Shred Day is there is no question that these sensitive documents indeed are being destroyed as guests literally can watch their documents being fed into the shredding apparatus and reduced to scrap paper.

There is no need for visitors to remove stapes or paper clips from their documents, and the industrial strength machine even will shred an entire three-ring binder including the metal rings. There is a four box per vehicle limit.

Additional information and helpful hints on what types of documents can and should be destroyed are available by visiting the BBC Web site at www.bbcc.com.

Please plan to join us on July 31, and be patient if there is a bit of a wait. Judging from last year’s turnout, we are fully expecting an even more successful event this time around.
Joe Bauman is President of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber. He welcomes feedback at joeb@bbcc.com

Sunday, July 1, 2012

QDOBA’S NEWEST GRILL HEATS UP BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP



22nd Location in Eastern Michigan with Four More Planned in 2012
Bloomfield Twp., MICH., June 29, 2012 – Qdoba Mexican Grill continues its unprecedented expansion in Eastern Michigan opening its 22nd location in Bloomfield Township at Square Lake and Woodward Ave.  Week long grand opening celebrations included a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Township officials and the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber.

Qdoba is located at 42967 Woodward Ave. in Bloomfield Township at Square Lake and Woodward.  Call (248) 874-1876 or 888-Qdoba2Go (736-2224) for catering. www.qdoba.com

Photo credit:  Doug Ashley
Pictured from left:
Bob Kupfer, Tiffany Florist; Nancy Varbedian, Absolute Home Organization; Joe Bauman, president, Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber; Leo Savoie, supervisor, Bloomfield Township; Kirt Bowden, chief of police, Bloomfield Township; Jessica Deiotte, regional marketing specialist, Qdoba Mexican Grill; Willie Oden, general manager, Qdoba Mexican Grill; Samantha Romero, shift supervisor, Qdoba Mexican Grill; Jan Roncelli, clerk, Bloomfield Township;  Paul Taros, Taros & Associates; John Pfeiffer, Sir Speedy Printing; Eric Zoltowski, regional manager, Qdoba Mexican Grille