The 82nd Annual Newport Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet will be held Thursday, January 25 at the Newport Country Club. The event will begin with a social hour at 5 p.m. Dinner starts at 6 p.m. Back by popular demand, a short auction will feature bids for the Christmas parade grand marshal as well as street sign naming at Newport Lake. This is a great way to honor someone from your business or organization! Annual awards will be given following dinner including recognition for small business, large business, community pride and Jackson County’s outstanding citizen.

This year’s featured speaker will be Heather Fox, Learning and Development team manager with FedEx. Fox is an Arkansas native from Sparkman, was born in Little Rock, and attended the University of Central Arkansas in Conway where she received her BS in Sociology. She moved to Memphis in 1998 to pursue a career in advertising. After transitioning to FedEx in 2001, she attended graduate school at the University of Memphis where she earned an MBA. She is celebrating her 17th year with FedEx and previously worked in Sales/Solutions and Global Marketing before joining the Human Resources team.

Fox’s true passion is inspiring others to grow both personally and professionally. In her inspiring story titled IMPACT, Fox describes how she stopped to help a stranded motorist, but it unexpectedly took a turn for the worse. Hear her incredible story of how a young girl saved her life — changing her outlook forever, and how she is now making her own impact on the lives of others.

Fox is married and has one daughter, Sophie Joy who is eight, and a six-year-old little son named William. She enjoys running, scrapbooking and reading.

Cost to attend the banquet is $30 per person and is open to the public. Tickets will not be given, however pre-payment is mandatory in order to reserve your seat. RSVP at the Chamber office at (870) 523-3618 or email director@newportarchamber.org by Friday, January 19. Tables of eight people may be reserved for your business or organization.

The Newport Area Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to promoting the City of Newport and Jackson County by cultivating community involvement, encouraging business alliances, nurturing the growth and development of new and existing businesses, and creating educational opportunities for community youth.The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.