By Angelika Goodman, 2017 Arlington Chamber of Commerce PRIME intern

I have been interning at the Arlington Chamber of Commerce for almost a month now, and every second of my time here has been eye-opening and phenomenal. I am in the Professional Related Intern/Mentorship Experience (PRIME) Program, which lasts four weeks, through Arlington Public Schools. PRIME is an internship program for rising juniors and seniors in high school that matches students with an organization or business related to their field of interest.

By Keary Crawford, Opptiv LLC

At the end of the day, growth is every company’s most important objective and most important challenge. According to our recent research, 90 percent of surveyed executives (senior executives in strategy, product, innovation, marketing, and related fields) indicate that growth and innovation will become even more of a challenge amidst macroeconomic uncertainty, structural change and competitive complexity. A recent MIT Sloan article stated, “CEOs are faced with the dual challenge of protecting their backyards from upstarts and incumbents, while simultaneously devising strategies that will guide their growth for the next five years.”  Solving this growth challenge is the key value creation opportunity for companies, as capital markets consistently reward the companies that can confidently articulate strong future growth stories. Specifically, as much as 70 percent of the enterprise value of a company is based on market expectations of its future growth prospects over the medium to long-term time horizons. So, where will future growth come from? How will it be sustained? Should business growth be left to chance and the mercy of volatile markets and changing customer behavior? These are the questions that modern growth champions grapple with everyday.

By Jay E. Reiner, CPA
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As the moderator of the Chamber’s Breakfast Connection, every month I get to tell the attendees that we’re going to spend about 45 minutes doing “speed networking,” where everybody will give their 60 second elevator pitch to the other people sitting at their table. For the introverted or unprepared people sitting in the room, this can be an intimidating or scary prospect. I’m here to help alleviate the fear and anxiety. 

By Brian Danzig, Accept Credit Cards at Electronic Merchant Systems

That means you have to keep their credit card and personal information safe. Following small business PCI compliance standards is the best way to protect your customer data and avoid any fees associated with PCI compliance violations.

This guide will walk you through the basics of PCI compliance so that you have a clear understanding of what it is, the importance of compliance, and the consequences of non-compliance.