January 2020 Better Together Newsletter

January 2020 UPCOMING EVENTS A Letter From the President Welcome to the year 2020! A new year is like a blank publication… it is your opportunity to compose a story of your own.

The Chamber has a slate of opportunities and prgrams that will help you to start to write your story.

A few events to add to your calendar in January could be to attend the Business after Hours at the Martha VandeLeest Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts on January 9th. Please do not forget to put the January 23rd Economic Outlook Breakfast & Annual Meeting on your calendars.

Again, wishing you all a very prosperous and promising New Year!

1.9.20

BUSINESS AFTER HOURS at the Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

1.23.20

Economic Outlook Breakfast & Annual Meeting 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM

Get your tickets for the Chamber Champions gala Please click the image below for registration.

1.23.20

Young Professionals Game Night 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

1.29.20

RIBBON CUTTING Northwestern Mutual Sheboygan Branch 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

1.8.20

ROUND TABLE Worksite Wellness 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM

1.9.20

ROUND TABLE Strategic Sourcing 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM

In the Issue: President Update, Executive Update, Workforce Development Update, Coastal Young Professionals Network Update, Membership Update, Upcoming Events and What’s been happening…photo’s enclosed.

Event Update sponsorship opportunities available. Please contact Scott Kuehn at scott@sheboygan.org for more information.

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from the desk of the executive director Happy New Year and New Decade! As we put 2019 to bed, it’s a great opportunity to remind us of how successful the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce and Sheboygan County as a whole has been. The Chamber is proud to share that again we’ve experienced growth in membership and are retaining members at an industry high. This tells me that we are supporting you, our members, in ways that you value. Over the past year we’ve made significant efforts to talk with members one on one, out in the community learning more about the needs of members and future members and also asking for feedback via surveys. It is with this information we are prepared and thrilled to embark on the next journey with all of you, serving you and supporting you in 2020.

Deidre Martinez

Last Call! The 2020 Economic Outlook survey is still open and we want your voice to be heard. Take a few minutes to complete this survey today by clicking here. Results of the survey will be shared at the upcoming Economic Outlook Breakfast and Annual Meeting to be held on January 23rd, from 7:30 – 9:30 am at Pine Hills Country Club. Those in attendance will also have an opportunity to vote on the slate of Board Members and Executive Committee Members, to serve on the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce Board.

We are busy preparing the first celebration of the decade at the Chamber Champions Gala to be held on Thursday, February 20, 2020 at Blue Harbor Resort! Don’t miss this opportunity to rub elbows with Sheboygan County’s elite and celebrate the 2019 successes of businesses and organizations throughout Sheboygan County. Registration is open and dinner seating is limited, get your tickets today by clicking here.

Have you put together your list of New Year’s resolutions? I would like to challenge all of you to share in this journey with me.

Choose one per month of the New Year, I know we can do it!

Resolution #1: Eat at a restaurant in Sheboygan County that you’ve never been to before.

Resolution #2: Celebrating something? Buy your next gift at a local retailer.

Resolution #3: Clean out your closets and/or drawers and donate those clothes to a local charity.

Resolution #4: Seek out a new Chamber member and do business with them.

Resolution #5: Participate in one new Chamber event or program.

Resolution #6: Enjoy Sheboygan County’s beauty, take a walk outside.

Resolution #7: Volunteer at a local charity.

Resolution #8: Try a new hobby, something completely different. (ex. knitting, painting, surfing???)

Resolution #9: Invest in yourself, complete a professional development opportunity. (The Chamber offers these throughout the year) Resolution #10: Forgive someone, large or small, let it go.

Resolution #11: Explore a community in Sheboygan County that you are unfamiliar with.

Resolution #12: Tell me about one of your new experiences, send me an email deidre@sheboygan.org.

Newsletter sponsorship opportunities now available!

Please contact Scott Kuehn at 920-918-1315 or scott@sheboygan.org for more information.

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News from WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT The Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce has partnered with MRA, to find the perfect fit for our open Director of Workforce Development & Governmental Affairs position and we expect to have an update to share with you all by February 1st.

In the meantime, we’ve been busy planning for 2020 programming and are excited to share that Explore Your Future is scheduled for March 10th & 11th at Lakeshore Technical College. This is an opportunity to facilitate exploration of different careers available with more than 1500 Sheboygan County high school sophomores. Our Business Education Partnership committee works hard to bring education and industry needs to a common space, to ensure we are encouraging our Sheboygan County youth to explore options. Whether students are considering a 4 year University, technical school, military or joining the workforce straight out of high school, we want our students to be aware of what is out there. If you are interested in volunteering at this event and sharing your experiences and knowledge, please reach out to Deidre Martinez as soon as possible at deidre@sheboygan.org. Events like these can’t happen without the generous support of sponsors, if you are interested in sponsoring Explore Your Future or other similar events, please contact Scott Kuehn at Scott@sheboygan.org.

Our Summer Intern/Co-op program is also in full planning mode. Each summer we support local employers and the hundreds of interns/co-op’s they bring into Sheboygan County by providing programming to engage in our local communities, build relationships with other like individuals and to showcase all the wonderful things Sheboygan County has to offer. Our goal is to welcome (potential new residents) while also encouraging local’s to stay and build their lives in Sheboygan County.

There are a number of ways you can participate in this program, if you would like to learn more, please contact Deidre Martinez at deidre@sheboygan.org.

How can we serve you? If you haven’t already, please complete the 2020 Economic Outlook Survey today and join us on January 23rd from 7:30 AM – 9:30 AM at Pine Hills Country Club for the Economic Outlook Breakfast and Annual Meeting.

UPDATE FROM Coastal Young Professionals Network The Coastal Young Professionals Network is ready to kick things off for the new decade!

We are really excited for all that the new year has in store for us. Our 2020 goal for the young professionals is to boost engagement and expand our group to further increase networking, but we ran into one small problem.

How do we gauge where we are at without having any data on attendance or the success of the events hosted in the past? How do we know when we are improving? The answer is, we don’t. So this year, it is all going to change. In order to bring positive and impactful events to Sheboygan that young professionals will enjoy as well as attend, we need to measure the interests in the events we host.

We are going to spend the year tracking and measuring our engagement in the community and the success of the events that we host; this is going to be a HUGE help in furthering improve the already wonderful group we work with.

We’re excited to host our first YP event of 2020 on the evening of January 23rd, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm in the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce large conference room for Game Night. Nibbles and libations will be made available, while we build relationships and play games, courtesy of The Gameboard. There is no cost to participate in this event, we do ask that you register for planning purposes. Please sign up today!

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News from THE DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Happy New Year Chamber Nation! I hope everyone had a terrific Holiday Season and are energized for an exciting 2020!

So how many of you made a New Year’s resolution? Lose weight, quit drinking soda, maybe stop smoking? I don’t normally make resolutions, but I did for 2020. My resolution is to you, the members of this chamber, and I’m hoping you can help me keep my resolution. This year I want to meet with every member of the chamber. If you’re satisfied with your chamber membership and feel you are maximizing its benefits, a short phone call, a cup of coffee, could suffice as a meet. If you’d like to learn more, involve other employees of your business, let’s meet for a longer period of time and get into more detail.

Scott Kuehn Either way, I want to hear from you! I want to know how I’m doing and listen to your suggestions. We’re here to assist, support and grow your business, but I can’t do my job at a high level without your input.

So, if you’d like to reach out first, text, call or email me, I’d be happy to meet you sooner than later!

We only have a couple spots left for our 2020 Community Resource Guide, so if you’re reading this and you want in, please call me on my cell at 920-918-1315 now! Don’t miss out, it’s going to be a terrific publication for community members and visitors alike.

For new and existing members, please don’t forget to register for Member Orientation, scheduled for Wednesday, 02/05 from 7:45 – 9:00am in the large conference room. We’ll provide a few breakfast treats and coffee. In the spirit of continuous improvement, the more feedback I hear from you, the better I can serve the membership. As our services continue to evolve, I want to make sure all members are aware and take full advantage of the countless opportunities through their respective memberships. If you can’t make this meeting, please don’t hesitate to reach out and we can meet individually too, share a cup of coffee and go through your membership opportunities in further detail.

And to celebrate many of our wonderful members, please plan on attending the 2020 Chamber Champions Gala at Blue Harbor Resort & Conference Center. Share an evening of friendships, collaboration and good cheer with fellow chamber members, and applaud those who have been nominated, and of course those who win their category. This event sells out every year, and over 650 members are expected again at the largest chamber event of the year, so don’t wait, register today!

As always, please don’t forget to check out a Deep Dive, Roundtable, Focal Point or any other opportunity and meet new members, develop relationships, and grow your business or company this year to make 2020 your best year yet!

See you all soon, because we are all so much #BETTER TOGETHER!

Newsletter sponsorship opportunities now available!

Please contact Scott Kuehn at 920-918-1315 or scott@sheboygan.org for more information.

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December EVENTS RECAP

Ribbon Cutting - Kohler Swing Studio

Holiday Business After Hours at Pine Hills Country Club

First Friday Forum with Paul Dickson from Arizona Bank & Trust

Member Orientation

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Special events

save the dates

2.20.20

CHAMBER CHAMPIONS GALA 4:30 PM - 9:00 PM

4.18.20

COMMUNITY & BUSINESS EXPO 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

To register for these events and find out more information, Please visit Sheboygan.org

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