Chair’s Message – February 2017

Last month we had the best Chamber luncheon ever and if you weren’t able to attend you missed an exciting opportunity to start 2017 off. We had several dignitaries in attendance such as Mayors Schnieder and Knowels, Judge Dan Boyle and Sister Karl Mary from Trinity Catholic High School.

The new Chamber board was sworn in by Judge Boyle and I shared the 2017 goals with those in attendance. Those goals are:

Goal 1 – increase membership by 80 members. We are currently at 502 members. How do we meet this goal? With your help. I think we all know of a local business that could benefit by becoming a Chamber member.

Goal 2 – maintain a 85% member retention rate. I recognize that it is our job to offer a chamber experience that justifies each of maintaining your membership and getting involved. If you have feedback on Chamber programs or initiatives or ideas for new offerings, please see me or one of the Board members.

Goal 3 – renewed level of engagement by Chamber leadership. As the Board established our goals for 2017, we all committed to be present in a meaningful way for Chamber events. So Board members will be visible and involved at Chamber events in 2017 and I would like to encourage each of you to get involved by either attending or getting involved with an event committee—OR BOTH. Many of the events put on by the Chamber each year are fundraisers and help defer the cost of Chamber programs. So your participation and support ensures success in fundraising, which is important to overall success.

Goal 4 – increase the size of the ambassador committee. In addition to your participation at fundraisers, another way to get more involved this year is to volunteer to be part of the ambassador committee. The Ambassador Committee is a welcoming committee for new members to assist them with meeting existing members at various chamber events.

Goal 5 – Community Involvement – The goal here is to increase Chamber visibility by volunteering time to the community. Our Community Services Committee focus is to identify ways we can support the community. Some examples could be the volunteering time to the Crisis Nursey Center, or Habitat for Humanity, or organizing a food drive , etc. The committee is open for suggestions so please consider joining some of your fellow Chamber members and make a difference in the community.

We also recognized the following award winners: Kurtis Barks, owner of Complete Auto Body & Repair as our 2017 Business Person of the Year. In addition to Kurtis we also awarded Arthur Williams Jr. with The Valley-A Stonebridge Community, the Cathy Behlmann Volunteer of the Year Award, Melanie Harris from DeSmet Retirement Community the Ambassador of the Year Award, and Robbie Walls with Living the Life Vacations, the Rookie of the Year Award. Congratulations to all our award winners.

There are a couple of chamber events that are around the corner. The first is on 2/26/2017, An Evening at Hendel’s starting at 6pm with a cash bar followed by a dinner that includes appetizers, main course, and dessert. Tickets are $55.00 per person or $100.00 a couple.
The next is our Music Trivia night being held April 29th at JFK. Watch you email and future newsletters for more information

There is a lot to accomplish this year and we can only get it done together. I look forward to the year ahead as your chairperson and thank you for your support of the Chamber.