Calendar of Events

Giving feedback on job performance isn’t easy, especially when it requires sharing information an employee may not want to hear. When managers don’t say what they think, both sides are left with a missed opportunity to improve group performance.

Alternatively, when feedback becomes too harsh or personal, employees can feel discouraged, and may even seek employment elsewhere because they interpret the aggressive tone as a lack of care for their professional development.

At our Smart Series on Wednesday, December 7, our speaker Beverly Jurenko will explore how to find the right balance. By using compassion and honesty together, managers can foster substantive conversations about work performance that are more likely to inspire trust and motivation to improve.

Beverly Jurenko, MBA and Founder of Inside Edge Consulting LLC, provides executive, leadership, and career coaching services. Beverly is a graduate of the Academy for Coaching Excellence, and a member of the International Coaching Federation. She has broad international experience in the corporate, startup, and non-profit arenas with expertise in finance, energy, and diversity equity and inclusion.

Together, we are more insights.  The Metro Economy Outlook keeps you in-the-know with keynote by economist Dr. Chris Kuehl.

About our speaker:

Dr. Chris Kuehl is a Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence. He provides forecasts and strategic guidance for a wide variety of corporate clients around the world. He is the chief economist for several national and international organizations – Fabricators and Manufacturers Association, National Association of Credit Management, Finance, Credit and International Business and the Business Information Industry Association. He is also the economic analyst for several state accounting societies – Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Kansas.

Prior to starting Armada in 1999 he was a professor of economics and finance for 15 years – teaching in the US, Hungary, Russia, Estonia, Singapore and Taiwan. He holds advanced degrees in economics, Soviet studies and East Asian studies.

Chris is the author of Business Intelligence Briefs and Executive Intelligence Briefs – both publications from Armada. He is also responsible for the Credit Manager’s Index from NACM and Fabrinomics from the FMA.

Grove Park Inn parking is complimentary for this event.

For more information on this event, contact Heidi Reiber, Senior Director of Research, at [email protected] or 828-258-6120.

Hosted by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Riverbird Research and the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County. For current metro economy research, contact Research Analyst Maggie Smith at 828-257-4962 or [email protected]

Skinovation Advanced Aesthetics, owned by Tina Franklin RN and Wendi Lonabaugh MSN, FNP-C, offers the latest aesthetic treatments in the hands of highly skilled practitioners. Their mission is to reveal your unseen Inner and Outer beauty potential. They will walk with you through your treatment journey and provide a personalized comprehensive plan to meet your goals.

Guests can expect a warm welcome and can tour SkinOvation’s location. There will be finger foods, wine and champagne as well as water and a large charcuterie board. SkinOvation’s suite is located in the far back building on the 2nd floor. There are stairs and an elevator, turn to your left and they are down hall on the left, Suite 680.

Feel free to bring a gift to be raffled off as door prizes towards the end of the evening. Bring your business cards for networking and a chance to win prizes!

This event is offered as a benefit for Chamber membership. We welcome you to come and check us out! Please contact Jessica Kanupp, our Member Development Specialist, at [email protected] if you’re considering a Chamber membership.

Venture Asheville grows Asheville’s startup community and connects high-growth entrepreneurs to talent, mentors and investors through unique programming and events.  The Venture 15 and Venture Asheville Honors is our annual end-of-year party where we announce and rank the 15 fastest growing startups in the area and award Entrepreneur, Mentor, Investor, Resource of the Year, The Shining Rock Award and the Venture Asheville Vanguard Award and Best Startup to Work For.

Let the dance parties, networking and good food and drinks begin!  With Jeffrey Kaplan and a special guest as the emcee for the evening, you can expect to hear from our sponsors, winners and finalists all wrapped up in one creative program, along with a few surprises. Buy your tickets now and join us for an exciting, fast-paced evening of awards. Doors open at 6:30 pm, and the show starts at 7:00 pm.

Venture 15 Awards recognize the 15 fastest growing Asheville-area startups. This event celebrates the area’s outstanding entrepreneurs, and it serves as an elite setting where they can share their talent and wisdom as well as offer inspiration to other fledgling companies to be part of this exclusive group.

We can’t do the Venture Asheville Honors without you. We need you to make the nominations for the people and organizations that make this ecosystem run.

• What entrepreneurs are making it rain in this wild year?
• What mentors have been there for you?
• What investors provided capital when you needed it most?
• What resource helped you get through this year?
• And who is an up-and-comer we need to know? (that’s the Shining Rock Award)
• Who’s the best start-up to work for?

Applications and nominations are open until November 21st: www.ventureasheville.com/venture15

This event is open to the public. Tickets are $30 per person, $140 for a reserved cocktail table (5 tickets included) or $230 for reserved seated table (8 tickets included). Table quantities are limited so don’t wait to reserve your space!  (Ticket price includes entry to the event, one drink and light food.)

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., event kicks off at 7:00 p.m.

Take your business to the next level! A comprehensive business innovation program designed to assist for-profit, not-for-profit, and family-owned businesses to the next level of success. This program begins January 18, 2023, and meets 8:30 am – 1 pm every other Wednesday for five months. Mission Acceleration Business Accelerator is designed by entrepreneurs to help for-profit, family owned, and nonprofit businesses innovate and increase profitability. If you approach the business the same way as you did in the past, it will limit future profit growth. Now is the time to innovate with cutting edge best practices in business management, leadership, planning, branding, marketing, sales, accounting, purchasing, raising capital, information technology, human resources, time management, new business development, operations and distribution. The Program will help you identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in each department of your company to track, monitor and accelerate the success of your business. Peter Drucker said, “you can’t manage what you don’t measure.”