Pam England, Portage Community Bank, Tom Bird; Bird Law Offices, LLC., Chris Leising; American Monument & Granite Co., Mike Kerrigan; NEOMED, Sabrina Christian-Bennett; Bennett Land & Title Agency, Dave Moulton; Wood Kortright Borkoski Funeral Home, Linda Hankins; KeyBank, Joe Paulus; Aloha Computer Services, Anna Doty; PMHA, Jackie Waltz; Portage Community Bank, Luke Darrah; Darrah’s Car Care Center, Mike Sandrene; Adam August Realty, Brad Ehrhart; Portage Development Board, Amie Cajka; Mental Health & Recovery Board

Meeting called to order:  8:00 am

14 in attendance

Sabrina Christian-Bennett introduced herself as the 2012 Chamber President and called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone to the meeting and wishing them success for the New Year.  Sabrina asked those in attendance to introduce themselves and their businesses.

Sabrina introduced the 2012 Board:  Dave Moulton; Vice President, Ina Sayre; Treasurer, Pam England; Secretary, and Trustees; Amie Cajka, Chris Leising and Vince Pelose.

Sabrina welcomed guest speaker; Brad Ehrhart, Executive Director of the Portage Development Board.  Brad spoke to the group about what his organization does throughout the county and how the Portage Development Board provides a variety of services for existing businesses and those considering relocating to Portage County.  Brad took questions from Chamber Members after his presentation.

Announcements

The membership drive is in full swing.  Several new members have already joined in 2012 and we are pleased that the renewal process for existing members has gone very smoothly.  Membership applications are available at the meeting today if you still need one.

The treasurer’s report was distributed and reviewed.  Joe Paulus asked what the $339.00 payment was to Auto Owners Insurance.  Linda Hankins, 2011 Chamber Treasurer explained that this was our liability insurance payment for the Chamber.  A motion was filed by Dave Moulton to approve the Treasurer’s report and Joe Paulus seconded the motion.  All were in favor.

The Minutes from the December Meeting were not available for review.  Sabrina reviewed that the Chamber recapped the Santa comes to town.  Joe Paulus asked that the Chamber review why we do this event. He recommended that the Chamber not do this in 2012.  Sabrina reiterated from that last meeting that this was one of the most attended tree lighting ceremonies to date.  The Rootstown Choir was there to sing carols at the tree and that flyers went out to the elementary school.  This will be discussed at the next Board meeting.

Sabrina asked Chamber Members what kind of speakers they would like to see at the meetings.  There were several suggestions and Sabrina will schedule speakers accordingly.

Sabrina announced that the next meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 14th at the Rootstown Fire Station at 8:00am.

With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00am.  Motion filed by Dave Moulton and seconded by Amie Cajka.

Respectfully submitted by Pam England, Chamber Secretary.