The Warsaw Chamber of Commerce is ever growing and constantly looking for ways to better themselves and the community. February will bring with it the State of the Chamber event and catered dinner at the Warsaw Community Building, some new board members, and the formation of committees for the public and members to attend to give their input and direction on how the chamber can best serve the community.
“Emails will be sent to all chamber members inviting people to come to these committee meetings, and notices will be available on Facebook,” said Whitney Day, Chamber President. “We want to support the community because it is growing. We also want to represent new businesses that have arrived in the last year or two to further their success and provide more jobs and visitors. We have recently seen an increase in chamber memberships which now total 325 and growing.”
One of the new committees that is being formed by the chamber is the Heritage Days Committee which is discussing how to improve the event. Anyone wanting to be involved can attend. Another committee is related to looking at an all-day experience and more activities for A Hallmark Christmas said that the chamber is looking at having a kid’s area and petting zoo added to the event.
“We are also creating a Member Benefits Committee,” said Day. “We want to make sure that members are represented and see a value for being a member. We want input on how the chamber can best benefit their businesses, whether it be business luncheons for networking, training on how to grow, and different opportunities available for businesses. Each committee will be run by two Chamber Board members."
Day said that the chamber is recognizing that it doesn’t have a new Chamber Director yet. However, the board feels positive about some changes that may be made and is holding back on naming a director until after reevaluation of the chamber as a whole, which may take a couple of months. Meanwhile, Megan Petersen has been serving as the interim director since last spring and has office hours from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
Whitney Day has been president in 2023 and will continue in that position. Other Chamber Board members are Vanessa Shinn, Michael Schnakenberg, Tracy Amos, James White, Charlie McGann, Michaela Bilderback, Josh Sater, Dustin Gemes, Jennifer Flores, Michelle Branson, Jerry Waters and Eryn Kellner.
