Highlights of the February 2013 Chamber Minutes

from President, Carmen McGregor

President’s Report

Carmen reported on the minutes of the Executive meeting (included in package). The date of the February Business after Hours has changed to February 28th. There will be quite a few Chatham people in attendance, so it would be nice to have a good turnout from the directors. Tina will send out an email with details.
The committees are working on their 2013 budgets. They should be in to the Finance committee by February 25th, so the Finance committee can review before the next Board meeting. Tina to email the committee chairs with deadline.

Treasurer’s Report

Matt Montague gave the treasurer’s report (included in package). Matt did not do a cash flow report in December as there were no changes. Looking at the December profit & loss reports we made it through the year. Looking at January’s report; we won’t have true numbers until the year-end is completed. There is nothing out of the ordinary for expenses. The revenues are still too early to determine as it doesn’t include the different special events (eg. Golf, Business after Hours and Business Excellence).

Committee Reports

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  • Business Excellence/Special Events Committee: Gloria Tulp reported on the minutes from the Business Excellence & Special Events meeting (included in package). The Membership Fair is tentatively booked at the CBD for October. Gloria looked into Bus Trips; with the cost of transportation and tickets the committee felt it was a lot of work for a small profit. It was suggested that Gloria call about a Toronto Blue Jays game and also to contact Doug Jackson with Ontario’s Fun Connection. Gloria discussed the Lunch & Learns; they will be done as they come up. The committee discussed the Christmas Gala and has decided to do a Business after Hours instead. An option was to have 3 or 4 smaller businesses co-host together at a bigger venue and do a toy drive type of event. Gloria will be getting in touch with Riverview and Precismeca. All nominations are in for the Business Excellence Awards and Tina will be making calls to all the nominees letting them know that a questionnaire will be going out. The deadline for food vendors is February 20. A custom chocolate mold was too expensive but Barb brought a sample. It was suggested to discuss it at the next Business Excellence meeting.
  • Golf Committee: Tina did a draft of the flyer and registration form for the golf tournament. It will be discussed at the next golf meeting on February 19th.
  • Marketing/Membership Committee: Ron reported on the minutes from the Marketing/Membership meeting. He is working on the budgets and will have it ready for the next meeting. The committee discussed the cost for signs in 2014 and it was suggested to keep it the same. Ron received an email from Randy stating that 10 ballasts are not working. It will cost approximately $1,400 to replace. The committee discussed the cost for advertising space on the website and it will remain the same. Temporary ads have been added to the bottom of the website. Ron discussed his Cheshire Media proposal. He would do 2 minute videos for Chamber members promoting their business. Ron would also do two videos for the Chamber at no charge; one done in the spring and one detailing the benefits of Chamber membership. Ron declared a conflict of interest and left while the board discussed it. The board felt it was a great idea for Chamber members and the timing is perfect right now. Tina did a draft of the Membership brochure. It will be discussed at the next meeting.

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New Business

Strategic Planning Session – Brad suggested the idea of having the committees meet for a Strategic Planning workshop to discuss short and long-term goals for the Chamber.

Next board meeting – March 13, 2013 – 4:00 PM – Chamber office