MINUTES – January 12th, 2016

The Coldwater Area Chamber of Commerce held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 12th, 2016 at 7:35 a.m. at the Village Offices with no guests present.

The meeting was called to order by President Chris Buschur with the following trustees present: Bob Hibner, Andy Kremer, Angie Lefeld, Becca Wenning, Kerri Lauber, and Barb Delzeith, as well as Eric Thomas, Beth Butler, Keith Selhorst, and Shanna Barns. Absent were Jason Wood and Mark Reigelsperger.

The Treasurer’s Report was presented by Keith Selhost’s with an ending balance for the month of December in the regular checking account of $19,667.38. Keith mentioned that most of December’s expenses were from the Christmas Open House and a breakdown from the 2015 Christmas Open House was provided to the members for review.  For the 2015 Christmas Open House- cash inflows totaled $2,500 with sponsorships and outflows totaled $3,363.24. Keith added for the 2015 year the outflow items of WCSM and The Daily Standard to show a more accurate picture of the event which were not included in 2014. Overall the Chamber is trending to be under budget for the year. Barb Delzeith motioned to approve the Treasurer’s report; it was seconded by Andy Kremer.

The minutes from the December trustee meeting were approved, with a motion by Bob Hibner and seconded by Becca Wenning.

Committee Reports

  • Bob Hibner reported information regarding the Annual Banquet and that the invitations were all mailed out at this time. There is currently a slow response from the memberships and Becca will be sending out a reminder email this week to engage more returns. The trustees reviewed the current nominations for Coldwater Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Award and a nomination review meeting was set for 1/26/2016 at 7:30pm at McSobers. Discussion was also held about the possibility of adding a honorary spot to thank the gentleman whom is completing the wood cravings in the park. Bob also presented the list of names of the complementary attendance to the annual banquet. He also shared that Reverend Brown will be providing the invocation for the event. Bob also presented and reviewed the volunteer responsibility lists and set up for the event was set for 3:00pm the day of. The 50/50 raffle was discussed and the prices were set. Chris shared that she will be providing the 2016 chamber member stickers, letter of benefits, and the SOCCA letter at the door for each renewing member to save on postage.   The date of the event will be 2/17/2016 with dinner starting at 6:45pm.

Old Business

  • Chris and Becca presented further information in regards to the chamber website. They have started the process redesigning and looking at using a local chamber member to complete the website. The starting point for this new development would be with accepting bids for a new website from local vendors. Becca also presented that Rebel Mouse will be changing from a free service to a monthly fee in the upcoming year. The question was posed that if the membership actually uses it to further promote via social media? Discussion was also held about looking at a hosting company for the website and also the social media pages as with the potential security issues that the site has undergone this past year, the chamber is in need of someone to maintain the site and the security. A motion was made by the trustees to have Becca Wenning and Andy Kremer began to look for proposals from chamber members and contact them in regards to service offerings.

New Business

  • Further discussion was held by the Trustees on the 2016 budget which will be made in March of next year after the annual meeting in February. Discussion also included the potential addition of the technology package for the website security and to also add in the expense of a new website after proposals were accepted. It was also mentioned to add in a little more money into the Christmas Open House budge to cover the expenses for advertisements. Furthermore, monies will also be carried over and set aside for the replacement of aging Christmas decoration downtown. In addition to the trustees looking at increasing the budget for the parade.
  • Keith presented the request for donation form the Arts in the Park. Much discussion was held on the subject and the trustees mentioned having a representative come from the organization to help answer questions that the trustees had about the program. A motion was made by Barb Delzeith to donate the same amount to the organization that was have done in the past of $550 and seconded by Andy Kremer. It was also noted to place the donation amount onto the budget for next year.
  • Andy Kremer presented the idea to the chamber about having Christmas decorations in the park for a walk through or drive through option for the community much like those in St. Mary’s and Van Wert. This could be something that the chamber could work with the park on and gain business sponsorships for sections. The idea of a town Christmas tree lighting was also presented as an option for 2016. The trustees agreed to start looking at the addition of a town tree lighting first before pursuing the lights in the park.
  • New trustee nominations are sought to replace three outgoing trustee members in addition to nominations for Vice President. The chamber asked that if anyone is interested on having a representative from their business be a trustee to communicate that intent with any current trustee member.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:48 a.m. with a motion from Bob Hibner, seconded by Andy Kremer.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Save the Date:

Chamber Annual Banquet February 17th, 2016

The Coldwater Chamber of Commerce is on Facebook!  Like our page to keep up-to-date on community events and new happenings. We can be found on the Chamber’s website or go to: www.facebook.com/coldwaterchamber

THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE ON February 9th, 2016 AT THE VILLAGE OFFICE AT 7:30AM

ALSO-REMEMBER TO VISIT THE CHAMBER’S WEBSITE AT WWW.COLDWATERCHAMBEROFCOMMERCE.COM

TO CHECK OUT UPCOMING EVENTS AT AREA BUSINESSES

Our mission: “To enhance the growth and prosperity of the community through the support and promotion of our members.”