Bossier Chamber of Commerce

You like Quesadillas? Head over to Dillas in Shreveport!

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Pete John of Dillas Primo QuesadillasIf you know Pete John, you know he has his finger on the pulse of all that’s cool in the fast-casual food world. Dillas Prima Quesadillas is his latest venture. Pete celebrated with a joint ribbon cutting between the Bossier Chamber of Commerce and the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce on Dec 14, 2018.

Dillas was founded by Kyle Gordon in Dallas, TX, sparked by his love of Quesadillas and a dream to open his own restaurant. Pete John and his wife had been looking for a fun and cool new restaurant to bring to the Shreveport-Bossier area. Dillas fit the bill.

 

Pete has always shown great interest in community involvement and he continues that tradition with Dillas. The goal at Dillas is to be YOUR community restaurant, not just a restaurant in the community. When Dillas becomes part of a community, they look to elevate the community pillars and impact the neighbors in a positive way.

If you like Quesadillas, then you definitely need to head over to Dillas Primo Quesadillas, located 855 Pierremont Rd, Ste 135, Shreveport, LA. Their hours are from 10:30 am – 10:00 pm every day, except holidays. Catering services are available.

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Robin Williams

Dillas Primo Quesadillas Ribbon Cutting

Joint Bossier Chamber and Shreveport Chamber Ribbon Cutting

Dillas Quesadillas in Shreveport  Dillas Menu  Fun at the Dillas Ribbon Cutting

Dillas Prima Quesadillas Shreveport, LA Ribbon Cutting

Get Fresh!!

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Benton residents, Greg and Jessica Bennett, are getting fresh! Their new restaurant, Get Fresh Deli & Frozen Yogurt, had a Bossier Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting to celebrate their grand opening today, July 7, 2017. Get Fresh is a locally family owned deli, with an awesome menu. Greg says the Turkey, Avocado BLT is a favorite. Twelve flavors of frozen yogurt, sandwiches, wraps, salads and pizza round out the deliciousness. Catering is available and Greg is looking forward to connecting with the community.

Get Fresh Deli & Frozen Yogurt is located in the Bella Terra shopping center at 187 Burt Blvd in Benton, LA. Stop by soon and let them know I sent ya.

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Robin Williams

What will Whole Foods Do for Us?

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img_0815Whole Foods Market will open it’s doors to the public on Wednesday, November 16, 2016. I was fortunate to get a sneak peak of what’s to come. Employees were busy stocking shelves, setting up displays and getting trained.

I’ve only been to Whole Foods once while I was visiting Overland Park, KS, so I was looking forward to seeing what we would be getting in Shrossier. In particular, I was interested in what Whole Foods would do for us. I found out that the commitment to our community is absolutely phenomenal.

Whole Foods Shreveport-Bossier has hired 141 local people and only brought in six from other regions for training purposes. img_0829Local artist Ann Gassen has been hired as “The Chalk Designer” to decorate all of the signs around the store. They currently have approximately 50 local vendors, with more in the process. The store has used reclaimed wood throughout the building, most notable is the “Joskes wood” on the walls and soffits, reclaimed from a San Antonio department store built in 1888 called Joskes. That wood originally came from forests around my hometown of Lake Charles, LA in Calcasieu Parish. Electric vehicle charging stations, a bike rack to support the cycling community and energy efficiency throughout the store.

In addition, Whole Foods Market Shreveport will host five community giving days over the next five weeks as part of their commitment to supporting the local community, and to celebrate the opening of their first Shreveport store. One percent of net sales on designated community giving days will benefit the following Shreveport-Bossier area nonprofit organizations: Community Renewal International, The Fuller Center for Housing, Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana, Shreveport Green, and The Gingerbread House.

Now, about those services! There are so many fabulous services that are provided in the Shreveport store. Too many to list here, so here are the services that I found of value:

  • The butchers will custom cut, season, steam, fillet or portion your order for FREE just by asking!
  • Full-service seafood shop with experienced Fishmongers ready to help prepare your fish any way you would like it. They fillet, butterfly, debone whole fish, peel and devein shrimp, season, and grill or steam your fish for FREE! In store Seafood Smokehouse with custom smoking available.
  • Have a favorite? They will special order any item by the case with a 10% case discount
  • Free ice to protect your items on the ride home
  • Want to taste fruits or veggies before you buy them? Just ask and they will cut them right there for ya.
  • 500 wines in-house! Get 10% discount when you purchase wine by the case.
  • Expanded grass-fed dairy options including milk, butter, and yogurt and over 2,600 Non-GMO and Organic items!
    A floral area that will include more than 40 cut flowers, potted plants and arrangements in addition to seasonal items such as Christmas trees. For each tree sold, Whole Foods will replant a tree through American Forests.
  • 2000 items on sale every week and an extensive line of 365 Everyday Value® products
  • Louisiana proud! They feature a great selection of Louisiana products. (See list below)

LOUISIANA PROUD VENDORS IN THE SHREVEPORT WHOLE FOODS:

In addition to this list, there are several vendors in the process of finalizing paperwork, so there will be more to come. If you have a product that you’d like to get into Whole Foods, you may submit at Rangeme.com/wholefoods 

Abita Brewery
Acalli Chocolate
Bayou Soap
Bayou Teche
Bee Hippie (uses Hummer and Son beeswax)
Big Easy Bucha
Café du Monde
Cake Face Soaping
Camellia Beans
Chafunkta Brewing Co.
Community
Cool Brew
Covington Brewhouse
Crystal
Davey’s Treasures
Delightful Palate
Dirty Potato Chips
Doodley Dee’s Farm
Edwardo’s Secret Salsa
Evamor
Flying Heart Brewing
French Market
French Truck (beans and cold brew)
Good Granoly
Great Raft Brewing
Gulf Coast seafood
Hanley’s Dressing
Hummer and Son (packaged and in bulk)
Inglewood Farm Pecan Oil
Jennings Apiaries
KenChaux Rice
Kinloch Plantation Pecan Oil
Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce
Magoun’s Kitchen<
onjuni’s
New Orleans Brewing Company
Nuccio’s Olive Salad
Parish Brewing
Red River Brewery
Reve (coffee beans)
Rhino Coffee (beans and cold brew)
River Road Coffee
Southern Art
Star Nursery
Sucre
Swamp Pop
Tabasco
Taylormade Kale Chips
Three Brothers Farm Cane Syrup and Cane Sugar
Tin Roof Brewing Co.

Whole Foods Shreveport Photo Gallery:

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There will be a sneak peak on Monday, November 14 from 4-7 pm. Find info on their Facebook Event. Also, if you are interested in attending the Bread Breaking Ceremony (ribbon cutting), it will be held at 7:30 am on Wednesday, November 16, 2016. The first 200 people who arrive for the grand opening ceremony will receive a Whole Foods Market gift card with a mystery amount up to $100.00.

Follow Whole Foods Shreveport-Bossier:

In terms of community, I believe Whole Foods will do lots for us.

That Just Happened!!
Robin Williams
Marketing Maven, Holiday Lanes

Christina is full STEAM ahead

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Christina WashingtonRecently I became a STEP FORWARD literacy volunteer which has given me the opportunity to read to third graders each week. Reading to children has been something that I have found to be surprisingly rewarding. Today, I had the pleasure of being on the opposite side of the table and was read to by my new friend, Christina Washington. Christina has published a new children’s book,  “Ms. Pearl Makes a Discovery”, designed to encourage curiosity and get children excited about learning STEAM or science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.

“Ms. Pearl Makes a Discovery” has such a creative way of engaging children to explore science. Children are encouraged to see the fun in science by following the example of the exciting characters that reinforce STEAM learning.  14691045_1205398436187409_9182381999145870097_nThe story takes place at a nature park, where a female scientist named Ms. Pearl performs a variety of experiments in her laboratory with help from her animal friends. Each character in the book is representative of each STEAM section.  Sean the Squirrel, Teddy the Turtle, Elle the Elephant, Alex the Alligator, and Max the Monkey. Each character has a special talent while together exploring the fascinating world of STEAM. Readers will witness the shenanigans of Ms. Pearl and her animal friends, and be inspired to reproduce the kid-friendly experiments presented in the book. Ms. Pearl’s character is loosely based on Christina, who also happens to be a Scientist. Mrs. Washington created Ms. Pearl and the STEAM characters to reflect her love for STEAM.

I originally met Christina at the Bossier Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting of her business, Young Scholars, a premier provider of STEM educational programs and services including enrichment programs, custom learning solutions, educational workshops, test prep, and tutoring. Christina WashingtonChristina Washington is such a motivating woman, first and foremost, because she is a scientist (a physicist to be exact). She is an author, educator, Founder of Innovative Learning Solutions, and Founder and Executive Director of Young Scholars, the youth academic division of ILS. She is also a contributing author of two engineering lab manuals and now author of her new children’s book. Christina has received numerous awards for her efforts and continues to be a trailblazer in her industry. Christina is very humble and probably won’t tell you right off that she has participated in research projects at NASA and USDA, so I will tell you for her. WOW – What a woman!

Christina’s self-published book “Ms. Pearl Makes a Discovery” is currently being printed as I write and is available for pre-sale on Amazon, with an approximate ship date of November 19, 2016. All pre-sale orders will be autographed and personalized. Christina Washington is an inspiring woman who is making a great impact in the lives of young people. I encourage you to not only purchase one copy of this book, but purchase many copies to share with school children in your area.

13138993_1078445302216057_9137830259205827830_nRead more about Christina:

I’m excited to see Christina moving full STEAM ahead!

That Just Happened!!
Robin Williams
Marketing Maven, Holiday Lanes

 

Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe opens in Shreveport

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Congrats to Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe on their joint Bossier Chamber of Commerce and Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting.

If you are looking for a healthy and tasty option for your next meal, Taziki’s is a superb choice. Taziki’s has been certified as REAL by the United States Healthful Food council.

Taziki’s showed their commitment to the community by presenting a $3000 check to Holy Angels and will continue to support the efforts of that organization. In addition, Taziki’s will employ residents of Holy Angels.


 I’d like to tell you about all the scrumptious items on the menu, but think you would be better served by visiting and trying for yourself. I’m going to stop right here because I have a roasted pork tenderloin sandwich sitting beside me, waiting to be eaten.

Taziki’s Mediterranean Restaurant is located at 5821 Line Avenue, Suite A, Shreveport. Follow them socially:

That Just Happened!!
Robin Williams
Marketing Maven, Holiday Lanes


  

Rosewood Home Market is a family affair

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imageI’m super excited to share about a new business in Bossier City. Rosewood Home Market celebrates with a Bossier Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting. Owner Suzanne Wilson lends her home decor talents with one of a kind vintage, urban, and farmhouse home decor. With a huge smile, Suzanne tells me that she was decorating her home and couldn’t find exactly what she wanted around town and decided to open a business. Isn’t that a great reason to start a business? I think so.
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This business is definitely a family affair. Husband, daughter, sister, mom, dad, mother-in-law, son-in-law, cousins, and of course the chosen family: best friend, were all there early making sure all the details were squared away for the arriving guests. I heard “is everything marked”, “paw-paw, does this look ok?”, hey, who left this here?”. It felt kind of like being at the family Thanksgiving dinner preparations.
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At Rosewood Home Market, you will find an array of gorgeous home decor, writing papers, soaps and gardening accessories. They have a mix of new and antique items. Suzanne mentioned that they had about 30% antiques in stock. Many of the things in her store are made by local artists, such as paintings, t-shirts, cotton wreaths, farm doors and furniture. This gives a new venue for local artists to sell their creations. I probably should have left my pocketbook at home.
imageI was interested to find out that Rosewood Home Market will be carrying locally grown flowers in the Spring. I’m a flower girl. Flowers make me smile! I’ve always wanted a place to stop in and grab a bunch of naturally grown blooms to cheer up my house and as gifts for my friends. Farm to store. Cut flowers. Not bred for shipping. This will be such a treat.
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As the ribbon cutting was beginning, Suzanne’s dad led the event in an overwhelmingly emotional prayer that showed how proud he was of his daughter. It again made me feel like I was around the family dinner table.
imageRosewood Home Market is located at 2850 Douglas Drive Suite A in Bossier City, LA. Stop by and find something special for your home.

 

That Just Happened!!
Robin Williams
Marketing Maven, Holiday Lanes

Oil and Vinegar Does Mix

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The rays of sun shine down on the ribbon cutting

Most people have heard the saying “oil and vinegar don’t mix”. Well, Bella Nonnas Olive Oil and Vinegar Tasting Bar will change your mind about that as they bring a new concept in eating healthy to the Shreveport-Bossier area.

In 2013, Barbie Page convinced Carline Procell, while on a girls trip in Florida, to visit a fresh olive oil tasting shop. bn11After tasting the “fresh” oil, they both knew this was something that needed to be explored further. Carline was diagnosed in 2007 with breast cancer and she understood the many health benefits of olive oil and vinegar. She explained to me that olive oil and vinegar both have a long list of health benefits, including containing cancer-fighting nutrients. Carline and Barbie began ordering oils through the mail, learning more about the benefits and flavors. Eventually they attended a conference in California where they were trained to judge and taste olive oil. These gals know their oil and vinegar and want to share their knowledge with the community. Oil and vinegar does mix!

bn02Making healthy eating choices was only part of the journey for Barbie and Carline. The flavors are as important and they want people to learn how to cook with their products.They encourage their customers to understand the tastes and benefits of using Bella Nonnas oils and vinegars. They love to pair oils and vinegars with foods and share the experience of learning, tasting and cooking. In addition to selling oil and vinegar, they offer Olive Oil 101 classes, pairings and cooking demos.

bn04Bella Nonnas says that olive oil is best when fresh and vinegar is best when aged. In fact, most olive oils that are purchased in grocery stores are already rancid and we have become accustomed to low quality. Bella Nonnas’ freshness will  surprise you. The oils they sell have been crushed within six months. Their inventory of oil and vinegar includes over 1000 pairings from all over the world, which makes it part of the fun. A few of my favorites were the Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar, Butter Infused Olive Oil, Chipotle Olive Oil, Serrano Honey Balsamic Vinegar and the 18 year aged vinegar. They offer trial sizes, small bottles, large bottles and gift packs of oils and vinegars. Bring your empty bottle back when you finish to get $2 credit toward your next purchase. In addition, they carry salts, soaps books and original pottery by Gretchen Murchison of Natchitoches  Online ordering of vinegar and oil is available. (Think holiday gifts)

Bella Nonnas is located at 1409 E. 70th Street, Suite 107-B, Shreveport, Louisiana. Bella Nonnas is a member of the Bossier Chamber of Commerce and The Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce. Several restaurants around the area are test serving Bella Nonna products. Ask if you go: 

  • 2Johns
  • L’Italiano
  • Roma’s

Want more information about Bella Nonnas Olive Oil and Vinegar Tasting Bar?

That Just Happened!!
Robin Williams
Marketing Maven, Holiday Lanes

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Barbie Page and Carline Procell, owners of Bella Nonnas Olive Oil and Vinegar Tasting Bar

Barbie Page and Carline Procell, owners of Bella Nonnas Olive Oil and Vinegar Tasting Bar

 

Let’s welcome Barney’s Police Supplies to Bossier City

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Congrats to Barney’s Police Supply on their Bossier Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting.

Barney’s Police Supply is located at 1701 Old Minden Rd #25, Bossier City, LA 71111. (318) 584-7093

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Robin Williams
Marketing Maven, Holiday Lanes

Welcome newbies

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Check out those newbies

Check out those newbies

Welcome new members of the Bossier Chamber of Commerce. As you might know, I am a big advocate of the Bossier Chamber. It is my best source for networking and being active in our community. If you are a business owner in Bossier Parish or Shreveport, I really encourage you to join, get involved and participate in the Bossier Chamber. Tell them I sent you!

Katie, Ginger & Robin

Holiday Lanes was the new member orientation sponsor and I was excited to talk with the newbies on the block.

President of the Bossier Chamber, Lisa Johnson

I invite you to the TLA (The Last Appointment) After Hours Event being held tomorrow, June 25, 2015 from 5-7 pm at the Hampton Inn/Towne Place Suites at 1005 Gould Drive in Bossier City. Come on out and do some networking.

Follow the Bossier Chamber:

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Robin Williams,

Marketing Maven at Holiday Lanes

Geeks 4 Life Celebrate

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Congrats to Geeks 4 Life Game Store on their Bossier Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting for their grand opening located 1902 Alfred Lane, Bossier City.

  
Check out Geeks 4 Life:

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Robin Williams,
Marketing Maven at Holiday Lanes