8A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MARCH 1, 2017
CHAMBER NEWSLETTER
Our Mission: Th e Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce promotes economic vitality through
advocacy and collaboration with its members and the larger community.
Travis Palmer,
Executive Director
Director’s Note:
If this is typically the “slow time of
year,” for your business, consider making
this your busy time of year. Whatever
you want to call it, “spring cleaning,”
“prep-time,” “pre-game,” it doesn’t matter.
What matters is that you take advantage
of the temporary dip in business and use
the extra time to make sure that your busy
season goes as smoothly as possible. If
you can fi x the little things now, it’s going
to save you time and productivity later
because the peak busy of your season
is the worst possible time to have to fi x
problems that could have been prevented.
Clean up hard drives and back up your
computer systems. Purge old records that
you don’t need for accounting or historical
purposes. Perform annual maintenance
on your heating and air conditioning
systems, replace all of your burned
out light bulbs or consider upgrading
to cleaner, brighter and more effi cient
LED systems. Have a conversation with
your vendors and suppliers about what
your expectations are for the next year.
Th ey might be able to foresee a product
shortage or slowdown of delivery times
that you can prepare for as long as you
know about it in advance.
At the Chamber, our Annual Business
Meeting is part of preparing for the year
ahead. We released our annual report for
2016 and outlined our goals for 2017. We
brought in speakers from the community
to give our members some insight about
trends that could positively or negatively
impact their businesses. Finally, we
encouraged attendees to give us feedback
about what they think the chamber
should be doing more or less of with our
resources. As we move forward, we’re also
reaching out to our entire membership of
businesses, advisors, and collaborative
partners to provide feedback about what
is most important to the growth of our
local economy. Would holding larger
and more frequent events translate to
more income for your business or would
you rather see the Chamber focus more
attention on advocacy and creating
a more hospitable environment for
local and start-up businesses to thrive?
Asking these questions now, gives us the
information and the time to plan and
make changes within the organization at
the time when it matters most.
Th ere are other advantages to adding
activity to your down time too. Th e
old adage of “If you’ve got time to lean,
you’ve got time to clean,” is especially true
for a business. Something as simple as
reorganizing and cleaning the offi ce can
do wonders for a person’s productivity,
creativity, and their general demeanor
about work. Busy people don’t tend to
spend a lot of time complaining because
they are not sitting around thinking about
how slow it is. Th ey don’t have time to
dwell on the negative. Th e completion
of even a menial task can give someone
a sense of accomplishment and feeling
good about the state of your businesses is
one of the most important and impactful
things you can do to make sure that you
are ready for busier times ahead.
at businesses with regular international
travel.   Suggested attendees are
business owners/founders, executive
management,
corporate
counsels,
HR directors, corporate security
offi cers, and corporate stakeholders.
Seminar Speaker Steve Cash is
a veteran of 40 years’ experience in
international business and U.S. national
security.  Th is training is part of a range
if international travel and security
training and fi eld support provided
by  Talus Group (www.talusgroupllc.
com, a Eugene, Oregon-based company. 
Th is 90-minute presentation will
address Corporate Duty of Care with
regard to international business travel,
tensions between company and traveling
employee expectations, and an overview
of topics ranging from personal security,
travel planning, travel, preparing for
the unexpected, street crime, abduction
avoidance, protecting IP and more.
Th e seminar will be held at the
Brewstation, 106 S. 6th Street on March
8, 2017. Doors open at 5:30, seminar is
from 6:00 – 7:30pm.
Ticket prices:
Chamber Member      
In Advance $5.00 • At the Door $7.00
COTTAGE GROVE CHAMBER OF
Non-Member
COMMERCE EDUCATIONAL
In Advance $15.00
FORUM -Sponsored by Banner Bank
At the Door $17.00
Included:  2 free drinks with each ticket
Th e SafeTravel seminar is targeted
purchase
To register in advance, contact Travis
Palmer, Director of the Chamber of
Commerce (541) 942-2411,
 travis@cgchamber.com
MARCH BUSINESS
AFTER HOURS
Trinity Lutheran Church will host
Business Aft er Hours on Th ursday,
March 16 from 5:30 – 7:00pm, 675 S. 7th
Street. 2017 marks the 500th Anniversary
of
the
Reformation
and
Trinity›s  70th  birthday.   Th is event will
give Chamber members the opportunity
to learn about the church›s history and its
varied ministries.
Since Trinity off ers a free meal
to the community on Tuesdays and
Th ursdays, Chamber members will be
able to enjoy a meal and witness this
program in action.  A tour and a history
of the building will be given. Door prizes
will include gift certifi cates to Trinity’s
July chicken barbeque and a quilt from
Trinity’s quilting ministry.
Please join us for a time to network
with others, learn something new, and
have some fun!   And don’t forget your
business card to enter the door prize
drawing.  Your attendance reinforces the
spirit in which the Chamber provides
these monthly activities.   Cottage Grove
and  Creswell  Chamber members are
encouraged to attend this classic, fun
networking event! 
CALLING PERFORMERS AND SPONSORS!
The 2017 Season of Concerts in the Park will be here soon. We are already reviewing bands and booking sponsors for this season so if you know of a band that you
want to see at the Bohemia Park Amphitheater this summer, please have them contact the Chamber of Commerce with a sample of their music along with their booking
contact information. We only bring back a few bands from the last season so be sure to let us know who your favorite bands were from last summer’s line-up. If you
enjoy the free concerts in the park, please consider becoming a sponsor or donor to help support the continued growth and success of the concerts. Call 541-942-2411
and ask to speak with Travis to learn more about how you can support the Chamber of Commerce Concerts in the Park.
2017 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
2017 Chamber Board of Directors:
Thank you for your hours upon hours of volunteer time, commitment, and service!
Offi cers
Candace Solesbee, President
Chloe Beckes, Vice President
Gary Manly, Treasurer
Joe Raade, Past President
Directors
Ryan Gifford
Dean Kruschke
Danny Solesbee
Don Williams
Lloyd Williams
Judd Van Gorder
Shampoo Dolls Salon
Jack Sprats
Cottage Grove Sentinel
South Lane County Fire & Rescue
Gifford & Gifford Atty at Law
Cascade Home Center
Five Flying Monkeys
Retired, Past Board President
South Lane Television
Carousel House B&B and Catering
Advisors
Tim Herrmann
Diana Knous
Richard Meyers
Shuana Neigh
Garrett Bridgens
PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Community Medical Center
Pacifi c Power
City of Cottage Grove
Cottage Grove Main Street Program
South Lane School District
Visitor Center Volunteers:
Heidi Abbott, Dotti Bittner, Tara Sue
Hughart, Susan Jeppesen, Suzy Kanich,
Marie Longfellow, Judd Van Gorder,
Sharon Van Gorder, Penny Westling,
Nolene Wheeler.
Staff:
Travis Palmer, Executive Director
Beth Martin, Offi ce Manager
Mavis Bradsby, Bookkeeper
Five Year Vision Statement:
Th e Cottage Grove Area Chamber of
Commerce promotes Cottage Grove as
a prosperous destination community.
Economic vitality is at the heart of
everything we do. As a resource for
businesses, we are the conduit that provides
advocacy, marketing, education, and
networking opportunities to over 300
members.