Jefferson County Chamber: Minutes for 10/20/15
Meeting Called to Order at 4:43
Attendance:
Present: Rob Birman, Kris Nelson, Rebecca Benjamin, Shelli Cates, Karen Best, Jennefer Wood,
Katherine Baril, Teresa Verraes. Jordan Eades, Dominic Svornich, Case Gribble; Director Teresa
Verraes Excused:David Faber, Austin Henry, Rob Storey, Karen Ridings,Adam Brade
Absent: Kevin Scott, Karen Best,
Resignations Heather Bailey, Susan Windle, Amanda Funaro (resignations accepted with regret)
Leadership updates:
1) Jordan Eades assumed the leadership role of President
2) Introduction of new member: Sarah Hadlock from Business Guides, new Vice chair of Finance
3) Magdalene Adeneau hired by Chamber for 10 hours a week- works 30 hours at EDC - Magdalene is a returning PT high
school grad, worked at WSU and has expertise in social marketing- she is a Rotary Sunshine member and hosts their
international exchange program
Bright Spots from Board members:
(Casey Gribble) planning to open a tasting and live music business in Discovery Bay (Rebecca- NOSC celebrating its 25th
anniversary- rather then contract out restoration work they are hiring and now have 7 full time employees and 6 restoration
crew employees doing salmon stream restoration including a $3 million project at Discovery Bay rechanneling estuary and
restoring ecosystem. (Kris Nelson) City council approved legislation for vacation rentals unanimously- regs will be developed
for this spring public process. (Shelley Cates) Edward Jones sponsored a UGN Day of Caring team. Kevin Scott) Paper mill
is in final installation of a $10.5 million new technology scrubber. nominated for a national environmental management
award, (Rob Birman) 250 attended most recent ukulele up to 70 years old- GALA is sold out. (Dominic Savornich) Kitsap
bank has $1 billion in assets, hosting a business competition. (Katherine) Marine science center collaborated with Maritime
Center for three year grant and received $58,000 at their fundraiser, Collective impact hosted a meeting on young
professional needs for affordable housing,
Director's Report- overall flat on budget- fewer liabilities in 2015 than 2014-total gap in
membership estimated to be $30,000 - memberships expect to come at end of year- service
contracts are solid- relation cost more and diverted staff from membership revenue- Executive
board is meeting with City and David Falber is attorney representing Chamber. 96% of income
year to date- doing a great job managing expenses- payroll there is a significant cost saving in
project. Annual Report- due in December- Teresa will work on it2015 - Tasks: November membership survey completed
2016 Timeline
January new boardFebruary - retreat
March- Business Leader event
April- YPN
MayJune
July - Chamber sponsored Old fashioned July 4
2016 Prioirites:
1) Rebrand YPN? high interest and visibility with this program,
2) Update Strategic Plan- Continuous Improvement- Update strategies and progress- Staff is tired and overcommitted- need
to get some relief so can be high energy- Strategic planning was the skill of the highest number of board members in our
Board matrix- contact Casey to help us with one page update- Things to consider- wait till get membership survey resultstry to meet with key sponsors that we need to really keep- Port Ludlow, the paper mill, the hospital, the leader.
3) Redo committees: need more active board or membership engagement- e.g. membership? lunches?
Business Leader of the Year Event
Committee Chair is Kris Nelson, assisted by staff Laura Brekenridge- committee members are Rob Birman, Katherine Baril,
and we need more!
its about 4 months to plan and implement this event- had great energy in 2014, full house thanks to Susan Windle's hard
work- invite YPN? ambassadors? Big event for the Board so rely on the board!
Laura has an event notebook . core group with a nomination committee- key actions are
1) the event itself, 2) the sponsorship $$ , 3) the nominations committee, t4) he keynote speaker contact.
need to get a list of potential sponsorships- Jordan will hair the nominating committee and process
try to invite Governor Inslee to attend and ancillary tours- ferry, Fort Worden, Schools, Mill
Next meeting:
1) Discuss changing time of Board meeting- end of day may be too low energy
Lunch? breakfast? Move lunch meetings around the county- fort worden? port ludlow? get same 40 people at lunch, right
people?
2) Membership Meetings in 2016? what changes might we consider? monthly? biweekly? move the meetings around the
County? could rent Centrum Vans to move people to meetings around the County ? should have a regular schedule so
people’s calendars are correct- more motivational topics? meeting/ speakers/ programs/ small group discussions/ have
different formats different weeks? could be more engaging ,Subway food? think outside the box- break up the status quo
and have weekly meeting at different location every week? what changes?
3) Update on status of 501c3 discussions?