June 2017 Revised

June 2017







Here, everyone belongs.
Inside this issue:

We did it! Our new website is up and running!
Teachers Participate in 2 Many of you are familiar with the arduous pro-
Boerne ISD and cess of launching a website whether you are in
Chamber Externship
the forefront creating it or in the background like
5 Leadership Habits 3 we were updating content, finding pictures, etc.
All Great Bosses Have At the same time we were working on our web-
site, we launched our new logo and updated mis-
Post Legislative 3 sion statement. Whew! 2017 has been a very busy
Review
year! We are thankful for wonderful partners
Use Stories from 3 such as Texas Creative who designed our website and Creative
Customers to High- Parc who designed our new logo.
light Your Company’s
Purpose Be sure to keep be watching out for some new events coming
your way as well. Last year we heard from Strong Towns Presi-
Boerne Chamber 7 dent and founder Charles Marohn and in 2017 we are looking
Welcomes our newest forward to bringing in another speaker to help facilitate a conver-
members sation on how manage positive growth in our community and
Congratulations Lead- 8 obtain true prosperity during the next few years. We will also be
ership Boerne Class of hosting a Boerne Business Conference for our members. We do
2017 not have final dates established for these two events – we are
working on details now. Stay tuned!

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Did you know on our website you can:
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Page 2 ITS YOUR BUSINESS!

Teachers Participate Boerne Chamber/BISD Externship Program


What exactly is in externship? It is a them some of the basic soft skills
partnership between the Boerne Cham- employers need them to have.
ber, Boerne ISD, local businesses and This year are teachers were placed
nonprofits. This partnership provides at Bandera Electric Cooperative,
teachers the opportunity to learn the
latest industry trends, job Boerne Chamber,
skills and competencies City of Boerne –
Parks & Recreation,
needed in the workplace so Ebensberger-Fisher
that they can help students
become “workplace Funeral Home,
ready”. Many of our Menger Springs, Mer-
cedes-Benz Boerne,
teachers go straight from Kronkosky Place, The
college into their teaching
field and have not had the Flower Shop. We
exposure to a business would also like to next year, please contact the
thank Toyota of
setting. This four-day pro- Boerne and Vintage Darcee Grivel, Chair of the Boerne
gram allows them to go Chamber Business Education
into a local business or Reconstruction for Committee at
nonprofit to learn the sponsoring teacher [email protected] or Jen-
meals and the videog-
needs facing employers raphy. If you would nifer Hudson, Director of Commu-
today. Once they complete their ex- nications at the Boerne Chamber
ternship they create a curriculum for like to know more information on of Commerce.
their grade level to educate students on how your business can participate
the variety of careers, but also teach
5 Leadership Habits All Great Bosses Share

These tactics will help your employees grow and help you build strong relationships.
Kristi Hedges, Inc.com

Truth talk: Being a manager is hard. 1. They Prioritize Listening ers
You may not be 100% prepared for the de- People in their first management roles de-
mands of a job that requires handling individ- often spend a lot time thinking about how velop

ual personalities, motivations, and work they’ll lead conversations with their team far-
styles. Doing the work becomes the simple (e.g., how they’ll share priorities, provide ther
part; working through others is far more feedback, and communicate proactively). and
complex. faster, and increase their own perfor-
However, too many people don’t pay at- mance.

Which isn’t to say it’s all bad. Helping your tention to best practices for listening. They How do they this? By talking to their
employees grow, tackling projects as a team, figure they already know how to, and employees about their potential.
and building strong relationships are all very therefore overlook developing this critical Most managers would say that they know
rewarding. And, seasoned leaders will tell you leadership skill. the strengths of their team members, but
that it gets easier the longer you do it, be- Focused, curious listening conveys an too often they don’t talk about them.
cause you’ll learn as you go. emotional and personal investment in (They save one-on-one meetings for feed-
those who work for us. When you listen to
back on areas for improvement.)
But there’s a faster (and less stressful) way to people, they feel personally valued. It sig-
As the Pygmalion effect has shown for
put these lessons to work--and that’s to learn nals commitment.
from managers who’ve been there before. 2. They Point out Other People’s Po- decades, people rise to their leader’s ex-
tential pectations. So, if you tell your employee
For my latest book, The Inspiration Code, I you believe in their ability to hit more
spent five years speaking to leaders and re- Leaders have a great influence on how ambitious sales goals, lead an upcoming
searching what actually inspires others to do workers view themselves. In his presentation, or find a more efficient pro-
their best work. Based on their experience, I book Superbosses, Dartmouth Professor cess they’re more likely to do it.
learned five key leadership tricks that’ll help a Sydney Finkelstein found that the world’s
new manager make less mistakes and create most extraordinary bosses bring out un- Click here to read
the best team: tapped talents in their people. Those work- full article

Page 3
Use Stories from Customers to Highlight Your Company’s Purpose

Erica Kewswin, Harvard Business Review www.hbr.org

Leaders commonly try to influence their chain that always seeks to “add a
company culture with a lofty statement of sweet touch,” as the company de-
purpose. But despite the time and money scribes it. Not only does it want to
an organization pours into crafting its own serve customers delicious food with
special statement, the result is often vague stylish sustainability baked into eve-
and generic — it sounds like every other ry bite, but it also wants to make its mark cially, one can imagine, coming from
well-meaning company’s purpose state- as a fine-tuned instrument of tightly such a vulnerable place — that she
ment. aligned, mission-driven business. It uses wrote Sweetgreen a letter telling them
One simple way around this is to highlight stories to show what adding a sweet touch how much this personalized attention
specific stories that illustrate the values really looks like in practice. meant to her. This story made the
leaders want to emphasize. Stories are free, One such story is of a loyal customer, rounds through the Sweetgreen commu-
always available, and are such a core part of recently recovering from cancer, who nity, strengthening the company’s core
our human DNA that they automatically visited her favorite Sweetgreen location in values and empowering team members
make us feel good. Especially when they’re Washington, DC. The team member be- to live them.
true. And best of all, when a company hind the register recognized her and men- As Sweetgreen cofounder Nate Ru told
brings true stories to light, the culture be- tioned that he hadn’t seen her in a while. me, “Stories are the way humans ex-
comes one He told change concepts and ideas. We want to
of paying “Stories make us all pay closer attention to her she create intimacy as we scale, and stories
attention. looked are the key, [so] we empower everyone
Leaders and what matters. Start paying attention to the great, to collect, on a day-to-day and weekly
managers stories unfolding in your organization, and remem- basis, stories of people living core val-
learn to bered ues.”
keep their figure out how to help the best ones her
eyes and spread. Because people have a lot to say, favorite
ears on and if we’re smart, we’ll start listening.” salad Click here to read the
what’s most order, full article.
important and
— the real experiences of real people. gave it to her on the house. The woman
Sweetgreen is a healthy grab-and-go food was so moved by this kindness — espe-

Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives

Keep Texas Working 2017 Post Session Report


While a few key controversial issues are receiving much of the media attention,
there was so much more happening at the State Capitol to ensure that employers
can provide jobs and paychecks to more Texans.


At the beginning of session, the Texas Association of Business (TAB) shared with you our top legislative pri-
orities for the upcoming session. We focused on initiatives that encourage economic growth and opposed
legislation that threatened the economy of this state.

It was a tough session, full of wins and losses, but overall business prevailed in many areas and was able to
minimize other legislation that would have been a huge hit on business if TAB had not been involved.
Thanks to all our members for aiding our efforts! To read more about the 85th Legislative Session click
here.

Gov. Abbot has called a special session starting on July 18th. Stay tuned for our full results piece later this
summer.

Page 4 ITS YOUR BUSINESS!

GVTC Foundation partners with New Braunfels Foodbank to fight hunger


The GVTC Foundation is contributing a weekly basis, more than 405,000 pounds $50,000 to sponsor a section of the client
total of $100,000 to help the New Braun- of much needed fruits, vegetables, meat, services area located near the lobby of the
fels Food Bank get off to a strong start. dairy and baked goods, to food pantries new facility. These funds go toward under-
The Food Bank is located writing operational costs of the Food Bank.
targeting summer of “We greatly appreciate The GVTC Foun- in The GVTC Foundation logo will also be
2017 to open its new dation’s generous contribution and it’s GVTC’s prominently displayed to thousands of visi-
branch location locat- very humbling for us be partnering with service tors to the New Braunfels Food Bank every
ed at 1625 S. Sequin in them,” Eric Cooper, president and CEO, area. year.
New Braunfels. The San Antonio Food Bank, said. “We’ll be “We’re
approximately 30,000 able to nourish kids, seniors, families, and very
square foot facility will with help from The GVTC Foundation, no excited
serve as a hub to re- to be
ceive and distribute one will go hungry in our community.” among
food to local food the first
banks, provide food philanthropic organizations to support
to walk-in customers through a client- the New Braunfels Food Bank facility.”
choice pantry, provide nutritional educa- Paula White, The GVTC Foundation,
tion and cooking instruction to families in president said. “The GVTC Foundation
need, and support hundreds of volunteers has a long track record of helping Hill
a week in service to the community. Country area food pantries. Through
The GVTC Foundation contributed our investment in the New Braunfels
$50,000 to sponsor the New Braunfels Food Bank, we’ll be able to maximize
Food Bank’s fresh and perishables vehicle, the quantity and quality of food, to peo-
which will be branded with the Founda- ple who truly need it.”
tion’s logo. This delivery truck will be di- The Foundation will also donate
rectly responsible for providing, on a

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Page 6
Monroy IT Service Thwarts Wannacry Ransomware Attack for SA and Hill
Country Business


Monroy IT Services protects clients from Monroy, Monroy IT Services’ President the forefront of threats and security –
a worldwide cybersecurity attack that and CEO. “If an organization is com- always leveraging the latest technology
spread across all of Europe and the Amer- promised, they are open to heavy fines to make sure clients can feel at ease
icas. These attacks included the crippling or even extortion, potentially putting the when it comes to making sure they
of London’s healthcare network, render- companies out of business. We are our stay safe from the ever-growing threat
ing many hospitals severely crippled. Lon- clients’ shield in the digital world.” of cyber criminals.
don was only one of many victims at the
mercy of the attack. The attack is a ver-
sion of ransomware where access to com- The Wannacry ransomware takes root
pany data is encrypted. Once confidential through a vulnerability that exists within
company data is compromised, retrieval of many Windows operating systems, such
the data can only be accomplished as Windows XP, Vista, & 7 and Win-
through paying for the encryption key, dows Server 2003, 2008, 2012. Monroy
paid in Bitcoins. IT Services had already closed the vul-
nerability to all their managed clients

WEEKS BEFORE the attack spread.
Monroy IT Services, a Managed IT Ser- Monroy IT Services employs multiple
vices firm headquartered in San Antonio, layers of security measures that protect
TX, provides clients protection against all of their client base, the ransomware
such attacks. “We are very proud of the had no entry point into any of Monroy George Monroy (above) is a member of
fact that zero, yes zero percent of our IT Services’ managed networks. the Board of Directors, the Chair of the
client base were affected by the attacks. Chamber’s Technology Committee and is
One of our core competencies is in Cyber an Information Technology Consultant for
Security and proactive management of IT Monroy IT Services provides industry businesses in San Antonio and the Hill
Country. He can be reached by
systems. We do what it takes every day to leading IT Services, Support, and Pro- calling 210-706-0501.
protect the livelihoods of all the compa- tection on a 24x7 365-day basis for the Monroy Information Technology Services
nies under our services,” said George SMB space. Monroy IT Services is on www.monroyits.com

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Boerne Chamber Welcomes our newest member investors!


Please click on the business name for more information.
ABCD Pediatrics Boerne

Allegra

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Bradfield Properties

Biofinity Chiropractic

Boerne Youth Football Association / Boerne Bulls

Camp Gladiator

Clean as a Whistle

CryoFit Boerne

DermOne Dermatology

Du Nut House

Firehouse Fare

JCGraphix

Kendall County Criminal District Attorney's Office

Mindy Thomas Realty

Miralomas Development Corporation

Parkhurst NuVision

Sam's Club

Supply Innovations Co. LLC

The Parent Law Firm PPLC

The Stuart House

Ultimate Classic Cars






Click here to see

some of our latest

Ribbon Cuttings!

Page 8 ITS YOUR BUSINESS!

Board of Now Enrolling Kinder, 1st & 2nd Graders for the 2017-2018

Directors School Year
Executive Committee www.sheepprogram.com
feeling of parents and children as
Baron Houser, Chair they begin school for the first time.
StoneHouse Builders, LLC Early childhood, by definition, is
infancy through age 8 (2nd grade). SHEEP has a low staff to student
Susan Allen, Chair Elect Teachers must choose to get their ratio in all classes. This allows for
Jefferson Bank
degree in early childhood or upper real relationships to be formed be-
Patrick Cohoon, Immediate elementary. Early childhood special- tween children and teachers. The
Past Chair
Leger Ketchum & Cohoon, izes in the “brain forming” years. staff is engaged with children be-
PLLC This is the peak time in a child’s life cause young children are their spe- for abstract work like worksheets and
for brain growth. Early childhood cialty. There is no fear of a fifth written tests. Upper elementary is
Heather Dickens, Secretary the time for children to apply what
Hill Country Memorial– educators must grade teacher moving
Boerne know how the A second grade girl in public over the summer and they learned in the early grades.
school says (about her brother now teaching first Wouldn’t you want a child to have a
Mary Jo Floyd, Treasurer brain forms,
Broadway National Bank when the win- in kinder at SHEEP), “it’s no grade (with no extra plethora of experiences to promote
dow of oppor- fair that he gets to go to the training). Being spe- later success in school?
smart school!” after he tells
Board Members tunity for cer- cialized as a primary SHEEP is able to provide a seamless
tain skills is, her about the water cycle. school, SHEEP is able flow from pre-k to kinder to first
Jacques DuBose to hire well qualified
American Red Cross Hill and how to grade to second grade. We are form-
Country Chapter successfully teach young children. teachers, the “cream of the crop!” ing a solid foundation for your child.
In Texas we used to have (and still The curriculum of a primary school
Jo Lynn Fisher SHEEP fosters experiences, which
Ebensberger-Fisher Funeral do in some rural areas) a primary is able to support social, emotional, lead to vocabulary acquisition, which
Home school, followed by elementary, mid- physical, cognitive, and spiritual leads to reading success. By choos-
needs. SHEEP is child-centered
George Monroy dle and then high school. ing a primary school, you are choos-
Monroy Information instead of curriculum driven. While ing teachers who have specialized in
Technology Services One of the benefits of a primary teaching all of the state standards
school (and St. Helena’s Early En- young children and how they learn.
Steven Pollack richment Program [SHEEP] in par- (TEKS), teachers are able to take a SHEEP staff continually train and
Jennings Anderson Ford child where they are and move them research new developments in teach-
ticular) is the family feel. The older
Kat Flores children know and interact with to where they need to be. Typical ing and apply those in their class-
Digital Wheelhouse elementary schools are curriculum rooms.
younger children. The staff knows and test-driven. Test practice is the
Kevin Thompson all of the children in the school and For more information, tours, or to
Centennial BANK parents are invited to be part of the focus and testing is the ultimate
goal. Primary schools provide the register your child please contact
Mick Mazour program. Parents are partners in the director Tiffany Jureczki.
Cibolo Creek Brewing Co. their child’s learning every step of experiences and opportunities for
children to get concrete examples, [email protected]
the way. There is a school/home which will help them later in upper 830-249-8084
Advisory Board Members: connection. This lessens the anxious
Misty Mayo, President elementary grades when it is time www.sheepprogram.com
Boerne/Kendall
County EDC
Congratulations Leadership Boerne Class of 2017!
Linda Zartler, Asst. City
Mgr.
City of Boerne
Since attending the Leadership Boerne program, I
Daryl Lux have grown as a business leader and an individual.
Kendall County Judge
I would recommend this program to anyone who
wants to learn valuable skills that will enrich all
aspects of their life. It has helped me find the voice
that I always knew I had but was too afraid to use
it." - Tabitha Cuevas, Marketing Director at
Morningside Ministries at Menger Springs,
Leadership Boerne Class of 2016



Interested in learning more about our Leadership Boerne program?
Click here to read more about this amazing program!
Applications for the 2017-2018 year are now being accepted!

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