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Canby Chamber of Commerce Meeting February 21, 2007 Minnesota West Community & Technical College
1) Attendees: The Canby Chamber of Commerce met at 12:00 pm on February 21st at Minnesota West Community & Technical College with the following board members present: Laurie Driessen, Karen Houtman, Amy Szumal, Sabrina Stockman, Derrick Ruether, Don Beman, Ellie Beman, and Katie Delaney. Also present were Bonnie Longtin, Pat Stanley, and Terry Overlander. 2) Reports: Laurie called the meeting to order. The Secretary’s report was passed around to all attendees. The report was approved (1st-Karen and 2nd-Derrick). The Treasurer’s report was passed around and reviewed by all attendees. It was approved (1st-Derrick, 2nd-Sabrina). Old Business 3) Arctic Blast recap: Ellie reported on Arctic Blast. There were approximately 200 people at the Chili Cook-off. Klondike Kate did very well, but there were a few problems. The Jaycee’s paid for the damages at DeToy’s. There were complaints and safety concerns. The Bowling went very well. The attendance at the Breakfast on Sunday was about half than it was before. This was due to the weather. The quilt raffle sold $464 in tickets. The medallion was not found. It was tough this year due to no snow. The prize money from the medallion will be donated to The Connection. Ideas for next year: make sure the medallion is not hidden in something that a person will not look in. Also, rules for the Klondike Kate contest. Pat discussed protection for the Polar Plunge next year. Possibly putting up tents to put around the plunge so there is some protection. There was a suggestion to have one person from the Rotary and one person from the Jaycee’s to be on the Arctic Blast and Hat Daze Committees. 4) Flower Pot Project: Laurie brought in one of the pots that will be used for the project. They are 22 inch pots that will be ordered from True Value. Thirteen pots were ordered. Twelve of them will be used for the flowers and one pot will be an extra. The fertilizer and soil will be purchased at Runnings. The Chamber has a credit at A New Leaf in the amount of $130. A New Leaf will be figuring out how many flowers we will need for the pots. Pat will contact Ron to see if he will plant the flowers. The Chamber will ask the City to water the plants and if they are not willing to do this, the Chamber will ask Duane Anderson. The old barrels can be donated to the City and the City will dispose of them. Don moved to donate the old barrels, 2nd by Karen. Motion approved. 5) 3rd Annual Community Recognition Banquet: This will be held on March 30th at the VFW. Doug Pearson will be providing the catering for this event. Quotes for the catering were received from Doug Pearson and DeToy’s. There was discussion about informing Tom DeToy that the Chamber will not be having the banquet at DeToy’s. This is due to the Canby News printing that the banquet will be at DeToy’s. Amy and Laurie will send a letter to Tom DeToy. Laurie presented the criteria and nomination form for the Citizen of the Year. She has sent it to Don to be in the paper. The nominations need to be in a sealed envelope. There was discussion about the rental charge of the VFW for the banquet and whether or not there is a charge for the kitchen. Pat will check to see if there is a rental charge for the kitchen. 6) Marketing Committee Report: The Committee consisting of Karen, Katie, and Ellie met and brought the following proposals to the Chamber: a. Chamber Event Distribution for 2007: Send a letter to MN West, PK’s, VFW, and DeToy’s informing them that the Chamber’s goal is to evenly distribute our events between members. The Midway was also added to this as the Midway will be opening again soon. A letter will be written by the Marketing Committtee and included with the dues letters. A letter will be sent out to all members regarding the Chamber’s attempt to work all members if possible to schedule events and purchase items. The Marketing Committee will write this letter and it will be sent out in the dues letters that Don is preparing. b. Chamber Hospitality Night: A night sponsored by the Chamber for all members. The goal is to provide an environment for networking within the business community. This would be on the same night as the VFW’s Indian Taco night. The Chamber will provide each member with 2 free drink tickets. After the first event, two people will be appointed to put together the next Hospitality night. They will have the same budget as there is now to plan the event. They will need to come to the Chamber meetings to update the Chamber about the planning. There was discussion about how much the drink tickets would be for the Chamber and also the alcohol liability. The Committee will check with the VFW. There was also discussion regarding how to give these tokens away, whether the Chamber could write a check to the VFW and they provide the tokens or if the Chamber should make their tickets. Motion by Karen, 2nd by Katie to approve the Hospitality Night. Motion approved. c. Fix-it-up Fund: Chamber provides grants to member businesses as a way to improve the appearance of the business community. The Committee provided the criteria for this fund. The award would be $500 in Chamber Bucks. Two grants will be awarded each year and it must be used for any exterior improvements or additions to the building. It may be used for labor or materials. An application must be completed and that application is then put into a drawing. The winning members are only eligible for the drawing every two years. Publicity is the winning member’s option. The winner should provide the Chamber with proof of improvement through before and after pictures for our files. Also, an itemized account of how the award was spent is needed. There was a discussion about finding a different name for it. Motion by Karen, 2nd by Pat to approve the fund. Motion approved. d. Leadership Meetings: Provide members with a means to educate them and/or their employees about small business related issues. This would be at PK’s. Ellie spoke to Corrine and she could do commercials for approximately $6.50 per person. This event would be paid by the Chamber and would be a more formal type of event with tablecloths, placemats, etc. The first is “How Businesses Interact with the Education Community.” This will possibly be held on May 10th and include ideas on fundraising from right here in Canby. There was discussion about charging a registration fee. The Chamber decided that the Budget Committee should meet to decide on an amount for the Committee to spend and then the Committee can decide the registration fee. This was tabled (1st-Karen, 2nd-Sabrina). Motion approved. e. Membership surveys: Ellie shared some of the comments from the surveys that have been completed.
New Business
7) Chamber Functionality: Discussion about breaking the Chamber down into committees, such as: Web Site Committee, Hat Daze Committee, and New Member Drive Committee. Laurie presented copies of web pages from other Chambers in the area and how their committees are broken down. Laurie will be asking Josh to add the businesses that the Board Members belong to be placed behind the names on the website. Laurie asked that we think about committees for the next meeting. There was a suggestion to put together an Ag Committee to work with farmers. The Marketing committee will put together a description for each committee.
8) Guest Speakers: Currently, time does not allow for a guest speaker. Motion to table (1st-Katie, 2nd-Karen). Motion approved.
9) Adjournment: Motion for adjournment was made and approved (1st-Pat, 2nd-Katie).
10) Next Regular Chamber meeting: March 21st, 2007 at 12:00 p.m., Minnesota West Community & Technical College, Room 103. |