| CHELSIE HARLAN Joining the Chamber staff this school year through the school to work program from Heartland Career Center is Chelsie Harlan. We are very pleased to have Chelsie working with us. Chelsie is the daughter of Terry & Tammy Hobbs. She is a senior at Wabash High School and attends Heartland Career Center. After graduation, she would like to work as a administrative assistant or receptionist and further her training by attending a technical or business school. At Wabash, she in active in SADD - Students Against Destructive Decisions, and Heartland, she is in a Youth Club called Business Professionals of America, (BPA) a club for vocational business students. Please welcome Chelsie as you have the opportunity. |
Have you had changes or improvements in your business? Have you received an award, reached a milestone, or completed additional training? We want to know. Share these things with your chamber partners. They too enjoy hearing. Call, FAX, E-Mail, or mail notes to the chamber office. |
| NORWEST BANK
OFFERING NEW SERVICE Norwest BANK President Ed Bellows has announced that effective immediately a new service is available at the local Norwest branch. Jeff Laycock has joined the staff at Norwest as an investment specialist. Jeff maintains offices at both the Wabash and Peru branches for Norwest Investment where he sells Mutual Funds, Brokered CD's stocks, bonds, and provides investment counseling services. Laycock is also a licensed auctioneer, conducting auctions in Wabash and Miami counties. He has lived in Wabash and Miami counties all his life graduating from North Miami High School and Manchester College. He lives on a farm with his wife Lori, and sons Keegan and Shea. Please welcome Jeff to the Wabash business community either at Norwest or the October Business Before Hours. |
WRESTLING PINS THE CHAMBER September 29 will remain a special day in the hearts of many Wabash area wrestling fans. Your Chamber brought together a large group of wrestling names in the Honeywell Center Gym. For over 3 ½ hours they battled it out amid the cheers and hoots from their fans. In searching for "something different" the fundraising committee endorsed this project in the early part of the summer as a way to help the Chamber achieve a final surge of financial stability for the 1999 fiscal year and improve cash flow challenges at the close of the year. Thus a committee was born who put their heart and soul into the event. We were ready to sell out the 1400 seats available. It had been a few years sine the Honeywell Center had hosted such an event, and they, too, were encouraging and cooperative. The promoters out of Marion, and the wrestlers certainly did their job! It was a great show, and one that for the most part could earn at least a PG13 rating. Wrestlers came from a far and were extremely complementary to the facility and community. Unfortunately, the majority of the crowd forgot to come. Attendance ran in the 400 range pulling down anticipated income from gate receipts, refreshments, and programs. With constant expenses, the event quickly turned into a cash drain, despite a valiant effort. Much appreciation goes to Beverly Ferry and her hard-working committee consisting of Mike Raymond, Herb Smith, Kevin Leming, Beth Miller, and Shelly Neal. It is currently unclear whether another attempt will be made at this fundraiser. Thanks, too, to all the volunteers who gave us their Sunday! |
| SEMINARS Once again, your Chamber is providing many different ways for you to become informed and educated right here at home. Morton Marcus, prominent Indiana University Economist, and founder of the Indiana Business Research Center will present a program on our local Wabash county economy Thursday October 7, 1999 in the Manchester college Student Union. This event is being jointly sponsored by your Chamber, the North Manchester Chamber, and the Wabash County Economic Development Corporation. A buffet luncheon will kick off the meeting at 11:30 A.M. with Mr. Marcus' program beginning at 12:15. You may make a reservation to this special event by calling any of the three organizations, or mailing the reservation form found inserted in this newsletter back to the WEDCOR office. The cost is $15 for Chamber members or $20 for non-members. Come one - come all, we would like to see a good crowd at this unique event. 1999-2000 Brown Bag Series Set Your Chamber Seminar Committee has put together a great series for 1999-2000 Brown Bags. Attendance has been very sporadic at these meetings held the second Thursday of each month at the Cinergy/PSI community room - 1200 Manchester Avenue. The cost for the complete series of 6 seminars is only $60 per person for Chamber members. Individual sessions can also be attended for $10 per session for Chamber Members, $20 for non-members. The seminar committee will be looking very closely at attendance for this series to determine whether to continue. Our membership survey indicates a lot of interest in this program, and we would like to have enough interest to continue. A reservation form is inserted in this newsletter. The line-up is: October 14 Year 2000 Issues - How to prepare your
Business November 11 Resolving Conflict in the Workplace
- presented by - Patricia Kenerer December 9 Managing Bloodborn Pathogens in the
Workplace - presented by Yvonne January 13 Improving Work Habits - Learn to work
efficiently presented by Beth Miller, February 10 Positive Thinking - How Stress Affects
the Body presented by Mary Ann March 9 Violence in the Workplace - Tips to make
your Workplace Safer presented by Pull out the brochure and save it for future dates and calendars. We hope to see you at many of these sessions. |
| GALLUP RECEIVES SAM WALTON BUSINESS
LEADER AWARD Wabash Wal-Mart is pleased to present the 1999 Sam Walton Business Leader Award to Frank J. Gallup, President of Markhon, Inc. The award is given throughout the nation in communities with a Wal-Mart or Sam's Club presence. It honors people who best exemplify the principles of Sam Walton: Respect for the Individual. Service to Customers. Committment to Excellence. The award includes Wal-Mart's recognition for the recipient plus a generous grant to the Wabash Area Chamber of Commerce to support community development efforts. The Chamber nominated Mr. Gallup for the award. |
| ANNUAL DINNER The Annual Dinner Committee, chaired by Brent Dawes, has been hard at work planning this years event for Thursday, November 4, 1999 at 6:30 P.M. at the Honeywell Center. North Central Cooperative, Inc. will be honored as the 1999 Business of the Year. Chamber Chair Troy Cole, Ford Meter Box, will pass the gavel to Brian Howenstine, Coast to Coast. Reservations can be made by calling the Chamber office or mailing back your reservation form. The keynote speaker this year will be Dr. David Downey, Director of the Center for Agricultural Business and Professor at Purdue University. Dr. Downey is a nationally recognized expert on agricultural marketing working extensively as a consultant with agribusinesses across the country as well as in Canada, Australia, and Europe. A Wabash native, Dr. Downey's grandfather was one of the founders of Wabash County Farm Bureau Cooperative Association Inc., North Central Co-Op's predecessor. With family still in Wabash, he currently has many ties to the community. It is only fitting that the committee has asked Howard Halderman to be Master of Ceremonies for the evening. To close the event, our 1999 Distinguish Citizen Award will be presented to ???????? Please plan to join us the evening of November 4 - make your reservation today. |
| NEW BOARD MEMBERS Congratulation to new Board of Director members elected to 3 year terms by the Chamber membership: Lynn Yohe, Yohe Realty, Dick Rider, Retired and Wabash Marketplace, Roger Cromer, First Federal Savings Bank, and returning to the board, Dave Hunter, Wabash County Hospital. Dave has completed a one year term appointed by Troy Cole. In addition, Jane Hentgen will be filling a vacancy by appointment. We will miss Past Chair Karen Halley, Kelli Halderman, Dan Barrett, Tony Pulley, Damon Peigh, and Steve VanVoorhis. New Chair Brian Howenstine will make 2 one year appointments in the future. The Board of Directors has elected the following officers: Brian Howenstine, Chair; Jerry Banks, Chair-Elect; Steve Ford, Vice-Chair; Troy Cole, Past Chair; and Bill Foulke, Treasurer. More on our new additions in the future. |
| CANDIDATE MEETINGS Your Chamber's Government Affairs Committee has been busy planning two public events crucial to this fall's local city elections. PLEASE PUT THESE EVENTS ON YOUR CALENDAR AND PLAN TO ATTEND! October 7, 1999 there will be a CANDIDATE FORUM at the Wabash Middle School Auditorium at 7:00 P.M. Each candidate for city office has been invited to make a three minute presentation on their candidacy followed by question and answers both from the audience and pre-determined questions. Responses will be limited to 2 minutes each. This will be followed two weeks later on October 21, 1999 again at the Middle School Auditorium at 7:00 P.M. by a Mayoral Debate between the three candidates. Candidates will open with a brief statement followed by the debate. There will be no charge for these sessions. The office has received a great attendance response from the candidates. SEE YOU THERE.
HAUNTED RIVERWALK |
| MANAGEMENT SERVICE CONTRACTS As many of you are aware, the Wabash County Convention and Visitor Bureau contracts with your Chamber to provide certain services associated with the employment of their executive director Trula Frank. This has worked out very well the past year. It has proven to be mutually beneficial to each organization, therefore, the arrangement has been renewed for the coming year. In that spirit, the Chamber Board of Directors is very pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached with the Wabash Marketplace Board to provide clerical, financial, and support services necessary for the operation of their organization. This opportunity has arisen due to the retirement of Elden Yohe as Executive Director of Wabash Marketplace and the resignation of Jim Widner as their treasurer. The agreement will commence October 1, 1999. There are many advantages to both groups to enter into this arrangement. Marketplace will be paying a fee for the Chamber services. For the time being, current Chamber staff will absorb the Marketplace duties. The Marketplace Board is still considering options in replacement of the Executive Director position. The Chamber looks forward to working closely with and for the Marketplace organization. |
| MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE DELIVERS PLAQUES Your Membership Committee of the Chamber chaired by Greg Pettit, has literally been working all year to bring something new to the membership. As you may recall, each year the Membership committee budgets some funds to say "Thanks" to all the members of the Wabash Area Chamber of Commerce. Sometimes this is done through newspaper ads recognizing the membership, sometimes it is done through small gifts to each member, other times it is accomplished through an event scheduled to thank our membership. This year the committee asked for a little extra funding to accomplish something of a more permanent nature. Membership plaques have been made and literally put together by committee members. Hopefully these plaques will be a lasting indication of Chamber membership. Date tabs stating the year of membership have been added to the bottom edge of the plaque. Each year, upon renewal, a new date tab will be sent to you with your renewal receipt. These plaques are now being distributed by membership committee members. It is hoped that you will display them proudly in a public area of your business. If you have not yet received yours, please feel free to stop by the Chamber office to pick your business'. Thanks to members Susan Stewart, Bev Holmquist, Bob Gillespie, and Larry Hoover. |
| OZ IS COMING TO WABASH The Wabash Area Community Theater will be transforming the Honeywell Center Ford Theater into the land of Oz October 8, 9, and 10. Your are invited to come and visit all your favorite Oz characters - with a local flavor. Yes, the Scarecrow, Tinman, Lion, Dorothy, Wicked Witch, Good Witch, and even the Wizard himself will be on stage in person as the theater group performs the classic Wizard of Oz Friday and Saturday at 8 P.M. and Sunday at 2 P.M. Tickets are now available at the Honeywell Center Box Office adults only $9 and children $5. Get your tickets quickly as this is anticipated to be a sellout! Over 100 Wabash area residents are working very hard on and off stage to make this as memorable a production as have been the past musicals. |
BOARD MEMBERS Board Chair: Troy Cole Chair Elect: Brian Howenstine Vice Chair: Jerry Banks Treasurer: Bill Foulke Past Chair: Karen Halley President: Galen L. Bremmer Damon Peigh David Hunter Dan Barrett Kelli Halderman Tony Pulley Steve VanVoorhis Skip Daughtry Jane Hentgen Larry Hoover Shelly Neal Greg Pettit Jo Ellen Lambert Rick Gray Kevin Leming Susan Stewart |
| Date: October 14th Noon till 1 pm Topic: Y2K Issues Presented by: Vicki Hollanders Lunch provided by: Small Business Dev. Center Date:
November 11 Noon till 1 pm |
| Date: October 13th 7:00 a.m. Business Sponsors: Manpower Norwest Bank The Rehab Place Community Sponsor: Paradise Spring |
| The Next BBH (after Oct. 13th) is:
December 8th at 7:00 a.m. |
| Mark Your Calendars |
| October 7 - Morton Marcus Seminar
at Manchester College 11:30 a.m. October 7 - Candidate Forum at Wabash Middle School 7:00 p.m. |
| If you would like Internet access and
you would like to use CTLnet as your access service
provider, your Chamber can assist you in that endeavor.
Your Chamber is now a distribution point for CTLnet's
"Dial-up Account Registration" form, "User
Service Agreement" form and the necessary software
for Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Mac's. Stop in and pick
yours up! Wabash Area Chamber of Commerce |