SEPTEMBER 2005 MINUTES
September Minutes

Meeting Minutes 9/1/05Meeting Began: 8:05amIn attendance:Keir Knight – Plain English Writing & DesignDenny Ahalt – New Windsor State BankTom Neff- MSCCKerry Turner – Frederick News-PostArchie Rogers – Rogers EngravingEllie Bonde – Secret Stork / Blossom & BasketTim Barkley – Barkley LawCarol Blackburn – GazetteMarlene Titus – Carroll Community CollegeBen Gue – Ben Gue GiftsJackie Bingham - PatchesTim Slane Sr – Tim’s Lawn & LandscapePaula Wilhelm – Lorien / Raymond LetterheadsJoyce Piccard-Busse – Entrepreneur’s SourceCarol Cahall – The Main EventBob Brill – Morgan StanleyKen Matthews – Freedom Carpet CleaningHoward LeRoux – Mt Airy Dent RepairPaul Clay – Long & FosterDiana Morgan – GazetteSudha Khasta – SK PrintingMichael Zimmer – AttorneyPeter Helt – Town CouncilRandy Hively – A Touch of Class LimousinesSteve Rose – Torn 2 ShredzJames Jones – The Credit Card StoreAaron Kahn – Eclipse SecurityKaye Kolb – Rohrbaugh’s Charter ServiceBob Cage – Brahma TechnologiesWilma Brown – LongabergerSheila Graham – Hilgrah EnterprisesRamzy Nassar – CostcoMinutes have been accepted as postedFinance/Treasurer: Started with $18395.55. Dues received $225. Phone book owed advertising account $500. $18833.30 is the month end budget.SocialThank you to The Brick Ridge for hosting the most recent business card exchange. New Windsor State Bank will sponsor the next business card exchange 5-8pm Oct 12. There is an opening for next year’s social committee chair. See Tim or Paula if you are interested. Membership3 members joined in AugustProvident BankSierra Design & BuildMatlin Signs & GraphicsNominatingAt next month’s meeting, a slate of potential officers will be presented. Anyone can run for office – you have to have attended 4 meetings through this past year. Speak with Audrey if you are interested in running for something, or if you choose to nominate someone.Government RelationsAnnexation proposal is the current interest of the Town Council. Water allocations – there is a proposal being worked on so that once there is a surplus of water, it will be allocated for business growth. There is also a request for a new cross walk between Ben Gue’s store and The Main Event.Carroll County ChamberAs a member of the Mt Airy Chamber, you can attend Carroll County Chamber events. Member Luncheon 9/8. Connections 9/20. Networking breakfast 9/27. AmbassadorsNametags are available at a reduced price – see Archie Rogers. There are new member packets available. Thank you to Tom Neff for helping put the packets together.Professional DevelopmentThe Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce Professional Development Series for Small Businesses is under way. The committee met yesterday – the workshops will be held Feb, March, May, Oct, and Nov of 2006. The series will be appearing in an advertisement in the Carroll Community College Brochure. More information will be presented at next month’s meeting.Advertising & MarketingAds were run for the Business Card exchange. Website profile – please fill out or update! Keir is going to present ideas for marketing during the Planning meeting. Keir sent out the newsletter. He is looking for someone to take care of the monthly newsletters- if you are interested, let Keir know. Committee chairs – let Keir know when you are holding meetings, and Keir will put the information on the website.Phone BookThe phone book is out, and it’s working! Thank you to Paul Clay and Kiwanis for their help in making it happen. It went out to 21771. Extras are at the Town Hall and the Library. If you have any ideas for the next book, let Keir know. The next book will come out in spring 2007, then become an annual edition. There is an idea on the table to take just the orange pages and mail it to the zip codes on either side of Mt Airy (Woodbine and New Market).The Kiwanis Club presented Keir with a plaque and gift certificate for dinner for two at Pane e Vino in appreciation for his hard work towards the successful publication of the phone book. The Kiwanis Club has been presented a check for $5000. A $5000 check was also presented to the Mt Airy Chamber from proceeds of the phone book.Charitable giving: The phone book was not originally intended to be a for-profit venture. The $5000 check to the Chamber was committed to be used for charitable giving. The executive committee has recommended that we set next year’s charitable giving based on this year’s received amounts. If you would like to see the financial report from the phone book, see Tim. Community Investment policy – The proposal is: while we will support any worthwhile venture, we would like to focus our giving on local technology and education. We will post a description of the Chamber’s Policy and an application on the website – all requests for funding be sponsored by a chamber member. Applications will be sent to the finance committee, unless they request advertising or event sponsorship, in which case they will be sent to the Advertising Chair.Planning meetingEveryone is encouraged to attend. It is 11-4 on 9/9 at the Lorien. RSVP to Paula TODAY if you are interested in coming. By-LawsBy-laws have been posted on the website. There are some amendments to the by-laws to accommodate some of the changes that the Chamber has gone through. Motion. Randy Hively moved that the by-laws as posted be accepted. Tom Neff seconded. Discussion: Archie Rogers – A member in good standing currently is described as attending 2 business meetings per year. Archie is suggesting that this be amended to "for the year 2006, you have to attend 4 out of 12 meetings to be a member in good standing. Thereafter, you have to attend 8 of the past 12 meetings to be a member in good standing." This change is section 6.1 which is where it describes the requirements to become an officer of the chamber. (this does not affect committee chairs, just the 7 officers) Peter Helt – question – does a member in good standing affect the right for a member to vote, or just to be an officer? Clarification – you have to be a member to vote. You have to be a member in good standing in order to hold an officer position, so this amendment only affects those who want to run for a chamber officer position. Archie Rogers moved to amend the by-laws as shown above. Ellie Bonde seconded.Randy Hively called the question. Vote passed to call the question.Motion passed to amend the proposed by-laws. By-laws are accepted.GalaPlanning is coming along. The gala is January 14^th at the American Legion in Mt Airy 7-11pm. It is black tie optional. If you are interested in attending, please sign the attendance sheet so Paula can get an idea of guest count. Mark your calendar! Tickets will be $35 per person.Correction to Dates to Remember on Agenda – November 3 8am is the proper date for the November Executive committee meeting.New member orientation immediately follows today’s meetingHurricane Relief:
Tim Slane Sr moved that the Chamber donate $500 to the American Red Cross towards the Hurricane Disaster Relief. $500 will also be earmarked to be donated in the future to a chamber in the area for future aid. Ken Matthews seconded. Questions were raised regarding which organization the money be donated to. Tim suggested that we have the finance committee review and suggest what organization would be best to give the money to.Motion amended: Let the finance committee determine where the 1^st $500 should be sent. The Chamber will work on where to send the second $500. Howard LaRoux seconded. Paul Clay brought up the fact that locally we may be able to help out with families who have been relocated to this area.Motion passed.Meeting adjourned at 9:30am.