More businesses and organizations are making a smart investment in their future — and that of the community — through their membership in the Charleston Area Alliance.

Please join us in welcoming:

Audubon Engineering
Better Business Bureau
House of Luxe, LLC
Mountain CAD
Qdoba Mexican Grill
Pies & Pints
Susan G. Komen West Virginia

These visionary organizations have joined a dynamic network of 600 businesses and their 40,000 employees who are united in building a more vibrant community and prosperous economy.

As members, they enjoy a wide range of exclusive benefits and services that can help their bottom lines today.

We encourage you to patronize and support these new members.

We’re not waiting for things to change, and as Alliance members, they aren’t either!

Contact (304) 340-4253 for visit www.CharlestonAreaAlliance.org for more information about an Alliance membership.

January 2012

Thank You, Investors

Verizon

Renewing Members

ASI, Inc. – American Staffing, Inc.

Agsten Construction Company

AmeriPrise Financial Services, Inc.

CROWNMAX, Inc.

Charleston Steel

Columbia Gas Transmission/NiSource

Energy Corporation of America

Express Employment Professionals

Golden Corral Restaurant

Good News Mountaineer Garage

IVS Hydro, Inc.

Moses Ford BMW

Mountain State Insurance Agency, Inc.

Mountaineer Montessori School

Pioneer Credit Union

Potesta & Associates, Inc.

Problem Gamblers Help Network/1-800 GamblerRent-A-Space

STAR USA Federal Credit Union

Terradon Corporation

The Performance Group, Inc.

Tiffey Law Practice, LLC

Tom’s Plumbing, Inc.

WQCW-TV

WV Center on Budget and Policy

Weight Watchers of West Virginia, Inc.

West Virginia Symphony Orchestra

White Planning Group

Women’s Business & Training Center

GEICO is hosting a grand opening from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 8 for its new office at 3806 MacCorkle Ave. SE. The event is open to the public.

“We are really excited about being a part of the local community and serving the residents of Charleston,” said Matt Bischof, the field representative opening the office.  “It’s our goal to provide the best possible service to the community by offering longer hours and Saturday service. A lot of people connect with GEICO through our television commercials and advertising.  We also want them to identify us by the great personal customer experience we offer.”

Matt Bischof and his staff can be reached at (304) 344-0555, mbischof@geico.com or online at www.geico.com/local/mbischof.

The GEICO team is involved in numerous community activities including the Charleston Area Alliance, the Chambers of Commerce for Beckley, Huntington and Putnam Counties and the BNI-Power Chapter. Bischof also is actively involved in fundraising efforts for several local schools and is a participant in The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and the Alzheimer’s Association’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

“We are pleased that Matt will be working with our customers in West Virginia,” said Robin Burdick, GEICO vice president. “GEICO has a lot to offer in terms of community outreach and support as well as our professional services.”

GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company) is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies and is the third-largest private passenger auto insurer in the United States. The company is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. GEICO handles auto insurance coverage for 10 million private passenger auto policies and insures more than 16 million vehicles.

In addition to auto insurance, GEICO offers customers insurance products for their motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), and mobile homes.  Coverage for life, boats, homes and apartments is available through the GEICO Insurance Agency.  Commercial auto insurance and personal umbrella protection are also available.

MotionMasters, a nationally recognized producer of educational media based in Charleston, has won a Telly award for its educational piece entitled, “Deadly Driving Distractions: Texting, Cell Phones and Other Killers.”

The 20-minute documentary style video, now in national distribution for use in classrooms across the country, features informal discussion groups with area teens who speak candidly about what they, and their friends, do while behind the wheel—other than driving. Texting, eating, drinking, talking on the phone, playing music and horsing around with friends make the list of distractions that nearly all the teens admitted to engaging in while driving.

The video also features interviews with local aeronautical paramedics who recount in ghastly detail the destruction wreaked by distracted driving. A hospital chaplain from a large local medical center gives an account of having to tell parents that distracted driving has claimed the lives of their children. Neurologists, emergency room surgeons and the country’s leading authority on “inattention blindness” and distracted driving, Dr. David Strayer of the University of Utah, also were interviewed for the MotionMasters project. The video concludes with a wrenching interview with the parents of a young Marine who died behind the wheel because he was texting. Flash cuts, fast-paced music, motion graphics and alarming national statistics on the deadly toll of distracted driving were incorporated into the video to keep it from being “preachy” or off-putting to its target audience of teen drivers.

“We knew that teens wouldn’t listen to an adult tell them why they shouldn’t engage in distracted driving, so we let the stories flow naturally—from teens to other teens—and it worked beautifully,” said MotionMasters CEO Diana Sole Walko, who also served as executive producer for the film.

The 2011 Telly Awards competition is the 32^nd annual recognition of outstanding local, regional, national and international video and film productions; TV commercials and programs, and Web commercials, videos and films. Each year more than 10,000 entries from all 50 states and numerous countries vie for what is perhaps the industry’s most prestigious and coveted award. A judging panel of more than 500 industry professionals, each a previous winner of a Telly, call the shots on the winning titles. Last year’s winners included video productions from big names such as TV Guide Network, Harpo Studios, CBS Television Distribution and The Weather Channel, among others.

“We’re pleased to win another Telly to add to our collection, but we’re really gratified to know that the work we’re doing is being viewed by teens across the country—and that it promotes better driving habits,” said Walko.

See a clip of “Deadly Driving Distractions” at www.MotionMasters.com.

Live on the Levee begins tonight! Be there!

The Alzheimer’s Association, West Virginia Chapter will host its 11th annual Thanks for the Memories Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. on Friday, May 20 at the Charleston Town Center Marriott (for ticket information, see below). Proceeds from the luncheon support free programs offered by the chapter for families facing Alzheimer’s disease here in West Virginia, plus six counties in eastern Ohio. At the luncheon, the Rockefeller Award for outstanding service to the cause of Alzheimer’s disease will be presented to Gaylene Miller and Terri Tilley. The award is named in honor of its first recipient, Senator John D. Rockefeller.

Alzheimer’s disease is a fatal brain disease, the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Slowly, painstakingly, inevitably it steals a person’s memories, judgment and independence. It robs spouses of companions and children of parents and grandparents. Currently, there is no way to prevent, cure or even slow the progression of this disease. All 5.4 million Americans (including more than 48,000 West Virginians) with Alzheimer’s disease will die with the disease or from it. These numbers will increase dramatically as Baby Boomers age. In addition to the emotional loss, a substantial financial toll is paid by families affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

The Alzheimer’s Association, West Virginia Chapter provides information, support, and services funded by events such as the luncheon and the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Over the past 12 months, the chapter has conducted 100 free community workshops, answered 2,378 Helpline calls, and distributed 22,374 pieces of educational materials, among other services. It is the only voluntary health organization in West Virginia solely dedicated to providing education and support service to individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, to their families and caregivers. All efforts are dedicated to achieving the vision of a world without Alzheimer’s.

Tickets to the Thanks for the Memories Luncheon are $75 and can be purchased by calling 1.800.272.3900 or by visiting www.alz.org/wv.

The Charleston Area Alliance is pleased to share the following information from Terramite. Several years ago, the Alliance financially assisted Terramite with prototyping for a new product.  Terramite with be showcasing some of its newest equipment May 12.