From staff reports

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson will be the featured speaker at the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s October luncheon.

Thompson represents Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes Warren County.

The luncheon for chamber members will be at noon Tuesday at Vicksburg Auditorium. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the door. To register, e-mail Veronica Wallace at vwallace@vicksburgchamber.org.

Store at outlet mall rated top performer

The Lane Bryant store at the Outlets at Vicksburg has been rated a top performing store in its district.

The honor was given at the annual district conference in Atlanta.

The store, which specializes in clothing for plus-size women, is managed by Paula Baylot and has seven employees. It opened at the Outlets at Vicksburg July 2006.

The local Lane Bryant was rated No. 1 of 21 stores in its district, which includes Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.

ERDC employee wins Toastmaster awards

Derek Wilson has been named winner of two Toastmasters Club contests.

The Area E-1 competition was held Sept. 13 in Jackson. Wilson won first place in humorous speech and table topics. He has been a member of the Vicksburg-based Toastmasters Club 2052 since 2004 and is a hydraulic engineer for the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. He has attained the Toastmasters level of Advanced Communicator Bronze.

Toastmasters International aims to help its members develop their communication and leadership abilities. The Vicksburg group meets from noon to 1 p.m. each Thursday in the Information Technology Laboratory on Porters Chapel Road.

For information, call the club’s president, Laurel Gorman, at 601-634-4484.

Health-care career day set at Southern Miss

The College of Business at the University of Southern Mississippi will host its third annual Health-Care Marketing Industry Day from 8:30 a.m. to noon Wednesday in Joseph Greene Hall.

Representatives from Forest Pharmaceuticals, Pamlab LLC, Eli Lilly and Company, Sanofi Aventis and others will meet and recruit students and others interested in pharmaceutical and health-care sales careers. The event is open to the public.

The college will also offer the event during the spring. For information, contact Mike Wittman, assistant professor of marketing, at Mike.Wittman@usm.edu or 601-266-4969.