Highlights of the April Chamber Minutes

from President, John Ritchie

President’s Report

John Ritchie reviewed the minutes from the Executive meeting (included in board packages). The preliminary floor plan for the Chamber building is still being revised. Whitney McGregor has stepped down from the board; the board is looking for candidates to fill Whitney’s position. The minutes from the board meeting are going to be condensed and sent out to the membership so that they will have an idea of what is happening at the Chamber. A suggestion was made to see if we could include a link on the new website where the condensed minutes could be archived. An issue has arose with HST being charged on sponsorships; the Executive Committee is investigating whether Not-For-Profit organizations need to charge HST on sponsorships. Chamber membership has been increasing.

Treasurer’s Report

Matt Montague gave the Treasurer’s Report (included in board packages). Everything is consistent with last year’s numbers. Expenses are in line with what they should be. Outstanding revenues consist of memberships, business excellence and golf.

Committee Reports

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  • Marketing Committee: Ron Laroche has drafted a letter for the Bridging Opportunity signs regarding advertising. It was suggested to have generic signs created for when we have blank spaces on the signs. The cost to refurbish the signs is $16,000. Ron discussed the flyer to go out to members first, and then it will be opened to the community. The Marketing Committee will be meeting with the Finance Committee to discuss the funding for the sign renovations. Chantielle at CIK Marketing is currently working on the website refresh. Tina will be sending out letters to past newsletter advertisers.
  • Membership Committee: The business listing was printed for the committee with non-members. There will be two different packages created; packages for non-members and packages for past members. It was suggested to do a director’s drive one day with packages going out to non-members prior to the Membership Fair.
  • Special Events Committee: Gloria Tulp discussed the Community After 5 events. July and September are the only ones open. Gloria thinks she might have July booked; she asked if the membership committee was still planning on the Membership Fair for September.
  • Business Excellence Committee: Kelly Hetherington discussed the upcoming Business Excellence Gala. Things are moving along nicely. Door prize sponsors are down from last year. A travel voucher from Karyon will be the big door prize this year. Ticket sales are always last minute.
  • Golf Committee: John Ritchie discussed the golf tournament. Barb Noorenberghe has joined the golf committee. To date we have 3 team sponsors. Calls will be made to other past sponsors.

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New Business

Carmen McGregor is starting a Toastmasters Club. They will be having a meeting on April 24th at the Black Goose. Their meetings will be on a biweekly basis.

Next board meeting – May 9, 2012 – 7:30 AM – The Black Goose