Minutes of the Madoc & District Chamber of Commerce
Tuesday, April 19th, 2005
Madoc Public Library & Cultural Centre
1. Call to order by Rob Price, President
2. Introductions: Rob Price, President
Judy Smith, Treasurer
Ellen Wilson, Secretary
Tressa Kirby, Vice President
Jim Bakker, Events Co-ordinator
Jason Danielis, Intern with Comfort Country
Patricia Wiggins
Larry Shaw
Marion Martin, Madoc Farmers Market
Gary Martin, Madoc Farmers Market
Kelly Foxton, Centre Hastings Art Council
John McDonnell, Economic Development Committee
Lynda Matchett
3. Agenda - Approved, with the addition of a report by Judy Smith on
the Skate Park under Old Business, and a Report of John McDonnell & the
Economic
Development Committee under Business arising from Minutes.
4. Minutes of the March 15th meeting - Minutes approved with the
following corrections: $100.00 was to be donated to the Madoc
Agricultural Society to aid with their 100th anniversary celebrations
and
Kelly Foxton represents the Centre Hastings art Council.
5. Business arising from minutes - i. Bravo Meeting in Bancroft - Jim
Bakker & Jason Danielis attended this meeting and reported that the
regional focus of this economic development initiative was North
Hastings. The main points made were: economic development needs to be
approached seriously with preliminary plans and research done to create
long term plans to attain long term goals and that local initiatives had
the greatest impacts on local economies, not regional, provincial or
federal plans.
ii. Economic Development Committee Report : attached. It was
moved by Jim Bakker and seconded by Ellen Wilson that the Chamber
provide $100.00 for the purchase of letterhead and business cards for
the Committee's use. Carried.
6. & 7. Correspondence - i. Request from BCD for nominations for
"Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award" Contact Jim Bakker for details.
ii. Receipt from Maplefest for advertising
purchased on the Maplefest Placemats.
iii. Karen Richardson from "seeking
alternatives programme" seeking volunteers to help mentor youth in
alternate educational programmes. Contact Jim Bakker for details.
8. Financial Report - Bank Balance $4750.73. There are 68 paid
members.
to date.
9. Old Business - i. Skatepark: The main park is finished and is
very busy. The canteen will be started early May and will be of hemp
bale construction. Another $80,000 is needed to finish the bunny park
and start the playground. Future fundraising to include a draw for a
timed shopping trip at the IGA, A room makeover by Design & Decor, a
trip to St. Anne's Spa. A night golf tournament is also planned.
ii. Doors Open brochure was distributed last week
with the Toronto Globe and Mail. Several hundred thousand copies will
be distributed throughout eastern Canada and the North Eastern U.S.
States. For the first time, this area has been included in this tour,
with Madoc having the Presbyterian Church and O'Hara's Mill included.
Dates for our tours will be October 1st & 2nd.
10. Marion Martin, Madoc Farmers Market reported that their application
for funding from the Canadian Heritage Foundation for Canada Day
Celebrations will not be approved because the events planned were for
Saturday July 2, not July 1st. Since the Marketers do not wish to be at
the Market Square on the Friday, Kelly Foxton, on behalf of the Centre
Hastings Art Council, has offered to take over the planning. After some
discussion it was decided that the Chamber would put together a Canada
Day Kit consisting of small flags, red & white balloons, pins etc., to
give to the downtown merchants to dress up the street for Canada Day.
It was also suggested that some variation of a side walk sale take place
that weekend.
11. Main Street Initiative: Jim Bakker reported that all communities
are working on developing the Main Street Committees. The Centre
Hastings committee's next meeting will be Monday, April 25th, 6:30 p.m.
at the Madoc Library, downstairs. The agenda will consist of forming the
executive, appointing a spokesperson, discussing the hiring of a
coordinator, and establishing a list of short term (quickie) and long
term goals.
12. Comfort Country Business Directory: Once the editorial pages have
been signed off on, the directory will go to press, and will be
delivered throughout the area by early May. 30,000 copies are to be
distributed.
13. Membership: Jim Bakker outlined his perceptions as to the place of
the Chamber of Commerce in the Community. The Chamber is necessary to
give support and credibility to those businesses that are growing in the
community. A summary of Chamber events and programmes and their impact
on the community should be made available to potential members as well
as existing ones, and news releases should be sent out frequently to
raise the profile of the Chamber in the community. A sense of "Value
Added" should be included with membership, not just the availability of
insurance benefits, gas rebates and the merchants' package, but the
knowledge the Chamber provides members a source of information,
networking and a voice in the community. To that end a networking
breakfast meeting is being planned for late May or early June and John
McDonnell will report on his committee's economic development
programme. It was also pointed out that those companies providing
benefits to Chamber members should be notified of delinquent members so
they might be dropped from the benefit packages.
14. Market Square: A discussion took place as to the "furnishing" of
the Square to make it more livable and usable. The Municipality will
provide picnic tables for visitors to use and several other ideas have
been floated as to chess tables and boards.
15. New Business: None
16. Next Meeting: May 17th, 7:30 pm at the Madoc Public Library.
17. Meeting adjourned.
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