Hope you all enjoyed your holidays and were able to spend time with family & friends! After we hung the new calendar, we rolled up our sleeves and have been busy working on 2019 events, projects, & promotions! We are so excited for the year ahead!
Business After Hours
In December, the Heritage Lodge Bed & Breakfast hosted an open house for the public followed up with a Business After Hours for our Chamber members. Guests were greeted by owners, Pete & Teresa Peterson in their beautiful log home decorated to the hilt for the holidays. Both events were very well attended. If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit the Heritage Lodge Bed & Breakfast, be sure to check out their website www.heritagelodgeredoakiowa.com. If your business would like to host or if you have questions about hosting a BAH, please contact me! They are a great way to network with other members as well as promote your business. Because we limit them to once a month, our calendar fills up quickly!
ROCIA Annual Meeting
The Red Oak Chamber and Industry Association Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 in the meeting room at the Firehouse Restaurant at 5:30 pm. Light appetizers will be served, and a cash bar will be available. This year’s meeting schedule will include the annual report, review of 2018, recognizing our retiring board member Larry Brandstetter, and the installation of ROCIA 2019 Officers. In our continued effort to improve upon communication with our members, we have added to this year’s meeting what we are calling a “Q&A” session following the meeting portion. This will be led by our Exec Committee which will allow our members to ask questions and or comment on Chamber related topics. We will not be selling tickets for the Annual Meeting but are asking you to rsvp to our office by Friday, January 25, 2019. A Membership/Volunteer Appreciation Dinner is being planned for October to take the place of the previous Annual Meeting format.
Legislative Briefings
The first two of the 2019 Legislative Briefings for our area will be held at the Montgomery County History Center at 8 am on Saturday February 2nd and March 9th in the meeting room. The third legislative briefing will be held during the SW IA Buy Local Expo on Saturday, April 6th at 10 am in the media center of Inman Primary Elementary.
Leadership Red Oak
LEADERSHIP RED OAK is a 10-session class that will explore a wide variety of aspects of Red Oak and Montgomery County. Participants receive a comprehensive overview of the systems that govern, serve and develop the Red Oak area. Session topics range from healthcare to government to arts/culture to industry to civic organizations. Leadership Red Oak participants interact with local leaders while gaining insight into our community’s opportunities, strengths, and challenges. As a newcomer or just wanting to learn more about Red Oak, we feel participating in LEADERSHIP RED OAK will expand your baseline knowledge of Red Oak and how our community works; give you tools needed to become more involved and effect positive change; and to help develop friendships while networking with other community leaders.
Business Anniversaries
One of my goals this year is to create a database for our Chamber Business Anniversaries. If we are not contacted about a business celebrating a milestone anniversary, we have not been always aware. To help us better promote your business as well as celebrate those milestone anniversaries, we are asking you, our members, to let us know how long you have been in business. This year’s milestone anniversaries will be acknowledged at the 2019 Junction Days Kickoff on June 27th in the Fountain Square Park and also at our Annual Membership/Volunteer Appreciation Dinner in October. Please contact me with your anniversary!
For more information about our members, promotions, & events within and around our community, please visit our website www.redoakiowa.com. If you have questions about becoming a member of the ROCIA or are interested in volunteering opportunities, please contact me at (712)623-4821.
Wishing you a healthy and happy start to the new year!
