Carli Amlin-Dean, Nicholas Hoover and Sharon Hultberg

This evening, the Tipp City Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated their annual formal gala at Club 55 in Troy.

Member Benefits

Outgoing Chamber Chairman, Tony Greene shared with members and guests that participation in the Chamber Group Discount programs increased by 19% in 2011 and that overall participation has increased an average of 14% over the past five years. Mr. Greene stated that the Chamber welcomed 17 New Members in 2011 and that member retention was at 84% for 2011.

Awards

The event’s highlight is definitely the awards ceremony where the City of Tipp City along with the Chamber recognize local businesses and professionals for their work in enhancing the Tipp City community.

Young Professional of the Year

This year’s Young Professional is  Carli Amlin-Dean for her work in many non-profit and charity efforts. As a realtor for 15 years, Carli has worked  hard to find hundreds of families the home of their dreams in Tipp City. In 2006-2008 she served on the Tipp City Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. In 2007 Carli also served on the Tipp Monroe Community Service Board of Trustees, and as President from 2008-2010. In Fall 2009 she helped co-found the ClipShopShare coupon ministry, (www.ClipShopShare.com.)

Citizen of the Year

The most cherished of all Chamber accolades is the highly recognized Citizen of the Year Award. This year’s award was given to Dr. Charles “Chuck” Smith, well recognized for his work in the community, excellence in education, and carrying out his life long dream and business vision in Tipp City. Ohio Representative Dick Adams was present to deliver a moving proclamation authored and signed by himself and the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.

Small Business of the Year

Sharon Hultberg of Sharon Elaine Photography received this year’s Small Business of the Year recognition. Sharon has spent many years making people and our community look great through the artistry of her photography lens. Sharon not only gives all in her business but also reaches out to give a hand up to non-profit and charity concerns in the Tipp City area.

Business of the Year

A recent addition to the Chamber membership, Coldwater Cafe received the highest recognition the Chamber provides for business integrity and excellence. Former Chamber chairman Phil Cox described Coldwater Cafe as a key destination and anchor business in the downtown. Owner Nick Hoover was appreciative for being recognized as one of Tipp City’s finest.

Mauk Cabinets by Design will celebrate its Grand Opening on Saturday and Sunday, October 8^th and 9^th from 11 am to 4pm.  All are invited to attend.

Mauk Cabinets by Design offers complete design, installation and remodeling services.  The showroom is located in the newly renovated Kilpatrick Building located at 131 W Main Street in historical Downtown Tipp City and offers over 30 displays highlighting a variety of cabinets, countertops, built-ins and vanities.   Aaron Mauk has 15 years of industry experience and has won several national awards for his work.  Mauk Cabinets by Design can assist you in the transformation of any room in your home.

Mauk Cabinets by Design is excited to be a part of Tipp City and its outstanding community.

For additional information, stop by our showroom, visit Maukcabinets.com or call (937) 506-8655.

Photo (L-R): Susan Rambeau, Downtown Tipp City Partnership Chair; Matt Owen, President & CEO Tipp Chamber; Jon Crusey, Tipp City Manager; Mayor Dee Gillis; Aaron Mauk, Showroom Manager; Jim McVicker, Owner.

In the email Owen stated “It is with great excitement as well as sadness that I inform you that I will be leaving the Chamber/Partnership. I have accepted the position of Construction Sales Manager & Commercial Agent with Bruns General Contracting.”

Matt was hired in 2007 as the executive director of the two organizations in a partnership agreement between the Tipp City Chamber and the City of Tipp City. Recently the position came under fire from several City Council members looking to cut costs. Matt has informed the organizations that his last day will be Tuesday, October 18^th.

During his term as executive director for the Tipp City Area Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Tipp City Partnership, Matt accomplished many goals and objectives for the two organizations. I’ll be covering Matt, his hopes for the new position with Bruns, as well as the organizational change plans in more depth beginning next week.

In addition to visitors learning about what local businesses bring to the table, several local restaurants were represented, providing food to the after-work crowd. In this second iteration of this event, the Chamber organized the restaurants along with the business vendors making for a much more enjoyable and well trafficked event. While no formal numbers were collected in this event that was free to the public, the very large parking lot of the Avenue was continually packed with visitors for the duration.

3G Tactical has expanded their second floor presence in the Tower Office Products building at 135 East Main Street. The store will be celebrating their grand opening starting on April 1st at 10 a.m. lasting through the weekend with a special ribbon cutting ceremony held at 1 p.m. on Friday.

Hapinstance Designs has opened in the space formerly occupied by Down A Country Lane at 32 East Main Street. They will be having a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 1st at 2 p.m., followed by a grand opening celebration on Saturday, April 2nd. Additionally on Saturday, the Tippecanoe Historical Society will be hosting tours from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. of the 1860’s Opera House located on the 2nd floor of the same building.

We invite everyone to join us as we celebrate the expansion and opening of these new stores in downtown Tipp City.

Events, activities and other hometown items going on in and around Tipp City, Ohio

By Greg Enslen

Downtown Partnership Seeks Ideas and Input

The Downtown Tipp City Partnership, a group of business owners, government officials, and residents interested in promoting our downtown, will be holding their regular monthly meeting next Tuesday morning, December 21, at 9 am at the Tipp Monroe Community Services building.

The DTCP is looking for input and suggestions as they plan a series of events for the spring months in Tipp City.  If you have ideas or just want to get involved in a great organization that sponsors programs such as the Tippecanoe Canal Jumpers, Tippecanoe HarvestFest, and the Facade Improvement Program, please drop by.  We love guests and welcome any new faces!

Chamber of Commerce Holiday Gala

Even though the weather outside was frightful, folks were all smiles inside Club 55 last week as the Tipp City Chamber held their Holiday Gala on Wednesday, December 1. Business owners and local residents gathered to celebrate another year in the Miami Valley and to honor the accomplishments of several local businesses who had done outstanding work in the past year.

For Small Business of the Year, the winner was Tipp Cyclery, located at 122 West Main. If you haven’t had a chance to visit this great little shop, take a minute to drop by and peruse their excellent selection of bikes and bike accessories.  We’ve bought bikes from the shop for every member of the family except for Katie, and she’s only a year old. Her turn will come soon enough.  Ezio and Carol Miconi also run a great bike repair business—we’ve have many flat tires and squeaky breaks repaired there.

My friend and co-host of the Get Social Show, Mike McDermott, won the award for Young Professional of the Year for his outstanding work both in the community and with his fledgling and Tipp City business, Bash Foo.  Mike specializes in social media, websites, and search engine optimizations. In other words, he helps businesses develop new and improved websites, and helps them get involved in social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  Business of the Year went to Hickory River Grille. I can’t tell you how many great meals I’ve enjoyed there, so it’s nice to see them getting the recognition they deserve—both for their strong business and for their involvement in the community.

With that in mind, I’m going to take a moment to remind folks that we need to support our local businesses—and not just with awards, though the recognition is great.  If we want our businesses, large and small, to remain successful and stay in our town, we need to support them with our dollars every chance we can.

Christmas in the Village and Holiday Home Tour

A dusting of snow greeted visitors to Tipp City’s Christmas in the Village celebration, making the December 4 series of holiday activities even more festive for the estimated 800 guests.  I was checking out all the pictures on Facebook and was a little saddened that I missed the big event—it looked like a blast!

From what I hear, the houses on the tour, all located on First Street, were decorated beautifully, and musicians on many different instruments, including handbells, violins, guitars, dulcimers, harps, and fiddles performed at the Hotel Gallery and in some of the homes. The Hotel Gallery also displayed a collection of gingerbread houses—cute!

Downtown, shops and restaurants were decorated for the holidays and holding sales and specials. On Friday night, Mayor Dee Gillis turned on the lights on the community Christmas Tree in front of the Zion Lutheran Church downtown. Afterward, the Tipp City Community Band performed in the church.

Planning for Tippecanoe Christmas in the Village had been going on for months by a team of volunteers led by Heather Bailey, and each person handled specific details of the event, including homeowner relations, tickets, entertainment, and flair. Sam’s sister was part of the team that helped homeowners decorate—sounds like one of the best volunteer jobs ever! Money raised from this event went to support the TMCS and the DTCP’s façade improvement program, which helps rehabilitate or improve building facades in the downtown historical district.

Heather says that in future years, they’ll try to continue the pattern of grouping the houses on the tour as close together as possible, as they did this year. Sounds like making the tour more easily walkable was a huge success—kudos to everyone who worked on this project.  Great job!

“Tippi-Leaks”

Should I change the name of this column to “Tippi-Leaks?”  With all the hubbub surrounding the latest Wiki-leaks release of classified information related to the U.S. State Department and embassies, it seems that gossip columns are finally here to stay.  I wonder—is anyone out there in Tipp sitting on some explosive secrets that would blow this town wide open?  There are some serious questions that I’d like to know the answers to, such as:

• After the flood of 1913, why didn’t they rebuild the half of Tipp City east of the canal that was destroyed? Was there some kind of conspiracy?
• What happened to the mailboxes downtown at Third and Main, where used to drop off outgoing mail?
• How much longer before the town can finally get back to being called “Tippecanoe?”
• What color is the very top of the Tipp City water tower?
• What is that thing that lives in the sewer under the United Methodist Church? An opossum?
• What do they put in the French Toast at Tipp of the Town to make it so tasty? Is the substance addictive?
• What happened to the sandpit and the silver slide at the City Park? Were they taken by aliens? Were they looking to seize our advanced sand-crane technology?
• Why is the Roundhouse at City Park called “round,” when it’s actually hexagonal? Was the term “Hexhouse” too creepy?
• I heard they serve mead with every meal at SpringMeade. Could that be true?

I’m hoping some investigative reporter out there can uncover some of these Tipp City mysteries and send along the information to me.  Your identity will be protected . . .

Hear something interesting for “Tipp Talk”? Visit my website at www.gregenslen.com and use the “Contact Me” page to let me know what you’re thinking.  And don’t worry – I won’t quote you unless you want me to!

Representative Adams comes to the Ohio House as a current member of the Unity National Bank Board of Directors. He previously served two terms as Miami County Commissioner. Representative Adams has a long history as an educator, having served as a high school agriculture instructor for Northwestern High School, vice president of Clark State Community College and founding superintendent of the Upper Valley Joint Vocational School District.

An active participant in community activities and organizations, Representative Adams has served on numerous professional, community and church boards. Most notably, he served as chairman of the National Association of Community College Trustees Board and as president of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges Board. He has been a trustee for Edison Community College for 18 years, acting as chairman for three years. He currently serves as the chairman of the Miami County Republican Party Central Committee.

For his notable work in the community and as an educator, Representative Adams has received many awards including the Ohio Outstanding Administrator Award from the Ohio Vocational Association, and the Citizenship Award for Distinguished Service to Humanity from The Ohio State Alumni Association. He was named Distinguished Alumni by The Ohio State University College of Agriculture and named Distinguished Citizen of Troy by the Troy Area Chamber of Commerce.

Registration: You Must RSVP in Advance!

Cost: $10 Members; $15 Nonmembers (Payable at the door)
RSVP to mowen@tippcitychamber.com or 937-667-8300 *Registration deadline: 10/27/10
*Refunds will only be given for cancellations received in writing 48 hours prior to the event.

Tipp City Area Chamber of Commerce
12 S. Third Street ~ Tipp City, OH 45371
p: 937.667.8300 ~ f: 937.667.8862
www.tippcitychamber.org

Thursday, August 5, 2010

5:00pm—7:00pm

ANYTIME FITNESS

978 W. Main Street
Tipp City, OH 45371

We encourage you to join us for a Ribbon Cutting/Business After Hours at the NEW Anytime Fitness location in Tipp City. This is a great opportunity to see all that Anytime Fitness has to offer. Anytime Fitness is a 24 hour fitness gym that offers all the latest cardio and strength equipment, personal training and much more. Subway of Tipp City will be providing sandwiches and drinks.

There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony as well as food and beverages available. The Chamber Business After Hours is a great way to network and meet local business people in our area. You may meet you next client or vendor so bring lots of business cards! The event is open to the entire community so anyone is welcome to attend so bring a co-worker or a family members and join us from 5-7pm on August 5^th.

SPECIAL OFFER THIS NIGHT ONLY!

Anytime Fitness of Tipp City will be offering anyone in attendance a 12 month membership at 40% OFF ($23.99 per month)

This offer will be available this night only so come out and join us at Anytime Fitness of Tipp City on August 5^th!

Did you know?

Did you know that the Tipp City Chamber of Commerce and Anytime Fitness partner to offer special business group rates for employees? That’s right, save money and get in shape! Find out more by contacting Anytime Fitness at 937-667-7239

The entire community is welcome and encouraged to attend this event….. see you on August 5^th!

Food and Beverages Provided by:

Subway of Tipp City

Friday, June 25th, 2010 at 12 noon.
The Crystal (“Concord”) Room
845 W. Market St.
Troy, OH

Guest Speakers will be State Senator Fred Strahorn and State Representative Richard Adams. They plan to talk about the 2010 legislative issues that impact the region.

RSVP: To the Troy Area Chamber of Commerce
937-339-8769 to make your reservation.
Cost: $15.00 payable at the door.

Reservations not canceled by noon, June 24th 2010 will be billed to your account.

Date: Thursday, July 15, 2010

Place: Homestead G.C.
5327 Worley Road
Tipp City, OH

Time/Schedule:
11:00AM                       Registration
Noon                       Shotgun start
Box lunch provided on course
Dinner and Prizes to follow round of golf

Features – Dozens of Prizes!
• Hole-in-one competition
• Longest Drive
• Longest Chip & Putt
• Closest to the Pin
• Golfer Gift
• Door Prizes

Information:
For more information about sponsorship opportunities or to register for the event, please contact the Chamber at 937.667.8300. Space is limited.