Chamber Report - Edition 2 - February 2020
Greetings ERACC Members!
Every month is a busy month at the chamber . . . just like in your businesses. My goal is to keep you informed and up to date on what the chamber is doing to make the most of your investment as we continue our work in Energizing your PACE of business.
We have had a busy month with internal happenings which as you know take time and, in the end, make us better. Fortunately, we have several very knowledgeable and generous members we get to work with to make some of these things happen.
- Thank you to Bill Hannay from Hannay Electric for updating the wiring in our chamber office. We will be rearranging desks to make the office flow more efficiently and the new wiring will make it possible.
- Thank you to Chris from Minnesota Computer Systems Inc for setting us up with a new lease on a copier. For the same money, we have one that is more efficient and can do more, like envelopes and Gift Certificates!
- Thank you to Chris from RB’s Computers for shoring up our Share Point. It became a tangled web last fall and we were limping along until our new fiber internet was installed. Now we are organized and ready to rock!
- Sadly, we said goodbye to Olivia Goskey as our Marketing & Communications staffer. We wish her to best in her new position. We are in the final stages of interviews for a new staff person to fill the role.
- Thank you to Inky Elf who is helping us out with some assistance while we are looking for our new Marketing person.
Beyond board and committee meetings, we have spent a fair amount of time with some of our members. Check out all the action inside the Chamber Report [LINK}. You will see who the ambassadors met, recap from a recent Jumpstart event and Education Topic at Chamber Connections, meet another one of our board members, learn about the benefit of the month, and see who joined the chamber.
February was a busy legislative month here at the chamber. We started by hearing from our District 30 Legislators and the newest elected legislator (just 12 hours after the election) at the Legislative Preview. The Elk River Chamber partners with the Minnesota Chamber and 50+ chambers around the state to identify the key issues that we believe we can make an impact on for all businesses. These are determined by year round conversations with you and hundreds of other businesses from across the state through the “Grow Minnesota” program. The final priorities are voted on by our board of directors and then shared with our legislators and are listed on our website. Thank you to Dr. Dan Bittman, Troy Adams, Kevin Bergstrom, Tom Martin and Nicole Novotny for preparing and asking questions of our legislators during the luncheon.
A week later we all joined at the Session Priorities Dinner in St. Paul on the opening day of the 2020 Legislative Session. We heard Minnesota legislative leaders and the Governor shared their thoughts on issues ranging from recreational marijuana and sports betting to tax conformity and a bonding bill. You can check out their answers here. Interestingly despite being from two political parties they did agree on several topics, including Tax Conformity for 179 expensing and recreational marijuana.
This month was also Local Government month for Leadership Elk River. The group learned the latest about the Active Elk River Project and the 169 Corridor Update. They heard presentations from the City of Elk River, including Mayor Dietz, and from Sherburne County where they and met Commissioner Barb Burandt. Thank you to all presenters and participants, we appreciate the time you give us.
I was able to attend the State Chamber Annual Meeting Conference and learned more about future trends in chambers around the state and around the country. Many chambers are moving their programming away from festivals and events. Instead they are moving toward programs that spur economic growth, policy influence and workforce training and pipeline development. Here we are also reworking our programming and our newest program is the Community Job Fair on April 2nd. Join us as we connect local workers with local jobs.
Enjoy the 2nd edition of the Chamber Report [LINK}. And if you missed the first edition you can find it with the link below
Sincerely,
Debbi Rydberg
