Chamber Corners
GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
(413) 594-2101
• April 7: Seminar, “Microsoft Word: “Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts,” 8:30-10:30 a.m., at Hampton Inn Chicopee, 600 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Presented by Pioneer Training. Cost: $40 for members, $50 for non-members
• April 12: Table Top Expo & Business Networking Event, 4:30-7 p.m., at the David M. Bartley Center for Athletics & Recreation, Holyoke Community College, 303 Homestead Ave., Holyoke. Presented by the Greater Chicopee, Greater Holyoke, Greater Easthampton, and Greater Northampton chambers of commerce. Parking available on site. Admission: $10 pre-registered; $15 at the door.
• April 19: Salute Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Willits-Hallowell Center, Mount Holyoke College, 50 College Street, South Hadley. Cost: $23 for members, $28 for non-members. Sign up online at www.chicopeechamber.org.
GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
(413) 584-1900
• April 5: April Arrive @ 5, 5-7 p.m., at Degrees of Comfort & VNA, 168 Industrial Dr. # 2, Northampton. Sponsors: BusinessWest, Center for EcoTechnology, and Northeast Solar. Networking event. Cost: $10 for members.
• April 12: Table Top Expo & Business Networking Event, 4:30-7 p.m., at the David M. Bartley Center for Athletics & Recreation, Holyoke Community College, 303 Homestead Ave., Holyoke. Presented by the Greater Chicopee, Greater Holyoke, Greater Easthampton, and Greater Northampton chambers of commerce. Parking available on site. Admission: $10 pre-registered; $15 at the door.
• May 5: Spring Swizzle Auction, 6:30-10:30 p.m. Hosted by Eastside Grill, Strong Ave., Northampton. Cost: $75. Purchase tickets at www.chamberspringswizzle.com.
• May 10: May Arrive @ 5, 5-7 p.m., at Goggins Real Estate, 79 King St., Northampton. Sponsors: Applied Mortgage, Greenfield Community College Foundation, MassDevelopment, and Northeast Solar. Networking event. Cost: $10 for members.
• May 11: “Google Analytics,” 9-11 a.m., at the Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by SCORE of Western Mass. What is Google Analytics? A free, powerful analytics tool that provides reports showing how visitors found your website and what they did when they got there. It measures the effectiveness of your online and offline marketing campaigns. Pre-registration is required; space is limited. Cost: free.
• May 18: “Intro To QuickBooks,” 9-11 a.m., at the Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by Pioneer Training. This is an introduction to the popular accounting program QuickBooks. This session will cover setting up a new company, invoicing and receiving payments, writing checks, and paying bills. The session will end with a brief introduction to and overview of reports. It is suitable for those who have recently started using QuickBooks and those planning to use it. This session is taught on the PC desktop version, but the basic principles of QuickBooks remain the same for the Windows, Macintosh, and online versions of the program. Be aware that specific details of how to accomplish a task or available features may differ on the different versions, and these differences will not be covered. It is not required, but if you have a laptop or tablet and have QuickBooks installed, you may bring it and follow along. Note: this workshop is designed for training on the basics of QuickBooks and is not intended to troubleshoot problems individuals may currently be experiencing. Those types of questions are better suited to a one-on-one consulting session. Cost: $25 for members, $35 for non-members.
• June 7: June Arrive @ 5, 5-7 p.m., at ConVino, 101 Armory St, Northampton. Sponsors: Keiter Builders and MassDevelopment. Networking event. Cost: $10 for members.
• June 23: “Microsoft Excel: Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts,” 9-11 a.m., at the Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by Pioneer Training. This workshop will present our favorite tips, tricks, and shortcuts that we have collected and developed over 15 years of teaching and using Microsoft Excel. Topics will include shortcuts for selecting ranges, using Autofill to create a series of dates or numbers, setting the print area, using page-break preview, adding headers and footers, and using page-layout view. You’ll learn how to group spreadsheets in the same workbook in order to type or format more than one sheet at the same time, as well as how to create 3D formulas that calculate across several spreadsheets in the same workbook. You’ll practice dividing text from one column into two columns, as well as how to concatenate text from two columns into one. You’ll learn how to use conditional formatting to format cells according to their values, how to protect all or part of a worksheet, and how to paste an Excel spreadsheet into Word as an Excel object that links to the original spreadsheet and updates automatically. The workshop will also cover a new set of features in Excel 2013 that includes the new Start screen, Backstage View, Flash Fill, the Quick Analysis Tool, and a new set of options related to creating Excel charts. A set of handy keyboard shortcuts will also be included in the workshop. Participants are encouraged to bring laptops and follow along with the instructor, but this is not required. Pre-registration is required; space is limited. To register, visit [email protected]. Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members.
GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
(413) 568-1618
• March 24: Employment Law Workshop, “Managing Employee Appearance and Religious Accommodations in the Workplace,” 8:30-10 a.m., at the Holiday Inn Express, 39 Southampton Road, Westfield. Join attorney Timothy Netkovick of Royal, P.C. for a roundtable-style seminar to discuss appearance in the workplace and religious accommodations, including an overview of religious discrimination law; dress and appearance standards; body modification (tattoos and piercings); and workplace culture, individual self-expression, and employee retention. Royal, P.C. is a woman-owned firm that exclusively represents and counsels businesses on all aspects of labor and employment law. Netkovick exclusively represents employers in management-side labor and employment-law matters. Cost: free to chamber members, $30 for general admission paid in advance. Online registration will be available at www.westfieldbiz.org. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.
• April 3: April Mayor’s Coffee Hour, 8-9 a.m., at the Forum House, 55 Broad St., Westfield. Join us for our monthly Mayor’s Coffee Hour with Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan. This event is free and open to the public. Call the chamber office at (413) 568-1618 to register for this event so we may give our host a head count.
• April 6: “Improving Website Visibility with SEO,” 8:30-10 a.m., at the Holiday Inn Express, 39 Southampton Road, Westfield. Join us for a chamber workshop presented by Scott Pierson of the Executive SEO. This event is free for chamber members and $30 for general admission (cash or credit paid at the door or in advance). Are you looking for a way to optimize your website visibility? Join Pierson and examine current search-engine optimization (SEO) best practices to increase brand awareness, local web visibility, web traffic, organic rankings, and domain authority. Understand how SEO works, why some pages rank highly, and what to do to move the needle. Pierson is a 15-year SEO consultant, speaker, blogger, trainer, and adviser on the subject of search-engine optimization. Register online at www.westfieldbiz.org. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.
• April 7: 2017 Legislative Luncheon, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (please note new date), at Tekoa Country Club, 459 Russell Road, Westfield. Raise your voice and business concerns to your legislators. Come and hear the challenges facing the Commonwealth, our communities, and our businesses. Invited legislators include state Sens. Adam Hinds and Donald Humason Jr. and state Reps. Nicholas Boldyga, Peter Kocot, Stephen Kulik, William Pignatelli, and John Velis. Cost: $30 for members, $40 for non-members (must be paid in advance). Register online at www.westfieldbiz.org. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.
• April 12: April After 5 Connection, 5-7 p.m., at One Arch Road, Westfield. Refreshments will be served, and a 50/50 raffle will benefit our Dollars for Scholars fund. Bring your business cards and make connections. Cost: Free for chamber members, $10 general admission (cash or credit paid at the door). Online registration will be available at www.westfieldbiz.org. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.
• April 21: Employment Law Workshop, “A Transition in the Law: Transgender Discrimination,” 8:30-10 a.m., at the Holiday Inn Express, 39 Southampton Road, Westfield. Discrimination based on transgender status or gender identity is a developing area of the law. There has been a lot of debate on the local, state, and national levels over access to bathrooms for transgender individuals. As the public debates this issue, legislators, administrative agencies, and courts are shaping the law that prohibits gender discrimination, including discrimination against transgender individuals. Join Attorney Timothy Netkovick of Royal, P.C. for a roundtable-style seminar to discuss how to navigate the legal landscape of an evolving and challenging area of discrimination law. Royal, P.C. is a woman-owned firm that exclusively represents and counsels businesses on all aspects of labor and employment law. Netkovick exclusively represents employers in management-side labor and employment-law matters. Cost: free to chamber members, $30 for general admission (cash or credit paid at the door or in advance). Online registration is available at www.westfieldbiz.org. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.
• April 25: Seventh annual Home & Business Show, 4:30-7 p.m., at Tucker’s Restaurant, 625 College Highway, Southwick. Join us for this annual tabletop event in partnership with the Southwick Economic Development Commission. The event is free to the public. Southwick business owners can have a tabletop for $25 per business — one six-foot table with a tablecloth (you are free to bring your own table covering) and a listing in the show program provided you register by the deadline, April 7. For information and an application, visit southwickma.info or call (413) 304-6100.
PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S CHAMBER
(413) 787-1555
• April 11: Professional Women’s Chamber, Ladies Networking Night, 5-7 p.m., at City Stage, One Columbus Center, 150 Bridge St., Springfield.
• April 22: Professional Women’s Chamber, Headline Luncheon Series, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., at Storrowton Tavern Carriage House, 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. “Maintaining Sanity: The Journey Toward Work-life Balance” is a panel discussion featuring Patricia Fay, an assistant vice president and actuary of strategic planning and analysis at MassMutual and the insurer’s 2015 Working Mother of the Year.
SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER
(413) 787-1555
• March 29: Pastries, Politics & Policy, 8-9 a.m., at the TD Bank Conference Center, 1441 Main St., Springfield. The speaker is Eileen McAnneny, president of the Mass. Taxpayers Foundation. The topic will be “The Fiscal Health of the Commonwealth.” Cost: $15 for members in advance ($20 at the door), $25 general admission in advance ($30 at the door).
• April 5: Business@Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Delaney House, 3 Country Club Road, Holyoke. Featuring the Mayor’s Forum with Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno, Chicopee Mayor Richard Kos, and Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse. Ray Hershel of Western Mass News will moderate.
• April 10: Outlook Luncheon, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., at the MassMutual Center, 1277 Main St., Springfield.
• April 19: After 5, in partnership with the West of the River Chamber of Commerce, 5-7 p.m., at BMW of West Springfield, 1712 Riverdale St., West Springfield.
• April 20: Leadership Institute Graduation, 6-9 p.m., at the Springfield Sheraton, One Monarch Place, Springfield.
• April 26: Beacon Hill Summit, noon to 1 p.m., hosted by the Massachusetts State House, co-hosted by state Sen. James Welch and state Rep. Aaron Vega. Sponsorship opportunities are available. E-mail [email protected] for information.
Reservations for all events may be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com or by e-mailing [email protected].
