Annual meeting reviews busy year, new dues structure
The Aurora Chamber of Commerce board celebrated a full year of successful activities and outlined plans for its growing membership in the year ahead during Monday’s annual meeting.
Board president Sara Sutherland began the hour-long event at City Hall by noting that the business community in Aurora is in itself growing, which is reflected in the Chamber’s membership and list of activities.
“We’ve had a lot of growth from our membership base,” she said, reporting an increase from 152 to 166 Chamber members in the last year. “We’re definitely seeing a lot of new businesses that come to town and we become the first organization they reach out to make it known they have a presence, which is very exciting to get to that point. That value is immediately there for businesses as they join us in Hamilton County.”
The total number of businesses in Hamilton County is estimated at 350 to 400, up significantly in the last two years due in part to a surge in at-home businesses, according to Justise Rhoden, the Chamber’s executive director.
“There is opportunity for growth for businesses that come to Hamilton County to do business and we want to reach out to businesses in Clay, Hall and Merrick counties to get them involved as well,” Sutherland said. “There is lots of opportunity for our membership to grow.”
The Chamber board reviewed a long list of activities it sponsored and/or coordinated during the past year, noting solid attendance, especially compared to the last two years. That list included Bands on the Bricks, Come Home to Christmas, a golf tournament, Leadership Tomorrow, Market on the Square, Scare the Square, a monthly podcast and annual banquet, which is scheduled for January.
“For this year, it was nice to have a whole year that we didn’t have any restrictions,” Sutherland said, regarding previous COVID protocols. “We’ve also relaunched some very valuable programs to our membership base, including our Ambassador program.”
That Ambassador committee will coordinate ribbon-cuttings at new businesses, as well as business after hours events and regular visits to existing businesses. That, Sutherland said, when combined with some of the other networking events provide value to member businesses, as well as the general community.
“These committees, events, the Ambassador program are all great ways to get involved,” Sutherland said, issuing an invitation to the community. “For anyone interested in getting involved there are far more opportunities to be impactful with our events and our mission. Having a seat on the board is only one way to get involved. We want as many individuals involved as possible, not just business owners, but employees.”
New dues structure
One of the major changes pending in the new year, Sutherland reported, is a restructuring of membership dues. As of 2023, there will be seven different categories to choose from, with each showing annual dues along with a list of up to 44 benefits received, based on the category level.
“We heard back from members over the last couple of years how can we appropriately align contributions with the value of Chamber membership,” Sutherland said. “Initial conversations (on the new dues structure) have been very positive as they are clear on the benefits with each category. We’ll start to roll those out for 2023 and it will likely take through 2024 to wrap up the full transition.”
As for the Chamber’s finances, Dereck Djernes noted during his treasurer’s report that total revenue came in at $113,876 for the year, with total expenses of $40,817 and total operations of $21,951. Net income for the year was listed at $16,850.
Before ending her annual meeting report, Sutherland tipped her hat to Rhoden for taking steps in her own professional development, as well as her leadership and involvement with the various committees and events. Rhoden, now in her fourth year with the Chamber, was named as a member of the Nebraska Chambers Association board of directors.
“Congratulations and thank you for all the work that you do,” Sutherland said. “You are a huge asset to this community, to this organization.”
Aurora will be hosting a two-day conference in the spring for 30-50 state chamber executives involved with that organization, Sutherland added, “which will give us an opportunity to showcase what we’ve done.”
Two members were recognized and thanked for their service as they end their board tenures. Jeremy Heeg with Logic Nebraska and Marni Danhauer with JoJo’s Gelato will end their time on the board at the end of the year, while Jodi Powers with Hairy Situations will join the board.
Other board members for 2023 include officers Dereck Djernes with Hamilton Telecommunications as president, Derek Rose at Rose Chiropractic as vice president, stay-at-home mom Jeni Obermeier as secretary, Nicholas Heinrichs at Cornerstone Bank as treasurer, along with Sara Sutherland (Aurora Fitness Center), Julie Wasem (Woods Brothers Realty), Marlin Seeman (mayor of Aurora), Matthew Grosshans (Hamilton County ag producer), Ashley Parker (Tempo Dance Studio), Dalton Aksamit (Aurora Mall), Kelsey Hofmann (Urban Chic Boutique) and Bridgett Svoboda (Svoboda Benefit Solutions).