MINUTES

Rising Sun/Ohio County Chamber of Commerce

Board of Directors

February 11, 2003

Present: Keri McGraw, Dale Siekman, Pam Gilley, Sondra Bubenhofer, Jamey Fieler, Janie Eldridge

Minutes

A motion was made by Janie, seconded by Sondra, to approve the minutes of the November 12, 2002 meeting. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report

Dale reported a balance of $6011.37.

Old Business

Website – Keri reported that Matt Koons is taking care of securing the web domain name and that $500 has been allotted to repurchase the name risingsunchamber.com. The name will be linked to the new site at enjoyrisingsun.com. Matt will be responsible for trying to protect the name in the future.

Historical Museum – Keri presented a thank you letter from the Ohio County Historical Society for the $100 sponsorship of the Christmas Tree Workshop. Thirty seven people attended the event.

Navy Bean Festival and Bean Pot – Keri has been notified by Tourism that the festival is scheduled for the same weekend as the Cincinnati Tall Stacks event. Tourism also has said that advertising dollars may be lower for Navy Bean due to overall budget cuts. Janie Eldridge made a motion, seconded by Sondra, to purchase a cooker for the beans at a cost of $500. Larry Bovard will purchase and store the cooker for the Chamber. The $500 will come from proceeds of the 2002 festival with remaining proceeds to be split between the Kiwanis and the Chamber. The motion carried.

New Business

Bylaws Changes – Keri explained to the Board that a modification needs to be made to Article IV, Section I of the Bylaws to reflect that in the event of a tie vote the current officers may choose to conduct a tie-breaker vote or to add an additional Director. Sondra made a motion that the above change be entered as an amendment to the Bylaws. Jamey seconded. The motion carried. The Directors asked to have Sally Beckley review the procedures for making the amendment official.

Sondra made a motion, seconded by Jamey to table the discussion regarding changes to Article V, Section I until Sally Beckley could be present. The motion carried.

Election of Officers – Because a quorum was not present at the November meeting and no meeting was held in January, officers for 2003 were not elected. Keri presented a slate of candidates from the nominating committee as follows: President, Keri McGraw; V. President, Jamey Fieler; Secretary, Sally Beckley; Treasurer, Dale Siekman. Sondra made a motion to proceed with the election, seconded by Jamey. The motion carried. There were no other nominations from the floor, so Keri declared the slate of nominees elected.

Other Business

State & Local Chamber News – Keri presented information about the Indiana State Chamber and web site and suggested that others may want to look at the site for information. The Dearborn County Chamber will have a job fair on May 14^th.

Business Involvement – Janie expressed concern that the active Chamber members are primarily running nonprofit businesses and suggested that a program be developed to encourage for profit business participation. Keri and Janie agreed to work on a business spotlight program and bring ideas to the March meeting.

Lawn & Garden Expo – The 2003 Lawn & Garden Expo will be held on April 18 & 19^th at the Community Building. The event is sponsored by the Extension Office in cooperation with the Ohio County Garden Club. All proceeds go into the event treasury. Sponsorships are needed.

Youth Activity Day – Janie announced that Youth Activity Day will be held on Saturday, May 3^rd. She encouraged businesses to set up promotional booths. Local daycare centers have been invited. The event is sponsored by the Extension Office and Step Ahead.

Meeting Dates – Keri announced that via an informal poll it has been determined that the meeting date and time works for the majority of Board members and will, therefore, remain the same.

Next meeting

The next meeting will be on March 12^th at Noon.

A motion was made by Sondra, seconded by Jamey to adjourn. Motion carried.

Submitted by:

Pam Gilley

Acting Secretary

Minutes subject to approval