December 2015 Page 1

Inside This Issue:

Committee Updates 2

Upcoming Seminars 3

Business After Hours 3, 6

Library 3

Membership Luncheon 4

Business Before Hours 5

Rise and Share 5

Executive Message 7

Renewals 7

Advertisers 9-11

Calendar 12

Chamber News

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Be a Featured Chamber Member

Would you like to have a special article in the Chamber newsletter highlighting your business? Who wouldn’t? You can have your business highlighted as a Featured Member. It’s easy and it’s free.

In the past year, the following businesses have been featured in this article on the front page of the newsletter. In each case, all the business owner or their representative had to do was review the article and make any changes they wanted. Thank you to these businesses for being our 2015 Featured Members; check out the Chamber website for more info on these members (www.belgradechamber.org):

January: Serenity Sheep Farm

February: Southwest Montana Financial Center

March: Big Sky Insulation

April: Belgrade Sales and Service

May: Art Castings

June: River Rock Dental

July: Little Apple Technologies

August: Montana Garage Interiors

September: USANA Health Sciences

October: Bridger Steel

November: Belgrade restaurants.

Would you like to be featured in a future newsletter? Call the Chamber at 388-1616. It’s easy and it’s free!

2015 Featured Members

Light Up the Town for the Festival of Lights

December 4, 5:30-8:30 pm

The annual Festival of Lights celebration will take place on Friday, Decem-ber 4, from 5:30-8:30 pm at many locations around Belgrade. Many com-munity events are planned – from holiday musical entertainment to craft shows to visits with Santa. There is literally something for everyone! The complete list of planned events is provided on page 5.

We are also asking that Chamber members “Light Up” their businesses! All we are ask-ing is that you hang holiday lights in your window or on your building.

Whether you are a retail business or not, it is important to make the town look festive. If everyone does a little, it makes a big impact! Unfortunately, Belgrade doesn’t have very much city-provided holiday lighting, so it’s up to individual businesses to make the town glow with holiday spirit.

Let’s all work together to make Belgrade shine this holiday season!

Page 2 December 2015

President: Shayla Mills (556-3232) Big Sky Western Bank

Vice President: Jay Williamson (388-3727) First Security Bank

Treasurer: Matt Colbert (388-6300) Sunrise Homes, LLC

Past President: Kathleen Wood (556-4950) First Interstate Bank

Directors:

Jackie Flikkema (388-6832) Knife River, Inc.

Jennifer Koch (388-5100) Image Source

Eve Parrow (556-4566) Bozeman Broker Group

Carla Schmidt (388-8188) Farm Bureau Insurance

Dave Smith (924-2274) Belgrade Middle School

Matt Semple (388-8677) Cellular Plus/Verizon Wireless

Committee Chairs:

Agriculture Jay Williamson Economic Development Joe Dahinden Membership Services Eve Parrow Tournament Kevin Black Transportation Jackie Flikkema

Chamber Staff:

Executive Director: Debra Youngberg 388-1616 (office); 570-4266 (cell) 388-2090 (fax) www.belgradechamber.org

Technology/Member Services: Kristi Gee kgee@belgradechamber.org

Board of Directors

Mission Statement “The Belgrade Chamber of Commerce, through the leadership and integrity of its members, is committed to unite the business community, promote

economic growth, and enhance the quality of life.”

Committee Updates*

Agriculture: The committee continues to formulate plans for their Ag Ap-preciation Banquet, March 18, and the Farm Fair, May 10-12. The Farm Fair already has 1099 fourth-grade students from all over the Gallatin Val-ley registered for the event. The committee will elect a new chair at their December 8 meeting.

Economic Development: The committee is working on their Mission Statement and Action Plan. They continue to assist the City on the Strategic Business Plan and hope to implement some of those plans in 2016.

Membership Services: “Business After Hours” and “Business Before Hours” hosts are being sought for 2016 (see the article on page 3). The An-nual Chamber Dinner is set for February 19 at Riverside Country Club; the committee is seeking sponsors for the entertainment (see page 8).

Presidents’ Circle: Presidents’ Circle members are available for ribbon cuttings and anniversary celebrations. Call the Chamber at 388-1616 if you would like to schedule an event. The Belgrade Community Foundation is doing strategic planning to formulate a marketing plan and education out-reach.

Tournament: Thank you to all who volunteered for the All Class State

Volleyball Tournament! The State Speech and Drama Tournament is on

January 29-30. The State AA Combined Basketball at MSU and the State A

Girls Basketball in Belgrade will be held on March 10-12.

Transportation: No report this month.

*Meeting times and locations are shown on the Calendar (p. 12).

UPCOMING EVENTS

January 28 Chamber Board of Directors Retreat

January 29-30 State Speech and Drama Tournament (see article on page 8)

February 19 Chamber Annual Dinner Riverside Country Club

March 10-12 State AA Combined Basketball at MSU

March 10-12 State A Girls Basketball in Belgrade

March 18 Ag Appreciation Banquet

December 2015 Page 3

“Your Networking Connection”

Big Sky Western Bank 300 Jackrabbit Lane, Belgrade

Thursday, December 17, 5:30-7 pm

Please RSVP to 388-1616 or online so the appropri-ate amount of food and drink can be provided!

Future BAH hosts:

January 21 Available

February 18 Available

March 19 Available

Interested in hosting a BAH? Contact Kristi Gee at 388-1616 or

kgee@belgradechamber.org

Upcoming Seminars

December Seminar* Provider**

1 Catch the FISH!* Philosophy PDC

2 Exploring Emotional Intelligence PDC

3 Documenting Disciplinary Action PDC

3 Effective E-Mail Writing PDC

8 Effective Communication Skills PDC

9 The Respectful Workplace PDC

14 Managing Emotions Under Pres-sure

FPS

15 Customer Service Synthesis PDC

15-17 Effective Presentations PDC

16 Remote Management PDC

17 How to Use QuickBooks FPS

*FPS seminars are in Bozeman; PDC seminars are in Helena. **CT – CareerTrack (www.events.careertrack.com) FPS – Fred Pryor Seminars (www.pryor.com) PDC – Professional Development Center (http://pdc.mt.gov) SPS – SkillPath Seminars (1-800-873-7545).

The Chamber is seeking a host for January’s “Business After Hours.” Please contact Kristi Gee (388-1616 or kgee@bel-gradechamber. org) if you can host January’s “Business After Hours.” If you are interested in hosting another “Business Before Hours” or “Business After Hours” event in 2016, dates are available.

“Business Before Hours” events are held the 1st Friday of each month (if there is a host). For this event, the host pro-vides coffee and juice, some breakfast-type finger food, and a couple door prizes.

“Business After Hours” events are held the 3rd Thursday of each month. For this event, the host provides food, drinks, and at least two door prizes. Alcoholic beverages (beer and wine) are not required but recommended. Making your BAH festive or theme-based tends to attract more attendees.

With both of these events, the Chamber sends out invitations and reminders and provides greeters by the entrance to offer nametags and ask for business cards for the prize drawings. The host is offered the businesses cards at the end of the event. It is a great way to educate fellow Chamber members about your business and to get to know other Chamber mem-bers.

The Belgrade Community Library will be the topic for the January Membership Luncheon on January 7. Come and hear what’s new with the library and hear about their new project.

Page 4 December 2015

No December Membership Luncheon

Happy Holidays!

All Chamber members and their guests are invited to the Membership Luncheon. If you have suggestions for possible business topics for future luncheons,

contact the Chamber (388-1616).

Join Bozeman Health and Aspen Pointe on Wednesday, De-cember 9, from 12:00-5:00 pm for Christmas gift ideas, music, and lots of goodies. Aspen Pointe is located at 1201 Highland Boulevard. Activities are listed below, and event locations are provided on the map.

Christmas Boutique in the Fireside Room (12:00-5:00 pm): purses, bags, totes, games, cro-cheted dolls, books, ornaments, Montana-themed products, essential oils, handmade gift cards, jewelry, and much more.

Aspen Pointe Commons (3:00-4:30 pm): Boze-man High School Jazz Choir from 3:00-3:30 pm; the Kim Snider Kids (orchestra group) from 4:00-4:30 pm. Christmas cookies and beverages.

Aspen Pointe Wing A, 2nd Floor Lobby (3:30-4:30 pm): Ukulele Cabaret, goodies, and peppermint schnapps and hot chocolate.

Birchwood Dining Room (3:30-4:30 pm): Sassafras (local folk and “oldies” rock and roll band), buttered rum, Christmas cookies, and Chex mix.

“Christmas Stroll” at Aspen Pointe

December 2015 Page 5

“Your Early Morning Networking Connection”

Sweet Cream 203 W. Madison, Suite I

Friday, December 4 7:30-9:00 am

Network with fellow Chamber members and taste Sweet Cream’s delicious

pastries and coffee!

Future BBH Hosts:

January 8 Available February 5 Available

Interested in hosting a BBH? Contact Kristi Gee at 388-1616 or

kgee@belgradechamber.org

Members Helping Members!

Join other business owners to chat about how businesses can support each other!

Date: Tuesday, December 8 and December 22 Time: 8:00-9:00 am Place: Belgrade Chamber of Commerce This open forum requires no RSVP. Join us for coffee and talk shop. What are your successes? What difficul-ties are you facing? “Rise and Share” is a “coffee klatch” for business people.

“In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn”

Phil Collins

Festival of Lights Events

Belgrade Alliance Church: Soup and hot chocolate at the Chamber (outside)

Belgrade Community Church: Bazaar; community prayer cross; luminary lighting; hot drinks; kids’ activities corner; and more

Chamber Arts & Craft Show: Belgrade Mercantile Building

Gallatin Valley Christian Church: S’mores at the Chamber (outside)

Library: Children’s crafts and face painting; book sale

Milestone Gallery: Refreshments and kids’ ornament paint-ing

Montana Camp: 25% off MT Camp Christmas ornaments, refreshments, and other store specials

Sacks Thrift Store: $5 “Stuff a Bag” and hot chocolate

Sue Spinelli, children’s’ book author: book signing from 5-7 pm at Montana Camp

True Value: Santa will be there from 5-9 pm; 50% off a reg-ular-priced purchase up to $50

Valley Bank: Entertainment and refreshments including: 5:30-6:00 pm, 5th Grade Choir; 6:00-6:30 pm, 8th Grade Choir; and 6:30-7:00 pm, Belgrade High Flute Choir.

If your business is planning an event and it isn’t listed above, please call the Chamber at 388-1616.

2016-2017 Belgrade City Map & Brochure

The Chamber is planning the 2016-2017 Bel-grade City Map & Brochure. If you had an ad in last year’s map, you should have received an e-mail asking if you would like to renew that ad. The re-newal deadline is December 15. If you didn't have an ad the last time but are interested in one this year, please contact Debe Youngberg (388-1616) to get your name on a waiting list (first come first serve). There are three sizes for the full-color ads:

$275 (for ads on the full inside map)

$350 (for ads around the Belgrade city map)

$500 (for the back outside panel – a double ad)

The Chamber produces 15,000 maps that are dis-tributed at the airport, the Belgrade Chamber and other Chamber offices, and other businesses around town. They are a very valuable tool.

Remember, when you purchase something from the Chamber, the money goes to our community pro-jects and programs (unlike out-of-state map com-panies where the money goes out of state). In addi-tion, our maps are produced and printed locally by Chamber members.

Page 6 December 2015

November’s “Business After Hours” at State Farm/Ty Elliot Agency

December 2015 Page 7

Dear Members:

December seems to sneak up on us every year! Each year, the Chamber sets a date for the Festival of Lights. We started using that name about 10 years ago when we were hoping we could get more holiday lights in Belgrade. Unfortunately, trying to commercially light the town hasn’t been a reality, but we did raise money for two swags at each end of town.

This is where each of you is important. Please, if you can (even if you aren’t a retail business) just hang a few strings of lights in your win-dows or on your building. Believe me, it will make a huge difference. We decorate the Chamber building each year to add to the festive spirit of the season. If everyone did just a little decorating, we could make our city look great for the holiday season. People like to shop and come into buildings that look festive.

We are also on the brink of launching our online Visitor Page. We were able to produce this page with some of the Bed Tax money we were awarded. Our online ads will direct visitors to this page. If they want, they can go into the full Chamber website; but visitor services will be the focus of the Visitor Page. It is another way we can capture the tourists who are flying in or driving by. We have everything they are looking for: groceries, restaurants, gas, liquor, and lodging. Whether you realize it or not, many businesses depend on the tourist trade to be profitable. Good customer service is free! You need to train your front counter people to be helpful and friendly. If they can’t answer questions, they should find someone who can or they can call the Chamber. We are here to help.

Here’s to a wonderful December; hope your year ends with a bang!!

Debra K. Youngberg, Executive Director

Belgrade...the “Heart” of the Gallatin Valley

Executive Message

A big “Thanks” to the members listed below who continue to make a commitment to the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce!

Amantics CPA Group

Axis Drilling, Inc.

Costco Warehouse

Davis Business Machines

Earth Element Design Center

Farm Bureau Insurance/Carla Schmidt Agency

First American Title Company

Montana Chamber of Commerce

Rehability

Rocky Mountain Truck Center

The Chamber accepts credit cards and partial payments for dues!

Chamber Members

Are you looking for an easy and affordable way to advertise your

business? We currently have two openings in the Chamber Advertisers section of the newsletter (see pages 9-11).

Contact the Chamber at 388-1616 if you’d like to see your ad in every issue of the newsletter.

Recent Renewals

Happy Holidays!

FYI… The custom of Christmas lights goes back to the use of candles to decorate Christmas trees in upper-class 18th-century German homes. Christ-mas trees displayed publicly and illuminated with electric lights became popular in the early 20th century. By the mid-20th century, it became cus-tomary to display strings of electric lights along streets and on buildings. In the U.S., it became popular to outline private homes with strings of lights beginning in the 1960s. By the late 20th cen-tury, the custom had also been adopted in non-western countries, notably in Japan and Hong Kong. Adapted from Wikipedia™.

Page 8 December 2015

Do you have news to share? Submit your information to the Chamber office.

Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service & Crematory is hosting their annual Service of Hope on Sunday, De-cember 6, at 2:00 pm at Dokken-Nelson Sunset Chapel located at 113 South Willson Avenue in Bozeman. The Service of Hope will include a message of encourage-ment, a candle-lighting ceremony, and a memorial slide show in honor of loved ones who’ve passed away. The Service of Hope is free and open to the community – all are welcome.

If you plan to attend the Service of Hope and would like to include a photo of your loved one in the memo-rial slide show, e-mail a photo and the name of your loved one by Tuesday, December 1, to info@dokken nelson.com with the words SERVICE OF HOPE in the subject line; or drop it by Dokken-Nelson.

For more information about the Service of Hope, call Dokken-Nelson at 587-3184 or visit www.dokkennelson.com.

Member News

Belgrade High School is hosting the State Class A Speech and Drama Tournament on January 29-30, 2016. This 2-day competition requires around 500 volunteer judges to make it a success. Please consider volunteering your time to make this a very professional state competition.

Sign up now even if you have to cancel later….it helps the organizers know how many more judges they will need! Sign up using the Survey Monkey link below and follow the directions:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DD6KLQ6

If you have any problems or cannot use the Survey Monkey, contact Lila Beard at lila59714@yahoo.com or call 388-6160. If you sign up and then cannot judge, let Lila know immediately.

Training will be at the high school on Thursday, Decem-ber 10, from 7-8 pm and Tuesday, January 19, from 7-8 pm. If one of these times does not work for you, please e-mail Lila right away.

Thank you for serving the students in this community and around the state of Montana.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Schedule Debate All Other Events

9:00 am Round 1

11:00 am Round 2 Round 1

2:00 pm Round 3 Round 2

4:00 pm Round 4 Round 3

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Schedule Debate All Other Events

8:00 am Round 5

8:30 am Round 2 Round 4

10:30 am Quarterfinals Round 5

1:30 pm Semifinals Semifinals

3:30 pm Finals Finals

Annual Dinner Sponsors Needed!

The Annual Chamber Dinner is scheduled for February 19 at the Riverside Country Club. This year, the entertainment will be Paul Draper, MYSTERIES OF THE MIND (comedy mind reading). Two sponsors are needed for this event ($1,375 each).

Contact Debe (dyoungberg@belgradechamber. org) if you are interested in being a sponsor. Your business name will appear on the invita-tions as well as in advertising and on a banner at the banquet.

State Class A Speech and Drama Tournament

December 2015 Page 9

Chamber Advertisers

Gallatin Gateway Community Center P.O. Box 329, Gallatin Gateway, MT 59730

Conveniently located in historic Gallatin Gateway, the Gallatin Gate-way Community Center is a fully equipped yet affordable facility for your next event. The center is managed by Willing Workers Ladies Aid, Inc., a nonprofit charitable organization with over a century of community service. For availability and rental rates, see our web-site: http://GallatinGatewayCommunityCenter.com or call 763-5156

New!

Page 10 December 2015

Elliot Insurance Agency Inc.

Ty Elliot, Agent 403 Gallatin Farmers Avenue, Suite 101 Belgrade, MT 59714 406-388-3178

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®

Chamber Advertisers

Your Ad Could Be Here!

Contact the Chamber

(388-1616) for more info

December 2015 Page 11

Chamber Advertisers

Your Ad Could Be Here!

Contact the Chamber

(388-1616) for more info

Page 12 December 2015

Date Event Location Time

1 Presidents’ Circle Committee Meeting American Legion/Club 30 4:00 pm

2 Tournament Committee Meeting Bozeman Chamber 8:00 am

2 Membership Services Committee Meeting Belgrade Chamber Noon

4 Business Before Hours: Sweet Cream 203 W. Madison, Suite I 7:30-9:00 am

4 Festival of Lights All around Belgrade 5:30-8:30 pm

7 City Council Meeting Council Chambers, 91 E. Central 7:00 pm

8, 22 “Rise and Share” Belgrade Chamber 8:00-9:00 am

8 Agriculture Committee Meeting Bozeman Chamber Noon

10 Building Belgrade: Building Our Community Belgrade Chamber 9:00 am-5:00 pm

15 Chamber Board of Directors Meeting Belgrade Chamber 7:00 am

16 Economic Development Committee Meeting Belgrade Chamber 7:30 am

17 Business After Hours: Big Sky Western Bank 300 Jackrabbit 5:30-7:00 pm

21 City Council Meeting Council Chambers, 91 E. Central 7:00 pm

22 BHS Boys Basketballs vs Fergus Special Events Center 7:00 pm

24-25 Christmas Holiday Chamber office closed

31-1 New Year’s Holiday Chamber office closed

No Chamber Membership Luncheon this month

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Calendar of Events – December 2015 Clip & Save