Albion Chamber of Commerce-Board Meeting Minutes

June 21, 2021

Members Present:  Chris Magnuson (P), Carla Fiandt (VP), Sandy Petrie (S),

 Sharon Leitch (T), Tammy Luce, Ken Cripe, Tony Feichter, Mariah Keirn 

Absent:  Kay Craig

Guests:  None

Meeting was called to order at the CN board room by Chris at 12:05 pm.

Minutes:  Minutes from the May 10, 2021 meeting were discussed and Carla made a motion to approve.  Ken seconded, minutes approved. 

Treasurer’s Report:  Treasurer’s report as of June 21, 2021 was provided. Ken made a motion to accept the report, Mariah seconded, report accepted.

June 2021

Beginning Balance (5/10/21):  $15,107.02

Revenue:  $690

Dues: $540

Flag program:  $150

Expenses: $728.99

Yahoo: $23.99 (June internet)

Erie Insurance:  $205 (liability)

NC Visitor Bureau:  $500 (pocket park by mural)

Bank Balance (3/29/21): $15,068.03

Requests:

●     Chris purchased a pump for the courthouse fountain for $278.20.  Sandy made a motion to reimburse her, Sharon seconded, motion approved.

●     Courthouse flowers - the courthouse preservation committee requested funds for flowers at the fountain.  After some discussion Tammy made a motion to approve $250 for this year.  Ken seconded, motion approved.

●     Kendallville Daycare (Suzie Pender) requested funds or a silent auction item for their fundraiser.  Discussion about this not being an Albion organization (but likely serving families from the Albion area) took place and Chris said that she would put together a basket for their silent auction from stuff she had laying around her house.

●     ARC Noble County Foundations made a request for funds for programs/services.  Carla made a motion to approve $300, Ken seconded, motion approved with Tammy voting no (felt it was too high)

●     Relay for Life requested funds and it was discussed that most of the funds raised do NOT come back to our community.  Chris said that we had budgeted and approved $100 for Relay for Life and felt we should honor that commitment.  Tammy made a motion to approve $100 but to not support them in the future.  Mariah seconded, motion approved with Carla voting no and feeling that an organization such as Cancer Services of NE Indiana who does serve our area would be a better organization to support.

○     Based on the above suggestion by Carla, Ken made a motion to approve $100 to the Cancer Services of NE Indiana.  Tammy seconded, motion approved.

Old Business: 

Tree Lighting and Decorations:  Chris has repaired the light strands to get us through this year.  Sandy will continue to research alternatives to lighting up the tree and we will keep that on the agenda.

Membership Dues/Online Directories:  Dues collection for the year has been completed.  Chris has been busy with the Chain O Lakes Festival so hasn’t had a chance to work on the online directory yet.  Carla has given her the information needed.  There are a few new members that joined this year.

Goodwill Truck:  The truck was full when it left at noon.  Though it was a little late, this is a great service for the community and the only one of its kind that Goodwill does.  Tammy stated that she can no longer chair this project because it falls on a very busy day for her business.  No volunteers stepped up, so Chris said that she would add it to her list.  (If anyone would like to help with this project, it is a simple phone call to coordinate and members volunteer to fill the 3 hour schedule in 1 hour increments.)

YIFTEE vs Chamber Bucks:  Consensus was that we discontinue the Chamber Buck program and allow the EDC to manage the YIFTEE “shop local” program.  Chris will look into whether the Chamber will be able to purchase through this program for prizes etc. AND THE ANSWER IS YES WE CAN!

Flag Program:  We had the excellent problem of having a large number of sponsors this year and Sandy and Ken said it was getting difficult to fit everyone on the posters.  After some discussion it was agreed that only the name of the honoree or person being remembered would be listed on the posters and not the sponsors.  This change will be reflected on the sponsor form.

New Business: