Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber

South Sound Business recently connected with Jennifer English, Program Director of Spaceworks Tacoma, to hear her insight into getting involved in community small-business development.

Read her top three lessons and tips to those in the small-business community here:

Lessons from a Leader: Jennifer English Words of advice from Spaceworks Tacoma's program director.

☀️ Wake up with us at the next West Side Wakeup event on Friday, August 30!

📅 Friday, August 30, 2024
⏰ 8:30 - 9:30 AM
📍 Boathouse 19 (9001 S 19th St, Tacoma, WA 98466)

West Side Wakeup is a quarterly business forum for west side businesses to convene, connect, and consider business issues relevant to the west side. It's a networking opportunity specially designed for University Place businesses and their neighbors.

Registration is required: https://business.tacomachamber.org/events/details/west-side-wakeup-19055

We are happy to partner with Spindustry for our August virtual Lunch & Learn event! This free Lunch & Learn will be about AI and how businesses are using it in the workplace.

📅 Friday, August 16, 2024
⏰ 1:00 - 2:00 PM
📍 Via Zoom (Link will be provided upon registration)

Registration is required: bit.ly/TPCC-August-2024-Lunch-and-Learn.

We had our annual yesterday at Ocean5! This gives us an opportunity to reconnect as a team, hone our communication skills, and reinforce our mission and commitment to being a catalyst for prosperity for our members.

We're missing a few team members in the group photo, but they're there in spirit! Thank you to our team for their time yesterday and reminding us how much we truly love what we do. 💙

📷 Photo credit: Brady, son of one of our beloved staff members who used to work with us!

📣 Today is election day! Get out and vote!

👉 All 51 drop boxes are open until 8 p.m. tonight. Don't delay! Find a drop box near you at https://bit.ly/3SBYNQC

👉 If you plan on mailing your ballot, we recommend taking it straight to the post office to ensure it gets postmarked today. Ballots with a postmark after election day will not be counted.

👉 Voter services will be held at the Pierce County Annex (next door to the election center). You can get registered or get a replacement ballot. We will be open until 8 p.m. to help you out!

👉 VoteWA.gov has an easy-to-use online portal where you can track your ballot, read the voters' guide, print a replacement ballot, and find a drop box near you.

Questions? Give us a call at 253-798-8683. Thanks for being a Pierce County Voter!

Welcome to the 30 businesses that joined our Chamber community in July! 🎉

To see the list of new members, visit our blog:

Welcome New Chamber Members! ​ Welcome to all the new members who joined our business community in July 2024 :​

Come join us at the Washington State Fair Events Center for this month's Chamber After Hours! 🎠

📅 Thursday, August 15, 2024
⏰ 5:00 - 7:00 PM
📍 Washington State Fair and Event Center - Building TBD (110 9th Ave SW, Puyallup, WA 98371)

After Hours is a chance to promote your organization, form strategic partnerships, and interact with new businesses in . This event is free for members and $15 for non-members.

Registration is required: https://bit.ly/TPCC-August-2024-After-Hours-Registration

Congratulations to our August Ambassadors of the Month!

1. Jeff Bryant | Financial Professional, New York Life Insurance Company
2. Bob Hays | President, LegalShield
3. Jenny Tharp | Business Services Officer, Sound Credit Union

Chamber ambassadors help grow and positively promote the Chamber, as well as mentor new members. By being active ambassadors and supporting Chamber events, three top leaders get selected to be Ambassadors of the Month.

Join the amazing Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber Ambassador team and welcome new members into our business community! To learn more, visit our website: bit.ly/TPCC-Ambassadors.

Would you like your logo next to companies such as Amazon, Verizon, and Alaska Airlines? The Chamber’s signature events, including Horizons Economic Forecast, Happy Hour Business Expo, Annual Meeting, and Public Officials Holiday Reception, are the most well-attended business events in the South Sound!

➡️ Make connections with top business leaders and likeminded individuals, working , and align your brand with the most vested companies in our region.

💙 Signature event sponsorship dollars go towards providing important programming and critical content to keep our member businesses in the forefront of knowledge. Your sponsorship supports our mission of making the South Sound the most equitable, inclusive, and thriving place to do business in Washington State!

For more info and to secure your sponsorship, visit our blog: bit.ly/TPCC-Signature-Event-Sponsorship-Blog

Thank you to Court House Square for hosting July's in-person South Sound Business Roundtable! This forum is a chance for ascending businesses to gather and discuss issues, share solutions, and develop new ideas to help each other succeed. ✏️💡

Next month's in-person roundtable will be at Acts Pharmacy and Healthcare Services! Register now on our website ➡️ bit.ly/TPCC-August-2024-SSBR.

📷 Photo credit: Robert Towner, Excelerate Sales

Tacoma Propeller Club was the gracious Chamber After Hours host this month! The event was held at the Fabulich Center, where attendees could enjoy the building’s shaded garden space and open first floor plan, which made for a comfortable atmosphere to network in the mid-summer heat.

Tacoma Propeller Club has been supporting the community and Port industries of Tacoma since 1936. The organization is passionate about their mission to promote and support the Puget Sound maritime industry through adult and youth education.

Thank you to all who attended July’s After Hours, as well as a special ‘thank you’ to Tacoma Propeller Club for being a fantastic host! Learn more about Tacoma Propeller Club and their work by visiting their website. We look forward to seeing you at our August After Hours event at Washington State Fair!

Register here ➡️: bit.ly/TPCC-August-2024-After-Hours.

Our Chamber ambassador highlight for July is the amazing Jessica Johnston!

Johnston’s great grandparents were the owners of the first TV and Appliance store in West Seattle, influencing her family to advocate for small businesses and inspire others for the community. This has prompted her passion for being an ambassador because of the support and involvement for local businesses in Tacoma-Pierce County.

Outside of Ambassador life, Jessica is the Director of Court House Square and the KSP building on Hilltop. She also volunteers as the Chair of the City Events and Recognition Committee (CERC) for the City of Tacoma.

Additionally, Jessica continues to be heavily involved with the City of Tacoma by working with Tacoma’s Venue and Events. It is abundantly clear how dedicated Jessica is to her community and its people!

💙 We are so grateful to have Jessica as part of our ambassador team and look forward to continuing working alongside her!

Alicia Ortiz, owner of 'Hey, Beautiful LLC' celebrated the grand opening of her makeup and beauty shop in the Point Ruston Market on July 12th. In this shop, you will find a range of beauty and skincare products with brands such as Anastasia Beverly Hills, The Creme Shop, Haus of Glam, Beauty Creations, and much more. 💄

Point Ruston Market makes the perfect host venue for Hey, Beautiful LLC since hundreds of people come to the market every day. Stepping into Alicia’s portion of the market transforms you into a pink wonderland filled with glam decor, florals, and even a vanity for you to look in the mirror. Inventory is fully stocked with each product for varieties to fit every style and skin tone.

Alicia is so excited about this new journey and the Chamber wants to thank her for inviting us to celebrate with her. The next time you want a good facemask or aren’t sure what to get someone as a gift, check out Hey, Beautiful LLC and you’ll quickly find what you need!

Are you following us on our other social media pages? We're on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter! We post unique content to each platform, so be sure to follow us to stay up to date on all happenings at the Chamber!

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Around the clock child care center has grown yet again – with facilities already in Fife and Tacoma, they opened their new building in Lakewood on Monday, July 8! 🧸

We always appreciate Erika Snell, founder of ATC, for always including us in their grand opening celebrations, and this is no different. This new care center is brightly colored, full of various toys, games, curricular activities, and has multiple large rooms for children of each age group.

Pierce County Councilmember, Jani Hitchen, shared a few words during the ribbon cutting ceremony and touched on how important it is to have customized childcare in this day-and-age where many parents aren’t working the typical 9-to-5 job. ATC will be, exactly as the name implies, a 24/7 care facility. Their program values cultural and social differences, takes a Montessori approach, and goes beyond the four learning styles: visual, auditory, reading/writing preference, and kinesthetic. The teachers and caregivers are highly experienced and are passionate about child development. They also offer scholarships for families in need.

Erika mentioned there will be a future ribbon cutting ceremony for another location, so be sure to follow ATC’s journey!

Congratulations to our July Ambassadors of the Month!

1. Jenny Tharp | Business Services Officer, Sound Credit Union
2. Bob Hays | President, LegalShield
3. Jessica Johnston | Director, Court House Square Tacoma and KSP Building

Chamber ambassadors help grow and positively promote the Chamber, as well as mentor new members. By being active ambassadors and supporting Chamber events, three top leaders get selected to be Ambassadors of the Month.

Join the amazing Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber Ambassador team and welcome new members into our business community! To learn more, visit our website: bit.ly/TPCC-Ambassadors.

We are blown away by the turnout at this year's Happy Hour Business Expo! 💙 We expected over 400 attendees to come out and we were happily surprised to have 500+ people attend!

The Happy Hour Business Expo is arguably the most favorite for Chamber members (and staff) amongst our signature events. This year’s event helped kick-off summer with sunshine throughout the day, which perfectly highlighted the venue’s location at the Waterfront Venue at Narrows Marina ☀️

There was no shortage of entertainment for the night as guests took selfies in front of the giant ‘HHBE’ neon letters, savored food and desserts from beloved South Sound businesses, and enjoyed the event’s signature cocktails – the Chamber margarita and huckleberry lemondrop.

👏 Thank you to our sponsors, vendors, attendees, and staff who helped make this year’s expo a memorable night. We can't wait to see what surprises await in next year’s Happy Hour Business Expo!

We recently celebrated the opening of The Lakewood Bookstore where the owner, Shannon Grover happily comes in to share her passion of reading. 📖

There are two floors: the main floor carries the books, and the second floor is a fun hangout spot for people to read, play games, build puzzles, or just chat. They also have stationery, stuffed animals, book accessories, puzzles, and more.

On the day of the ribbon cutting, the store was full of eager guests all in awe of the inventory, the design of the store, and the overall atmosphere. We were honored to be part of this exciting business milestone and look forward to a ‘happily ever after’ for The Lakewood Bookstore!

Address: 11017 Bridgeport Way Southwest, Lakewood, WA 98499!

Welcome to the 43 businesses that joined our Chamber community in June! 🎉

To see the list of new members, visit our blog:

Welcome New Chamber Members - June 2024 | Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber Welcome to all the new members who joined our business community in June 2024!

Complete Driving Experience LLC., also known as CDX, is the perfect place for student drivers to learn the rules of the road in a safe and welcoming environment. At CDX, both teens and adults are welcome to join the program. They offer several services including defensive driving lessons, Washington State approved driver license exams, teen and adult driving courses, and even a driving simulator! 🚗

Our Chamber joined Mrs. Dubois, the owner of Complete Driving Experience, as she cut the ribbon to commemorate their three-year anniversary.

CDX is a family, woman, and black-owned business that is ready to help tailor driving lessons to each student respectively, giving them the skills, knowledge, and confidence to drive safely and legally on the road!

➡️To learn more about Complete Driving Experience and what they have to offer, follow them on social media or visit their website.

We are excited to welcome Sidney Amano to the Chamber team this summer! He is working closely with our marketing, communications, and events team as the Chamber's Strategic Engagement Intern.

It's already been an eventful summer for Sidney! Not only did he help with one of the largest Chamber events on his second day, but he recently graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma! 🎓 He graduated in June with BA in Communications, and minor in Innovation & Design.

Outside of Chamber life, Sidney loves to go hiking, running, and exploring in the beautiful Pacific Northwest (when it’s not raining). You may also find him at a movie theater, scrapbooking his travels, or at one of the amazing coffee shops here in Tacoma.

For this internship, Sidney is most excited about "bringing vibrant ideas to life to engage with diverse audiences to drive growth." He's already been an amazing asset to our team, and we can't wait to see him grow and make an impact! 💙

Join us this month for Chamber After Hours on Thursday, July 18, at the Tacoma Propeller Club!

📅 Thursday, July 18, 2024
⏰ 5:00 - 7:00 PM
📍 Tacoma Propeller Club (3600 Port of Tacoma Rd, Ste 100, Tacoma, WA 98424)

After Hours is a chance to promote your organization, form strategic partnerships, and interact with new businesses in . This event is free for members and $15 for non-members.

Registration is required: bit.ly/TPCC-July-2024-After-Hours

HopeSparks been on the same journey for 125+ years to help families in Pierce County grow, transform, experience new beginnings, and most importantly, give them hope. The butterfly can be seen in the logo for HopeSparks and scattered all around the Children’s Developmental Services building located off Union Ave in Tacoma. 🦋

The Chamber was invited to celebrate the grand opening of the outdoor playground for said building. Being completely designed by the team at HopeSparks, the playground is the perfect space for kids to run around.

The Chamber extends its thanks to HopeSparks for allowing us to be involved in their big day and wishes them well and good weather for playtime of course! To learn more about HopeSparks and how to get involved, visit their website.

The Chamber office will be closed on Thursday, July 4 in observance of Independence Day. Regular office hours will resume on Friday, June 5.

Everyone say 'hi'👋 to our amazing summer interns! ☀️

You might recognize them from recent Spaceworks Tacoma and Chamber events (hint, hint: and )! León, Noelle, and Sidney were a BIG help at recent events, and continue to make a positive impact on our team. We are very grateful they are helping us this summer at the Chamber and Spaceworks.

We'll be sharing more about the Chamber's Strategic Engagement Intern, Sidney Amano, soon enough, so keep an eye out for his official introduction!

In the meantime, be sure to welcome all three interns the next time you see them at upcoming summer events! 💙

What better way to spend an evening than watching the sun set over Chambers Bay while networking with those in your community and eating delicious food? 🌅 Attendees did just that at our Partner UP & Chamber After Hours event a few weeks ago!

Partner UP, a play on the acronym U-P for University Place, is a networking event held twice a year put on by the City of University Place, Washington - Municipal Government. The Chamber is proud to have the City of UP as a partner and was eager to jump on board to dual-host their Spring event.

Thank you to our speakers, attendees, and host for making this a successful event and memorable night! We look forward to seeing you at our July After Hours event at Tacoma Propeller Club. Registration required: bit.ly/TPCC-July-2024-After-Hours.

Chamber membership has its perks! Increase your brand awareness and take advantage of these ‘members only’ low-cost advertising options with us:

➡️ Social Media Story Ads
➡️ Event Sponsorships
➡️ Website Ads
➡️ E-Newsletter Ads
➡️ Podcast Commercial Spots

For details and pricing, visit our blog: bit.ly/TPCC-Members-Only-Advertising-Options-Blog.

Take Advantage of ‘Members Only’ Low-Cost Advertising Options | Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber Chamber Membership has its perks! ​Check out these low-cost advertising options to get your brand noticed.

Our Chamber ambassador highlight for this month is Jenny Tharp, an amazing lady and ambassador. She is never seen without a smile on her face, and you can always count on her to brighten your day! 🌞

Jenny has been a Chamber ambassador for over a year and was voted as Chair of the ambassador team by her fellow ambassadors only a few months into her ambassadorship! This is a testament to how strong of a leader Jenny is. Since her term expired, she now holds the Vice-Chair role for the team.

Outside of ambassador life, Tharp is a Business Services Officer with Sound Credit Union a loyal Chamber member since 1982. Jenny somehow manages to cover Auburn, Bonney Lake, Downtown Tacoma, Federal Way, Gig Harbor, Graham, Kent, Key Center, Lakewood, Parkland, Puyallup, Olympia, Pac Ave, and Westgate! Just to name a few...

If you don’t catch her in one of these many cities, you can catch her chilling by her pool watching her little grandbabies running around or serving burgers and ‘dogs on the grill surrounded by her loving family.

💙 Thank you, Jenny, for being one of our hardworking and welcoming Chamber ambassadors! Your positive impact is making a difference and we're grateful to have you part of the ambassador team.

☀️ Wake up with us at the next West Side Wakeup event on Friday, June 28!

📅 Friday, June 28, 2024
⏰ 8:30 - 9:30 AM
📍 Boathouse 19 (9001 S 19th St, Tacoma, WA 98466)

West Side Wakeup is a quarterly business forum for west side businesses to convene, connect, and consider business issues relevant to the west side. It's a networking opportunity specially designed for University Place businesses and their neighbors.

Registration is required: bit.ly/TPCC-June-2024-West-Side-Wakeup.

The Chamber office will be closed on Wednesday, June 19 in observance of Juneteenth National Independence Day. Regular office hours will resume on Thursday, June 20.