CHAMBER NEWS & EVENTS

The January Member of the Month is Peace of Mind, a counseling center. Founder, Molly Van Duser opened her Lillington Business in 2008 to offer research based counseling services for adults and children with a speciality in trauma treatment.

Ms. VanDuser, who has 20 years of counseling experience, established the practice when her own son was facing his first deployment to Afghanistan and she recognized the need to offer counseling services in the area. Her practice includes team members Terry Wheeler, William Powell and Robin Woods. They offer many services such as individual psychotherapy, couples, marriage and family therapy, group counseling, clinical supervision, consultation, critical incident stress debriefing (CISD), trauma treatment, and services to assist with military personnel and family issues.

Peace of Mind is located at 817 W. Front Street in Lillington. For more information, call 910-814-2197 or visit their website at http://www.peace-of-mind-inc.com

The  Annual Lillington Chamber of Commerce Banquet will be held on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at the Harnett County Government Complex Commons in Lillington.  We hope you will join us to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year with a meal, entertainment and the annual award presentations. 

The doors will open at 6:00 p.m. for a social time followed by a buffet dinner served at 6:30 p.m., then entertainment and the presentation of awards for the 2011 Businesses of the Year, Man of the Year, Woman of the Year, and the Bill and Mildred Johnson Beautification Award.  Tickets cost $25 for members and $30 for non-members.  To reserve tickets or to request a nomination form for one of the awards, contact the Chamber Office at 910-893-3751. 

Nominations are due January 20, 2012. Previous recipients of the awards are listed on the attachment. 

The Lillington Young Professionals (LYP) group was established to foster professional and personal growth in the next generation of our community's business leaders.  LYP will be hosting social and educational events to provide opportunities for working young adults to build relationships with other young professionals in our community.  Their goal is to promote Lillington as a great place for young adults to live, work and play.  If you are interested in participating, visit the Lillington Young Professionals Facebook page and indicate your interest or e-mail contact info to LillingtonYP@gmail.com  For more information, contact LYP President Katie Smith at 919-971-3221 or contact Katie at the email address above. To join, complete the application UserFiles/File/LYP_application.pdf and submit with payment to the Lillington Chamber of Commerce.  

Lillington has been selected to participate in the NC Small Town Main Street Program offered by the NC Department of Commerce. Over a two year period, the program will provide technical assistance to assist with the development of a marketing business plan for our town that includes revitalization efforts, business recruitment, identifying grant resources and more. Monthly meetings with the Commerce Department staff have begun and are open to the public. Citizens, proprerty owners, business owners, school and agency staff, and anyone interested in Lillington are invitied to attend.   Meetings are the first Thursday night of each month at 6:00 p.m. at the Lillington Community Center.  You can participate now by completing the Consumer Survey to tell us what you would like to see in downtown Lillington.  UserFiles/File/CONSUMER_SURVEYMain_Street2011.pdf

Like many small towns, we have beautiful old buildings that lend character and charm to the town that are in need of a face-lift and tenants in order to become income producing. A recent initiative to improve the downtown area will soon be underway. The Lillington Town Council budgeted $10,000 for Fiscal Year 2011-2012 for a Façade Grant Program for local businesses that will provide matching funds up to a certain amount for façade improvements that include painting, signage, awnings, lighting, etc. 

In addition, new business and residential growth is expected in Lillington with the addition of the new 50 bed hospital built by the Harnett Health Foundation that is currently being constructed and is scheduled to open in late 2012. The hospital is expected to employ at least 100 new staff in the first year that it is open. Another upcoming addition to the local economy is the new Osteopathic Medical School at nearby Campbell University. The school is tentatively expected to open in August 2013 and is expected to add nearly $300 million to the local economy and create 1,158 jobs.

If you are not familiar with Lillington, now is the time to visit us. We welcome new businesses, residents and visitors to be a part of this exciting period of growth and revitalization for our town. If you need information about the opportunities that await in our town, contact the Lillington Chamber of Commerce.

Join the area Chambers of Commerce in supporting the Shop Local Campaign.  By doing so you support local businesses, help to maintain jobs in the county, save gas, time, money and bring much needed sales tax dollars to our county. To help you with your holiday shopping and entertaining, the Lillington Chamber of Commerce has coupon books for sale for $10 that feature 50 coupons from 30 Lillington Chamber members for discounts on food, retail items, make-up, clothing, services, theater tickets, golfing fees, home improvements and more. To purchase one or several (they make great gifts) contact the Chamber office at 893-3751. We will deliver the books to you.  To review a list of members offering coupons, see this list:  UserFiles/File/2011_Lillington_Chamber_of_Commerce_Coupon_Book.pdf