The Citizens Bank of Edmond winning team included Darin Kent, Greg Brasher, Chad Hemphill and J.B. Edwards. The second place team was Ladybugs & Lizards which included Roe Simmons, Brad Thomas, John Brill and Byron Schmidt. The third place team was the MIDCON Data Services team including Kenny Leonard, Phil Kerbo, Matt Bown and Ken Warner.

“The Edmond Chamber Golf Tournament was a smashing success,” said Ken Warner, 2012 Edmond Chamber Golf Chairman. “The 144 golfers enjoyed a day of great golfing, food, games, prizes and unbelievable networking opportunities. Not to mention a putting clinic from PGA Tour veteran Andy Dillard. This was all made possible by our sponsors and a terrific volunteer golf committee.”

The 2012 Annual Tournament was sold out at 144 players. Each golfer received a goody bag and a golf bag shaped cooler which was sponsored by Baggerley Funeral Home and A Bloom Above the Rest. This year, there were five (5) hole-in-one prizes which players had a chance to win. Prizes included a Jeep Patriot sponsored by John Vance Motors in Guthrie, a 1 carat diamond ring sponsored by INSURICA, a 2012 golf cart sponsored by Oklahoma Natural Gas, $10,000 cash sponsored by Graco Roofing & Construction and a 2 year lease on a 2012 Lexus IS250 from Eskridge Lexus of Oklahoma City.  No holes-in-one were recorded during the tournament. A putting contest for $10,000 cash was sponsored by Valliance Bank. There was no putting contest winner. Additional Sponsors were: Golf Cart Sponsor: Walmart – Edmond locations; Beverage Cart Sponsors: MIDCON Data Services and Kirkpatrick Bank; Driving Range Sponsor: Arvest Bank; Mulligan Sponsor: Adfitech ; Pro Player Package: Petra; Awards Reception: GT Clean and Encore Professional Medical Services; Swing String Sponsor: Mass Mutual; Bronze Sponsors: ACP Sheet Metal, Cimarron Software Services, Citizens Bank, Cobb Engineering, Drilling Services of OK, First Fidelity Bank, Fusion Integration, HSPG @ Associates, Jetta Corporation, Ladybugs & Lizards, Legacy Bank, Mega Fluids Mid-Continent, Oklahoma Sports Orthopedics Institute, RCB Bank, Reynolds Ford, Tinker Federal Credit Union and the University of Central; Longest Drive: Cimarron Software; Hole Sponsors: Paul Davis Restoration, The Meat House, Oklahoma Fidelity Bank, Dennis Chaumont Insurance, The Hays Group and Crafton Tull; Signs by: Vital Signs of Edmond, Inc.;  Goody Bags: John Vance Motors, Tinker Federal Credit Union, Paul Davis Restoration, Sweet Peace, MIDCON Data Services, 3 Geeks, JCI, First Commercial Bank, The Hays Group, Oklahoma Sports Orthopedics Institute, Crafton Tull, Michelle Schaefer Farmers Insurance, U.S. Cellular, Oklahoma Natural Gas, MidFirst Bank, GT Clean, Bank of Oklahoma, Drew’s Wine & Spirits, AT&T and Kennedy Tire & Auto Service. 

Door Prize Sponsors: Above & Beyond Cleaning Services, Advanced Aesthetics, All Around Electronic Vehicles, Alvarados, Bella Strada Salon, Brewer Carpet, Charlestons, Drew’s Wine & Spirits, Earl’s Rib Palace, Fields Jewelers, GT Clean, Lottinvilles, MIDCON Data Services, Oklahoma Fidelity Bank, Oklahoma Natural Gas, Quail Creek Golf Course, Paul Davis Restoration, Rococo, and Sweet Peace.

The Class XI sponsors are as follows: program sponsor, Edmond Electric; notebook and session sponsor, Arvest Bank and session sponsors for this year have been Francis Tuttle, MIDCON Data Services, Oklahoma Christian University, Turner & Company, and the University of Central Oklahoma.

YLE graduates are area High School Juniors who reside in the Edmond city limits and/or the Edmond Public School District and attend Edmond Public Schools, Deer Creek (Edmond residents only), private schools, or who are home schooled. All students have 3.0 GPA or higher and had to fill out a written application and go though an interview process. Each student has been selected for the class by demonstrating leadership or leadership potential in family, community, and/or school activities and their desire to develop additional leadership skills. These students also expressed an interest in furthering their knowledge of the Edmond community.

Graduating Class XI includes the following people: from Edmond North High School: Anna Baumert, Lauren Carter, Austin Dommer, Carrie Funderburk, Kylee George, Brandon Haddican, Brittany Hoose, Bailey Jordan, Biley Lissuzzo, Holden Lyons, Bradley Rose, Mary Rykard, Bilal Siddiqui and Mandy Straight.

 From Edmond Santa Fe High School: Tanner Bailey, Taylor Carter, Amber Hidalgo, Jeong Lee, Emaun Mack, Ashely Neese, Sara Riggs, Cody Spence, Natalie Wilkinson, Miranda Wolf, Clayton Young and Julia Zhu.

From Edmond Memorial High School: Lexi Banister, Baylor Bell, Abby deSteiguer, Ryan Edgar, Christopher Krenek, Koby Le, Karissa Marion, Jonathan Miller, Bryce O’Connell, Britton Stowell, Meredith Winn, Molly Woodward, Savannah Wright and Summer Wright.

From Bishop McGuinness High School: Carlee Reeser and Sarah Vaughan.

From Oklahoma Christian Schools: Patrick Douglas.

The Edmond Chamber would also like to thank the many volunteers that reviewed applications, interviewed students and shared their expertise and insights during sessions with our students:  Dr. Brian Bush, Glynis Andrews, Randy Decker, Keith Kersten, Lynn Hooper, Dr. Peggy Geib, Josh Moore, Denton Blevins, Dr. Dwight Adams, Dr. Richard Hufnagel, Terry Ingmire, Johnny Watley, Janet Yowell, Jeremy McCarter, Janet Hoppe, H. J. Reed, Patrice Douglas, Rep. Randy Grau, State Treasurer Ken Miller, Lt. Governor Todd Lamb, Sen. Clark Jolley, Sen. Greg Treat, City of Edmond Mayor Charles Lamb, Steve Murdock, Larry Stevens and all the wonderful City of Edmond employees that conducted tours and demonstrations.

Council, leadership, board members and dignitaries from all three organizations will be present. Representatives from the design firm and construction company will also be in attendance.

Directions
The MAC is located at 2733 Marilyn Williams Drive off Covell, just west of Kelly. Currently there is construction in the area and the entrance to the park is directly across from the Cheyenne Crossing neighborhood.

The graduation keynote speaker was Major General Rita Aragon. Bryan Evans with Evans & Davis Law Firm was the class speaker chosen by classmates to address the graduates at the ceremony.

Class XXVII graduates are: Matt Austin, Caliber Companies; Chris Berry, Edmond YMCA; Lisa Buck; Ashleigh Clark, City of Edmond; Ron Decker, Innovative Healthcare Systems, Inc; Anne Declouette; Sharon Dillard, OU Medical Center Edmond; Becky Duckworth, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies; Bryan Evans, Evans & Davis Law Firm; Kristen Figart, Edmond Chamber of Commerce; Glenn Fisher, Edmond Electric; Mark Foster, Acts 2 – United Methodist Church; Kathy Grandnigo, University of Central Oklahoma; Chris Gray, Crafton, Tull & Associates, Inc; Lynn Hooper, Oklahoma Christian University; Carrie Irwin, University of Central Oklahoma; Bridget Jaime, Citizens Bank of Edmond; Sherry Jordan, Edmond Chamber of Commerce; Les Love, Eskimo Joe’s Promotional; Sara Maulsby, Coppermark Bank; Casey Moore, University of Central Oklahoma; Brad Morelli, University of Central Oklahoma; Patrick Murnan, Northeastern Mutual Financial Network; Taylor Ortiz, Spirit Bank; Bob Rowley, Oklahoma Christian University; Adrianne Selvidge, Lindstorm Technology; Katrina Shaklee, University of Central Oklahoma; Rachel Morris, Stoddard Morris, PLLC; Courtney Thomas, Mercy Health Center; Josh Whittington, First United Bank; Sherri Wood, Francis Tuttle Technology Center and Leah Zachary, Francis Tuttle Technology Center.

The program’s principal goal is to build a resource of community leadership on a planned, continuing basis with four specific objectives: to identify potential community leaders; to expand the leadership potential of participants by increasing their knowledge of Edmond and the critical issues that face the community and by exposing participants to present community leaders; to improve communications between present and future leaders; and to provide a channel for those not presently in leadership roles to gain access to positions of community leadership in an informed and responsible manner.

Session sponsors were Boldt Construction, Francis Tuttle Technological Center, Krista M. Jones – DDS, PC, Oklahoma Christian University, OU Medical Center Edmond,  and the University of Central Oklahoma.

Davis Merrey, with TeamLogic IT, is scheduled to present the workshop. Attendees will receive answers to the many questions and fears business owners and employees face daily such as: frustrations with email, viruses slowing their company’s progress down, and fear of losing a company or job due to lost data.

  This workshop is hosted and coordinated by the Edmond Chamber’s Small Business Council Educational Opportunities Committee.

 The April luncheon’s Presenting sponsor is AT&T with Blue Cross Blue Shield as the Gold sponsor. The cost is $20 for members and $25 for non- members. Cost at the door is $28. Please make your reservation online at www.edmondchamber.com.

The Chamber’s Membership Luncheons are open to Chamber members and their guests. The Luncheons feature a program to provide useful information for area businesses. 

Starting a business can be a complicated process, but one metro city is trying to make that as simple as possible. In the fourth quarter of 2011, the City of Edmond implemented a new service, called the Development Review Committee to bring together all the departments that deal with starting or expanding a business around the same table.

“It is a two-fold process,” said Janet Yowell, executive director of the city’s Economic Development Authority. “We have a design review committee and business navigator, which are part of the same structure.”

The committee is a service that brings together the development authority, the City Manager’s Office and the Chamber of Commerce. When a businessperson comes to either agency, a representative will coordinate a meeting with the committee, bringing together city engineers, city planners and building inspectors, Yowell said. “I’ll hold their hand for basically anything they have questions about; we have resources for them,” she continued.

Perhaps most importantly, it facilitates communication among departments in city hall. For example, if there are infrastructure improvements such as water or sewer line construction, the committee can let the company know before building, Yowell said.

Jim Smith, Edmond’s assistant city manager of operations has seen similar kinds of committees have success, such as in Lancaster, Texas, where he previously worked. “The best time for a business to bring its project is early in the inception, before they spend lot of money, or even do design work,” Smith told The Journal Record in a telephone interview. This way is a way of doing due diligence, if there are funding opportunities available or floodplain issues present, these things come up in the committee discussion, he added.

Patrick Gilliland is the vice president of construction at Sunflower Markets, a new grocery store that has been through the process and is scheduled to open on April 1. “I’ve been all over the country…and I wish every city was like this. They were very professional and efficient,” he said. They were very proactive, and even sent him the building codes he would need for construction, Gilliland added.

Ken Moore, president of the City’s Chamber of Commerce said he and Yowell are the outside entities and work as ‘business navigators.’ While the service is optional, he would recommend it to any business. “It gets the applicant or business together with the city at the beginnings stages and is an early opportunity to start a dialogue,” Moore Said. “It makes the process more predictable and [provides] a timeline, so the applicant will know how long it will take to get through the process. This improves communications and eliminates surprises,” he said.

Story provided by: The Journal Record

The breakfast is Presented by OU Medical Center Edmond and the Gold sponsor is the University of Central Oklahoma.

The breakfast starts at 7:30 a.m. which includes a networking activity. The formal program will start at 8:00 a.m.

The Women’s Network Breakfasts take place on the fourth Thursday of every month. Members and non-members are invited to enjoy breakfast and activities that will enhance their knowledge in health and worries. There will be multiple opportunities for attendees to gain business contacts and referrals.

Reservations are required and can be made online at www.edmondchamber.com. The cost is $13 for members and $18 for non-members. The cost is $21 at the door.

The February Business After Hours event, Presented by Cox Business, will be hosted by Spirit Bank, 3823 S. Boulevard on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. All members are invited to this free event and no RSVP is required.  

GRACO Roofing & Construction is the Presenting sponsor for the Morning Mingle Series.  The February Morning Mingle will be held at River Oakes Golf Club at 10909 Clubhouse Road on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 from 8:00 – 9:30 a.m. All members are also invited at no cost and no RSVP is needed.

These casual monthly events are hosted by local businesses. The purpose of these events is to provide people with an informal social outlet to other professionals in their community.

For more information on this event and all others, please visit the Chamber’s website at www.edmondchamber.com.