Women in Business

Mission Statement:

"To bring together women with different business interests to share valuable information to enrich, empower and educate women in business."

Women in Business committee planning session for 2010
WIB Chair: Kate Witherington
WIB Co-Chair: Jennie Hibler

Please join us for our Women in Business Luncheon on April 6, 2010 at Rutland Place from 11:15am-12:30pm. Our Guest Speaker will be Bernadine Nelson with the Adult Learning Center of Wilson County which specializes in GED preparation. The cost is $15 per person and RSVP is required.

Bernadine graduated from Oak Ridge High School, received a B.A. and a B.S. from David Lipscomb University, an M. S. from the University of Alabama, and post graduate work from the University of Tennessee. She has been involved in education at some level for over thirty five years teaching elementary school, middle school, and high school in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Hilo, Hawaii, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Wilson County. She is currently the supervisor of Adult Education in Wilson County. Bernadine has received various honors in the school systems where she has been employed including Teacher of the Year twice in Wilson County as well as the W.A. Wright Teacher of the Year honor.
She has served as president and vice president of several educational organizations and is currently president of TAACE (Tennessee Association for Adult and Community Education). Bernadine’s passion now is advocating for Adult Education and literacy in the state and nation. She has been to Washington, D.C. twice in the last year to speak to legislators about this issue.
Bernadine is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a music enthusiast, a reader, a learner, a runner/walker, and a world traveler. Her interests are varied and extensive.

Pictured l to r: WIB Co-chair Dana Loggins—Horizon Land Title, Morgan Shaffer—MJHS,
Taelor Barnette—MJCA, Leslie Poynter—WCHS, WIB Co-Chair Kate Witherington—
CedarStone Bank, WIB Scholarship Chair Tina Taylor—Allstate Insurance

Congratulations to the 2009 Women in Business Scholarship Winners. Recipients are chosen through an application process based on GPA, community involvement and an essay outlining an inspirational businesswoman in their life. Funds are raised solely from donations. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the 2009 Scholarship!

2010 WIB Scholarship Application and Guidelines

Tue Mar 16 @07:45AM - 09:00AM
Home-Based Business Council

Wed Mar 17 @07:45AM - 09:00AM
Educational Workshop

Wed Mar 17 @11:15AM - 12:30PM
Chamber Monthly Luncheon

And We're Off...

While those words (or something similar) are what we hear at the start of the Kentucky Derby and other horse races, it also describes the first couple of months here at the Chamber as well. If the Chamber Year was to be compared to a large oval racetrack then you would say we are about to enter turn one with three more turns (quarters) to go. And if I were the race announcer and giving the updates at each length of the track I would be very excited about our track position! I would be raising my voice and letting folks know that we are ahead of the pack and looking strong. I might even be so excited that I would say we have opened up a gap already as we head into turn one. Albeit that 2010 still has a long way to go and the race will have its bumps along the way, and we may have unexpected competition along the way; but so far so good! A lot of preparation, training, hard work, and experience goes into winning these annual races, and it is great to know that your Chamber is up to the challenge.