Chamber Blog

Following two of the roughest weeks for Wall Street since the 2008 crash, Charlotte CEOs remain cautiously optimistic about business in the coming year. To get a sense of where different sectors stand on our still volatile economic state, Charlotte Chamber Economic Development Chair, Ed McMahan, moderated a panel discussion on the topic at the August 22 Board of Advisors meeting. Guest speakers were: Time Warner Cable's Executive Vice President, Carol Hevey; Charlotte Motor Speedway President, Marcus Smith; Marand Builders President, Francisco Avarado; and Avantgarde Translations, Inc. President, Memuna Williams.

As football season kicks into gear, many people’s minds are on the field. But an unlikely group gathered during lunch time at the Charlotte
City Club this past Wednesday.  Three star NFL players shared their business advice with the chamber’s young professionals group called Engage.

Former NFL players Muhsin Muhammad, Colin Branch and Steven Israel looked more the part of business exec  than jock – and for good reason. All are retired players who’ve traded in their pads and helmets to reinvent  themselves as entrepreneurs. Muhammad is managing director and co-founder of Axum Capital Partners, Branch is a financial representative with Nothwestern Mutual Financial Network and Israel owns an insurance company named Endzone Coverage.  

How have they managed to make the transition and why did they choose to stay in Charlotte after their NFL careers ended? Below is just a portion of their interesting conversation. If you like what you hear and you want to see more, click here to go to the Engage YP page on the chamber's web site and look under past events.  

Raise your hand if you know one or more skilled professionals looking for new employment, whether they're currently employed or not. I'll just go ahead and guess that not one person reading this kept his or her hand down. (OK, maybe you all kept your hands down in the literal sense. But the participatory, eager beavers in your heads raised their hands.)

Employers these days have a lot of people lined up for open positions – people who are often motivated to accept less than ideal compensation or working conditions just to get to work. What's in it for these employers to maintain their commitment to existing employees and to continue providing the benefits, strong employee communication and morale that keep employees loyal? Really, the answer is always the same regardless of economic conditions: employee retention is good for business.

A recent survey the chamber conducted in partnership with UNC Charlotte found that 61 percent of Mecklenburg residents would change jobs for better wages or benefits. If you're a business owner or manager, what if that 61 percent represented your best, most productive employees? And how much would it cost you to replace them? HR experts say the direct and indirect costs can total anywhere from 25 to 150 percent of the employees' annual salaries. Ouch.

Great employers recognize that their people are their strongest assets and take care of them accordingly. Let's recognize those great employers in Charlotte by nominating them for the Charlotte Business Journal's 2011 Best Places to Work award. The deadline is next Friday, August 19, so don't delay! Find the nomination form here.

Looking to freshen up your social media marketing skills? Then you absolutely don't want to miss out on a super cool conference coming to town on September 6 and 7 at the University Hilton. It's called Social Fresh and has a cult like following across the nation. It's an opportunity for hands on training from some of the country's top social media geeks.

Speakers include:

• Jason Keath - Social Fresh
• Chris Penn - WhatCounts
•  Peter Shankman - Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
• Brandon Uttley - Command Partners
• Chad Elkins - Engauge
• Justin Levy - Citrix, Makers of GoToMeeting
• Tom Webster -Edison Research
• Lisa Hoffmann - Duke Energy

Social Fresh is unique in that it focuses on actionable content, networking, examing case studies to better understand the concepts and even sprinkles in a bit of fun!

So what are you waiting for? Chamber members even get a 30 % discount. by entering chamber30. Click here to register.

Want to learn more? Watch our video!

Click here to view video on YouTube if you're having trouble viewing on a mobile device