Rural Chambers of Commerce
of
Northern California
Minutes of October 6, 2006

Host Chamber: McCloud Chamber
Location: Scout Hall, McCloud Park

A great lunch selection was ordered in advance and included a choice of Ham, Turkey, Veggie Burger sandwiches on white, sourdough or rye bread with green, potato or macaroni salad. Soft drinks, punch and choice of crackers and cookies were also served.

Note: This lunch and all future Rural Chamber lunches will be paid for by the individual attendees not to exceed $10.00. The host Chamber will be in charge of catering/arrangements.

Attendees:
Anderson:
Debe Hopkins, Henry Bartolo, Irish Robertson; City of Shasta Lake: Terry Steele; Dunsmuir: Cheryl Petty; McCloud: Ronda Elliott, Darlene, Anne Simons; Mt. Shasta: Marie Wells, Kathy Anderson; Tulelake: Robert Goleoto Weed: Jenifer Mehmen; Siskiyou County Visitor Bureau: Joanne Steele;

Guest:
Shasta College Cascade Small Business Development Center (CSBDC): Brad Banghart

Facilitators: Smart Business Resource Center: Inez Bays, Debbie DeCoito.

Scout Hall, McCloud Scout Hall, McCloud

The meeting was opened with a warm welcome from the McCloud Chamber President, Ronda Elliott.

In addition to the wonderful gift bags donated by McCloud merchants, Ronda extended an invitation to visit businesses located in Main Streets' historical buildings and especially the candy store inside the mercantile store.


Everyone introduced himself/herself, their chamber affiliation, their business (if appropriate), one way their business has benefited by chamber membership and a topic of special interest.
Topics introduced included:

  1. Developing a county wide visitor guide
  2. Tourism - Identifying ways of reaching out
  3. Joint chamber brochures - trading information and materials
  4. How to generate good "press relations and response"
  5. Increasing Tax Base for chamber use
  6. Focusing on area history
  7. Attracting and retaining businesses to the area
  8. Vender List - Format to share
  9. Member retention
  10. Should chambers be involved politically
Brad Banghart of Shasta College Cascade Small Business Development Center talked about the services they offer to small businesses in Siskiyou, Trinity and Shasta, counties, including one on one consultations, classes and workshops.

Group Discussion and Activity:
Each topic that was given during introductions was assigned a number. Everyone was asked to break up into pairs; each pair drew a topic number to discuss and to come up with possible solutions. Each pair then presented their thoughts to the group for additonal input.


Upcoming Chamber Events & Announcements:
Weed: December 1st, 2006 -Old Fashioned Christmas
September 17th, 2007 -The Abner Weed Frontier Days
Mt. Shasta: October 13, 14 and 15th - Film Festival with great films.
November 24th, Christmas Tree Lighting
Dunsmuir: October 30th - Taste of Dunsmuir
December 1st - 3rd - Candles in the Canyon
Tulelake: November 15th to 19th - Raptor I.D at Butte Valley with Raptor Experts
July 4th - Fireworks, Tractor Pull and Demolition Derby
City Shasta Lake: October 7th - Founders Day Cycle Tour
Anderson: June 1, 2007 - $100 Raffle for a $10,000 giveaway. (watch for details)
Last week of September 2007 - Renaissance Fair
McCloud: December 8th through the 17th - Olde Fashioned Christmas (Tree lighting Home tours and much more)
May 2007 - Mushroom, Music and Wine Faire.

Everyone was in agreement to continue the Rural Chamber Forum Format. Next scheduled meeting will be January 19th, 2007. Host TBA. Agenda ideas: Modernizing Events; Template for Vendors List…bring list & handouts and business cards. Meeting adjourned...Candy store here we come!

Building better communities through collaboration
Anderson ~ Burney ~ Cottonwood ~ Dunsmuir ~ Fall River Mills ~ McCloud
Mt. Shasta ~ Palo Cedro ~ Shasta Lake ~ Trinity County ~ Weaverville ~ Weed