VIEWPOINT NOTE FROM The CEO

creating a fun working team here at the VCDC.

Spirit of South Dakota

JIM PETERSON - President/CEO

What a great first half of the year it’s been! The VCDC is spending 2023 focusing on our new mission: to serve the Vermillion area and its businesses to grow and prosper. We are connecting more with our existing and new members, adding more engagement and networking opportunities, and assisting businesses in their growth. We are collaborating with partners and members to find solutions for housing, workforce, and childcare. We are striving to fulfill our values of being accountable and having integrity, communicating well with our members, being customer-focused in all of our work, and

Most importantly, we are focused on improving engagement among our members. We asked you what you wanted to see from the chamber, and we listened. We updated our membership benefits for 2023 to ensure our members are receiving a better value for their investment, and we are taking a renewed focus to support them through engagement, marketing, advertisement, and sponsorship opportunities. I can confidently say that it’s better than ever to be a member of the VCDC. So far in 2023, we have had more members join than than our total membership growth last year. Our membership has grown 15%, and it only continues to rise!

We’ve introduced new events such as our “Wake Up Vermillion” and “Coffee and Conversation” series, which we hope you’ve enjoyed as networking opportunities with other folks in our community. Brittany hosted a “Maximizing your Membership” event, where she talked through important member benefits. We will continue to host these events going forward because we want to ensure that our members understand and take advantage of their benefits. We also launched the Live Ver- million app in April. With business listings for both members and non-members, contact information for area businesses, and exclusive advertising opportunities for VCDC members, we are confident that this product will elevate the entire community.

We have an incredible staff at the VCDC, and I want to thank them for the tremendous work that they do. Brittany, Paddy, Sam, and Miles—thank you for your dedication to this organization.

Thank you, too, to the Vermillion community for your continued support. If you have any questions about what we have planned, call us or stop in for coffee. We are here to serve you, and to Connect, Grow, and Lead the Vermillion business community.

Jim Peterson

VCDC President & CEO