Peters Township Chamber events offer resources to small businesses
Courtesy of Peters Township Chamber of Commerce
Peters Township Chamber of Commerce members at last year’s small-business roundtable featuring elected officials
Courtesy of Peters Township Chamber of Commerce
Elected officials held a panel discussion at last year’s small-business roundtable hosted by the Peters Township Chamber of Commerce.
Courtesy of Peters Township Chamber of Commerce
Last year’s Magic of the Season celebration culminated a year of activities for the Peters Township Chamber of Commerce.
Entrepreneurs looking for opportunities to network and expand their businesses may find what they need at one of the many Peters Township Chamber of Commerce events planned for the rest of the year.
One such opportunity will come Sept. 28, when the chamber hosts its annual Small Business Roundtable. The roundtable is attended by state elected officials who speak with business owners about their concerns.
“The focus is going to be the labor crisis, minimum wage, inflation and energy,” said Amy Petro, interim executive director of the chamber.
This year’s roundtable will be held from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe.
Attending will be state Sen. Devlin Robinson and state Reps. Natalie Mihalek, Tim O’Neal, Jason Ortitay, Dan Miller and Anita Kulik.
“They get to hear what is going on legislatively with the work crisis, what is being done to help their bottom line at their businesses. They get to hear firsthand what our elected officials are doing to solve these small-business problems,” Petro said.
For getting to know other business owners in the region, “Speed Networking” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Rusty Gold Brewing, 43 W. Pike St., Canonsburg. The event will also include Bethel Park and Canonsburg chambers of commerce.
“We’re all about collaborating this year,” Petro said. “We’ve been joining with different forces at different events … Partnering with two chambers, we’re able to offer our members more people to network with and more people to grow their business through.”
According to Petro, this is the first time the Peters chamber has participated in a speed networking event. Those interested in attending can register through peterstownshipchamber.com. The event is also open to non-members.
The collaborations will continue for the Peters chamber in October as the group teams up with Ignite, a business incubator operated by Washington & Jefferson College, for a small business resource panel.
The panel is planned for 2 to 5 p.m. Oct. 10 at W&J, and will feature businesses that can offer resources, such as training, to local small businesses.
“HR companies, IT companies, insurance companies – all different vendors that want to support our small businesses with services they can offer,” Petro said.
On Nov. 6, a still unnamed event will feature Pittsburgh-based chef instructor Frank Tokach, who will teach a cooking class. The event will be open to the public.
Also in the planning stages is an event featuring speaker Jeff Hancher, whose topic of focus will be work culture. No location or date has been set.
The chamber will be at Peters Township Public Library from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 for an “after hours” event featuring Mondays Brewing Company.
“It’s going to be drinks, munchies and networking,” Petro said.
The final event of 2023 will be the chamber’s Magic of the Season celebration, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Dec. 5 at Bella Sera, 414 Morganza Road.
“That’s networking and holiday cheer,” Petro said, “and an acknowledgement of support for our members through the year. We usually have entertainment there as well.”
Those interested in joining the chamber can fill out an application on its website.
The organization will continue its efforts next year under new leadership, following the retirement of former executive director Brian Schill.
“We’re just continuing to do what we do, and that’s focusing on small businesses,” Petro said. “No matter who is leading, our core focus is our small businesses and providing opportunities for them.”