Minutes – February 9th, 2021

CHAMBER/MAIN STREET BOARD MEETING

February 9, 2021 – 7:00 a.m.

Present: Lisa Davis, Jason Knox, Jamie Hoey, Tiffany Johansen, Rick Trumm, Tracy Johnson, Garrett Crandall (left early), Mallory Hanson, Kennon Gumm (left early)

Guests:

Absent: Chris DeBack

1. Organization/Operations (Recurring)
   1. Meeting was called to order at 7:00 a.m. by President Jason Knox.
   2. Rick motioned to approve the agenda; Kennon seconded it; approved by all.
   3. January’s meeting minutes were reviewed and motioned to approve by Rick; seconded by Jason; approved by all.
   4. January’s finances were presented, and discussion was held. Very straightforward. Chamber Bucks now has a separate account to hold finances individually. We had a loss of $1400 in January. We need to get memberships going.
2. Board Topics (Recurring)
   1. Committee communication and information needed for MSI reports was discussed. Key information to track is volunteer hours for the report. If you can include the volunteer hours in the committee meeting minutes, that would be the easiest. Also, monitor the hours within an action plan for each task.
   2. Summary Expense Reporting: Tiffany will email out the form.
   3. Cleaning Services: our current cleaning lady isn’t doing the cleaning like she used to and sometimes comes at inconvenient times. Tiffany and Lisa will communicate to her what we are expecting and explain we are going to use NFV kids as well for work experience. Garrett will work on a schedule for the kids as well. Jason motioned; Rick seconded; all approved.
   4. Consider Economic Vitality Initiatives: Garrett motioned; Jamie seconded; all approved for this committee to move ahead with the following initiatives.
      1. Seminars for business (educational topics presented by local providers)- potential NFV Sparks support videotaping to post on-line. Tracy mentioned website, Google analytics, social media, etc. trainings be in-person doing walk-through.
      2. Website Content/Directory

• Promoting West Union business by other business program- for example, have restaurant brochures in other businesses

1. Happy Hour / Chamber After 5 Concept

3. Membership/Investment Drive (Recurring)
   1. Investments/Contributions/Donations- Jason needs to send out the letter for review. Rick got ahold of KOEL, and they are doing a match $500 membership. They are looking at a town tour promotion (maybe Euphoria or Unionland could be featured or the SXS or Summer Fest time). KVIK is looking at coming to Summer Fest June 5 KCTN and KVIK have also agreed to be in-kind sponsor.
4. Director Report
   1. Lisa getting oriented to all the various things of the job. Getting ready for MSI orientation training, Main Street Now on-line, etc. Working on Redtail. Tiffany and Lisa working on a Director Update template to email to the Board.
   2. Open House Wednesday, February 10, 3-6. Food has been ordered. Jamie will be there at the beginning to get food setup. Lisa will ensure the Chamber is picked up and tables ready. All Board members should swing by to ensure there is always a Board member there.
5. Main Street Accreditation (Recurring)
   2021. Accreditation- Carol will be coming to explain information to Lisa regarding accreditation letter and reporting/focus for 2021.
6. Committee Reports- send minutes, action plans, meeting information, etc. to the Board and Director. Need to vote as a Board using the committee’s motion.
   1. Promotions (Chris DeBack)- meeting next week.
   2. Design & Business (Jamie Hoey)- goals include: window displays (Jamie has reached out to Lisa/Jayde); contractors’ reference book (Ec. Vitality and Board is working on a business listing but we want to include contractors); business classes & Business After 5 moved to Ec. Vitality; design standards (Jon is working on these); all others have been cancelled or pushed to 2022.
   3. Economic Vitality (Jason Knox)- see above.
   4. Organization (Garrett Crandall/Rick Trumm)- meeting in March to get everything finalized for the SXS.
   5. Ad-Hoc Building Committee (Jason, Garrett, Kennon)- heating issue per Jason’s email. Power in the building was half working, and he called an electrician. The problem is in the meter connection. He is arranging with Alliant to check but he ensured we had electric. He will be coming to check on the outlets. Tiffany will call Boone’s about plowing driveway and clearing porch.
   6. Ad-Hoc Sparks (Jamie, Tiffany, Chris)- Lisa and Tracy meeting with them this afternoon. NFV is working to expand college offerings with NICC and UIU. We can move this committee to Lisa and Tracy as they are working directly with them.
   7. Ad-Hoc DLO (Rick, Kennon)- none
   8. Management (Tiffany, Tracy)- website training for Lisa and Tracy today.
   9. Fayette County Economic Development – NEI Tourism Association is sponsoring an IA State Fair Booth. The Association is sharing monitoring the booth at the fair. Fayette County has 3 days (9 a.m. – 9 p.m.) and is asking cities to come promote their city for a day with the only cost to the city is mileage and hotel. FCED is picking up the other costs associated. August 12-14. Jason motioned to have an answer by the next meeting; Rick seconded; all approved.
   10. City- busy. Working on budgets. Deciding on what to do with the golf course; contact with council members if you have ideas. Ideas include keeping it as a golf course for the year while waiting for trails to work out. Other ideas include $10/water bill for free use of swimming pool/golf course or sell golf course and keep trail property. City is going to need to decide this month. We have an aging infrastructure. Gamm’s building sold to another business.
7. For good of order- none.

Motion by Jamie to adjourn at 8:08 a.m.; Tiffany seconded it; adjourned.

Next meeting – Work Group: Thursday, February 11 at 8 a.m. for business listing. Tiffany will send a zoom.

Work Group: February 23 meeting- membership drive

Going forward, we will cancel the second meeting each month now and only meet as needed. Strategic Plan & 2020/21 Action Plans will need to be a meeting.

Submitted by Jamie Hoey, Secretary