7/29/2019 North Augusta Chamber Connection October 2013

1/2

406 West Avenue

PO Box 6246

North Augusta, S.C. 29861

VOICE: 803.279.2323

FAX: 803.279.0003

E-MAIL/WEBSITE:

northaugustachamber.org

Terra Carroll, President

Terra@northaugustachamber.org

Jessica Hanson,Director of Member Services

Jessica@northaugustachamber.org

Our

MissiOnThe Greater North

Augusta Chamber

of Commerce

advocates for the

business community

and providesopportunities for

business engagements

and growth.

BOard Of

directOrsEXECuTIVECOMMITTEE

Jon Dawkins

Chair

Chick-fil-A North Augusta

Michelle Jones

Chair-ElectGeorgialina Physical

Therapy

Brett Trner

Treasurer

Rhodes-Murphy

Michelle Bennett

Past Chair

SME CPAs

Rechelle Dallas

At-Large

The Star

DIRECTORS

Patricia Allen

Savannah River

Remediation, LLC

Pal Brewer

Past Chair

WFXG-TV

Shelley Craft

Mens Refinery BarberSpa

James Dollar

Savannah River

Nuclear Solutions

Ssan Everitt

Georgia Regents University

Don Goggans

Austin Industrial

Bill Hixon

Hixon Realty & Ins. Co.

Ken Kehr

The Growth Coach

Bernard Kitchens

Bridgestone Firestone

Kevin Toole

Southern Bank & Trust

EX-OFFICIOMEMBERS

Todd Glover

City of North Augusta

Ray Fleming

Aiken Co. School Board

Will Williams

Economic Development

Partnership

cOntact

infOrMatiOn

Chamber

Connec

tionbusiness opportunity community heritage

Produced by the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce OctOber 2013

David towls namd Small

businss Pson of h YaBy Jessica Hanson

Director of Member Services

The North Augusta Chamberof Commerce is pleased to an-nounce David Towles, founderand owner of Edge Salon & Spaand Edge Formals, is the 2013Small Business Person of theYear.

Towles opened Edge Salon &Spa in Hammonds Ferry in July2008. He was the rst business toopen doors in the development.He expanded his small busi-ness reach in December 2011 byopening Edge Formals, also inHammonds Ferry. Towles is a

native of Charleston, SC, but has

been a part of the CSRA since1988. He has lived in North Au-gusta with his wife Valerie andchildren Nathan (22) and Eliza-beth (20) for the past ve years.

He is a connoisseur of nearts, antiques, music and historywhich he has cultivated into hisbusiness of beauty and fashion.Since establishing Edge the rev-enues have grown 400%. EdgeSalon & Spa regularly drawsclients to North Augusta from a50-mile radius, and Edge For-mals from up to 100 miles away.Pageant consulting was a majorinspiration that lead him to openhis businesses. Pageants help

young women to ne tune their

inner and outer selves and bringout the best they can be, saysTowles.

Towles appeared as the hairand makeup stylist on TLCs MyBig Fat American Gypsy Wed-ding, putting North Augusta inthe national TV spotlight. Hedonates his time providing hairand makeup consulting to count-less events and is a three yearparticipant and sponsor for theLeukemia and Lymphoma Soci-etys Bald For a Cause, as well asthe Blackout Cancer event.

Towles was nominated by 2011recipient, Rachel Franklin, ownerof SNO-CAP Diner and Carolina

Oaks Bed and Breakfast.

THE NORTH AUGUSTA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SAYS

A.B. Beverage Aiken-Barnwell

About Thyme Caf

Advanced Services

Aiken Ophthalmology of NA

Aiken Pest Control

AT&T

Augusta Coca-Cola

Augusta Magazine

Augusta Regional Airport

Bull Chicks

Center for Primary Care

Chick-fil-A North Augusta

Christ Community Health Svcs

Comcast Spotlight

Comfort Keepers

Daybreak Adult CareEdward Jones Investments

--Briton Williams

Edward Jones Investments

--Chuck Smith

Family Y of North Augusta

First Citizens Bank

Georgialina Physical Therapy

Home 2 Suites by Hilton

Intellisystems

Jani-King of Augusta

Lee Remodeling &

Construction

LifeVantage

Magic Wraps by It Works!

Marco's Pizza

North Augusta Parks &

Recreation

NewFire Media

North Augusta Rotary Club

North Augusta Today

Parks Pharmacy

Philly Kool Italian Ice

Posey Funeral Directors

Premier Martial Arts

Prudential Beazley Real Estate

ResCare HomeCare

SCORE

Shepeard Community BloodCenter

SME CPAs

SNO-CAP Diner

Southern Wesleyan University

Spherion

The RECing Crew

TonerCharge Corporation

Transworld Business Advisors

UniHealth Post Acute Care

Vial of Life

Vic Hawk Law Group

Wine World

Rechelle Dallas..The Star/Aiken StandardBrett Turner..Rhodes-Murphy

Rod Barrie..Comfort Keepers

Wendy Sparks..Hospice Care Tri County

Ken Kehr..WYNID Management Resources

Alphia Dunbar..Aiken Center

Miriam Rhoades..Georgia Bank & Trust

Rick Berry..WEZO Talk Radio 1230 AM

Pat Altman..SRP Federal Credit Union

Elizabeth (daughter), Valerie (wife), David Towles, and Rachel Franklin

Comcast Business

Intellisystems

Lee Remodeling

Philly Cool

Posey Funeral Directors

UPAC NA

7/29/2019 North Augusta Chamber Connection October 2013

2/2

CYAN-AOOO MAGENTA-OAOO YELLOW-OOAO BLACK 012908

Renewn MemersAntonios Italian Eatery

Brantley Chiropractic, P.C.

Dr. Randy Cooper

Edward Jones Chuck Smith

Home @ Suites by Hilton

NA Urgent Care - Jefrey N. Broder, MD, PC

SC Vocational Rehabilitation Department

Smith Eye Care

SNO-CAP Diner

Walgreens

New MemersConvergent Non-Prot Solutions

Forrest McKie & Company Realtors

Homestead Hospice

Huf Law Firm, PC

Jury Pest Control & Termite, LLC

Pipeline Work Clothes, Inc.

Saeguard Best Data Products

Upscale Residential Care

Artist of the Month:October 2013

Upcoming

EVENTSSeptember 30

Chamber 101, 4p 5:30pSouthern Wesleyan University

October 10Women in Business Luncheon

& Fashion Show, 11a -1pWhat Not o Wear: Chamber Edition

American Legion Post 71

October 21Ribbon Cutting

Marcos Pizza Grand Opening& Block Party, 5:30p

401 W. Martintown Road

October 21AM Connection, 7:15a

axes: Planning Opportunities or 2013North Augusta Community Center

Te best small businesses knowhow to keep the best employeesask score

Good help may be easier to

nd than the old saying sug-gests, but it is certainly hardto keep. Even in areas wherethe economy is relatively slow,good employees usually haveno difculty nding a job thatsuits them better.

And its not always a mat-ter of money. Everyone ap-preciates a bigger paycheck,of course, but quality of lifeissues are increasingly takingprecedence in todays time-crunched world. Employeeswant careers that complementtheir lifestyles, rather than dic-tate them. And if they are thatgood, as noted earlier, chancesare that a perfect job, or atleast one close enough to it,

will nd them.What can you do to keepthose special employees onyour staff instead of someone

elses? Here are some ideas:

Talk to themand

listen.A solid employer-employeerelationship begins with com-munication. Schedule regularmeetings to discuss whatsgoing on with the company,what customers are talkingabout, and other timely issues.If youre considering investingin new equipment or offeringnew products or services, askemployees what they think ofthe idea. They may have per-spectives or suggestions youhadnt thought of.

Equalize expectations.Similarly, make sure each

employee knows whats ex-pected of him/her, and how

performance is to be evaluatedand rewarded. Annual re-views are the norm, but morefrequent meetings may help

identify areas for improve-ment or opportunities to adjustduties and expectations, par-

ticularly if your business is inthe midst of change. That alsoincludes providing a clear pathfor advancement within yourcompany as it grows.

Be fexible.Look at your operations

and see if it might be possibleto make employees hoursmore exible, perhaps work-ing longer hours in exchangefor an extra full day off, orallowing them to work fromhome on some days. Also giveemployees the choice of usingvacation time little by littlethroughout the year, ratherthan a single one-time block.Of course, individual requests

will have to be coordinatedwith other workers to makesure all functions are covered.

Help them learn.Good employees always

want to learn new skills. Con-

sider offering a tuition reim-bursement or cost-sharing onjob-related training and pro-fessional development courses.Yes, theres a risk that the em-ployee will take that newfoundknowledge elsewhere, but yourencouragement and supportimproves the odds that theyllstay put.

Youll nd a wealth of smallbusiness-related information,resources, and training, plusfree, condential counseling atSCORE.

Call your local Score ofcesat the Greater North AugustaChamber of Commerce 279-2323 or the Greater Aiken

Chamber of Commerce at641-1111

RibboN CuTTiNg

Kenneth Shuler School of Cosmetology, 1113 Knox Avenue

RibboN CuTTiNg

Verizon Wireless, 1207 Knox Avenue

Angie Giller

Angie Gillers obsessionwith mosaics began inno-cently enough during a tour ofRome long ago. We saw allthe usual sights, but what keptattracting my eye were thebreathtaking micromosaics inthe museums - stunning pic-tures made from thousands oftiny pieces of glass, each pieceso small you could barely seeit. I just couldnt get them outof my mind!

Years later, they are still onher mind, so much so that shehas mastered those ancientItalian arts to create her ownmicromosaics. Through a se-ries of workshops and courses,she learned the old methods of

melting rods of colored glassto make the small lati piecesrequired for micromosaics,and mastered the technique ofhammer and hardi used to cre-ate small shards of glass andmarble by hand. You cantsimply buy these materials ata store, says Angie. You haveto make them yourself fromscratch. She then meticulous-ly assembles the many tinypieces using Italian methodsthat are hundreds of years oldto create her own spectacularmicromosaic images.

Angie chooses her artisticthemes carefully. I love livingin the Southeast, so my workis inspired by my surround-

ings. Her micromosaic piecesinclude images of magnolia

owers, historic buildings inAugusta, and even of a golferin mid-shot! She also producesother types of mosaics. Be-cause her daughter is a balletdancer, Angie has created aseries of ballet-themed mosa-ics mounted on decorativewood boxes, each showinga ballet scene with completeaccuracy (she even made theboxes herself on her homelathe). And for a friend whois a physician, she created alife-sized mosaic of a humanbrain, complete with arteries.

Angie has been a member ofthe Society of American Mo-saic Artists since 2006, andhas completed mosaic courses

through the Dallas CreativeArts Center and the KittrellRifkind Gallery in Dallas. Shehas participated in workshopsgiven by Sonia King, EmmaBiggs, Martin Cheek, andMatteo Randi, as well as bythe Orsoni school of mosaics.She is also a member of theSavannah Woodturners Asso-ciation. Her work was shownin the Swing Into Spring ex-hibit at the Arts and HeritageCenter of North Augusta in2013, and she won the NewArtist Award at the AikenArtist Guild exhibit in 2013.

The excitement I felt inRome when I saw my rst mi-cromosaic has never left, says

Angie. I cant wait to beginthe next!

AS05-896578

North Augusta Chamber o Commerce Page 2 | OCOBER 2013