Wagner Chamber of Commerce January Chamber Meeting was held at Boom’s Restaurant on January 14, 2019.

The meeting was called to order by President, Laura Wright. President Wright also welcomed guests at the meeting, Alexandra Warejcka and Cassie Medricky who both work with the Department of Labor.

Shout Outs: First Dakota National Bank is offering 0% loans for furloughed employees due to the government shutdown. Congrats to the Business of the Year nominees: MidTowne Oil, Von Eschen Lawn & Landscape, Apparel WorX, This That & More, and Juffer Inc. A shout out again to the Parade of Lights committee on their wonderful parade held during the holidays.

Approval of Minutes: First,Rachel Woods, Second, Kelsey Doom.

Approval of Financial Report: First, Barb Johannsen, Second, Jeff Doom. *Also, mentioned that some members have chosen to pay for their meals up front as an annual expense with their dues.

Parade of Lights Recap: Lisa Schoenfelder reported that the committee was very happy with the turnout as they ended up with 30 entries. She thanked Commercial State Bank for serving up brats and hot drinks on main as well as the committee had cookies at the parade lineup for participants. They look forward to doing it again. It was brought up to get all the holiday committees together and possibly having events on one night to provide options for more attendance to all holiday events. If anyone has feedback or ideas they can talk to Lisa Schoenfelder.

February Fitness Challenge: Samantha Dvorak with the Wagner Area Health and Wellness Consortium announced the 3rd Annual February Fitness Challenge. February Fitness Challenge runs from Feb 1st-28th. Entry fee is $20/team for individuals in teams of four. Need to be signed up by Feb.6th! Team Prizes for 1st and 2nd places. New this year, they added a business challenge where businesses can have employees compete as a team (individual employee scores will be averaged for weekly team score). Business Entry fee is $25/ team also due by Feb 6th. Flyers for individual and team competitions were handed out to all.

Holiday Bucks Update: Patty Frei reported that we have sold $38,000 in Holiday Chamber Bucks for the season. There are still holiday bucks available between the three financial institutions in town. It was decided to continue selling the Holiday Chamber Bucks until February 1st. Individuals can purchase $100 for a 10% discount. Example: pay $90 get $100 in Holiday Bucks!!! Some of the retails stores in town might be offering an additional 5% off your purchase if you use your Holiday Bucks in their store.

Membership Update: Kelsey Doom reported that currently 78 members have paid their dues for 2019. She anticipates close to 95 Chamber memberships for 2019. List of paid members (to date) handed out.

Community Calendar: Kelsey also handed out a Community Calendar 2019 Events Schedule. She plans to put this out on social media and will also email to businesses if they want to print off to hand out. Right now has six months January-June and she will update as each month events are done. Kelsey is also the voice behind the hometown events aired on KYNT each week. Let her know if your organization or committee has dates set for events and she will add them. Let’s increase attendance at events.

Community Awards Gala: Kelsey invited everyone to get their last minute tickets to the Gala that will be held this coming Friday at Two Spurs Steakhouse. Awards include the Friend of the Farmer, Business of the Year, Employee of the Year, Citizen of the Year (Rotary) and Teacher of the Year (WCS).

Open Discussion: Kelsey mentioned a couple of retail business spaces that will be available to purchase and/or rent in the very near future. Discussion was help on potential businesses to look at occupying those spaces. Discussion was also held could Wagner capitalize on the hunting, fishing, and water recreation industry. If anyone has suggestions or ideas or knows of someone looking to try something new, please contact Kelsey Doom and share your thoughts. She welcomes conversations about ideas to grow this little community we call “home”.

Bryan Slaba spoke about the Community Health Needs Assessment Survey that the hospital conducts every three years. It has already been printed in the Announcer but they will also have an online version available soon. Those persons that participate in the survey will be entered to win gift cards to a local business. This is an important survey for the hospital as it gives them direction of what is needed in our community for the next five to ten years. Discussion continued on the local problem of meth in our community and different groups trying to build relationships to provide solutions for this and other health concerns in the community.

Motion to Adjourn: First, Jeff Doom, Second, Marla Hewitt.

The following businesses were represented at this month’s Chamber Meeting: Fort Randall Federal Credit Union, Buches, First Dakota National Bank, Sip Homestead Farms, Apparel WorX, City of Wagner, Wagner Area Wellness Consortium, Frei Insurance Agency, Inc., Henke Piedmontese, Wagner Building Supply, Wagner Area Growth, SD Game Fish & Parks-North Point, Bechen & Company PC, Commercial State Bank and Bures & Associations PC.