The Fremont Chamber of Commerce Board met on January 28th at History House, and one of the first announcements was that these meetings will move to the Saturn Building, room #310, where they will continue to take place on the last Wednesday of each month (except December) at 8a. The move came as an attempt to save on rental fees, although it will not change the public nature of the meetings.
At this first gathering of the New Year, the Board elected its officers:
- President – Phil Megenhardt, Bold Hat Productions (returning)
- Vice-President (Programs) – Pete Hanning, Red Door (returning)
- Vice-President (Communications) – Ken Saunderson, Saunderson Marketing Group
- Vice-President (Membership) – Marko Tubic, Edward Jones (returning)
- Treasurer – Paul Doak, ID Financial
- Secretary – Kerston Swartz, Woodland Park Zoo
Earlier in January, the Board held its annual retreat and set goals for 2015 which focused on top priorities for the Fremont Chamber Executive Director (ED) Jessica Vets. These priorities are:
- Membership Development/Management
- Community Relations
- Management & Operations
Yet, according to Vets, the first mission of the Board and its ED, for 2015, is to have fun!
The Board also discussed upcoming Chamber general meetings (which are also open-to-the-public although a fee is usually collected to cover the meal provided,) with several focused on business in fun ways:
- February 18th at Noon – Fremont’s 2015 Events
- March 18th at 8a – Data Driven Marketing for Small Businesses with Tableau Software
- April 15th at Noon – Lunch of Shameless Self-Promotion
- May 22nd from 4:30p to 7:30p at Fremont Studios – the 2015 Neighborhood Expo
The Board heard a bit about upcoming large scale events, including an update on plans by Ryan Reiter-Hegeman, of the Fremont Sunday Market. He has relocated the May Mobile Food Rodeo to the International District in order to be able to grow it (Fremont couldn’t accommodate a second day,) but he was working to bring the Street Food Festival, in August, to Fremont. However, South Lake Union has begun courting the event, and it may go there instead.
The Board did agree on the incredible benefits that the Market brings to our community, weekly. A brief recap of the 2014 Fremont Festivus & Lenin Lighting reported on its overall success, and efforts to grow the event in 2015 to three days – including working with the Market on Sunday for a Festivus celebration that involves the craft and flea market vendors.
On another note, an effort has been organized for installing a traffic signal at the intersection of Troll Ave & N 34th St (Patches Place.) Since the entry/exit ramp was installed into the Lake Union Center, the neighbors have wanted more safety for crossings. Money has been raised through City matching funds, State arterial funds, and the Seattle Street Fund. The Lake Union District Council will recommend the project at its February 2nd meeting, hopefully.
The Board Finance Council reported on efforts to restore the Chamber slush fund, and they’ve decided to suspend the usual community grant distribution for January. The Board approved the recommended annual budget.
Finally, Andrew Miller, the newest Director of the monthly Fremont First Friday Art Walk introduced himself and explained his plans for gaining traction on the event. He wants to grow it, and utilize the large community/network of artists he knows to create an Outdoor Gallery on Red Triangle. He also wants to work with businesses that can’t be in the Art Walk, but do display art – and they were recommended (such as Union Bank) as places to display the art from the Outdoor Gallery.
The January Chamber Board meeting covered even more than mentioned here, in the highlights. If you want to see for yourself, and give your own input on the work of the Chamber to strengthen the Fremont business community, feel free to attend an upcoming meeting (next one on Feb 25th) at the Saturn Building at 8a. Everyone is welcome!