Lebanon Wilson Chamber of Commerce Blog

Jessy's, located just off the Square at 104 South College Street, hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, January 8, with the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce.

CPA Consulting Group, PLLC held an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony with the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber at their new Lebanon location on Wednesday, December 16. The Nashville-based firm was founded by Cathy Werthan (pictured at center), who was on-site to cut the ribbon at the new office, located at 104 West Main Street, just off the Lebanon square. Lebanon native John Foutch (pictured to the right of Werthan) will be managing the local office.

Urban Mills Promotions, located at Suite 4-100 in The Mill at Lebanon, held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, December 9. Owner Ramona Welch was joined by staff, friends, family, and Chamber staff and representatives for the early evening ceremony, which included light refreshments and promotional giveaways.

Wilkie's Outfitters, located at 110 Public Square, hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on December 1. The store is owned and operated by Wes and Britney Wilkerson and specializes in clothing and outdoors equipment. The couple has completely renovated the inside and outside of the store over their last six months in business. They were joined by friends and family, local elected officials, and Chamber of Commerce ambassadors and staff for the ribbon cutting.

New Chamber member GT Towing, located at 723 North Cumberland Street, Suite 103, hosted a ribbon cutting on Saturday, November 14. Chamber of Commerce staff members and State Representative Mark Pody joined GT Towing employees, family, and friends for the ceremony, which was followed by a lunch of barbecue, hamburgers, and hotdogs.

The Edward Jones Investments office located at 1670 West Main Street, Suite 150 held a ribbon cutting ceremony on the morning of November 12 to welcome new Financial Advisor Laura Headley. Edward Jones staff members were joined by Chamber of Commerce staff and representatives and Lebanon City Mayor Philip Craighead for the event.

John Sergent of First Tennessee Bank recently presented a check to Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Melanie Minter and Vice President of Operations Andrea Wilke for the Chamber Building Program. The donation contributes to First Tennessee’s commitment to pay costs associated with major renovations of the Chamber building.

Thank you, First Tennessee Bank!

A school grand opening and dedication was held at Carroll-Oakland School on the afternoon of Sunday, November 8. The newly-renovated facility is located at 4664 Hunters Point Pike. Modifications made to the building and grounds cost over $13 million and include a loop drive to help avoid traffic back-up on the highway, a drainage system installed in the playground area, outdoor LED lighting, and a beautiful gym, complete with a stage for performances and seating for close to 1,000 students.

Dr. Kylene Haskins, a new member of University Medical Center's network of physicians, held a grand opening event on November 3 at her office, located at 1616 West Main Street, Suite 101.

Square Market/Major Love Clothing hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on November 5 at their storefront located just off the Lebanon Public Square, at 115 South Cumberland Street.

Ideal Barber Shop held a ribbon cutting ceremony at their storefront, located at 102 Public Square on October 26. Roger Bennett, the owner, has been cutting hair in Lebanon for several years, has been working on the square four roughly four years, and recently became the sole owner of Ideal Barber Shop.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Veterans Memorial Museum took place on Thursday, October 29. The day also marked the one-year anniversary of the Veterans Park.

On October 31, roughly 2,500 people gathered on the Lebanon Public Square for trick-or-treating and other activities hosted by the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber in cooperation with the City of Lebanon. Face painting, balloon animal creating, flame eating, and fortune telling were all part of the fun. The Lebanon Public Safety Department cooked and gave away 2,000 hotdogs throughout the night.

Friday, October 16 marked the beginning of a grand opening weekend at Firestone Complete Auto Care, located at 1623 West Main Street. Local officials, including Senator Mae Beavers, Lebanon Mayor Philip Craighead, and Lebanon City Councilmen joined representatives and staff from the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce and Firestone corporate and local employees for their kickoff event on the 16th. Store Manager Chad Simmons presented a check to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America on behalf of Firestone Complete Auto Care before cutting the ceremonial ribbon to celebrate the opening of the new store. The day also included trivia games, music and giveaways by Nashville radio station 105.9 The Rock, and a barbeque lunch.

On October 19, LED worldUSA Owner Narendra B. Patel, General Manager Melissa Parrish, Sales Manager Pradip Patel, and Operations Manager Dhaval Patel were joined by friends and family, Lebanon Mayor Philip Craighead, and Chamber representatives for a ribbon cutting at their store, located at 707 S Cumberland Street, on October 19. The company distributes a wide variety of LED lighting solutions, which can be longer lasting as well as more efficient, durable, and versatile than other types of lights, for both commercial and residential use. 

Halloween on the Square will take place this year on Saturday, October 31 from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. As always, there will be plenty of candy for everyone, as well as free hotdogs, food trucks, games, inflatables, a balloon artist, and activities for the whole family!

New this year, there will be a costume contest and ghoul parade for all ages! Those wishing to participate in the contest & parade may register from 5-6 p.m. Participants will parade around the square two times as music plays and judges watch, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Judges will then choose finalists who will go on stage to show off their costumes to a panel of local celebrity judges. A winner will be selected in each of three age categories, and an overall winner will be chosen as Ghoul of the Night. The overall winner will receive a $100 cash prize, sponsored by Michael's Cover Up.

Age categories for the costume contest will be as follows: Little Kids - 0-6 years; Big Kids - 7-13 years; Adult - 14+ years

Also taking place on Halloween night in the downtown Lebanon area is First Baptist Church's Fall for All event. We encourage families to go visit the First Baptist group as well as coming down to Halloween on the Square!

Hutsenpiller Insurance held a grand opening on Tuesday, October 6. Their new Lebanon location is next to Kroger at 1416 W Main St, Suite P. The sunny weather was perfect for a ribbon cutting ceremony, which took place at 2 p.m. The Hutsenpiller family was joined by staff, Chamber representatives, and local elected officials for the occasion.

The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber partnered with the James E. Ward Agricultural Center on October 1 to host a Business After Hours, which served as an introduction to the upcoming Junior High National Rodeo Finals to members of the community. Larry Tomlinson, Director of the Ag Center, and Wilson County Commissioner Jeff Joines have been working with the National High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA) to organize and coordinate the event, which will take place in Lebanon in both 2016 and 2017. Tomlinson and Joines each spoke briefly about their experiences with the rodeo in past years in other cities before giving the floor to Ronnie Haslerig and Austin White, who came to the event on behalf of the NHSRA.

On October 1, Perma-Pipe, Inc. held a grand-reopening to celebrate their upgraded facility, located at 1310 Quarles Drive. Tours were given throughout the morning, followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony at noon with the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber and local elected officials. Lunch was provided by Michael's Cafe.

The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee held their annual Industry Appreciation Day on September 17. This year, lunch was provided to employees of Shenandoah Mills, located just off the square at 145 South Cumberland Street.

Shenandoah Mills was founded by Dale Nunnery in 1990, when he purchased the facility from Martha White Foods. The company specializes in the production of many different dry food products – specifically batters and breaders. Their client list includes Cracker Barrel, Long John Silvers, Captain D’s, Hillshire Farms, Sara Lee, and more. Approximately 100 truckloads of dry mixes are shipped out per month, which totals about 50 million pounds of product per year. Still, in their 25 years of business, Shenandoah Mills has never shorted a single order.

Members of the Economic Development Committee got the opportunity to talk to the executive staff about the business and its history while other employees ate lunch from Honeybaked Ham Co. The Chamber would like to extend a huge thanks to First Freedom Bank for sponsoring the event.