Chamber Newsletter - February 2019
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Chair<br />
Sara Pierce<br />
Pierce Accounting<br />
and Tax Services<br />
Vice Chair<br />
Deb Barnes<br />
Lakeview Methodist<br />
Health Care Center<br />
Mission Statement: The Fairmont Area <strong>Chamber</strong> of Commerce is an advocate for promoting a healthy business clim<br />
Board of Directors Officers:<br />
Board of Directors:<br />
Stephanie Busiahn<br />
Visit Fairmont<br />
Dave Cone<br />
Kahler Automation<br />
Corporation<br />
Brandon<br />
Edmundson<br />
Krahmer, Shaffer<br />
& Edmundson, Ltd<br />
Nicole Gries<br />
Valero Renewables<br />
Staff:<br />
Past Chair<br />
Les Anderson<br />
Martin County<br />
Farm Bureau<br />
Treasurer<br />
DeAnn Eversman<br />
Dee’s Floral &<br />
Designs<br />
Judy Gustafson<br />
U.S. Bank<br />
Teresa Haycraft<br />
Fairmont Ford<br />
John Kasper<br />
Graffiti Corner<br />
Steve Pomerenke<br />
Compeer Financial<br />
Blake Potthoff<br />
Fairmont Opera<br />
House, Inc.<br />
Ned Koppen<br />
President<br />
president@fairmontchamber.org<br />
Kandi Menne<br />
Office Manager/Director of<br />
Communications<br />
info@fairmontchamber.org<br />
Benjamin Landsteiner<br />
Marketing & Social Media<br />
Coordinator<br />
benjamin@fairmontchamber.org<br />
Miranda Larsen<br />
Finance Coordinator<br />
finance@fairmontchamber.org<br />
Contact Information:<br />
Fairmont Area <strong>Chamber</strong> of Commerce<br />
323 East Blue Earth Avenue<br />
P.O. Box 826<br />
Fairmont, MN 56031<br />
Phone: (507) 235-5547<br />
www.Fairmont<strong>Chamber</strong>.org<br />
Young Professionals Network<br />
By: Ned Koppen - <strong>Chamber</strong> President<br />
The Fairmont Area <strong>Chamber</strong><br />
of Commerce always strives to improve<br />
and support the business<br />
community in Fairmont and Martin<br />
County. Our vision statement<br />
reads: “To be recognized as the<br />
leader in assisting area businesses<br />
to prosper.” A big part of what we do as a<br />
<strong>Chamber</strong> for our membership is to provide<br />
a number of Committees within the <strong>Chamber</strong><br />
to allow work, participation,<br />
networking and more on a<br />
monthly or seasonal schedule.<br />
“The group hopes<br />
to provide an<br />
opportunity for<br />
young people in the<br />
work place to meet<br />
other young working<br />
people, share their<br />
common experiences,<br />
and offer learning<br />
and community<br />
experiences.”<br />
Our committees are Agri-Business,<br />
Ambassadors, Bureau<br />
14, Business Education,<br />
Fairmont Glows, Government<br />
Affairs and Retail. These committees<br />
do work within their<br />
groups. They provide service<br />
to the community and offer a<br />
chance for individual businesses<br />
to come together and develop<br />
relationships, stay informed<br />
and share thoughts, opinions<br />
and information.<br />
The <strong>Chamber</strong> is working<br />
on creating another group<br />
which will provide a chance to<br />
build relationships, gain skills<br />
and knowledge, and give back<br />
to the community. There will<br />
be a new Young Professionals<br />
Network starting in <strong>February</strong>. The group will<br />
meet every 3rd Thursday of each month from 4:00<br />
– 6:00 p.m. The group hopes to provide an opportunity<br />
for young people in the work place to meet<br />
other young working people, share their common<br />
experiences, and offer learning and community experiences.<br />
Each event will be unique. The meeting<br />
places will vary from month to month. Some meetings<br />
will be completely social with other meetings<br />
offering insights to our community through education<br />
or visits to places of interest and importance.<br />
We are looking for a younger age group<br />
from our <strong>Chamber</strong> membership (but wouldn’t oppose<br />
other members who want to attend). The<br />
Young Professional Network will be a functioning<br />
committee of the <strong>Chamber</strong> and will be led by two<br />
Martin County professionals who have offered up<br />
the idea of forming this group and are willing<br />
to put in the effort to get it up and running.<br />
Jarod Mathiason of Supreme Lending<br />
will serve as the Chair of the<br />
committee with Dustin Tino<br />
of Minuteman Press serving as<br />
the Secretary.<br />
You may have received an<br />
email that was sent to our<br />
<strong>Chamber</strong> listing promoting<br />
the event with a sign up form<br />
attached. To join, fill out the<br />
fields on the form and send it<br />
back to the <strong>Chamber</strong>. If you<br />
didn’t see the email, contact us<br />
and we will send it to you. Our<br />
first meeting will be <strong>February</strong><br />
21st at Bean Town from 4:00-<br />
6:00 p.m. and we hope to see as<br />
many young people from our<br />
business community as possible.<br />
If you are an employer, this is<br />
a great opportunity to encourage<br />
your young professionals<br />
to get out into the community<br />
to meet new people and to become more fully engaged<br />
in the community they work in. There is no<br />
fee to join, it only requires taking the time once<br />
a month. Also, if you are an employer, there is a<br />
chance to support this group by sponsoring the<br />
committee.<br />
This is a great chance to make the most of<br />
your <strong>Chamber</strong> membership, meet people with a<br />
similar work experience and engage with the business<br />
community in a way you might not have before.<br />
We hope to see you<br />
2<br />
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