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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2015)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL May 6, 2015 CHAMBER NEWSLETTER CHAMBER NEWS Travis Palmer, Executive Director Note from the Director The school year is almost over and that means “Event Season” is just getting started in Cottage Grove. The line-up for this season of Concerts in the Park has just been fi nalized and it promises plenty of variety and talent. Events like the Oregon Gran Fondo, Tri at the Grove and Cycle the lakes will all be back again and we expect them to be bigger and better than ever. We also have some new events coming this year. The Culpepper & Merriweather Circus will be here later this month thanks to our local Kiwanis Clubs. A new Disc Golf Tournament is also being organized that will bring an outdoor recreation themed “block party” to our Historic Downtown and in July, the Oregon Mayor’s Conference is making a return trip to Cottage Grove after only 5 years since the last time they chose to come here for their annual gathering. Of course we’ll still have Bohemia Mining Days, a rodeo, the Western Oregon Heritage Expo and Timber Show along with lots and lots of action packed racing hosted by Cottage Grove Speedway, which is one of the fastest quarter-mile dirt tracks in the northwest! ArtWalk continues to get better each month, and we’ll also see some new versions of familiar events such as the Grower’s Market on 10th Street and the Oregon Covered Bridge Festival who have both been working hard on their strategic plans for growth and renewal. In addition to events, you’re also going to start seeing some developmental changes around Cottage Grove. Several building and property owners have expressed plans to make improvements such as painting, façade repairs, and other overdue improvements. A fantastic playground will soon be installed at Bohemia Park and the stage cover will soon go back up at the amphitheater. You may have even noticed that work has already begun on improvements to the Row River Trail which will include a tunnel under the highway to eliminate the most dangerous crossing of the highway and signifi cant improvements to safety and visibility at 3 other crossings. You can also expect to see groundbreakings and new activity at some of our local industrial and commercial properties so stay tuned for announcements of ribbon cuttings and new job postings in the months ahead. If you have any interest in keeping up with all of the news and activity that is taking place in Cottage Grove, I encourage you to take advantage of the many low or no cost sources for fi nding local news and information. Obviously, the Sentinel is a clear choice for local news, and for those who may not be able to afford a subscription, a free copy is available to read in the Cottage Grove library. KNND Radio AM1400 is always entertaining and they have a morning news and calendar segment followed by the Beeper Show at 9am which will keep you informed about local issues. The City of Cottage Grove and the Chamber of Commerce both have FREE weekly email newsletters that anyone can sign up to receive, and TEAM Cottage Grove also has an electronic and printed newsletter called “Around the Grove” that is available to anyone who would like to receive it. For internet users, the Chamber of Commerce has a local event calendar available for anyone in the community to read or post events on, and the City’s website has regularly updated postings of their public meetings and events. You can also look for public meeting notices in designated areas at the Community Center and City Hall and there is even news on the back of your Cottage Grove water bill. If you prefer Facebook, the Sentinel, KNND, City of Cottage Grove, and the Chamber of Commerce each have their own pages that I would encourage you to follow and South Lane Fire and Rescue even has their own Twitter feed. Travis Palmer, Executive Director Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting/Grand Opening Join us Thursday, May 7th, 12:00 noon to help welcome Michele Savage to Cottage Grove and help Grove Medical Equipment celebrate the opening of their store - offering home respiratory, medical equipment and supplies. Grove Medical Equipment is located at 148 Gateway Blvd. in the Gateway Plaza between Papa Murphy’s and the DMV. Forum – Google Analytics 101 Google analytics can provide an invaluable service to anyone who manages a website. Learn how to create a Google analytics account, embed the code and track the traffi c on your website. This forum will provide information about the reports generated in Google Analytics, how to drill down into the data and use that data to drive decisions on website development. This forum, held on May 13 from 6-9pm at Lane Community College Cottage Grove campus, will be presented in a classroom setting. Participants can bring a laptop if they wish. This is a lecture style presentation with lots of opportunities for Q&A. The instructor has been teaching technology classes since 2001 and has utilized Google Analytics professionally to improve client websites for several years. She designed and has continued to update this workshop for the past three years. This forum has been modifi ed to speak specifi cally to business owners using Analytics with a commercial based website, however the information is easily transferred to information based websites as well. The cost for Cottage Grove and Creswell Chamber members is $10 per person, non- chamber member participants $25 per person. Please RSVP to beth@cgchamber.com Now Seeking Nominations for Yard of the Week The 18th season of Yard of the Week will be starting on May 8th. So be on the lookout for those members of the community who deserve recognition for their efforts to beautify the community. Single family residences within the City of Cottage Grove are eligible for the award. To encourage more participation and recognize more homes within the community, all recipients of the Yard of the Week must wait two years before receiving the award again. In addition to the attractive Yard of the Week sign in their yard, the recipients of the award also receive a credit for a free month of water from the City and a gift certifi cate from the Chamber of Commerce good at local businesses. Phone or email the address you wish to nominate to info@cgchamber.com, or cityrecorder@cottagegrove.org, or call 541- 942-5501. 2015 Visitor Center Stats Phone calls Walk-In Visitors Relocate Requests Visitor Requests Referrals to Chamber Members 3/26 Thru 4/29 242 294 1 3 102 YTD 1070 1306 10 20 431 1660 5193 1802 172 1938 882 51 36 3710 14419 6678 728 5342 2160 189 129 2015 Website Stats Business Directory Searches Members Listed in Results Member Page Views Links to Member Website Event Searches Event Page Hits Hot Deal Searches Job Searches What do these numbers mean? Business Directory Searches: Th is number refl ects how the chamber website has been used to search for business in Cottage Grove. Members Listed in Results: Th is number indicates exposure to chamber member businesses through the chamber website. It displays the number of times member’s listings were displayed in the search results. Member Page Views: Th is number indicates the number of times the chamber member information page has been viewed on the chamber website. Links to Member Website: Th is number indicates the number of times a chamber member’s own website link was clicked. Event Searches: Th is number refl ects how the chamber website has been used to search for events in Cottage Grove. Event Page Hits: Th is number indicates how many times event pages have been viewed no matter by who, or how many times they view it. Hot Deal Searches: Hot Deals are coupons created by chamber members and posted on the website. Th ese numbers refl ect how coupons are being searched for. Job Searches: Chamber members can post job openings on the website. Th is number refl ects how many times the website has been used to search for job posting. Chamber Members! Give us a call if you want to learn how to maximize your presence on our website: • Enhance your home page information with pictures and text • Post hot deals, job openings, and events • Add keywords to help consumers fi nd you when they run searches • Run reports to see statistics for your home page 2015 Chamber Board of Directors, Advisors and Staff Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce 700 E. Gibbs • Cottage Grove, OR info@cgchamber.com • www.cgchamber.com P. (541) 942-2411 • F. 888-832-2045 2015 Chamber Board of Directors: Thank you for your hours upon hours of volunteer time, commitment, and service! Offi cers Tiffany Thackara, President Emerald Valley Resort Event Center Joe Raade, President Elect South Lane County Fire & Rescue Paul Tocco, Vice President Busterʼs Main Street Cafe Amanda Akers, Treasurer Commonwealth Financial Network Tim Wilson, Past President Universal Trucking Directors Lorraine Eriksen Sheri Henry Lindsay Laycock Jennifer Radcliffe Linda Schmale Candace Solesbee John Trombly Don Williams Rhonda Worley Cottage Grove Souvenirs Banner Bank City of Cottage Grove South Valley Athletics Retired, Past Board President Shampoo Dolls Salon Fort Rock Construction Retired, Past Board President CJW, LLC Advisors Tim Herrmann Richard Meyers Mayor Tom Munroe Krista Parent Darby Valley PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Community Medical Center City of Cottage Grove City of Cottage Grove South Lane School District Cottage Grove Community Acupuncture Visitor Center Volunteers: Heidi Abbott, Susan Jeppesen, Sunny Kennedy, Donna Laney, Chieko Tomasulo, Jim Vander Platt, Judd Van Gorder, Sharon Van Gorder, Sherry Wendt , Penny Westling, Nolene Wheeler. Staff: Travis Palmer Beth Martin Jennifer Violette Executive Director Offi ce Manager Bookkeeper 9A