January Chamber Spotlight: A New Year with the Chamber
January is a wonderful time at the Chamber of Commerce. It is the time of year when members are renewing their membership with us. I am so thankful for the continued partnership with the businesses in our communities. It is also a time of reflection of all the collaborations from the past year. The support from the businesses and their willingness to participate with the Chamber activities is exciting and humbling to be a part of!
One of the projects I was tasked with was getting rid of some extra Christmas trees the City had in storage before the Christmas season. So, the Chamber asked the business community to “adopt at tree” and decorate it. I then took those trees to Santa’s Closet and the trees were donated to families who needed a tree. I would like to thank FM BANK, HomeTown Bank, Beck’s Superior Hybrids, Lee Marie Salon, JPSchulte Wealth Advisors, and 3MG North for decorating those trees and making spirits brighter for needy families!
It was also fun to create and play Small Business BINGO with the community and our local businesses. I hope you had a chance to grab a card and visit some of the stores on the list. If you didn’t get a chance to participate, we are going to try it again in 2023.
This week we are looking forward to a LUNCH and LEARN opportunity hosted by the Chamber. We are excited to have Tom Osthus with VIVID Image presenting to our businesses about online marketing. We are also going to be hosting Chamber After Hours for Chamber members. The Chamber will be hosting the first one on Thursday, February 16th from 5pm-6:30pm at the Chamber office. There will also be one at JPSchulte Wealth Advisor’s office in March. These will give members networking opportunities and new members the occasion to interact with current members!
I am honored to be the connector between the businesses and then the connector between those businesses and our communities. I am also excited to see how our efforts are growing and working! You may have noticed, but we not only have members in Olivia, but we also have members in Redwood, Hutchinson, Willmar, Bird Island, and Hector. I am happy to support ANY business in our area that wants to partner with us. The Chamber is a non-profit organization; member support is how we survive. If your business is interested in becoming a member, or if you have questions, please reach out! I believe that we can all succeed together.