A power networking session and champagne reception will be held Oct. 6 at The Peninsula Club in Cornelius in honor of Business Today’s 2010 Top Women Business Leaders. The sixth annual event recognizes the contribution of women in business in the Golden Crescent. Former winners include Realtors Abigail Jennings, of Lake Norman Realty, and Diane Honeycutt, of Team Honeycutt in Concord; Pat Horton, president of Cabarrus Bank & Trust; Robin Smith of Lake Norman Chrysler Jeep Dodge; Dakeita Vanderburg Johnson, CEO of Southgate Masonry & Lumber in Concord; and Ginger Griffin of Ginger Griffin Marketing and Design in Cornelius. Business Today columnist and UNCC instructor Cheryl Kane will conduct the power networking sessions, after which the 2010 winners will receive their awards, complete with champagne toasts. The event, which starts at 6 p.m., is $12.50 to attend, Visa and MasterCard accepted at time of reservation. More info: Phone BusinessToday at 704-895-1335 or email nebiztoday@gmail.com for more information. Registration opens at 5:30 p.m.

Heart Group of the Carolinas, with offices in Concord and Albemarle, has merged with Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute. The practice will now begin operating under the Sanger name.

More than 100 Denver area business owners will meet at Verdict Ridge Golf Club Sept. 16  from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the annual Denver Area Business Association networking luncheon.  Non-members are invited to attend the event which will honor long-time Denver business leader Joe Turbyfill and his wife Jean. Michael Thompson, director of corporate communications for the Charlotte Bobcats, will discuss overcoming adversity in the business world. The cost is $17 for pre-registration at www.dabanc.org or $20 at the door. More info: Denis Bilodeau, dbilodeau@aquestainsurance.com

Jim Trogdon, the chief operating officer for NC DOT, will be the featured speaker at a Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce luncheon Friday at NorthStone Country Club.  Trogdon will discuss local road improvements including HOT lanes, commuter rail and the diverging diamond interchange planned at Exit 28 on I-77 in Cornelius. Tickets are $16 for members and $20 for non-members. More info: 704-892-1922.

During its 2009-2010 fiscal year, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College was awarded $2.654 million in grant funding from public and private organizations. From July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010, the 21 grant awards produced a single-year grant-funding record for the college. Funded projects include scholarships for students with financial need, a major updating of RCCC’s IT infrastructure, the JobsNOW certificate programs, initiatives to develop new curriculum, and programs to help students quit smoking and assist local citizens adversely impacted by changes in the tobacco industry.The funding agencies include the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Margaret C. Woodson Foundation, the Blanche and Julian Robertson Family Foundation, the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund, the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund, the North Carolina Community College System, the Proctor Foundation, and the N.C. BioNetwork.

LAWRENCE

What does a professional planner really do to help clients?

Let’s say you want to hold a customer appreciation event but you want it to be more than just a party. Your company’s reputation is on the line. You have to make a decision whether to leave this important function to a professional or to unskilled hands? In this case, a planner can be a valuable asset

DeMAO

In the last of this three part series, Sherre explains how reviewing your current involvements can help you achieve your goals through putting you in direct contact with your ideal target market, in direct contact with those who could refer you to your ideal target market, or to help you gain needed support or resources for growing your business.

Since the dawn of mankind we have been buying and selling “stuff”, and over the centuries a predictable pattern has developed between buyers and sellers. The buyer-seller dynamic can spell “commission catastrophe” for the sales professional who lacks the artful skill of effective questioning.