chamber logoMeeting Minutes – September 8, 2015

The Coldwater Area Chamber of Commerce held its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at 7:30 a.m. at the Village Offices.

The meeting was called to order by President Chris Buschur with the following trustees present: Beth Butler, Keith Selhorst, Leslie Schmiesing, Kerri Lauber, Andy Kremer, Angie Lefeld, Becca Wenning, Mark Reigelsperger and Barb Delzeith. We had one guest in attendance: Paul Klosterman, Director of Media at Excel Intel.

The minutes from the August trustee meeting were approved with a motion by Barb Delzeith and seconded by Andy Kremer.

Keith Selhorst gave the treasurer’s report with an ending balance for the month of August in the regular checking account of $23,066.33 and the Gift Certificate checking balance of $11,687.54. Keith informed us that we still need to get the bill for the coolie cups. He noted that we are over budget on the parade but under in other areas that will make up for it. We received a $700 bill from the Village of Coldwater for the flowers downtown. This is a donation we make to them every year. There was also a $21 repair made to the Santa house. These items were all budgeted for. Also, Leslie presented a bill from Briarwood for the catering of the SOCA meeting. Chris received a check from SOCA for $250 for hosting a meeting, and this will be applied to the bill from Briarwood. The remaining amount will go toward the Leadership in Action scholarship. Barb Delzeith and Angie Lefeld motioned to approve the treasurer’s report.

Old Business

SOCA Luncheon: The luncheon that we hosted a Briarwood Village was a great success. Jason Wood, the new superintendent was the recipient of the Leadership in Action scholarship that we gave out. He will be attending the class next year. Leslie informed the Celina-Mercer Chamber of this. The trustees will be looking into the different benefits that SOCA offers and determine which ones would be best for members. We used to carry the RX Drug Plan but was dropped and we aren’t sure how but it should be easy to add again, this is something that we know Chief’s Supermarket used.
#ColdwaterChamber: Chris gave us a reminder to get the word out about the hashtag we have set up to use. Through RebelMouse, ANYONE can use our hashtag (#coldwaterchamber) to directly feed into our website. Any story, picture, comment, etc. that they use on their social pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and include the hashtag, will appear on the coldwaterchamberofcommerce.com.
Grill on Main: Chris made us aware that we need to get a plaque, a packet, and photo taken for the Grill on Main. She will be sending us an email and whomever is available will go with her for the picture.
Email Addresses: We need to update the email addresses for the following members: Coldwater Library, Sanning Service Center, American Legion, Werling Motors, DeRuijter USA, and Kevin Hein. Chris will be sending them a letter.
New Business

– Membership Plaques: Chris spoke to Rachel at Mercer County Awards for a quote since we do not have very many left. The quote for 20 for $15 each, normally they are $25 each. We have $550 budgeted for these. We decided that there should be at least a dozen in stock (we probably only have 4-5 now). It was brought to our attention that Machine Pro never got one, along with Mercer County Awards. Discussion took place if we should be sending a letter out to our members asking who needs one, whether they never got it or it’s full. We will be putting a message on Facebook. A motion was made to approve purchasing these plaques by Keith Selhorst and seconded by Mark Reigelsperger.

– Hometown Christmas: Planning for the Hometown Christmas has begun with the committee of Keith, Becca, Barb, and Eric, and chaired by Andy. They will be meeting soon. It will take place on Sunday, November 22. Andy has contacted the pony and carriage rides. Couldn’t secure the carrousel that he found but will try for it next year. A letter about the event will be sent out soon. Discussion took place about the placement of the choir to make it better for the singers. Chris will also be contacting Gary Bruns to see if he would allow us to use his PA system. We even talked about possibly setting up chairs for people to sit and watch.

– Website Design: Our guest, Paul Klosterman, contacted Chris about the services his company, Excel Intel out of Cincinnati, provides so Chris invited him to our meeting. He talked to us about video, photography, animation, web design, etc. He explained a patent that they have that allows Google to search for anything that has to do with your business – it makes Google think you are very important and have a higher ranking. He discussed pricing with us and explained that it will never go up. He encouraged us to check out their website: www.excelintel.com for examples of work they have done. This doesn’t just have to be for our Chamber, our members can contact him as well. We will discuss this at our next meeting in October.

– Trustee Replacement: Due to David Kennedy leaving, we will need to fill his spot as a trustee on the Chamber. Chris will be contacting the Coldwater Schools to see if they would like to fill the spot.

– SOCA Benefits: We learned that there are many more options available through SOCA that we are not utilizing for our members. Matt, of SOCA, said that he could come back out to discuss some programs that we are missing. Members: please take some time to look at the different benefits listed on SOCA’s website at this link: http://www.joinsoca.com/media/SOCA%202014%20Brochure.pdf . We would appreciate your feedback on what may interest your company. We will be discussing these at our next meeting on October 13 and invite you to join us in our discussion. If you cannot make the meeting, please send your thoughts to Chris Buschur.

– RX Drug Card: Chris did some research on this benefit that we would like to offer again. She believes the Chamber would get a 2% kick back when prescriptions are filled. Mark Reigelsperger will be looking into this further and report back.

– Ohio Business Week: Tabled

– Annual Banquet: Chris reviewed who was all on this committee. It includes: Bob as chair, Leslie, Barb and Mark. . We have reached out to the Legion but are unable to get anyone to contact us back. The Overdrive charges $500 to rent and $11 per head/meal. This does not include drinks. They did say that they would waive the service and delivery fee if they do the catering at the Legion. We would like to use a caterer that is a member. The committee usually begins meeting in October to begin the planning. Our budget for this event is $4000 and we usually take in about $1300. Angie agreed to try to reach out to the Legion again and then once Barb hears from Angie, she will begin making contacts for catering. This event is scheduled for February 17, 2016.

– Job Fair: Tabled

– Membership Packets: The Chamber will be putting packets together to bring to new members and/or new businesses in Coldwater. If any member would like supply an item in the packets, please contact Marty Lefeld at Community Connections at mlefeld@mercerdd.org or 419-763-1335 and she will come pick it up.

– Scavenger Hunt: Keith provided the group with more information about the scavenger hunt idea he found in a chamber newsletter. We brainstormed about how we could do an activity like this. Talked about saying something at the banquet or starting it at the Taste of the Town. We are going to bring our ideas to the next meeting.

Meeting was adjourned with motion by Andy Kremer and seconded by Leslie Schmiesing.

 

Announcements:

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THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE ON OCTOBER 13, 2015 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.”