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Jamie Larson gave our invocation while Keith Olson was our song leader. Zach Stach acknowledged those that joined him helping out at the United Way the previous Thursday, specifically Wally Cole, Dave Johnson and Hal Leland. Randy Kempfer reported on the success of the book distribution the prior week. Club members were asked to sign up to invite members of the ministerial association, church youth directors, etc., to our meeting the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, November 24th (only four have signed up so far to bring five guests). We need a food count as soon as possible, so please sign up at tomorrow's meeting or e-mail robert@russelllawoffice.com with your guest count if you didn't or can't get signed up at one of our meetings. It was reported that Bonnie Denzel, Hal Leland and Bob Russell participated in the virtual Fergus Falls College Foundation Scholarship recognition event, also held the previous Thursday, and that we heard a little from Jourdan Fischer who is this year's recipient of the Wes Waage Rotary Memorial Scholarship. We also learned of a Pints for Polio fundraiser at Fergus Brewing on December 4, 2021, with more information to follow. Group 2 has now determined its name will be the Golden Guys so we can only expect a medal winning performance in recruiting new members to the club. For brags and fines, Buzz Lundeen paid for forgetting to turn off his cell phone and not hearing it when it rang; Brian Tjaden promoted Pie Day, as reported on in last week's e-Rounds, passing around a sign-up sheet to get a pie in exchange for a donation that will go to the Splash Pad; Jake Hexum was happy about other members contributing $700 to the Guatemala project he is working on through Engineers Without Borders; Katie Johnson paid a scooter buck, as did Keith Olson, who also reported on a visit he and his son made to the family cabin up north and reading to Wally Cole's granddaughter when he visited her class the prior week (which Wally Cole appreciated). Anthony Nordan proclaimed his wife awesome and announced the Salvation Army Kettle kick-off scheduled for November 19th. Randy Kempfer reported his son Henry utilized the third grade dictionary he received from our club. Finally, this writer told a story on himself related to trying to get a picture into these e-Rounds, but the details won't be repeated here in an effort to avoid a written history of one's failings. Our speaker was Lisa Workman, Executive Director of the Fergus Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, having served in that capacity since 2007 (the two years prior to that on the Chamber's Board). Lisa took us through the 135 years the Chamber has been in existence. It was established in 1886 when 16 business members adopted articles of organization; at one time it was called the Civic and Commerce Association. In the 1930's the organization had 346 members and 15 committees, while today it has 375 members and two committees. It was in the 1950's when the name was changed to the Chamber of Commerce and it was also when the Chamber's building was constructed, at an original cost of $12,000. In the 1970's and 80's the Chamber received $30,000 to $50,000 a year from the City to do economic development and it was a time when the Chamber also offered a student employment service. The 1990's to 2000's was a down time when the organization had to take loans from the City to survive, but the 2000's also saw the development of the Chamber's website and the start of the Fergus Bucks promotion. There are over one million visits to the Chamber's website calendar each year. With respect to the immediate past, 37 new businesses have joined the Chamber in the last 12 months. When COVID hit, the Chamber shifted to an economic recovery mode, giving out 15,000 masks to businesses last summer. Over the last five years, 160 new businesses have opened that are still in existence today. Lisa will take prospective employees of different local companies on tours of our community. Back to Fergus Bucks, in 2020, over $140,000 were sold and they can be used in 434 different locations; they have about a 75% redemption rate. The renovation that was fairly recently completed to the building cost $300,000 and of that only a $22,000 loan balance remains outstanding. Lois Josefson Russell complimented Lisa and her staff on the great work they do at the Chamber. That staff also includes LeeAnn Barrett as Membership Assistant, Jennifer Fronning as Operations Coordinator and Emily Frustol as Communications Coordinator. |
