Press Releases / News

Beans and Business with the Martins Ferry Chamber

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Photo Caption: Martins Ferry Chamber Members launch Beans and Business, a bi-monthly business and community morning networking get together. From left to right: Phil Wallace, Ohio Valley Printing Company; Linda Brown, Allstate Insurance; Paul Stecker, Stecker Law Group, Inc.; Alecia Hill, Martins Ferry Area Chamber of Commerce; Melissa Keller, Steele Insurance; Stacy Carpino, Unified Bank; Michael Goclan, Unified Bank; and Joe Lovell, The Times Leader.

The Martins Ferry Chamber of Commerce recently held its first of what is hoped to be many business and community group breakfasts. The event is called Beans and Business. The Beans part is all about coffee, and the business part of the name refers to the act of communicating, planning, and building a stronger, more inclusive community.

This first core group meeting was small, but all present were heavy hitters and leaders in their communities. Beans and Breakfast has plans to grow into a strong community active networking venue where business and community group leaders can gather over breakfast bi-monthly to get to know one another and identify fellow leaders in an ongoing effort to improve our business and living conditions.

Times Leader Special Events Coordinator Joe Lovell said, “I attended this type of event in other areas and realized that business and community leaders in the Martins Ferry Area would welcome such an event.” “From there, all that was necessary was to meet with my fellow Chamber officers and lay out the plan,” added Lovell.

Unified Bank Senior Commercial Banking Executive Michael Goclan suggested opening the invitation list up to businesses and organizations in surrounding areas, including other Chambers of Commences. Goclan said, “We are all part of a bigger community, and it would serve those outside of Martins Ferry as much as it does those of us here in the City.”

Martins Ferry Chamber Executive Director Alecia Hill said the Chamber plans to have one of these events bi-monthly with a different area business or group housing and hosting the event each time. The cost will be $10.00 per person, and proceeds will benefit Chamber causes. The fee includes coffee and a light breakfast. Hill invites any area business or community group interested in expanding their horizons to contact her at the Chamber by calling 740-738-3106 or sending email to martinsferrychamber@gmail.com.

Unified Bank is a full-service FDIC-insured, state-chartered commercial bank headquartered in Martins Ferry, OH and has eighteen locations that serve the Ohio counties of Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Fairfield, Harrison, Hocking, Jefferson and Tuscarawas and Marshall County in West Virginia. Unified Bank is the sole operating subsidiary of United Bancorp, Inc. (UBCP), a publicly-traded bank holding company, and has been serving the financial needs of the Ohio Valley since 1902 from its headquarters in Martins Ferry, Ohio.