ASQSWLA’s quarterly Quality Forum is scheduled of November 13th at the Calacsieu Parish Technical and Industrial School.  Join us for a look a career education and for overview training on quality tools you can use in your workplace.   See the events page for more info.

PPG is making seats available in an ISO 9001-2000 internal auditing class October 22-23 at its facility in Westlake.  The nominal $50 fee covers meals and snacks for both days.  Click here to go to the Events page to learn more.

Go to our events page and see the full brochure for Quality Day, which will be held October 8th in Lake Charles.

Louisiana Economic Development (LED) has established two new tools for Louisiana’s hurricane-affected businesses to acquire information about available business recovery assistance.  

The LED Business Recovery Call Center was activated today to provide recovery-related resources and contacts for businesses requiring assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. The call center is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at 1-877-610-3LED (3533). Information on business’ recovery needs will be collected from callers, and LED will send alerts on new programs and resources as they become available

LouisianaForward.com has been updated with relevant business assistance links (FEMA, SBA). The information on the site, which also can be accessed at LouisianaForward.com/BizHelp, will be updated with new resources as they become available. Interested businesses can also sign up for email alerts about assistance available in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.

The American Society for Quality (ASQ) Section 1423 (Southwest Louisiana) wants to invite you and your guests to come to the annual Membership Luncheon meeting.  We’ve postponed the event from September 11th to September 24th due to the threat of Hurricane Ike.   The event will be held on September 24, 2008 from 11:00 AM ~ 1:00 PM at Pat’s of Henderson in Lake Charles, LA.  We are kicking off the New Year with the new Section Leaders. See more in our Events Calendar.

Friday, August 08, 2008 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Westlake Chemical (Polymer Plant - 3525 Cities Service Highway, Sulphur, LA 70664 

Follows are tentative agenda for the meeting.  By the way, lunch will be provided thanks to Westlake Chemical Corporation.

1. Introduction of 2007 officers by Bob Smith
        Section Chair - Bob Smith
        Chair Elect - Chin-Huang Liang
        Secretary - Beverly Schalon
        Treasurer - Tom Hatfield
        Membership Committee Chair - Christina Joyce-Wilson
        Auditing Committee Chair - Debbie Yarbourough

2. Introduction of 2008 officers by Chin Liang
        Section Chair - Chin-Huang Liang
        Chair Elect - Darrell Bailey
        Secretary - Beverly Schalon
        Treasurer - Tom Moss
        Programs - Lynne Leach
        Membership - John Ferguson
        Auditing - John Ferguson
        Nominating Committee - Jim Hill
        Webmaster - Dave Thomas

3. 2007 officers train 2008 officers on the role and responsibility (via verbal and/or ASQ website)
4. Demo the new section 1423 website (www.asqswla.org) by Dave Thomas
5. Plan for the first event in Sep, 2008 (existing memebership renewal, new membership drive, quality forum etc)

The Quality Council, a Chamber SWLA Foundation committee, secured nationally recognized, best-selling author and speaker John Miller to keynote their Quality Day Luncheon on October 8. Miller is the author of two books, QBQ! The Question Behind the Question and Flipping the Switch and is the founder of QBQ, Inc., an organizational development firm based in Denver, Colorado, dedicated to helping organizations make personal accountability a core value. A native of Ithaca, NY, and a 1980 graduate of Cornell University, Miller began his business career with Cargill, Inc. He has been actively involved in the organizational development and speaking industry since 1986.

GET OUT OF THE BLAME GAME

The QBQ! concept and method for practicing personal accountability came about as a result of Miller’s 10,000 hours invested over many years in hands-on leadership, sales, change, and team training inside hundreds of organizations such as American Express, Coca-Cola, FEDEX, Home Depot, the Mayo Clinic, Pfizer, Inc., Sprint and dozens more! This resulted in material that is real-life and common sense. QBQ! is practical, universal, and timeless because personal accountability applies to people and organizations in every market segment.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

October 8, 2008

Quality Day

Lake Charles Civic Center

Keep an eye on your weekly Chamber Connection e-newsletter for more information on the programs and speakers for this year’s Quality Day which will be held on October 8, 2008 at the Lake Charles Civic Center. To learn more about Miller and his message of personal accountability, please visit www.QBQ.com.