
Our membership is small enough so that either I or a board member is able to do this at least once a year.
2. Continue work on the chamber's strategic plan.
The first meeting to develop a 5 year strategic plan was held in November. The chamber board and interested members will schedule another planning meeting this spring.
3. Grow our membership.
The more members we have, the more we can accomplish together. Our website alone brings measurable benefits to our members. Google stats for last month include 129 views of our shopping page, 195 views of our events page, 60 on the employment page, 129 on the blog which is available for member contributions and 1,893 total view of the website - http://www.granitefallschamber.com/. The chamber increases our online presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. I'm available to help our members with social media or set up a website. As well as business memberships, we offer home -based business and individual memberships.
4. Improve our daycare options in Granite Falls.
This issue is a problem in many rural areas and affects recruitment and current employees. This affects where new residents choose to live and purchase a house. It's the focus of the Yellow Medicine County Economic Development task force that did the housing survey last year. Also, it’s a priority for the Southwest Initiative Foundation. Working together with these organizations, I want to see a daycare center and more home daycare providers in our town.
5. Work toward more coordination between organizations.
We have many non-profits doing great things in Granite Falls. The chamber is the vehicle to coordinate these efforts. I am already on the board of the Neighbor's United Food Shelf and the Granite Falls Historical Society and have written successful grants for both organizations. I'm a member of the Chemical Health Coalition, Act on Alzheimer’s committee, Friends of Minnesota West, Kiwanis and Granite Falls Riverfront Revitalization.
6. Increase our tourism industry.
The whitewater park project and heritage tourism are two areas that have a huge potential to bring visitors to our town. I'm a member of the Southern Minnesota Tourism Marketing Committee, Western Minnesota Prairie Waters board, and the MN River Valley Scenic Byway Alliance.
The Granite Falls Area Chamber is looking for your ideas for the New Year! Please stop into the chamber office at 807 Prentice St, call 320-564-4039 or e-mail us at gfchamber@mvtvwireless.com.
On behalf of the Granite Falls Area Chamber we would like to thank you for being a member in 2016 and look forward to working with you in 2017!