Baldwin Business

Central Baldwin Networking Group helping businesses grow

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LOXLEY, Alabama — The Central Baldwin Networking Group is looking to grow by helping others grow their businesses.

Founded by Jim Griffiths of Legal Shield, the group meets at 8 a.m. every Tuesday in the Loxley Church of God’s Family Activities Center, 5220 N. Hickory St., Loxley.

“People think when they open up a business, the calls are just going to start coming in, and that just doesn’t always happen,” said Ashleigh Mooney with State Farm in Loxley. “You have to be able to put yourself out there. Groups like this help with referrals and provide support to help business owners promote themselves. We’re like a family. We help each other.”

Every week, the group gets together for an hour-long meeting, where they swap information about grand openings, special events and business training/seminars.

Members are then invited to give 60-second elevator pitches, while guests are invited to give a 30-second presentation about their business.

The group’s goal is to get one member for each industry represented. So far, the group has about 25 regular members and is hoping to grow to more than 30 members by the end of the year.

“Research has shown that these elevator pitches are vital for business owners to grow their businesses,” said Sam Krikorian of Mediacom Business Sales, the group’s vice president in charge of membership. “We know that the best way to improve your pitch is to repeat it as much as you can in front of others. With this group, I can do in 60 seconds what would take me a week going door-to-door pitching my business outside the group.”

Each meeting also features 10-minute presentations rotated weekly by members of the group. Presentations can also come from outside the group, providing vital information designed to grow business.

Presentations are filmed and go out on social media through Facebook Live. Members are also encouraged to share videos and information on their social media sites.

“The power of business-to-business networking is enormous,” said Chris Kerby, the group’s current president and owner of Kerby Custom Renovations in Loxley. “There’s a lot of sales being generated from business leads within our Networking Group every week. Our goal is to keep increasing membership of the group; and to continue supporting local Business 100 percent.”

Members are encouraged to bring guests and guests are encouraged to make return visits to the group to qualify for membership. After three consecutive visits, guests are eligible to become a member of the group, which costs about $30 quarterly.

Current officers are Chris Kerby, president; Sam Krikorian, vice president; Jim Griffiths, treasurer; and Cody Hitchcock of United Bank, secretary.

If you would like to learn more about the group and becoming a member, contact Kirkorian at 251-244-0012.