Contact: Ray Kopish, 920-437-8704 ext. 28
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Green Bay, Wis.- (September 13, 2006) The Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce announces the Not Flu As Usual: Pandemic Planning for Businesses Program. The program is to be held Tuesday, October 24, 2006 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the SC Grand, 1250 Mid-Valley Drive in De Pere. Registration will be from 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Registration fee for the program is $20 per person and includes materials, continental breakfast and refreshments.

The program will offer participants background information on pandemic influenza by local and state health officials, preparedness efforts at the local, regional, state and federal levels, business continuity plans developed by two Wisconsin businesses and personal preparedness recommendations to protect your health and those around you.

Each winter, the flu kills approximately 36,000-40,000 Americans, hospitalizes more than 200,000, and costs the U.S. economy over $10 billion in lost productivity and direct medical expenses. Health experts are now warning about a far more lethal kind of flu-a pandemic flue that could kill over half a million in the U.S., hospitalize more than 2 million, and cost our economy a staggering $70-$160 billion. Health officials are mainly concerned that the avian "bird flu" emanating from Asia could mutate to a new strain of flu that humans have no natural immunity against -- The World Health Organization has said that a bird flu pandemic could infect 25-30 percent of the world's population. With that much of the population and workforce affected, a pandemic flu could disrupt your business -- perhaps even force it to close down for a time.

Please join us at this informational seminar. Sponsors of the event are Brown County Emergency Management, Brown County Health Department, American Red Cross Lakeland Chapter, The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.

For more information or to register for the event please visit www.titletown.org or contact the chamber office at 920-437-8704.
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Established in 1882, the mission of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce is to promote economic and community development. Chamber programs include Advance, Partners in Education, Leadership Green Bay, Brown County Teen Leadership, Current--the Young Professionals Network, Good Government Council, the International Business Development Consortium, and the Small Business Council.

For more information about the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce and its programs, call 437-8704 or visit www.titletown.org.
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