Chamber Board Nominates Candidates
Nine board members, whose terms are ending this December, agreed to serve another two years during the Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber of Commerce’s regular board meeting held Wednesday. The board also nominated two candidates – Noreen Black, who is with KeyBank, and Chip Erwin, who is with The Sleepy Owl – to fill current chamber president Kathy Boyts’ seat. Boyts is at her term limit, which prevents her from serving next year.
The two candidates’ names will appear along with the chamber’s annual banquet announcement, so chamber members can vote on which one will fill the seat as per the revised by-laws, which were also approved at the meeting.
Sylvia Gargett gave her report on the annual banquet and award committee’s progress. The chamber’s annual banquet, slated for Jan. 29, will be themed after “Syracuse Past, Present and Future” and will be catered by The Sleepy Owl, which had the winning bid. Gargett stated Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman will be the speaker.
For the banquet, the chamber is asking for different photos of Syracuse, preferably older ones. Those will be used for decoration. They are also looking for silent auction items. Ticket prices will be the same this year at $30; table sponsorships will be $200. This year will also have more awards, some of which had been cut last year in light of the economy.
Chad Jonsson gave a report on other chamber events. Syracuse Holiday Magic is Nov. 17. Jonsson stated they are still in need of volunteers to help Santa Claus as well as oversee the tables and sell tickets for the sleigh ride.
Jonsson noted other upcoming community events include Breakfast with Santa, Dec. 8, at the Syracuse Community Center; and the Winter Carnival, Jan. 25-26.
Allison Robie went over the 2012 membership. She asked all board members to adopt 10 members each; board members would then act as liaisons for their 10 members to the board as well as meet with them personally throughout the year.
While on the subject of membership, Robie asked board members to decide on whether they wished to maintain each currently comped members. The board voted to maintain most of them.
In other chamber news:
- Two new members were approved, namely Interra Credit Union and Curtis Smeltzer Graphic Design. Both businesses are new to the Syracuse area.
- Village Key is still up in the air, according to chamber executive director Tammy Cotton, though she noted several local business had begun to sign up.
- Cotton will continue to research ChamberMaster, in addition to WebLink, another similar program. She expects to have side by side price comparison at next meeting.
- Tom Tuttle, who is on the finance committee, asked the board to approve a 5 percent increase in the payroll category, which hasn’t been increased in 2 to 3 years. The motion carried.
- Richard Owen will be the speaker at the chamber’s networking luncheon, Nov. 14, at the Syracuse Community Center.
The next chamber meeting is slated for noon Wednesday, Dec. 5, at the chamber office.