Launched in 2002 by MENTOR The National Mentoring Partnership (www.mentoring.org) and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, National Mentoring Month is about driving systemic change to make mentoring an integral component of youth and workforce development efforts.

Becoming a mentor can lead to unlimited opportunities: mentees can find a source of support from someone invested in their success; mentorships create long-lasting relationships; mentors impart positive values and instill a commitment to learning and betterment. Having a good mentor while you are developing your professional skills is a priceless gift, and all it takes is a little of your time.

It is no secret that time is a valuable thing, and just a little bit of time spent giving advice or spreading your expertise to someone who needs it can make a huge impact. The beginning of a new year is a great time to get involved in a mentoring program either by volunteering your skills to a community organization or taking on a mentee within your own business.

Getting involved in mentoring within your business or organization has been proven to help increase business profitability and longevity. Employees are one of the business’ greatest assets. As a leader, making yourself available to mentor your team can be a worthwhile investment in your business.

Here are a few of the benefits of employee mentorship:
1. Employee Loyalty and Retention: creating an employee-based mentoring program shows your employees that you are invested in their growth and success. A study from Kent State University shows that employees who have been mentored by organization leaders tend to stay at their companies longer.

2. Develop Stronger Leaders: spending time mentoring employees prepares them to be the future leaders of your company.

3. Create Organizational Balance: working one-on-one with your employees gives you time to realize their strengths. This can help you better delegate your day-to-day workload into their capable hands while also demonstrating trust.

Businesses that invest in mentorship programs for the community also provide an invaluable resource for future leaders. According to The National Mentoring Partnership, young adults who have been mentored showed increased motivation to participate in team sports and extracurriculars, held a leadership position in a club or at school, showed increased motivation to get a college degree, and volunteered in the community at higher rates.

The survey also identified that one in three young people are without a mentor. Businesses can fill this need by volunteering to join local community mentorship programs. Here are a few local mentorship programs through Temple Chamber Members that business leaders can connect with:

1) Temple ISD Wildcat Mentors | www.TISD.org/WildcatMentors
2) The 411 House | the411house.org/help/#mentor
3) The Un-Included Club | www.unincluded.org
4) Lake Belton High School Business Incubator Program | www.bisd.net/Page/2111

Mentoring someone within your business or in the community can have a long-lasting impact. A powerful tool that takes only a little of your time to strengthen our community.

​The Temple Chamber of Commerce will host Salute to Business 2023 on Tuesday, January 31, 2023. The event will be held at the Mayborn Convention Center with a social hour at 5:30 p.m. followed with dinner and a keynote speaker.

Salute to Business in an annual banquet for the greater Temple area business community and community leadership. The keynote speaker is Shannon A. Brown, recently retired Senior Vice President of Eastern Division U.S. Operations and Chief HR/Diversity Officer, FedEx Express.

“We are fortunate to have Shannon Brown share his experience and wisdom at our annual Salute to Business,” noted Robert Jones, President of the Greater Temple Area Market for Cadence Bank and 2023 Chair of the Temple Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. “Shannon's move through FedEx from a package handler to the Senior Vice President of Eastern U.S. Operations gives him a great insight into workplace culture, trends, and best practices.”

Currently residing in Memphis, TN, Shannon Brown began his career at FedEx in 1978 as a package handler. He retired in November 2022 as the Senior Vice President of Eastern Division U.S. Operations and Chief HR/Diversity Officer at FedEx Express. Brown embodied the company's shared commitment "to make every FedEx experience outstanding”, and through his leadership established a workforce dedicated to delivering the best customer service.
 
“While his experience and work history are impressive, you will find that Shannon is a humble, gracious, and sincere leader as well,” continued Jones.

The annual banquet also serves as the opportunity to gather to celebrate community excellence and partnerships, growth and development, and the transformation of the greater Temple area.

“Shannon Brown will bring a unique perspective to Salute to Business … why Temple is the happening place,” said Rod Henry, Temple Chamber President and CEO. “He brings first-hand knowledge of the attraction of FedEx to our community.”

For information or to register for the event, visit https://bit.ly/SaluteToBusiness23, or contact the Temple Chamber of Commerce at (254) 773-2105.

The 2022-2023 Leadership Temple class embarked on the day to learn about health care in the Temple area. The day started with meeting at the Temple Community Clinic (TCC) located at 1905 Curtis B. Elliott Drive to learn about the work and impact TCC provides citizens in this area.

Sherri Woytek, Executive Director, and Hollie Spin, Patient Care Program Manager, provided introductions and a tour of the facility. A history of TCC revealed that it was the vision and project of the Leadership Temple class of 1991. Woytek explained TCC began to fill a gap and serve working people who could not afford health care, even when insured, due to high deductibles.

According to Spin, in 2022, 1,334 patients have been taken care of [at TCC], resulting in a community benefit of $5,642,415. The ability to provide this benefit to the community helps create a healthy community that places less strain on the already strained health care system. The overall benefit to the community has been well worth the efforts, and the vision of the 1991 Leadership Temple class continues to provide a significate service to the Temple community.

The day continued with a visit with Chief Medical Officer Jeff Bates, MD and Chief Executive Officer David Byrom from Coryell Health. Coryell Health has a new Medical Clinic at 6208 West Adams in Temple. The Temple clinic is a part of the branching out of services provided by Coryell Memorial Hospital located in Temple’s backyard, Gatesville, Texas.

According to CMO Bates, the goal of Coryell Health is “putting the patient first with access to affordable and fast medical services". Bates said, “when patients require services like CT scans or MRI, we are able to schedule those procedures within just a day or two of being seen by a physician". CEO Byrom explained that Coryell Health is financially sound and has excellent staff and services to provide the Central Texas area with high quality medical care.

The class then met with leadership from the Baylor College of Medicine at the Temple Campus. According to Alicia Dunn, Chief of Staff to Dr. Alejandro Arroliga, Regional Dean of the Baylor College of Medicine, “the Temple Campus of the Baylor College of Medicine wants to recruit doctor candidates that want to be a part of the Temple community".

The Temple Campus will welcome its inaugural class of medical students in summer 2023. This class of medical students will be the first to study a new problem-based learning curriculum created to better train and equip students to handle residency. According to Baylor College of Medicine Senior Faculty member Stephen Christopher Charles, PhD, the new curriculum allows more clinical time and less time in lectures.

To conclude the day, the class met with Alita Risinger, Regional CFO for Baylor Scott & White Health – Central Texas, for an enlightening briefing about the healthcare system and the challenges faced during the pandemic.

The healthcare system in Temple features the only Level 2 Children's Hospital between Austin and Dallas and accounts for one of 18 Level 1 trauma centers in Texas. The Temple system offers a complete continuum of care and innovative industry-leading procedures and care in cardiology, transplants, robotic surgeries, and more, attracting people to Temple from near and far – not only for patients but medical professionals as well.

The pandemic presented unprecedented challenges for all, but arguably it impacted the healthcare industry most drastically. The Central Texas Region Leadership team had to change their entire operational model, essentially overnight, at the onset of the pandemic and is faced with keeping their practitioners and personnel healthy and safe, caring for the well-being of the community, all while managing variables such as supply chain, bed capacity, and workforce.

The class learned how the regional system faced the initial wave of COVID-19 cases in 2020 through current operations. It was enlightening to learn what was happening with our largest hospital system in Bell County and how this affected the level of care that was available to our community.

The Leadership Temple class key takeaway from health care day was unmistakable: challenges and all, wellness is a top priority for the community of Temple.