Chamber of Commerce meets; board elections set for this week

Soda Springs –

The third meeting of the Soda Springs Chamber of Commerce was held at Enders Hotel on Thursday, February 22.  A project to revitalize the Soda Springs Chamber of Commerce has been underway over the last month, with Debbie Dumont, Scott Muir, and Paul Gritton initially coordinating meetings to explore the potential for reinstating the Chamber of Commerce, which has not been specifically active for several years. 

A number of new people attended the meeting, including the Pace Development group, which is pursuing a new subdivision development in
the city. 

Debbie Dumont recapped the work of the committee so far.  During the first two meetings, a subcommittee was formed to help establish the basic framework for the chamber and develop its first steps.  In the past, the “level” of membership held within the chamber was determined by the number of employees a company employed.  The subcommittee discussed using a different model that would be based on levels that members could choose to join, rather than based
on employee numbers.

The subcommittee chose to create a base Bronze level at $100/yr, a Silver level at $500/yr, a Gold level at $1000/yr, and a Platinum level at $2000/yr.

In conjunction with the establishment of a tiered membership system, the subcommittee discussed the kinds of things the chamber could provide to members to create value in the membership, including perks for guests, advertising promotion, and other ideas.

The ultimate design and content for the website has also been under discussion.  The Chamber agreed that hosting ribbon cuttings, anniversaries, and other events, as well as hosting open houses for businesses that changed ownership or did remodeling, were important services the chamber should provide.  

Another item discussed was the creation of a quarterly news letter covering projects, and highlighting businesses.  The Newsletter will also include advertising for the platinum members.  The newsletter will be digital, and hosted and
distributed online.

The subcommittee also decided that they wanted to create a “welcome to the community” packet
for distribution.

As far as events planned for future meetings, the subcommittee reported on the desire to try to focus on educational opportunities for each month’s meeting, including training on specific software, and workshops on useful practices.  It was also considered important to provide value to the members on a monthly basis.  Projects undertaken by the chamber will primarily be handled through subcommittees.  

As an official chamber of commerce, the SSCC will be able to join other chamber orgs and access
other resources.  

Every member will receive a certificate of membership, with a plaque for the platinum members.

The floor was opened for input, with the proviso that nothing had been set in stone. “It’s up to us as a whole to find out what we want to do,” Dumont said.

It was mentioned that the chamber is essentially reusing/reworking the previous and existing Chamber of Commerce structure, so that they don’t have to do it from the ground up.  

After input from the room, it was tentatively decided that only one membership would exist for each business or organization, which would equate to one vote in the chamber, which would not be transferable or assignable, although another individual could be deputized to make
the vote.   

In the past, there were 11 total board member positions.  Initially, they decided to start with 5 members since they were just starting out.  The chamber will have a Chair and a Vice Chair instead of a president.  The board will elect Chair/VC in the future.  The board will divvy up responsibilities and distribute them to Board members, with the goal of breaking them up among members best qualified to take on those projects.  

Next on the agenda, the chamber had planned to elect officers so that they could begin working under an officially constituted board.  However, it became clear as the vote approached that some of the members were interested in holding the election until this week.

During the second meeting, a total of five attendees mentioned that they were willing to put their names forward for consideration to be elected to the board.  As a result of the several new people at the third meeting, it was decided that making sure everyone was comfortable with the process was more important than
expediting it.

Board members will serve for one year terms, between elections.  Bylaws for filling positions which were vacated before the year were discussed.  As it was not clear what that policy would be, a year long commitment from those volunteering to serve was particularly important.  

Meeting times for the chamber will be determined by the board once it is elected, but for now the group plans to meet once a month in a rotating series of locations.

Scott Muir expressed his belief that making sure as much as possible that no one felt excluded was an important consideration.

Alan Skinner raised the point that the charter allows for 10 members, it would be possible to elect some members now and others later.   

After a discussion, a show of hands vote determined that nominations would continue to be taken through Monday, and voting would take place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  Kaylee Peck will distribute a code for an online meeting, and the meeting will just be
for voting.

Pace Development

A group called the Pace Development Group introduced themselves to the chamber meeting attendees.  Karen Salis explained that the company was “moving forward with a residential development to bring a  housing development to Soda Springs…We look forward to connecting with you individually.  We are in the phase of absorbing as much info as we can.”

The group stated that their intention was to “provide housing for employees of the hospital, mines, businesses, etc.  We will provide the kind of housing that you need.  It really will be designed to meet your needs.”  

The group has met with investors and officials from the city.  They are considering developing land they have purchased on Hooper.

The group hopes to complete the information gathering process within a couple of months.  “We’re trying to find out ‘who are the people that would actually live in this new development?  If you make something for everyone, you’ve made something for no one,” Salis said.