Creative Memories, based in St. Cloud, Minn., donated exclusive scrapbooking and memory-celebration products to create a special scrapbooking room for homeowners Greg and Ginger Akers and their three children in West Chester, Ohio.

Ginger Akers loves scrapbooking so much that the show's producers contacted Creative Memories to ask for help completing the unique space in the home. The room was filled with the company's premier photo-safe albums and accessories, tools for creating traditional albums and digital memory books, photo organizers and home-décor items, such as wall displays.

"At Creative Memories, that's what we do," said Creative Memories founder Rhonda Anderson. "We help people tell their stories through products they can use to showcase memorable events in their lives."

As a leader in the memory-celebration industry for more than 20 years, Creative Memories specializes in selling premium-quality, photo-safe albums, scrapbooking materials, digital photo books, photo organization software and custom-framing products.

Based in St. Cloud, Minn., Creative Memories markets its products at in-home get-togethers through more than 60,000 independent sales consultants in nine countries around the world. More information about Creative Memories and its products, services and career opportunities can be found at creativememories.com.

New business team

PLATTSBURGH -- The North Country Regional Workforce Investment Board has announced the creation of a Business Services Team in an ongoing effort to improve workforce development service delivery to businesses in Clinton, Essex, Franklin and Hamilton counties via the region's Business and Employment OneWorkSource Centers.

The centers are part of a nationwide workforce-investment system designed to help employers find and train qualified employees and to help qualified employees find jobs. Created by the board, OneWorkSource consolidates existing workforce programs and services into one convenient and easily accessible location. There are three centers in the board's four-county workforce investment area. They are located in Elizabethtown, Plattsburgh, and Malone.

In an effort to improve services, the board created the team to ensure that businesses are aware of the services of the OneWorkSource centers, and that those services align with the needs of business in the board's workforce-investment area. The goal of the team is to align, focus and improve the effectiveness of the delivery of workforce-development services to businesses in the North Country.

"The dual goals of workforce development are to provide the talent and skills employers need to produce and deliver goods and services, as well as raise living standards of working families in America. In order to achieve both of these goals, it is critical to understand the local labor market and to forge strategies to serve both employers and workers. The Business Services Team will help to ensure that the products and services we offer are aligned with what local businesses need," said Allen Dunham, board chairperson.

The three-person team will be led by Keri Mack, the board's director of business services. Erica Exner and Paul DeDominicas were recently named as the board's business-services representatives.

"The foundation of the business-services program will be the creation of partnerships between the publicly funded workforce-investment system, business and industry, economic-development organizations and education-and-training providers. The purpose of these partnerships is to develop innovative solutions or replicate models that address a targeted industry's workforce challenges," Mack said.

Open house

PLATTSBURGH -- Palmer Veterinary Clinic will hold an open house celebrating 50 years of quality veterinary services to animals and livestock on Oct. 25 from 1-4 p.m.

Food, drinks, door prices, facility tours and raffles will be featured.