The South Shelby Chamber of Commerce will be hosting their monthly Morning Mixer on Thursday, Dec. 8 at 8:30 a.m. The mixer will be held at Southern Roots and Blooms, a Columbiana landscaping business that is owned by a Chamber of Commerce member.

According to South County Chamber of Commerce Director April Stone, the mixers serve to help local business owners network and to recruit new Chamber members. The mixers typically take place at a Chamber of Commerce member’s place of business.

“The Morning Mixers are free, and you can make some really good contacts. They’re small enough that you get to talk to everybody that’s there, but big enough that we have a different crowd every time we have one,” Stone said. “We try to make [the mixers] easy to find and easy to be a part of.”

Stone said the Chamber of Commerce has been holding Morning Mixers on a monthly basis for the past two years. This will be the last monthly mixer in 2016. In 2017, mixers will be held quarterly instead of monthly.

“We want to be mindful of everyone’s time, because everybody has personal and professional obligations,” Stone said. “We want to make sure that the Morning Mixers in 2017 are a go-to networking event.”

Stone said she feels that increasing the connections between south Shelby County business owners will benefit individual businesses and strengthen commerce in the area.

“Chambers work by making connections. Building better business relationships is key to making Chamber memberships work best for businesses,” Stone said.

There is no cost to attend. No RSVP is required. All Chamber of Commerce members and potential new members are invited to attend. The South Shelby Chamber of Commerce will release the 2017 schedule of events soon.