Published: September 20, 2007 11:19 pm         

WVNS CBS 59 hosts popular chamber of commerce gathering

Business owners and representatives from dozens of companies throughout Raleigh County came together Thursday night for the first Business After Hours event of the fall season.

The informal gatherings, held monthly throughout the fall, winter and spring, provide an opportunity for business people to network — sharing information about customers, market trends and anything that is important to local businesses.

The Beckley-Raleigh County Chamber of Commerce has been organizing the after-hours meetings “since its early beginnings,” Joe Guffy of the chamber said.

“We promote our business members by having these networking events,” Guffy said.

Guffy said the after-hours event is an opportunity to showcase the business hosting the meeting.

Thursday’s event was hosted by WVNS CBS 59, and was held at station offices in Ghent.

CBS 59 covers a nine-county region of southern West Virginia with local news and advertising.

“CBS 59 is very good to us (chamber) and they cover our community very well,” Guffy said.

Jack Scott, sales manager for CBS 59, said it is important for his business to be involved in the chamber of commerce because chamber members advertise with CBS 59.

“Their members are our clients. It is a great opportunity to help and serve our clients,” Scott said.

During the after-hours event, CBS 59 showed a preview of several of the Fox and CBS shows it will air this fall.

The event was co-hosted by City National Bank and Mountain State University. The food was catered by chef Leonard Bailey of MSU’s culinary arts program.

The next after-hours event will be held at New River Community and Technical College’s Beckley campus on Oct. 11.

For additional information on chamber events, call the chamber at 252-7328 or visit them at www.brccc.com.

— E-mail: bbilleter@

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