Chamber Minutes – 1/15/24 Jackos 5pm
Attending: Ellen Heneghan, Noosh Andreeva, Susi Thomas, Larry Snow, Sandi Haber, Pearl Cafritz, Laura Dunham
Meeting Opened at 5pm.
Approval of Minutes: previous minutes were unavailable at meeting time
Treasurers Report: as there was no quorum, there was no vote to approve
Memberships: Renewals are coming in, Ellen continues to update the website. New members Mushroom Shop LLC, Battenkill Retreat, Rooted In Salem were welcomed. Discussion was held about receiving additional training for Ellen from Sara Kelly as well as who actually created/owns the current site and url. Laura to follow up on this
Sandi Haber was introduced as a prospective Board member. Sandi moved to Salem 3 years ago and has become active in the community. She has a background in marketing and is looking forward to becoming a Board Member.
We are still looking for a Secretary – Laura will handle this role temporarily.
Weekly Featured Business: these have been well received and will continue weekly throughout the year. A reminder to everyone to send a photo of your business to be added to your website listing.
Ribbon Cuttings: We have 3 ribbon cuttings lined up: The Railroad Street Tavern (former Salem Tavern), Rooted in Salem, Golf on Main Street. Dawn/Kyle are coordinating the ribbon cuttings.
Noosh/Laura would like to have a ‘Salem is Open for Business’ photo op with ribbon cutting across Main Street around the first day of Spring. More to come!
Sewer/Economic Development Update: Laura: the project is still moving forward. It will require the Town Board to approve use of $40000 in ARPA funds and a public referendum to approve that use, before the project can move forward to a public vote. Delaware Engineering is creating a Salem specific website where all current information will be available to the public and multiple public information meetings will be held before a vote. The Economic Development Committee rolled their meeting into the Sewer meeting.
Larry Snow shared that NAPA will be holding an expanded sales event at the Firehouse in May-more to follow!
Mixer Dates: We are planning 4 mixers for 2024 – more information to follow
Classes: Discussion was held on providing learning sessions in areas of interest to the business community. These would be free to Members with fee to Non-Members. Several ideas were tossed around: Product Photography, Workmans Comp/Disability/Unemployment questions, Best website for MicroBusinesses. If you would like more information on a specific area for your business, please let us know.
Respectfully submitted, Laura Dunham, -secretary
