Put your future on the fast track to success by registering today for the first-ever “Speed Networking with the Stars,”to be presented by the Charleston Area Alliance and Title Sponsor Suddenlink Business on Monday, Nov. 9 at the Charleston Civic Center.  This exciting event is designed to connect young professionals and experienced executives alike with the people they need to know to advance their careers, their businesses and their community.

Click here to register.

Individual tickets now are available at $50 for Alliance members and $75 for future members. Prices increase on Oct. 12 to $75 for Alliance members and $100 for future members. When registering, be sure the address you enter matches the credit card’s billing address.

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The column below from Alliance President Matt Ballard and Chairman Jack Rossi appeared in today’s Charleston Gazette.

In his recent commentary, “Teachable moments from the dark side of diversity,” the Rev. Ron English cites a recent Create West Virginia study that found growing recognition in our state of the importance of initiatives in education, technology and diversity to growing a new economy.

At the Charleston Area Alliance, a multi-faceted economic, business and community development organization, as well as the largest regional chamber of commerce in West Virginia, we couldn’t agree more.

As former Secretary of State Betty Ireland said at our recent “Business Case for Diversity” forum, diversity is “a competitive edge” for businesses.

That’s why the Alliance will continue making a case for diversity. We’ve launched an “Inclusion=Innovation” initiative to help to create a more prosperous economy by educating businesses how to incorporate practices that maximize the contributions of all segments of the work force and our community.

Studies show that diverse work teams are more innovative and return higher profits for their employers. Through a series of high-level roundtables featuring nationally recognized speakers and prominent local leaders, “Inclusion=Innovation” will showcase best practices for accelerating and building profits through programs that build understanding about and effective approaches to generational, ethnic, racial, gender, cultural, religious and socio-economic differences in the business world.

Diversity isn’t just another way to say “affirmative action.” You can have a room full of people who look alike and still have diversity. We are talking about naturally enabling every employee to work to his or her potential.

Inclusion isn’t just counting heads. It’s making what’s inside the heads count.

West Virginia’s population might not appear to be very diverse, but narrow thinking has rarely allowed the state to progress. Fair or not, West Virginia is often seen as prejudiced and ill-informed from the outside. TV sound bites often don’t help improve the impressions. Whether the picture is accurate or not, we must make efforts to invite inclusion and nurture diversity.

The region and state make forward strides only when diverse and varied points of view come together. It’s the same for businesses. Your customers are eclectic. Wouldn’t an inclusive, varied work force produce better, more well-rounded products and services?

Diversity, though, isn’t simple. Dr. Roosevelt Thomas of the American Institute for Managing Diversity in Atlanta said inclusion is “a very involved process.”

“It’s not something you do overnight,” he said. “Managing diversity has become much more complex in uncertain times.”

According to Thomas, diversity management is the craft of making quality decisions in the midst of tension and complexity, which is particularly relevant in today’s ever-changing business landscape.

In challenging times, though, it pays to be opportunistic and creative. Inclusion is a worthwhile endeavor, and it’s an idea that can lead to success. Finding that competitive edge often goes along with doing the right thing.

This week, the stream bed is beginning to take shape as seen in the photo above. Large boulders outline the edges of the stream feature which will cascade down all three stepped walls.

One of our largest boulders is being transformed into the lower level bubbler feeding the small stream pool.