June 2023 Newsletter - Community Connections

Board of Directors Officers:
Chair
Joe Evans
Mayo Clinic Health
Systems
Vice Chair
Aaron Speltz
Hy-Vee
Board of Directors:
Rick Ash
United Hospital
District
John Christ
Kahler Automation
Mike Christians
Green Mill
Sara Cyphers
D & S Trophies
Nicole Johnston
Visit Fairmont
Staff:
Mission Statement: The Fairmont Area Vision Chamber Statement: of Commerce The Fairmont is an advocate Area for Chamber promoting of a healthy Commerce business will climb
Past Chair
Keith Hoye
KSUM and KFMC
Radio
Treasurer
Vonnie Cone
ReMax Total Realty
Marsha Leschefske
Booj Boutique
Jeff Militello
Militello Motors
Blake Potthoff
Fairmont Opera
House, Inc.
Jeff Rouse
Destination Small
Town
Kandi Menne
President
president@fairmontchamber.org
Rachel Manwarren
Finance Director
finance@fairmontchamber.org
Sydney Andrews
Office Manager
info@fairmontchamber.org
Contact Information:
Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce
323 East Blue Earth Avenue
P.O. Box 826
Fairmont, MN 56031
Phone: (507) 235-5547
www.FairmontChamber.org
Added Value
Kandi Menne: President, Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce
Its hard to believe that it is
June already! The time of the year
when we pause some of our regular
Chamber meetings and events and
transition to a summer schedule
that brings a whole new level of
Chamber membership engagement
opportunities.
A few opportunities include: 2 golf outings.
The Chamber Golf Outing in June & Pork Masters
Golf Outing in July, also, look for the Chambers
“boat float “during the IHD parade and our nonprofit
booth during the Martin County Fair. And,
did you know that the Chamber of Commerce Ag
Committee hosts the Blue-Ribbon Pork Cook-Off
held during the Fair? We are working on securing
restaurants to prepare tasty pork dishes to temp your
taste buds! Tickets are on sale now at the Chamber
of Commerce.
A committee for
Fairmont Area Life (FAL)
launched a new FAL website
in January with an open
house. As a follow up
we are hosting a morning session Tuesday June 13
at SMEC with an 8:00 am networking and 8:30 am
learning session. We invite everyone to come and
learn how you can collaborate with us by submitting
information on your events to be included on the
FAL Facebook page and website, learn about blogs
and if you haven’t already – experience the FAL
website fairmontarealife.com
This cutting-edge website is extremely userfriendly
and has things from what to do, to how to
volunteer and so much more! Tabs with drop downs
for food & drink, shopping, arts and entertainment,
outdoors, activities, Life, Non-Profits, Fairmont
and Blogs. If you ever had any doubts that “there
is nothing to do in Fairmont” visiting this site will
CHANGE your MIND! Re-discover Fairmont and
check out this website or the FAL Facebook page
today.
We are actively taking applications for
Leadership Martin County program which will start
in September. We limit it to only twenty participants
so I encourage you to apply now. Contact the
Chamber! This program is held very other year
and is a nine-month, deep dive into community
leadership. They meet once a month for a full day
of leadership education and further education on
specific areas of our community.
Leadership Martin County is a program
designed to enable candidates to learn about Martin
County resources, values, strengths, weak-nesses,
and challenges. A learning experience geared toward
providing an in-depth look at eight key elements of
our community; education, economic development,
government, healthcare, public safety, quality of life,
agriculture, and culture & diversity. This program
provides opportunities for candidates to exchange
ideas, build networks and begin the process of
identifying and solving important community issues.
Representing the Fairmont Area
Chamber of Commerce, I will be part of a steering
committee that is working on the Workforce issue
in Martin County. In my communications with
area Chamber of Commerce’s we know is that we
are not unique to workforce shortages. With these
connections my goal is to share what others have
already done to bridge the gap while brainstorming
with other local organizations on the workforce
issue.
Another area of work is “Hispanic Voices
in Martin County”. There are plans for an event in
late August, we will keep you informed with all the
details.
At the Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce
we never stop working! With the school year coming
to an end we just wrapped up Junior Achievement
in our schools and will be re purposing kits in
2