May_June 2016 Chamber Magazine

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Trailblazer Spotlight Strong relationships and sound advice By Dawn Haun Remember the 1938 musical-drama movie “Four Daughters” starring Claude Raines and the Lane sisters? It tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters’ romantic lives. Bill and Ginny McAvinney, decided to move from Connecticut, in search of a better area and a high-quality, independent Christian School to raise their four daughters, aged two to 12 years old. The McAvinney’s search ended in Fredericksburg, Virginia. On one trip south, they discovered Fredericksburg and Fredericksburg Christian School, and made the decision to relocate to Fredericksburg. Bill did not have income lined up and they didn’t know anyone in the area. “We chose to raise our family here,” said Bill. “One of the first things we did was enroll our girls in Fredericksburg Christian School.” The couple made decisions from their faith in God, trusting Him to guide their family. They are grateful their journey of faith landed them in Fredericksburg 26 years ago. They opened McAvinney and Associates in 1982, and have been serving clients for nearly 35 years. Bill’s business philosophy and vision includes being a firm that glorifies God by focusing on relationships and inspiring clients to achieve their financial goals. In 1990, Bill diversified to include McAvinney Employee Benefit Services LLC, which has over 26 years’ experience and knowledge in the employee benefits industry and provides a well-balanced approach to benefit planning. “At McAvinney Employee Benefit Services it gives great satisfaction to know that while affording advice and services for the company, Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies we’re also protecting the employees and their loved ones through our benefit plans,” said Bill. While remaining a locally-based boutique employee benefits firm, they serve clients throughout Virginia with employees around the country. Through their many alliances and relationships, the firm offers service and advice to any size company -- Bill McAvinney regionally or nationally. Along with serving his clients through the financial services industry, Bill has given back through many local and national organizations. Bill serves actively on the Christian Business Men’s Connections (CBMC) on a local and national level, helped to establish Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Fredericksburg, Association of Health Insurance Advisors (AHIA), member of Kingdom Advisors, NAIFA Fredericksburg, and one of the organizers of “Back the Badge.” Bill is actively involved with the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce as a Trailblazer; he was in the inaugural Leadership Fredericksburg class LF ‘08, and a 10-year member of Military Affairs Council (MAC). Bill and Ginny have been married for 42 years. They both agree that moving to Fredericksburg with their four daughters was among the best decisions they ever made. And now as the storyline of Four Daughters and the Lemp family continued in the 1940 film Four Wives, and 1941 Four Mothers; their daughters are adults, and raising their families in Virginia. McAvinney Employee Benefit Services: Strong Relationships. Sound Advice. Visit at www.McAvinney.com or call (540) 373-0084. Belcher Real Estate Belcher Real Estate owner Alex Belcher, along with his staff and family, held a grand opening at their new location at 1802 Augustine Avenue. The Goddard School The Goddard School owners Gary and Lori Lucy officially held their grand opening and ribbon cutting for the new facility located at 10060 Southpoint Parkway. Standing with them is Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Tammy Reid of Nicholls Auction Marketing Group and Chamber board of director Mike Fidgeon of Pathways. 18 Fredericksburg Regional Business MAY/JUNE 2016
Using next-generation WiFi to take your business into the future By Byron Cantrall, Vice President of Comcast Business – Beltway Region Trends in consumer and employee behavior are causing demand for WiFi to grow exponentially. According to Cisco, WiFi devices will power a majority of all Internet traffic by 2017, and a 2015 study by Tech Pro Research found that 74 percent of businesses are using or are planning to use “bring your own device” (BYOD) policies. WiFi solutions that were previously only available to headquarters and other large office locations are now available to a wide range of businesses, including small businesses and enterprise branch locations. By leveraging the latest WiFi technology and selecting a solution that provides the following advanced capabilities, you can promote, protect and manage your business as needs and demands evolve: PRIVATE NETWORK + GUEST NETWORK Customers and patrons have come to expect free wireless service from the companies they do business with, and studies show that free WiFi brings in foot traffic and encourages customers to spend more time and money. Offering a guest or public WiFi network to your visitors as a convenience and benefit for doing business at your establishment, in conjunction with a private WiFi network that is only made available to employees and authorized users, also provides security benefits. A separate guest WiFi network helps reduce business concerns about data security and bandwidth. MADE FOR MARKETING But the latest generation of wireless networks offers capabilities that do more than just protect. Marketing tools such as custom splash or landing pages allow you to speak directly to your Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies Trailblazer Spotlight customers before they connect to your WiFi and help attract new customers while encouraging repeat business. Businesses that install WiFi networks with sophisticated data capture and analytics capabilities can capitalize on the wealth of consumer information available from guest networks to target customers with special offers, notifications of sales and special events, or to determine the effectiveness of advertising or signage. BANDWIDTH YOU CONTROL WiFi network configuration controls ensure that your business can handle a growing numbers of mobile users, while keeping employees productive and customers happy with their experience. These controls allow you to set schedules that keep unauthorized users off your network by shutting it down at night or on weekends automatically or allocate bandwidth so your customer WiFi never slows down your back-office connection. POWER IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND Consider cloud-based controls to manage all of your network’s features 24/7, on the device of your choice. A WiFi solution with a management system that can be run centrally on a smart device via a mobile app or online portal enables IT staff to universally apply controls and can reduce network-management overhead. These advanced WiFi features are only as useful as the broadband infrastructure they rely on. Organizations must be able to adapt and upgrade to changing technology and add new applications and services over time without worrying about network capacity or dependability. It is important to pair your WiFi solution with a network service provider that offers broadband options to accommodate your current and future bandwidth demands and an infrastructure with the uptime and reliability your business needs. Bricks 4 Kidz Bricks 4 Kidz, local franchise owner Melani Lyons opened the center at 4903 Plank Road in Spotsylvania. franchise that teaches the fundamentals of STEM education-science, technology, engineering and math-through motorized LEGO models. Pictured left to right: Rob Dodd, Jr., Chamber Board member & Ambassador, Melani Lyons, owner, David Lyons, and Stephanie Lyles, Chamber ambassador. Dogpatch Left to right: Mark Desnoyer, Mrs. Joanna Gish, former owner, Lynn Bailey, owner/GM, Susan Spears Chamber President/CEO, Theodore “Teddy” Spears, and Jessica Desnoyer, owner/CEO. The dog boarding and daycare is located at 11712 Post Oak Road, Spotsylvania. MAY/JUNE 2016 Fredericksburg Regional Business 19
Page 1 and 2: FREDERICKSBURG REGIONAL BUSINESS MA
Page 3 and 4: Thinking about Leadership Frederick
Page 5 and 6: Leadership Fredericksburg: Producin
Page 7 and 8: FROM THE COVER: Proven successful,
Page 9 and 10: UMW Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) Int
Page 11 and 12: HR Matters The Emerging Frontier: T
Page 13 and 14: Feature #GreenBiz2016 FREDERICKSBUR
Page 15 and 16: advance to higher positions. Associ
Page 17: Tips from the Pro The pros and cons
Page 21 and 22: Green Printing is . . . • busines
Page 23 and 24: Sands Anderson named among “Virgi
Page 25 and 26: Leadership Fredericksburg Continued
Page 27 and 28: May 2016 11 - Ribbon Cutting Reside

May_June 2016 Chamber Magazine

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