By dallaschamber DACC • Member News • • • • • • • • 0 Comments

Washington Street Steakhouse & Pub

Congratulations to Washington Street Steakhouse & Pub! We are so excited to announce that they have won in 2018 Best of the Mid-Valley Awards! However, they won not one award but NINE awards in total!

Washington Street Steakhouse won Gold in Best Dallas Bar, Best Dallas Restaurant, Best Reason to Visit Dallas, and our own Melanie Woods won Gold in Best Local Server. They also took home Silver in Best Steak and Bronze in Best Burger. But let’s not forget the faces behind these delicious meals. Barbara Witham won Best Local Server as well. Adam Hoefler was awarded Best Local Chef, as our taste buds will attest to, and Mary Hoefler won Best Local Bartender.

Washington Street Steakhouse has been a cornerstone member of our community for years. They are a restaurant that still manages to bring home that small town feeling. As shown above, they put an emphasis not only on serving great food, but serving it with delightful customer service. They also try to incorporate local businesses when possible, like serving Eola Hills wines!

If you would like a chance to indulge in some wonderful cooking, and wonderful people then they have a few events coming up for you to take advantage of. This Sunday is Mother’s Day! If cooking isn’t your strong suit then enjoy a meal with them, no reservations necessary. They will even be giving out free flowers to mom while supplies last! If your Mother’s Day plans are already made then visit them July 21st for their 19th Anniversary Luau Party. The party will last from 6am till 11pm!

One customer had this to say:

“My wife and I were looking for a lunch stop in Dallas when she saw this place as we drove by. I’m glad we stopped as this place rocks.  My wife had the turkey wrap which was huge. She said it was very good and fresh. I had the corned beef hash breakfast. I’m kind of a connoisseur when it comes to corned beef hash. This place by far makes the best CBH I have ever eaten. Not from the can here!  Let’s not forget the great homemade biscuit. Yum!  The service was great so we will be back!”

By dallaschamber DACC • General Information • motivation • • • • • • 0 Comments

Why do you do it?

Many questions are asked regarding the big question WHY? What’s interesting is that simple word helps to define so much of what we do in life. If someone asks you why you work where you work or why you do what you do for work, what do you tell them? When kids ask ‘why’ for everything that occurs we have answers, sometimes we have to resort to quantum physics to get the answer but there is an answer to their question of why.

But sometimes, the answer is not so available. The deeper questions of the universe, at times, don’t allow us to know exactly why things are the way they are. We may or may not be able to know the answers to these bigger questions of why. Mysterious isn’t it. So what’s the point? My point is that we can only control our own ‘why’. We can only determine what we determine to do and then be determined to do it. The haunting question behind what we do is why we do it. Martin Luther King Jr. Gave the “I have a dream” speech. He did not give an ‘I have a 7 step plan’ speech.

People join and become a part of great things because of why those things are done. This is because the ‘why’ is an underlying purpose that grips the heart of a person and compels them to gravitate toward something great. This can be something great for themselves, something great for their family, or even something great for all people. The ‘why’ within us drives us to how we will deliver on what we will desire to share or become or do or have.

Start with the question, why. When you know why you can picture what it looks like when you get there. When you can picture what it looks like to get there, you can determine the how. When you have the why and the how, anything is possible.

By dallaschamber DACC • General Information • Member News • New Members • • • • 0 Comments

New Kids on the Block – Welcome New Members

Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to welcome two new members to our family; Luckiamute Valley Charter School and Beal Christmas Tree Farm.

Luckiamute Valley Charter Schools mission is to create a community where students, staff and families work together to cultivate the academic, social, emotional, and ethical growth of each student. Building on children’s innate curiosity and joy in learning, Luckiamute Valley Charter School promotes unique programs with a solid traditional academic foundation, incorporating current technology. They strive to provide a safe and nurturing environment so that children become confident thinkers and life-long learners. The foundation that makes this possible is a school community where parents and teachers work in cooperation for the good of every child, and a community that values the school at its heart. If you are interested in more information about them you can contact them at either their Bridgeport campus, (503) 623-4837, or Pedee campus, (503) 838-1933.

Beal Christmas Tree Farm is a family owned and operated Choose and Cut Christmas tree farm located at 700 Oak Villa Road. They offer two ways to get your perfect fresh-cut Christmas tree. You can either come to the farm to choose your tree and take it home or have your tree delivered right to your door-step. While their Christmas season starts the day after Thanksgiving to December 22nd, they have not limited themselves to just one holiday. In October they host a Pumpkin Patch for the community to enjoy. They grow pumpkins in a variety of shapes and sizes for you to choose from. A unique I-Spy walking trail game for all ages, Corn Hole games, a FFA Petting Zoo, and more are just some of the unique activities they offer their customers. No admission is required, and they also have popcorn and hot dog meals available. If you are looking for a great way to spend time with the family during the holiday season then we would point you in Beal Christmas Tree Farms direction.

Welcome once again to both Luckiamute Valley Charter School, and Beal Christmas Tree Farms. We look forward to what the future holds!

By dallaschamber DACC • General Information • Member News • • • • • 0 Comments

Harvest Crossfit

If you are like me you have heard the term CrossFit a lot lately, but had no real understanding of what exactly it was. So like anyone in this day and age I googled it. The first definition I found was less than helpful: CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen created by Greg Glassman and is a registered trademark of CrossFit Inc. Wow, thank you google for clearing up all the mystery.

So I dug deeper, starting with researching our local CrossFit gym. From them, I learned that CrossFit is a high-intensity fitness program that incorporates elements from several types of sports and exercise. First opening in 2014, Harvest CrossFit has recently expanded to the point of relocation right onto Main Street. Their new location opened in August of 2017.

After speaking and meeting with owner MacLarin Jones, who owns the gym with her husband Devin, I can see why people view them as more than a gym. With five wonderful coaches that bring a wealth of knowledge and experience; they see their members as real people and strive to know what is going on in their lives.  They’ve built a culture of camaraderie and encouragement that keeps their members coming back and inviting their friends.  Once again, those small town personal touches go a long way to building a meaningful business.  They continue to get involved in the community as well, a few ways they are building community outside of their gym are, chairing the Young Pros group, serving on the Chamber Board, helping in their church and promoting community events to name a few.  They were even named Young Professionals of the Year in 2017.

One member had this to say, “Devin and MacLarin are really good at creating community. When you sign up at Harvest it isn’t just for an intense workout, it’s signing up to be part of the family. They often host BBQs and get together outside of class that help keep you connected. Losing 30 pounds has been great, but it is even better because I’ve had a community there to celebrate with me.” –Steve

By dallaschamber Business Books • DACC • General Information • motivation • • • • • 0 Comments

The Go Giver – Bob Burg & John D. Mann

I had gone to a conference in 2010.  I was really struggling to wrap my head around the validity of our company’s offering when a colleague suggested that I stop worrying about what it was and just learn how to give myself away.  That comment stunned me.  Aren’t we here to do business?  I rely on commissions to pay my bills.  The colleague-turned-mentor said something I’ll never forget, “listen, you’re a go-getter.  But you’re also a giver.  You’re trying to separate the two.  Stop it.  You need to learn to be a go-giver.”

Give and get… at the same time?  I was lost.  She said she had a book in her room that she’d lend me for the rest of the conference if I wanted to implement the one thing that had made her successful.  I thought. ‘The one thing? This one thing was the one that made you so successful?  I’ll take it.’

I read a little bit that night.  But had to ask if I could finish it before we got together again the following month.  She said that’d give us a chance to talk further.  So I held onto it.  I didn’t just read it.  I devoured it.

The Go Giver is a parable-like story that shares how the main character learns how to give in order to receive.  He meets a mentor that shows him the importance of being kind and giving what you do have in order to give enough value to others that they only want to consider you for doing business in the future.  Stories are funny that way.  They share implementable universal truths that help us become who we need to become in order that we can accomplish great things.  It helped me produce better numbers.  Numbers that meant more to clients than what I was selling.  The numbers I gained was in humans who valued the things I was sharing with them.  And yes, my numbers grew in how much I made.

Learning to give is one major step in learning how to be open to receive.  You can even borrow it, I bought it on CD so I can hear it over and over again.