Chamber of Commerce Board Meeting – July 14, 2011
Attendees:
Christy Rookard Shelli Robb-Kahler Deon Kapetan
Marc Lawrence Bill Littlejohn Scott Clausen
Ron Farquhar Steve Perry Vickie Oen
Lisa Bridge Deborah Rambo-Sinn Jim McIntire
Ron Gilles Ken Hays Marissa Haner
Jean Wyatt
The meeting was called to order by Christy Rookard at approximately 7:30am. The first order of business was to have the picture taken of the board with the Incredible Edible Festival Fork. This picture will become part of the photo album being created to help market the fork in the “Fork About Town” campaign.
The motion to accept the minutes from the June meeting was made by Ron Gilles and seconded by Marc Lawrence. Ron had one correction to those minutes. The reference to him attending a meeting in Olympic should be changed to reflect that the meeting was held in Olympia. The minutes were then accepted.
The motion to accept the financials as sent out was made by Bill Littlejohn and seconded by Scott Clausen. The financials were then accepted.
President’s Report: Christy reported how busy she saw things at the Visitor Information Center on Tuesday when she was there. She has also heard around town many of the events and businesses directing people to the VIC for more information. She remarked that it is good to see this reliance on the VIC. She also reported that a lot of activity has been going on with the Incredible Edible Festival in the last few weeks.
Partner Reports:
Jim McIntire:
Jim mentioned that if you have any ideas for projects for the east end of the county that he would like to get them. They are working on the budget for next year.
He talked about how vital Kenmore is to the viability of the business community, both the current business community but to be able to attract new industry and businesses to the peninsula.
Jim was asked about the pausing of exporting of wood products to China. He explained that it is expected to be temporary until China catches up with the shipments they have already received.
When asked about the Guy Cole center, he mentioned that there are no current discussions underway between the port and city to help with upgrades.
Jim mentioned that there are many opportunities for non-franchise businesses to come to this area and we should be going after that market. These are people who have businesses elsewhere and want to come to this area and recreate that business here. It was suggested that Jim come to the next Business and Retention committee meeting (3rd Tuesday of each month) to discuss these opportunities and how we can help. He would like to see Jeff Robb invited as well.
Lisa Bridge:
Lisa mentioned that the market got off to a slow start because of the weather, but that they had a great July 4th weekend. Last weekend was also good, so they are expecting the upward trend to have started. They will be open Sat and Sun this weekend during Lavender Weekend.
The market has been having issues with ASCAP regarding music copyright issues. The market now has a contract with the city that resolves this issue and allows the market to return that money to their budget.
Their sponsorship drive is starting. If you are interested in sponsoring the market, contact Lisa. The market is looking for ways to connect with businesses and believe that sponsorship is one of those methods. They are looking for other ideas and Lisa mentioned trying to meeting with Shelli to see how the chamber can help them.
Ken Hays:
The downtown plan was approved and he expects to see the ordinance presented at the next regular meeting. Based on discussions with owners in the area of Seal Street, they updated the language to indicate shared use of Seal Street.
The sign ordinance has passed. It was out of compliance with state and federal regulations.
The Consulate General from Japan will be here for the opening ceremonies of the Lavender Farm Faire. The ceremony will be at noon on Friday at the outdoor stage.
Steve Burkett and Ken attended the IEDC meeting in Spokane, where Ken moderated a session on community engagement.
The city has approved city funding of the Music and Movies along with business partners. Monies for a partnership with OTA to provide monthly movies at OTA starting in the fall has been approved and he expects to see a draft schedule soon.
Ken mentioned that they are considering 3 locations in the downtown area for the location of city hall. He is hopeful that a decision will be made by the end of summer.
It appears that the annexation with Battelle is back on track and he expects to see the application by the end of the year. A board tour was suggested of Battelle and we will try to get that arranged. Christy mentioned that in her brief discussion with Charlie Brandt he talked about how difficult it is for interns they bring to Battelle to find housing during that internship. Ron Gilles will follow up on that issue with him.
Executive Director Report (Shelli)
The VIC has really seen an increase in visitors. This is partly due to Lavender weekend but also the beginning of tourist season.
The VIC budget, which is due to be submitted to the City on July 20th, has been Shelli’s main focus the last few weeks.
In addition to the budget, she has been working with the Merchant’s group to put together a plan for the $10,000 that was approved by the city and LTAC for 2011. This will include a downtown fun map and triangle shaped banners to be put on the poles during the time when the flower baskets and Christmas lights are not mounted on the poles. She is working with the group for a proposal to LTAC for funds for 2012 as well. Shelli was asked if these banners would have any words or advertising on them. It was suggested that they could be like the banners that are on Hwy 101 from Quilcene to Brinnon. She said the banners will be ordered without wording and they are considering adding that later. It may be a funding opportunity.
In the Gazette’s insert for Lavender weekend, page 15 includes the article that Shelli and the downtown merchants put together to let people know about what is happening this coming weekend. It is to encourage people to come to the downtown area in addition to the Lavender Festival and Lavender Farm Faire.
The July/August edition of the Sequim Year Round is out and was handed out to the board. A sneak peek of what is happening in September/October is included on the back page.
There was no OPTC meeting in July.
The next after hours will be on Tuesday, July 19th at the MAC.
There will be a ribbon cutting at the new Grocery Outlet on August 10th (5-7pm) for a soft opening. There grand opening will be on August 13th.
Shelli thanked the board members who have been able to attend recent ribbon cuttings. It is very encouraging to the businesses when they are well attended.
New Business: Budget
The budget to the city is due on July 20th. We are asking for $70,000, which is a 6% increase over 2011. This is to cover anticipated increased expenses for the Visitor Information Center. Additionally, we are presenting an addendum to the budget that would provide a method of funding information booth presence at tourism events. This would include services the city could request from the chamber and be funded on an as needed basis.
We noted the significant impact that the elimination of the Washington State Tourism office and funding will have on the VIC. Shelli mentioned that we are already seeing an increase in calls and support needed. It will be even more important in the future to have the visitor center presence, along with presence at other events.
Jean moved that we accept this budget and Scott seconded. 2 members (Deborah and Marc) abstained from voting until they see a copy of the budget. They will provide their vote by email.
Ken would like to meet with us regarding the budget so that he understands it better and can help to support it with Steve and the city council. Shelli will schedule this and include Christy, Jean, and Scott.
New Business: Website
The new website will launch on July 21st. Jean passed around a copy of the design approved for the website. This new website will provide a more reliable, visually appealing site for the chamber. There is a meeting on Tuesday to talk about the site, and especially to draft the communication with the members regarding the site.
Jean will provide information to the Gazette about the new site by Tuesday morning so that it can go into the Gazette on Wednesday.
Ken mentioned that the city is developing a new website as well and this will include a new tourism page.
Committee Reports
Irrigation Festival: Deon and Princess Marissa Haner
Marissa talked about the parades they have been to so far this year, including Marysville, which is the first nighttime parade. We got the Friendship Award at Marysville.
We received the Queens Award at Port Orchard, First Place (also called the Mayor’s Award) at Forks and the Queen’s Award at McCleary last weekend.
The next parade is Seattle Hi-Yu and then SeaFair. They do 14 parades this year.
Deon talked about the upcoming volunteer picnic and invited the chamber board. This will be on August 28th and she requests an RSVP.
The festival is in the black financially for the 2011 season. It will help us to put some money back into the reserves.
She will begin working on the contract with the city for next year.
Deon recently met with the city to discuss issues from the 2011 festival and permit issues. They expressed some concern over the closing of Washington Street for the Merchant Street Fair. It was suggested that the chamber board meet with the city council to talk about areas we work together on and their philosophy of the use of downtown and how it fits with the new downtown plan. She will be working to do the permits earlier and alleviate some of these issues next year.
Biz to Biz: Deborah Rambo-Sinn
Deborah handed out sponsorship forms for the Biz to Biz. It was noted that a sponsorship includes a table at the event.
Deborah is also working with Peninsula College to fund a new piano. Let her know if you are interested in helping.
Membership: Bill Littlejohn
We have 5 new members:
Martha Lane Lavender
Reality Realtors
Sequim Grocery Outlet
Sequim - Port Angeles Storage Solutions, LLC
Wind Rose Cellars
We have lost 3 members:
Nancy’s Fashions
Freedom Financial Coaching
Inn at Port Hadlock
Bill asked if we needed to hold a workshop for the board to talk about how to approach potential members and also to review the benefits of membership so that it can be discussed.
Deborah has a mockup of the new brochure. When sent out the only comment back was to include some photos. Shelli will send Deborah some ribbon cutting photos. Jean will take pictures at the after hours at the MAC and send those to her.
Bill noted that we are ahead of projections for membership but that we need to continue to be very active to get new members.
Luncheons: Steve Perry
The next luncheon will have Shari Ioffrida, Clallam County Fair Manger Fair along with the fair royalty.
Eric Lewis from OMC will present in August and Lisa Bridge will present at the last luncheon in August. It is expected that some of the vendors will come to that meeting.
Marc suggested that they look at some candidates for a meeting, perhaps for county commissioner. Steve will look into that for an October meeting. The rest of the luncheons are scheduled.
Bill suggested that we arrange with Sunland to always have a salad served at the luncheons. That way people can have salad if they are not interested in the entrée.
Ways and Means: Jean Wyatt
No further report beyond discussion of the budget and website.
Fundraising: Joe Borden
Joe was not in attendance at the meeting, but we quickly discussed the work he is doing regarding the bricks. He is looking at 2 plans – 1) bricks as the façade for pillars on the sign, and 2) bricks in the area with the water wheel.
Legislative: Ron Gilles
He was in a 4 hour Shoreline meeting last Tuesday, and there are 2 workshops today. He encourages private property owners to attend those and to get involved. The workshops today were at 1-3:30 and 5:30 to 8.
Business & Retention: Bill Thomas
Bill was not in attendance, but we talked about what an important committee this one is. Marc suggested that someone from the city/city council be a member of this committee. It was suggested that this committee gain more focus.
Visitor Information Center: Scott Clausen
Scott talked about Joe’s plan for the bricks surrounding the pillars for the sign and its replacement (not new sign, just new location and pillars).
Shelli thanked Bill Littlejohn for his help with the landscaping around the VIC over the last few weeks. He has weeded, removed the dead tree, replaced sod and more. Thanks also to Emily Westcott and Jeri & Ron Smith for weeding and to Marty Kahler for removing the dead lavender and weeding at the VIC entrance. It looks great for the upcoming Lavender Weekend.
Marc suggested that the Rotary may have a picnic table that could be put in the area where the tree was pulled. Bill said he has talked to the sprinkler person about putting a new sprinkler head in the area of the new sod.
Shiso Sister City: Ron Farquahar
Japan’s Consulate General is coming this Friday for the Lavender Faire. He is bringing his family and 2 staff members. The staff members will be manning a table at the Sister City Garden to provide information about the sister city program.
During the last week of September our sister city is sending over 14 students and 3 chaperones. We will be working on sending kids next year.