Boone Area Chamber of Commerce to Provide Business Before Hours on Feb. 9

By Katie Benfield 

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On Thursday, Feb. 9, from 7:30-9:00 a.m., the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a Business Before Hours. The event will be taking place at the Courtyard by Marriott on 1050 HWY, 105 South. Breakfast will be served by Tar Heel Basement Systems.

Business Before Hours parallels the same idea that comes with the After Hours programs, where members come together and network with one another, only the former is in the morning. 

“These events are truly networking events,” David Jackson, President and CEO of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, said. “We really want to provide an opportunity for people to have a truly meaningful conversation about business.”

Although the After Hours event tends to be the most popular, the Business Before Hours has had quite the success in the past with attendance ranging from 75-100 people.

“We find that typically our business community will seek out opportunities to network no matter where they fall during the day,” Jackson said.

There are several perks to having events in the morning, as well. According to Jackson, during the winter months, some of the locations where events are held can be difficult to reach at night. Along with this, since it gets darker earlier, members are more likely to want to settle at home sooner.

“Honestly, it just seems like it’s easier to get moving in the morning during this time of year,” Jackson said. “We want to offer opportunities for people to attend where they can get some business stuff done before they’re right about to go into work anyway.”

While there are events both in the morning and evening for the Chamber, Jackson said that they have ventured into the idea of doing more morning programming for other areas as well.

“We want to take advantage of people commuting and heading into work,” Jackson said. “We want to catch them on their way into work with a meaningful event that could really benefit them and other businesses.”

A majority of events in the High Country take place in the afternoon and evening time slots, so creating an event in the morning that can provide businesses with the same opportunities and conversations that they could receive during an evening event could be a positive thing that should be pursued.

“We want to emphasize that things can go on in the community in that morning time slot too,” Jackson said.

 

For more information about the event or the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, visit the website or call 828-264-2225