Jefferson County Chamber: Minutes for 10/20/15

Meeting Called to Order at 4:43

Attendance:

Present: Rob Birman, Kris Nelson, Rebecca Benjamin, Shelli Cates, Karen Best, Jennefer Wood, Katherine Baril, Teresa Verraes. Jordan Eades, Dominic Svornich, Case Gribble; Director Teresa Verraes Excused:David Faber, Austin Henry, Rob Storey, Karen Ridings,Adam Brade

Absent: Kevin Scott, Karen Best,

Resignations Heather Bailey, Susan Windle, Amanda Funaro (resignations accepted with regret)

Leadership updates:

1) Jordan Eades assumed the leadership role of President

2) Introduction of new member: Sarah Hadlock from Business Guides, new Vice chair of Finance

3) Magdalene Adeneau hired by Chamber for 10 hours a week- works 30 hours at EDC - Magdalene is a returning PT high school grad, worked at WSU and has expertise in social marketing- she is a Rotary Sunshine member and hosts their international exchange program

Bright Spots from Board members:

(Casey Gribble) planning to open a tasting and live music business in Discovery Bay (Rebecca- NOSC celebrating its 25th anniversary- rather then contract out restoration work they are hiring and now have 7 full time employees and 6 restoration crew employees doing salmon stream restoration including a $3 million project at Discovery Bay rechanneling estuary and restoring ecosystem. (Kris Nelson) City council approved legislation for vacation rentals unanimously- regs will be developed for this spring public process. (Shelley Cates) Edward Jones sponsored a UGN Day of Caring team. Kevin Scott) Paper mill is in final installation of a $10.5 million new technology scrubber. nominated for a national environmental management award, (Rob Birman) 250 attended most recent ukulele up to 70 years old- GALA is sold out. (Dominic Savornich) Kitsap bank has $1 billion in assets, hosting a business competition. (Katherine) Marine science center collaborated with Maritime Center for three year grant and received $58,000 at their fundraiser, Collective impact hosted a meeting on young professional needs for affordable housing,

Director's Report- overall flat on budget- fewer liabilities in 2015 than 2014-total gap in membership estimated to be $30,000 - memberships expect to come at end of year- service contracts are solid- relation cost more and diverted staff from membership revenue- Executive board is meeting with City and David Falber is attorney representing Chamber. 96% of income year to date- doing a great job managing expenses- payroll there is a significant cost saving in project. Annual Report- due in December- Teresa will work on it-

2015 - Tasks: November membership survey completed

2016 Timeline

January new board-

February - retreat

March- Business Leader event

April- YPN

May-

June

July - Chamber sponsored Old fashioned July 4

2016 Prioirites:

1) Rebrand YPN? high interest and visibility with this program,

2) Update Strategic Plan- Continuous Improvement- Update strategies and progress- Staff is tired and overcommitted- need to get some relief so can be high energy- Strategic planning was the skill of the highest number of board members in our Board matrix- contact Casey to help us with one page update- Things to consider- wait till get membership survey results- try to meet with key sponsors that we need to really keep- Port Ludlow, the paper mill, the hospital, the leader.

3) Redo committees: need more active board or membership engagement- e.g. membership? lunches?

Business Leader of the Year Event

Committee Chair is Kris Nelson, assisted by staff Laura Brekenridge- committee members are Rob Birman, Katherine Baril, and we need more!

its about 4 months to plan and implement this event- had great energy in 2014, full house thanks to Susan Windle's hard work- invite YPN? ambassadors? Big event for the Board so rely on the board!

Laura has an event notebook . core group with a nomination committee- key actions are

1) the event itself, 2) the sponsorship $$ , 3) the nominations committee, t4) he keynote speaker contact.

need to get a list of potential sponsorships- Jordan will hair the nominating committee and process

try to invite Governor Inslee to attend and ancillary tours- ferry, Fort Worden, Schools, Mill

Next meeting:

1) Discuss changing time of Board meeting- end of day may be too low energy

Lunch? breakfast? Move lunch meetings around the county- fort worden? port ludlow? get same 40 people at lunch, right people?

2) Membership Meetings in 2016? what changes might we consider? monthly? biweekly? move the meetings around the County? could rent Centrum Vans to move people to meetings around the County ? should have a regular schedule so people’s calendars are correct- more motivational topics? meeting/ speakers/ programs/ small group discussions/ have different formats different weeks? could be more engaging ,Subway food? think outside the box- break up the status quo and have weekly meeting at different location every week? what changes?

3) Update on status of 501c3 discussions?