St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce 

April Minutes 2008

 Place:  First State Bank of St. Joseph
Date:    April 15, 2008
Sponsor:  First State Bank of St. Joseph

The meeting was called to order at 12:13 p.m. by President, Janelle Von Pinnon.  Von Pinnon greeted everyone and thanked them for hanging in there for this first quarter . She stated there are a lot of great things planned for the rest of the year.

 Introductions

Secretary’s Report:  Meeting minutes are being sent out by email to those individuals having email and by snail mail to those who do not.  If you are not getting them, please see Jean Dotzler.  In the future, the agenda will be sent out one week before the meeting.  A motion was made to approve the minutes by Troy Gunderson and seconded by Dennis Stueve.  All approved and the motioned carried.

 Treasurer’s Report:  Treasurer, Jane Litchy, presented the treasurer’s report and noted not much activity had taken place.  Sr. Miriam Ardolph  made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, Dr. Jerry Wetterling seconded it, all approved and the motion carried.

 By-Laws Review:  There was a short by-laws review reminding everyone there is one vote per membership no matter how many people from that business attend.  Only one person may vote.  Also, 10 percent of the membership must be in attendance for a quorum (right now that is about eight people).  Clarification was asked for if more than one person paid would there be more than one vote.  Yes, as stated, one vote for every paid membership.

 Top Four Priorities:  From the March brainstorming meeting, here are the top four priorities that we will need chairs and co-chairs for.

Increase status/significance of Chamber  - Chair:  Brenda Brown- CSB; co-chair Cory Ehlert-Edina Realty

Support an annual event

Hire support staff

Create “shop local”

 Some suggestions/notes on the above

Increase status/significance of Chamber – we should be involved in Habitat for Humanity.  Vendor at the Lake Wobegon Trail.

Support an annual event -  It was questioned whether or not we should limit our exposure to one event and if only one, how big/small did we want it to be

Hire support staff – there was some discussion about organizing a committee, no one volunteered.  Discussion continued about paying a person versus it being a volunteer position.  Later in the meeting it was decided the board should come up with the criteria for this position and make the decision as to who to hire. Ehlert offered to provide office space and a computer for the Chamber’s use. Also the chamber needs to elect a secretary for 2008 to have someone casting a ballot during board meetings. The hired staff would not receive a vote in any chamber business.

Membership:  There was some discussion on getting new Chamber members; if anyone was or wasn’t doing it.  It was noted we are not doing anything extra to obtain new members.  Jane Litchy noted Ken Jacobson had worked on getting new members while he was president and so had she while she was president.  It was noted if we wanted to move the chamber forward, we need to be proactive rather than reactive.  Janelle asked if anyone wanted to work on this and no one came forward. The issue of increasing the annual dues was brought up and a central location/computer for all the information was suggested for the hired staff or one of the board members.

 Holiday Lights:  Ken Jacobson noted the old holiday lights need replacement. Originally the Lions Club had purchased them and the St. Joseph Fire Department hung them. Jacobson noted most of them are hardly worth putting up any longer and they are in need of replacement. As part of the St. Joseph Fire Department, Jacobson is looking for money to start replacing them and suggested adding a box to the invoice for membership for voluntary donation. Greg Reinhart of the First State Bank said he felt this was a perfect project for the chamber. Jacobson said replacement lights are between $500 and $1,000 for the lamp posts and $2,500 or more for the ones that go across the street. After some discussion, Reinhart made a motion the chamber donate $1,000 per year to be put toward new holiday decorations, Ehlert seconded it, the majority approved and the motion carried.  Troy Gunderson opposed because he said no budget is yet in place to determine how much money the chamber has and if this amount is feasible. 

Von Pinnon entertained a motion to raise the annual membership dues from $75 a year to $85 a year.  Jean Dotzler seconded it and there was some discussion.  Chad Davey then amended the motion to increase the yearly membership dues to $100 per year, Corey Ehlert seconded it, all approved and the motion carried.

 Donation Requests :

Millstream Arts Festival  - Mary DeGiovanni, the Millstream Arts Festival chair, spoke about the festival and their plans for this year which included bringing in more artists and food vendors.  She requested  the same donation as last year ($700).  Troy Gunderson made a motion to approve the $700 donation, there was a second, but, the group was struggling with the process for these requests.  After more discussion, Dr. Jerry Wetterling made a motion to set aside $500, Gunderson seconded it. Jacobson asked if St. Joseph businesses were being included as food vendors and DeGiovanni said yes, they were being given the opportunity to participate.  The motion was then voted on, all approved and the motion carried.

 Dollars for Scholars – Doug Danielson of  First State Bank representing St. Joseph Area Dollars for Scholars noted we have participated for 12 years in the Dollars for Scholars giving two scholarships of $250 each. Davey made a motion to approve the two scholarships, Matt Kreuzer of Central Minnesota Federal Credit Union seconded it; all approved and the motion carried.

 Holocaust oratorio – there is an April 25 concert for the European trip. Four local students will be going on this trip. No request for funds was made.

 Standing Committees:

Lake Wobegon Trail Update – Molly Renslow was ill. Jane Litchy will be the chamber liaison for these meetings which take place in the spring, summer and fall.  The building fund is $10,708 in arrears. Some further discussion will need to take place and a committee formed on how to raise funds to cover this shortage.

 Upcoming Events:

Fireworks – Jane Litchy reported the cost for the 12-minute show was $5,000 with the St. Joseph Jaycees contributing $2,500 toward that cost.  She also suggested we add a box for voluntary donations to the membership invoice. 

Riverbats – Chad Davey from Edward Jones will chair this event and Matt Kreutzer will assist. The St. Joseph night will be in August.  The exact amount earned last year was not available. 

Teacher Recognition – This involves getting apples to each of the teachers at Kennedy and the St. Joseph Lab School in late August. Apples need to be prepped and delivered. Renslow was not in attendance, but, Margie Hughes was filling in for her and she said Molly would chair this.

 School Board Update – Diane Moeller stated the district was down to three finalists for the superintendent position. The new Kennedy school is on schedule. The community support has been phenomenal. They have had some exciting things happen with the attention the green spaces have received and the collaboration with CSB/SJU. The wind turban is now going up.

 City Representative Update – Judy Weyrens stated the city is working on a comprehensive plan and a master park plan.vCentraCare will be building on Highway 133 and 75. Work is being done on corridor facilities.

 Half-Cent Sales Tax Chamber Representative – There will be approximately $3 million in funds over the next three years in the half-cent-sales-tax fund.  At the city level, there is a core committee that will decide how those funds are spent and they would like a representative from the Chamber to be on that committee.vTroy Gunderson had been appointed at a previous meeting, but, there was some question as to that procedure.  Greg Reinhart was interested in representing the Chamber and had sent emails regarding this after the fact. Gunderson stated how he felt about these emails. After much discussion, Dotzler made a motion that anyone interested in representing the Chamber let Von Pinnon know and that it would be voted on at the next Chamber meeting. Sr. Joyce seconded it, all approved and the motion carried.

Announcements – Margie Hughes announced the Women’s Walk at the CSB campus.

Presentation  - First State Bank passed on their presentation due to the length of the meeting.

 Meeting adjourned at 1:28 p.m.

 Respectfully Submitted,

Jean Dotzler
Vice President
St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce