On Tuesday, April 25, the Chamber hosted the first event in our Front Porch Series. This new event series will offer regular networking, education or business training opportunities, and other exciting offerings to help you as an active employee, business owner, business operator, or entrepreneur. The first in this series included a half hour New Member Orientation, a presentation on attracting, retaining, and engaging employees from JKL Associates, and plenty of time to network and enjoy tasty food from Florida Technical College.
New Member Orientation
The Chamber hosts New Member Orientations at least quarterly. New Member Orientations cover all things Chamber and are a great Chamber refresher for longtime members as well as new members. Established members are also welcome to send new employees that would like to get involved or learn more about us. Join us for a New Member Orientation at a future Front Porch event, or drop by the Chamber any time and pick up a Member Quick Guide.
Your Employees A.R.E. Your Best Asset (Attracting, Retaining, Engaging) by JKL Associates
The Front Porch Series will regularly offer educational content to help you navigate running a business. Larry Klimek, a Promise Guide with JKL Associates, helped us send out a survey to our members to find out what is keeping YOU up at night. We learned that attracting and retaining employees was the number one issue. Some points of interest from Larry’s presentation include:
Networking
Despite a slight bit of wind and rain, we had a great time networking with our attendees both under the front porte cochere and inside the Chamber lobby. Florida Technical College’s culinary program supplied us with garlic chicken, rice, and beef to enjoy alongside wine and beer.
Watch the Chamber website events page for the next Front Porch event. Future offerings will include free headshots, additional business training, and more.
Cowboy Chicken, known for its wood-fired rotisserie chicken and side dishes, is now open for hungry diners in the heart of the Kissimmee tourism district. The new location, the first of four planned for the greater Orlando area, is located at 3290 Margaritaville Blvd. at Promenade at Sunset Walk with indoor and covered patio seating.
Cowboy Chicken’s menu features bold, simple food including all-natural chicken cooked over an open flame and a variety of homestyle sides. Since 1981, Cowboy Chicken has excelled in serving fresh ingredients while treating guests like family and employees like partners. The welcoming, authentic experience, with food as honest as a handshake, keeps guests coming back for more.
Cowboy Chicken fire roasts all their rotisserie chicken over locally sourced wood. Unlike restaurants that fire their rotisserie with gas, Cowboy Chicken believes that no other cooking method compares to real wood, patience, and a passion for time-tested recipes.
“The only thing you will find here is all-natural chicken that is fresh, never frozen, and slow-roasted over real wood. Every Cowboy Chicken is covered in our secret dry rub before it is fire roasted. Our dry rub gives our chicken that familiar flavor you enjoy and helps form that dark golden crispy skin you crave,” noted Operating Partner Phil Yohannes.
Menu Highlights
Daily Lunch Special (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
Quarter dark or white chicken with one side and a fountain drink for $9.50
Cowboy Chicken is open Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Catering and delivery services are available. For email perks including coupons, discounts, grand opening news, and much more, join the Campfire Club, and for more information, visit www.cowboychicken.com.
More About Cowboy Chicken
Founded in Dallas in 1981, Cowboy Chicken is a fast casual restaurant chain specializing in real wood-fired rotisserie chicken. The brand has been included in Fast Casual’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers list every year since 2011 and in 2017 won the Emerging Chain of the Year award from Restaurant Business and was named one of the Top 25 Most Loved Brands by Foodable. Forbes magazine also chose Cowboy Chicken as one “Hot Restaurant Chain to Buy into Now,” and in 2020, QSR ranked Cowboy Chicken #14 in its 40 Under 40 list of the 40 most exciting fast casual concepts with fewer than 40 units. Cowboy Chicken is currently seeking qualified franchisees to help build the brand in select markets across the U.S.
The franchise partner and operator, Florida Fine Foods, is owned by restaurant industry veterans and Central Florida residents Jenny and Paul Bellanca. The duo enjoyed the flavorful rotisserie chicken so much when they dined at Cowboy Chicken in McDonough, Ga., they knew they needed to bring the brand to their home state.
Gallery of Menu Items
Planting the Seeds to Ending Hunger in Osceola County and Beyond
Pantry Planters Inc. is a 501c(3) non-profit that aims to end hunger in Osceola County and beyond by providing customized solutions to meet the unique needs of the communities it will serve.
Founded by former St. Cloud Community Pantry longtime volunteer & director Tammi Madison, Pantry Planters brings over 16 years of experience to empowering and educating community members to implement sustainable food distribution centers throughout Osceola County where there is the greatest need. In one and a half months, Pantry Planters has assisted with the establishment of three food pantries in Poinciana and Kissimmee, locations with great need for food distribution.
The process begins with a conversation with Tammi to understand the vision of the passionate individual or group who wishes to serve their neighbor, whether it is to serve hot meals, open a soup kitchen or food pantry, provide bag lunches to homeless or students, create a community host a regular food drop, or other ideas to make an impact.
Pantry Planters will then collaborate to provide tools and education to implement each vision of ending food insecurity in that area. Pantry Planters will connect community members with businesses and resources to see each vision come to life. Pantry Planters will advise the steps necessary to ensure the distribution centers meet federal, state, and local requirements.
To be successful, Pantry Planters looks to collaborate with community members interested in opening or hosting a food distribution in their community. Additionally, Pantry Planters looks to connect with passionate business members, individuals, and organizations looking to volunteer or support Pantry Planter’s mission through time, talents, treasure or fundraising efforts.
Please visit Pantry Planters at www.pantryplanters.org, follow on social media for updates, contact at pantryplanters@gmail.com or 407-986-7949 or support through PayPal.
Through the work of many dedicated individuals and organizations, we will end food insecurity, one seed at a time.
