Lebanon Wilson Chamber of Commerce Blog

On September 11, Dr. Ryan House of Cumberland Chiropractic and Sports Medicine had a ground breaking ceremony at what will soon be his new office location. The Cumberland Chiropractic office is currently located at 1416 West Main St. Suite H, but will be moving to their new building located behind Dunkin’ Donuts on West Main in 2016. Dr. House (pictured at center) was joined by his wife and staff, local officials, Chamber representatives, and others involved with the new building for the ceremony.

Michael and Isaac Bradford along with many other members of the Farmers Insurance family were recently joined by Chamber staff and ambassadors, local officials, and other members of the community to celebrate the opening of their office at 224 W Main Street, Suite E. They had a live radio broadcast, hot dogs, finger foods and cake, and a ribbon cutting ceremony. We are excited to welcome them to the community and the Chamber!

Your Chamber supports education because we know that the foundation of our community starts with the education of our youth.

The Chamber Education Division and our Business & Education Coalition are proud to offer teachers and students a way to encourage continued education throughout Wilson County. The Chamber raises money at our annual Taste of Wilson County to give back to our education programs in Wilson County. Proceeds benefit our Teacher Grant Program, Books from Birth Program, Tennessee Scholars Program and other education scholarships.

The Teacher Grant Program was started by Ken Howell, Chamber Lifetime Member, in 1995. Teacher grants are offered by the Chamber Education Division to Wilson County teachers each year and awarded at an annual breakfast sponsored by Cumberland Real Estate G-team Jackie Gaither and Kevin Gaines. This year's grant amount has been increased from $500 in previous years to $599 maximum per grant. The Education Vice Chair, Education Committee, Board of Directors and Chamber staff celebrate with the teacher and students when the items requested for the project have been purchased and unveiled to the classroom. Including 2015 teacher grants, the Education Division has awarded 433 grants totaling over $175,000. A special thank you to our Wilson County teachers who have participated and made a difference in our schools. The deadline for this year's grant applications is Friday, September 18. Applications may be found at the following link.

Teacher Grant Application

Wilson Books from Birth is another program sponsored by the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce. Under the direction of Peggy Simpson, all Wilson County children from birth to five years old are eligible to enroll. Each month, a free book is mailed to the child for the parent(s) to read to their child for the beginning of a successful education.

Each year the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce graduates Wilson County students that have completed the requirements of the Tennessee Scholars Program. In 2015, 417 Wilson County students graduated from the program, and to-date, a total of 3,984 have received a diploma from the Chamber since 2005. The Tennessee Scholars program is a course of study that encourages students to take more demanding courses in high school. The curriculum provides an education that better prepares students to enter a technical school, a post-secondary educational institution, or the workplace.

The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce offers a number of annual scholarships that are based on a select criteria. College education scholarships are awarded annually in the spring. The Chamber typically awards around $12,000 in scholarship money annually. 

SAVE THE DATE: Taste of Wilson County, OCTOBER 8, 2015

Join your Chamber for a great evening to celebrate education in Wilson County. Food vendors will be sharing their favorite food products, and marketplace vendors will have other items for purchase. There will also be face painting, inflatables, and a balloon artist available for children's enjoyment.

Ticket pricing for the Taste of Wilson County is as follows:

Adult (age 12+): $20 in advance; $25 at event
Child (ages 6-11): $5 in advance; $10 at event
Children age 5 & Under: Free
VIP Ticket (includes seat in VIP tent): $30
VIP Table (seats 8): $250

Call the Chamber office today at 615-444-5503 to reserve your ticket!

Lebanon and Wilson County have fantastic foods to highlight, so come experience the taste in Downtown Lebanon from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. on October 8. We look forward to seeing you there and partnering with you to support education in Wilson County!

Marketplace and food vendor space is still available! Follow the link below:

Taste of Wilson County Vendor Application

On Thursday, September 3, Lebanon Municipal Airport staff were joined by members of the community, local elected officials, and the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber for a grand opening and ribbon cutting. Airport Commission Chairman T.O. Cragwall and Airport Manager Heather Bay (pictured above) gave their thanks to the community as well as local and state government entities who have supported the building project. Chairman Cragwall also discussed the economic impact that the growth of the airport has and will continue to have on the city and county. He noted that with the completion of the new hangar, there are 17 total, which are currently all rented and have long waiting lists.

The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to welcome Libelle Beech Salon to the Chamber community. The new salon, located at 706 West Main Street in Lebanon, hosted a grand opening on the evening of August 24. The night included a special prayer, flag presentation, and ribbon cutting in addition to heavy hors d'oeuvres.

 Libelle Beech Salon, owned and run by Rachel Beechboard, provides services ranging from hair color and cut to facials and manicures. Call Rachel and her team at 615-784-4620 for more information or to make an appointment.

Will Hargett has been a Financial Advisor for Edward Jones Investments in Lebanon since September 2014. His office, formerly located on West Main Street, recently moved to 365 South Hartmann Drive, Suite 110. Chamber Board members, staff, and ambassadors and local elected officials joined Will and office manager Deb Gooch for a ribbon cutting ceremony on August 21. The team is excited to welcome clients into their new space, where they will continue “making sense of investing.” For more information, call Deb or Will at 615-453-0799.

The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber and Wilson County Promotions hosted their annual fair-time Business Before Hours in Fiddlers Grove on Tuesday, August 18, 2015.

With over 100 in attendance, this year's Business Before Hours is one of the largest events of its kind to date. Breakfast was provided at the fairgrounds, where those in attendance heard a brief summary of current Wilson County Fair attendance and upcoming events for both the fair and the Chamber.

Wilson County Fair officials also presented their annual Old Timers Award to this year's recipients, Alice and Johnny Trice of Lebanon.

Alice and Johnny have been married for sixty years and have two children, five grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. The Trices have been actively involved in the community over the years. Alice’s love of flowers and gardening led her to become involved in the Wilson County Gardener’s Guild and Oakland Home Demonstration Club. She is also a past Chairman of the Wilson County Fair Flower Show. Johnny has served on the Chamber of Commerce Board, Wilson Bank & Trust Board, People’s Bank Board, and is Past President of the Wilson County Fair Board. Johnny goes into his office every day and he is still active on his farm. Alice and Johnny love to travel and have visited every state in the U.S. Still, they spend time each year at the Wilson County Fair looking at exhibits and visiting with people.

In addition to having their names added to a plaque that will remain at the fairgrounds, Old Timers award recipients are presented with rocking chairs courtesy of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. 

For more information on attending or hosting the Chamber's next Business Before/After Hours, contact the Chamber office at 615-444-5503.  

On Tuesday, August 11, Chamber Board staff, Board, and committee members as well as Lebanon City Mayor Philip Craighead joined Leslie Boldt of Massage Connection by Leslie/Doterra Oils for a ribbon cutting ceremony at her new business location. At her cozy office at 401 West Main Street, Suite 103, Leslie offers a wide variety of massage services. She will also be doing evening classes bi-monthly at the Chamber office about essential oils and their uses.

Cumberland University and the Lebanon-Wilson County Chamber of Commerce Sports Council are teaming up for an All Sports Camp for Wilson County residents ages 7-12 on Sunday, September 13 on the CU campus. Registration will begin at 2 p.m., and the clinic will take place from 3-5 p.m.

Girls and boys will be able to choose from baseball, softball, football, tennis, soccer, volleyball, basketball and golf. Individuals will receive instruction in their chosen sport for the entire two-hour time frame of the camp. A parent or guardian must remain on site throughout the duration of the camp. Kids need to bring equipment for the chosen sport as well, including bats, gloves, racquets, golf clubs, shin guards and soccer balls, etc.

You may register online at www.cumberland.edu/freeclinic or pick up and complete an application at the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce. Call 615-444-5503 for more information.

The first 50 registrants will receive a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A kids meal; the next 50 will receive a coupon for a free kids meal at O'Charley's; and the next 50 will receive a coupon for free ice cream from Chick-fil-A.

As summer starts to wind down, some big changes are afoot in the Chamber of Commerce. With the opening of the new Cumberland University school year comes the end of our intern’s time with the Chamber. Trell Ross was a great addition to our team, and we wish him all the best as he starts back to school. In light of his leaving, we are excited to announce that Anna Syler, our former Communications Coordinator, is back in her old office. Anna had moved to China in January of this year to work teaching special needs orphans. Her time overseas has come to a close, and though she says that she will always treasure and miss her friends and the children that she worked with in China, she is very thankful to be back with her Chamber girls -- including the new addition of President & CEO Melanie Minter, who had not yet taken her position when Anna left.

In her role, Anna will be responsible for handling advertising and communications for the Chamber. For information regarding newsletter or website content, feel free to contact her at anna@lebanonwilsonchamber.com.

We are so grateful for a summer of fun and hard work with intern Trell Ross, pictured here with Chamber staff at the Habitat for Humanity's Women's Build. 

Anna Syler is back in the Communications Coordinator position after six months working overseas.

On July 31, 2015, the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce conducted a ribbon cutting ceremony for Tennessee Test Prep, formerly known as Activate Success.

Tennessee Test Prep offers an in depth ACT Prep course, as well as, subject tutoring for various subjects. They take pride in their 5:1 student to teacher ratio, which provides each student more time for personal attention. "Our teachers have over 20 years of experience in educating students, and provide easy to understand strategies for students."

For more information on Tennessee Test Prep and their services, visit their website at www.tntestprep.com or call them at 615-547-9862.

Pictured below are Tennessee Test Prep owners David Defendall and Cory Defendall with Chamber President Melanie Minter and Chamber Ambassador Beulah Garrett.

The school year has officially started in Wilson County, and the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce was honored to welcome teachers back at their various inservices last week. The staff of McClain Christian Academy was treated to ice cream sundaes during their pre-school year preparations while the teachers at Cedars Preparatory Academy, Friendship Christian School, Lebanon Special School District, and Wilson County Schools were served breakfast.

At each of the schools, Chamber executives spoke about the Business and Education Coalition’s teacher grant program. This year, the maximum amount for a grant is $599, a significant increase over last year’s limit of $500. Any and all Wilson County teachers are invited and encouraged to apply for these grants. Applications can be found online or at the Chamber office; the deadline to apply is September 18.

New to the inservice tradition this year, the Watertown and Mt. Juliet Chambers of Commerce partnered with the Lebanon Wilson Chamber to put on an Education Expo for the teacher inservice at Lebanon High School. In addition to having breakfast, teachers at Wilson County Schools had access to booths set up by area businesses to promote Wilson County.

The Lebanon Wilson Chamber is proud to support the area’s schools and teachers. Welcome back to school, everyone! 

July 21, 2015 was a big day for Lebanon and all inhabitants of the city. The Lebanon Historic Square, which has been under construction for several months, was celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony conducted by The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with the City of Lebanon. The ceremony was aimed at highlighting the square’s renovations that are finally complete and at acknowledging this week being declared as Lebanon’s first annual “Shop Local” week by City Mayor Philip Craighead.

On Friday, July 24, 2015, the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce conducted a ribbon cutting ceremony for Alter Ego Hair and Nail Salon Alter Ego has now begun offering hair-styling services in addition to the waxing, nails, and make-up services that they’ve offered in the past.

For more information on Alter Ego or how you can spoil yourself with their beauty services, give them a call at (615)444-3308, pay them a visit at 125 South College St, or scroll onto their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alter-Ego-Hair-and-Nail-Salon/626970547410775?sk=timeline.

Pictured above are Alter Ego stylists and owner Jenniffer Brewington, City Mayor Philip Craighead, State Representative Mark Pody, Chamber Chairman John Bradshaw, Chamber President Melanie Minter, and other Chamber Ambassadors and Board Members.

On Saturday, July 25, 2015, the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for Price’s Collision Center. The time was spent with amongst fun, food, hot-rod cars, and the Titans’ cheerleaders!

Price’s Collision Center is a chain of automotive collision repair shops that has been successfully serving customers for over 50 years!

To find out more about Price’s and their services that are backed with lifetime guarantees, visit their website at http://www.pricescollision.com, or call/visit our newly opened local shop: 1504 W Main St, Lebanon. (615)784-4664.

Pictured above is Price's owner Bobby Price, business partner Rick Flores, Chamber Chairman John Bradshaw, and Chamber President Melanie Minter.

The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce’s Special Events Division’s July edition of Jammin’ with the General was one for the books!!! We’re talking great performances, great food, and an overall GREAT TIME!

Live performers, Resurrection-A Journey Tribute turned the Historic Lebanon Square into the ultimate jam fest, and both The Wilson Central High School Band and the Evermean Evergreen Cloggers were outstanding opening acts!

The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce wants to give a huge thanks to Emcee, MJ Lucas of WANT 98.9, sound specialist, David Hale of Hawk Specialties, BJ’s Trailers, the Lebanon High School Band Boosters, Yazoo Brewing Company, food vendors, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Southern Kitchen, Minutemen Express, Crystal Elegance Catering, Two Fat Men Ice Cream, and to sponsors, Wes Dugan of Farm Bureau Insurance, City of Lebanon, Historic Lebanon, and the Capitol Theatre.

The Chamber appreciates everyone that came and jammed as well! You all made Jammin’ a great night and we are already looking forward to next year!

Be sure to check out our PHOTOS at Facebook from Jammin' with the Generalwith Resurrection-A Journey.

On June 25, 2015, The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of commerce hosted a Membership Renewal Appreciation at O’Charley’s, located at 902 Murfreesboro Road, Lebanon to honor and extend thanks to renewed members for the months of May and June.

The Chamber would like to extend a special thank you to O’Charley’s for being great hosts with a great atmosphere and tasty appetizers, and to all members that attended the event to show support or be honored.

The Chamber appreciates all of its members and will continue striving to show that!

On June 29, 2015, The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce held its annual Dr. Cary Harbrecht Memorial Summer Scramble and Golden Heroes Classic Golf Tournaments.

This was the 16th year that the Chamber held the tournament in remembrance of Dr. Cary Harbrecht, who became a member of the Wilson County Chamber of Commerce in 1972. Dr. Harbrecht served on the Chamber Board of Directors and as Membership Vice Chair from 1984-1985, served on the General Service Committee, and was founder and chairman of the Lebanon Wilson County Chamber Golf Tournament. Dr. Harbrecht passed away approximately two weeks prior to the first annual tournament. Following his passing, the Chamber Board passed a resolution, in his memory, to name the tournament “The Dr. Cary Harbrecht Memorial Golf Tournament”.

As always, time on the green was well spent, just as Dr. Harbrecht would have wished.

The winners of this year’s Golden Heroes Classic were Gary Poling, TJ Mikoletic, Dan McChurch, and Tim Ray and the winners of the Dr. Cary Harbrecht Memorial Summer Scramble were Ray Edwards, Rob Browning, Eric Thompson, and Mark Purvis.

The Chamber would like to extend a big thanks to all tournament sponsors, all tournament participants, to Five Oaks Golf & Country Club for offering a great venue for the tournament, and to anyone else who played a role in making such a great day possible.

On July 8, 2015, The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce gave citizens the opportunity to speak with city dignitaries at the most recent City Chat.

City Chat is an event held each first Wednesday following the first City Council Meeting of each month, and is aimed at providing citizens with the opportunity to hear from, question, or share concerns with the City Mayor and other leaders of our city.

July’s City Chat featured City Economic Development Director Helene Cash, City Finance Director Robert Springer, and Lebanon Police Dept.’s Interim Police Chief Van Hook.

On July 12, 2015, The Lebanon Wilson County Chamber of Commerce conducted a Ribbon Cutting and Grand Re-Opening Ceremony with City Limits Cafe, located at 1717 Cainsville Road, Lebanon.

City Limits, which was placed under new management earlier this year, is a “Meat + 2” that takes pride in offering their customers tasty, southern, home-cooked meals at reasonable prices. They also offer delivery for orders over $10.00.

Pictured are City Limits owners Stacey Kurtz & Dale Holland, City Limits employee staff, Chamber Ambassadors, Chamber President Melanie Minter, and Chamber staff members Andrea Wilke and Tonya Jones.

For more information on City Limits cafe, give them a call at 615-453-9138, visit their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/City-Limits-Cafe/116097138412157, or drop in and enjoy some of what they have to offer!