Special points of interest:

Ambassador’s Visits.

Ag Luncheon

Number of referrals.

Business Monthly

February 2019

YAY!!!!! We made it through the Minnesota Polar Vortex and don’t forget to get ready for the Polar Plunge at the Big Freeze, Feb 9th along with other great activities. Susie at the CVB has been working hard preparing and looking forward to a great community turnout!

The Chamber Board held their Annual Board Retreat. 2019 strategic planning of priorities for the year were covered. The Board voted to add two new committees to the Chamber. They are the Main Street and the Welcome Ambassadors. The current committees were busy reviewing and making changes to their mission statements as well as goals and objectives for 2019. A number of committees had leadership changes. Everyone is excited for the upcoming year and lots of Chamber committee events! The Chamber Business Education Collaborative (CBEC) is hosting on February 27 “Pipeline: Employee Development Funding” event. This is an opportunity for businesses of all sizes from Manufacturing to Healthcare, Plumbing to Retail to find out about free money for training and opportunities to hire and have wages paid. We will be talking about the Apprenticeship Program, grant programs and have businesses that are currently taking advantage of these opportunities. It is free to everyone and will be held at St. Johns from 11-1 with lunch provided. The CBEC will host a training every quarter dealing with issues businesses are having. The months are February, May, August and November.

The Chamber Governmental Affairs Committee set four (4) priorities for 2019. They are Childcare Crisis, Affordable Housing, Workforce and the I-90 corridor. They will be holding an Eggs & Issues forum on each of these starting with the Childcare Crisis in March (date tbd). The Governmental Affairs Committee will host their Eggs & Issues forums in the months of March, June, September and December.

The Chamber Agriculture Committee is hosting the Annual Agricultural Luncheon on March 19 at 12-1:30 pm at the Fairlane Building at the Fairgrounds. Tickets are $12.50 and can be purchased at the Chamber Office. Food is provided by Smokin Bros BBQ. Only 200 tickets are available so get your tickets now!

The Chamber Worksite Wellness Committee also has a March event on February 13 at the Freeborn County Historical Museum, 7:30 - 9:30 am with guest speaker Joel Spoonheim.

The Chamber Ambassadors are busy every month welcoming new businesses to the community and to the Chamber, recognizing businesses with changes and growth they have made and helping the Chamber to reach out to our membership and listen to their needs!

The Chamber Green Committee is continuing to look at our community and opportunities to join with the city and others to keep Albert Lea and Freeborn County moving forward in a green direction.

I have been meeting with many businesses in Freeborn County and Albert Lea, current members and businesses that have been a member in the past as well as businesses that have never been a member. Every week I see many businesses but if I have not gotten to you yet and you would like to meet, please give me a call at 507-373-3938 and we will set up an appointment.

The Chamber will be publicizing these events. More information will be coming on the Main Street Program and the Welcome Ambassadors in next month’s Business Monthly. Wishing you a safe

Message from Executive Director, Rhonda Jordal

and warm February from the Chamber!!

The purpose of a newsletter is to provide specialized information to a targeted audience. Newsletters can be a great way to market your product or service, and

also create credibility and build your organization’s identity among peers, members, employees, or vendors.

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interested in purchasing a product or requesting your service.

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If you explore the Project Gallery, you will find many publications that match the style of your newsletter.

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page 2

The Minnesota Legislature is in full swing. The collective voice of the Minnesota Chamber Federation is

ready to advance another pro-growth agenda on behalf of businesses of all sizes and types across the state.

Our initiatives seek to grow the economy for the benefit of all Minnesotans.

Five major priorities will frame the Minnesota Chamber Federation initiatives at the Legislature:

Tax competitiveness: Ensure that our tax climate supports long-term success.

Health care: Ensure quality care is affordable and accessible to all Minnesotans while enhancing the

ability of employers to provide coverage to their employees.

Workplace mandates: Preserve the right of private employers to develop wage and benefit packages

that best suit the distinctive needs of companies and employees.

Transportation: Ensure Minnesota has a safe, reliable and efficient multimodal transportation system

through sustained and strategic funding for roads, bridges and transit.

Workforce development: Accelerate private-sector workforce efforts to help employers attract and

retain the skilled workers they need to compete.

Our members along with local chamber partners set the agenda each year for Minnesota employers. The

Minnesota Chamber policy team works full-time on behalf of our members. Our work is broad-based at the

Capitol – whether advancing pro-business bills and blocking anti-jobs bills at the Legislature, representing

your interests before state agencies, or intervening in court cases where outcomes can have a widespread

impact on employers.

The Minnesota Chamber is distinctive among our peers across the country with our local chamber network.

Through partnerships with local chambers and statewide trade associations, the voice for the business

community is bolstered at the Capitol.

We look forward to working with Gov. Walz and the entire Legislature to help them understand how the

public policy they craft directly affects all Minnesota businesses, and what is needed to help create

economic opportunity for all Minnesotans. Being on the front lines of Minnesota business with our members

makes me confident that we can recalibrate Minnesota’s economic policy to propel us forward and sustain

our cherished quality of life.

Minnesota Chamber’s 2019 Legislative Priorities By Doug Loon

One benefit of using your newsletter as a promotional tool is that you can reuse content from other marketing materials, such as press releases, market studies and reports.

While your main goal of distributing a newsletter might be to sell your product or service, the key to a successful newsletter is making it useful to your readers.

A great way to add useful content to this newsletter is to develop and write

your own articles, or include a calendar of upcoming events or a special offer that promotes a new product.

You can also research articles or find “filler” articles by accessing the World Wide Web. You can write about a variety of topics but try to keep your articles short.

Much of the content you put in your newsletter can also be used for your Web site. Microsoft Word offers a simple way to convert your newsletter to a Web publication. So, when you’re finished writing your newsletter, convert it to a Web site and post it.

You can also research articles or find “filler” articles by accessing the World Wide Web. You can write about a variety of topics but try to keep your articles short.

Much of the content you put in your newsletter can also be used for your Web

site. Microsoft Word offers a simple way to convert your newsletter to a Web publication. So, when you’re finished writing your newsletter, convert it to a Web site and post it. A great way to add useful content to this newsletter is to develop and write your own articles, or include a calendar of upcoming events or a special offer that promotes a new product.

NEWSLETTER TITLE Page 2

Business Monthly

Business Monthly Page 3

Ambassador’s Visits

Heritage Restaurant Edward Jones – David Kramer

Bookkeeping Cents It’s Worth It Massage & Wellness Studio

Provenio Consulting Albert Lea Art Center

American Legion Post #56

City of Emmons

Uptown Dental

Habitat for Humanity Freeborn/Mower

County

KATE/KCPI Radio – The Breeze

KIMT Television

Minnesota Corrugated Box, Inc.

Trailside Apartments & Townhome

Manufacturers Bank & Trust Company

China Restaurant

Thank You The following members renewed their memberships in January

Jensales Inc.

KTTC/Fox 47

Kwik Trip - Front Street

Master Plumbing LLC

St. Theodore Catholic Church

Broadway Home Design

The INTERCHANGE Wine &

Coffee Bistro

Kennel Club of Freeborn County,

MN, Inc.

Committee Updates

CHAMBER BOARD – met on January 23. New Committees were reviewed and the Board voted to move ahead

with the Main Street Committee and the Welcome Ambassadors for 2019.

AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE: met on January 24. Elected Tim Westrum as 3-year term Chair person and

Bobbie Jacobs as 2-year Vice Chair. The Ag Luncheon is scheduled for March 19 at the Fairlane Building, Noon

– 1:30 p.m. Deadline for nominations for ‘Farm Family of the Year’ is Friday, February 22.

AMBASSADOR’S - No Meeting in January.

GREEN COMMITTEE – No Meeting in January.

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE – met on January10. City representative reported on the six top

City legislative priorities for 2019 (LGA Funding, Housing, Child Care, Road Infrastructure, Water Quality &

Rural Health Care). The March event will be on the Child Care issue. Sue Loch will contact a business to be a

sponsor and contact individuals to be presenters/speakers. Rhonda will contact Wedgewood Cove for available

dates and food for the event.

WORKSITE WELLNESS COMMITTEE – met on January 18. Kim Williams was elected as the Committee

Chair for 2019-2021. Ellen, Lana and others went to the City Council Meeting to present ‘Tobacco 21’ for the

City to discuss and support. Worksite Summit Speaker is Joel Spoonheim. The Event will be held at the

Freeborn County Historical Museum, Wednesday, March 13, 7:30–9:30 a.m.

Page 4 Business Monthly

Referrals

We had 133

referrals during

the month of

January.

2019 Chamber Agriculture Luncheon

This event will feature the ‘Farm Family of the Year’. Guest Speaker is Thom Peterson, Commissioner of

Agriculture. Ticket prices are $12.50 each.

Date: March 19, 2019

Time: Noon – 1:30 p.m.

Location: Fairlane Building

Contact: Chamber Office for more information 373-3938

ALBERT LEA-FREEBORN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 1725 West Main Street Albert Lea, MN 56007

Phone: (507) 373-3938

Fax: (507) 373-0344 www.albertlea.org

https://www.facebook.com/alfcchamber/

Chamber Staff Rhonda Jordal Elaine Wallace Executive Director Executive Administrative Assistant director@albertlea.org alfccoc@albertlea.org

Geri Jensen Event & Social Media Coordinator member@albertlea.org

Patricia Dahl, Board Chair Mayo Clinic Health System

Albert Lea and Austin

373-2384

George Gonzalez, 1st Chair

Dave Syverson Auto

373-1438

Kathy Sabinish Dave’s Phone Booth/Frames-R-Us 377-0848 Dr. Mike Funk Albert Lea Area Schools Superintendent 379-4802

Board of Directors

Catherine Buboltz Director of Sales & Marketing Thorne Crest Senior Living Community 373-2311 Kim Nelson, Past Chair Riverland Community College 433-0607 Mike Chandler Renewable Energy Group, Inc. 507-448-0124 Kevin Miland Mrs. Gerry’s 507-373-6384

Angie Eggum Edward Jones 373-2000 Angie Kolker Freeborn-Mower Cooperatives Services 373-6421 Brandon Stevens, 2

nd Chair

Cargil Cooked Turkey and Meats 377-2526 Beau Hartman Hartman Law Office 507-200-0301

Page 6 Business Monthly