PABA Hosting Networking Event Featureing Talk on Social Media

Networking Event Features Talk on Social Media
PABA rounds out successful year with special event

The Phoenixville Area Business Association (PABA) will hold a special networking event on Wednesday November 18, 2009 at 7:00 pm at Club 212 ( 212 Bridge Street ) in downtown Phoenixville. The event will feature a short talk from guest speaker Scott Hamrick of Visible Mission, Inc. Hamrick will talk to business owners about using social media to market their businesses to a wider audience. The growing popularity and of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have made these perfect avenues for finding new customers and keeping current customers advised of sales, events and new products.

Attendees will be treated to a variety of hors d’oeuvres donated by PABA member businesses, like Molly Maguire’s, Steel City Coffee House, and Prestige Chocolates, among others. A raffle will be held to win special donated gifts from area businesses like Fashionista’s Salon, Deep Muscle Therapy Group, Innovations A Hair Salon, and others, with the grand prize being a 2010 membership to PABA and a year’s worth of advertising on the organization’s website, www.DISCOVERPHOENIXVILLE.com. The talk will be followed by a period of networking for business owners. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at http://www.discoverphoenixville.com/index.php/front/calendar_details/258. PABA members attend free and can bring one non-member as a guest.

The event marks the end of a phenomenal year for the business association, which has experienced a 376% increase in membership since October 2009. The Phoenixville Area Business Association now represents ninety-eight local businesses, mostly concentrated in the historic shopping district. PABA is the oldest association in Phoenixville that supports business owners through events, networking, business-to-business communications, and advocating for the needs of local businesses. “We have a long history of supporting business owners in Phoenixville,” reports Jane Tucker, current President of PABA. Tucker reports that the ailing economic conditions have created a need for a more active association.

In 2009, the association has held a number of events to draw both residents and visitors to Phoenixville, including several progressive dinners, the Historic Inns of Phoenixville Dinner and Trolley Tour, Phoenixville Area Restaurant Week, a Bizness Shuffle, and the Historic Phoenixville Arts Stroll. In addition, the association was instrumental in garnering a feature article on Phoenixville’s renaissance in Chester County-Life Magazine. The group engineered a group marketing project called the Local List, Phoenixville’s version of the entertainment guide. The Local List features money saving offers from local businesses to encourage people to buy local. So far about 1500 of the Local List booklets have been distributed. At a cost of only $2.00 each, the booklets are being sold through PABA’s website (listed above) and at area businesses like Royal Bank America, Steel City Coffee House, Jaworski’s Music Centre, New Century Bank, and Phoenixville Federal Bank.

When asked about the future of PABA, Tucker stated, “This year was just the beginning of developing an active and motivated membership. We have a number of objectives we plan to reach in 2010 which will help us continue to forge a phenomenal future for Phoenixville.”