January 2021 CEO Report
Happy New Year! This new year brings me feelings of hope, inspiration and growth. This past year brought so many takeaways. We watched many businesses in our backyard and across the nation struggle, and continue to struggle. It really made me aware how passionate the Chamber team and board are to provide information, resources and solutions for our community and its businesses. The Chamber team, member businesses and organizations and the entire community had to pivot, and pivot again. It was amazing to watch us all find new ways to deliver, cope, support, communicate and even grow through the disruption.
I’d like to take a minute to thank all the Chamber members who have renewed their membership for the coming year. One of the most visible ways to benefit through your membership is to make sure you are connected to our communications. You do that easiest by logging into your Chamber account, https://pierre.org/member-login/. Get all of your representatives entered as contacts and double check your descriptions and contact information; this will get you the best search engine optimization, not only on our website but also when businesses are searched on Google or any other web browser. If you have employees you want to plug into the community, we can help find a committee that will give them a chance to network and be a leader. Please contact Katie Johnson at our office by email at kjohnson@pierre.org or by phone, 605-224-7361, to help with finding ways to benefit the most from your Chamber investment.
A new year always brings changes to our Chamber board. I’d like to take an opportunity to thank Meredith Lee for serving as our 2020 Chamber President and welcome Thomas Allerdings who will take over for 2021. Thank you to all of the 2020 Board Members, I appreciate your time and dedication; it was a challenging year and you got us through it. A special thank you to the outgoing board members Jennifer Anderson, Dennis Rounds, Pam Metzinger, Tanner Kost, and Jamie Maher. We welcome new board members Kellie Yackley, Kiel Wendelschafer, Ty Kinneberg, Jessica Mefferd, Jaymason Bramble, and Stephen Webb.
Through the new year, remember, we are a Chamber because of you. Please let us know how we can best serve you in 2021 and beyond.
Best wishes for a prosperous and happy new year to all.
