Chamber Committees and Task Forces

• Ambassadors/Member Services
• Business Visitation
• C.A.R.E. Committee "Crystal Apple"
• Finney County Convention and Tourism Bureau
• Rebranding
• Government Affairs
• Merchants and Business Alliance
• Regionalism with Southwest Kansas Chambers of Commerce Committee
• Workforce Development Initiatives:
• Recruiting and Retaining Talent and Leadership
• Finney County Young Professionals
• Leadership Garden City
• TASK FORCES

Committees

Ambassadors/Member Services

This committee acts as the goodwill arm of the Chamber.

Goals of this committee are:

• Assist with implementation of the Chamber Banquet.
• Assist with the Chamber Golf Tournament.
• Attend and assist monthly Membership Breakfasts.
• Attend and work the 3i Show in odd numbered years.
• Attend Business After Hour events.
• Develop Ambassadors guidelines.
• Participate in the Meals on Wheels program.
• Promote the Chamber and all its activities.
• Represent the Chamber at ribbon cuttings, ground breaking ceremonies and other public functions.

Business Visitation

This committee makes personal contact with Chamber members, asking for their opinions about Chamber programs and current business trends.

Goals of this committee are:

• Strive to visit every active member within 24 months.
• Thank members for their support.
• Encourage members to attend Chamber activities.
• Identify business trends within the business community.
• Solicit suggestions for improvement for business in general, for their business in particular, and for the quality of life in the Finney County area.
• Identify potential economic development prospects.
• Recruitment of new members to the committee.

C.A.R.E. Committee "Crystal Apple"
(Community Awareness and Recognition in Education)

This committee organizes and coordinates the recognition of six outstanding teachers in Finney County for their efforts in preparing children for the workplace.

Goals of this committee are:

• Secure financial support for the program through area businesses and organizations.
• Update and distribute the Crystal Apple Teacher Recognition nomination form to Finney County residents.
• Organize and monitor the selection process for the Crystal Apple Teachers including application screening, personal interviews and classroom observations.
• Organize the Crystal Apple Teacher Recognition Awards Banquet.

Finney County Convention and Tourism Bureau

The Bureau, operating under the Chamber umbrella through proceeds from the transient guest tax, has the important task of encouraging, promoting and soliciting tourism and conventions for Finney County. An advisory committee for the Bureau has identified goals for 2010 and beyond.

Goals of the Finney County Convention and Tourism Bureau are:

• Support those activities and organizations which increase lodging facility occupancy.
• Increase our marketing efforts in the trade show markets to promote southwest Kansas.
• Expand social networking skills to continue to promote Garden City and Finney County regionally and nationally.
• Work regionally with Liberal and Dodge City as "Try Southwest Kansas" with marketing and advertising efforts.

Rebranding

This committee will work together with community leaders to develop and incorporate a new brand/image campaign in 2010. The campaign will be comprised of a steering committee of community leaders and task forces.

Goals of this committee are:

• Form a steering committee of no more than 5-7 people to meet as necessary to guide the development and implementation of the campaign.
• The steering committee will establish an organizational calendar and oversee the direction of the campaign development in 2010.
• Engage a public relations firm as a consultant.
• Task forces will carry out the work of the steering committee.

Government Affairs

The Garden City Area Chamber is the voice of Business for the business community! We work to promote and foster a governmental policy and program that will stimulate a competitive pro-business climate for our city and state.

The Chamber provides a way to channel the collective voice of the Garden City area business community into a powerful force in the legislative and regulatory process. We believe that our members are the true business experts and together we know we can make a difference.

The Chamber works to build solid coalitions to achieve our goals utilizing a number of unique partnerships with area organizations with a nonpartisan approach to business issues.

Government is one of the biggest influences on business, and a positive business climate can be the difference between profit and loss, success and failure. Business pays attention to government, but too often not enough given the impact it has on the bottom line

The role of the Government Affairs Committee of the Chamber is to bring focus to those issues that can have a positive influence on business, and to those issues that can be costly and unfriendly to business.

The Government Affairs Committee of the Chamber is the communication program between business and government that identifies priorities of business as well as quality-of-life issues. The division provides education and advocacy on the priorities of the membership to the proper government body.

We're committed to work closely and build ongoing relationships with our public officials at all levels of government including local, state and federal and to advocate the business viewpoint by giving input on key business issues dealing with economic development.

Our legislative priorities for 2010 include: Economic Development, Business Regulation, Education, Environment, Healthcare, Immigration, Regionalism, Taxation, Transportation and Workforce.

It will be the task of the committee to write a 2010 legislative agenda based upon the needs of the Garden City Area business community. This agenda is to be approved by the Chamber board of Directors and to be supported locally, regionally and nationally.

Goals of this committee are:

• Research issues that affect the local business community and provide information through E-mail or list serve technology to inform members about those issues.
• Communicate with local business people and acquire input on issues that are most important to local business owners.
• Provide education and resources to business people for the purpose of encouraging well-informed participation at the local, state, federal levels of the legislative process.
• Monitor issues and member input for the purpose of developing positions on important issues for the purpose of encouraging positive actions from elected officials.
• Host Legislative Coffees and other events that give business people opportunities to interact with area legislators from all levels of government.
• Meet with legislators in Topeka and Washington to discuss the need for business friendly legislation and to discuss the effects of specific bills that are presented at the state and federal levels.
• Adoption and support of an annual legislative agenda.

Merchants and Business Alliance

The Merchants and Business Alliance (MBA) strives to support, education and information to small businesses in the Garden City area in an attempt to positively impact their bottom line. Through resources available to the Chamber, the MBA will hear timely information on issues of importance to the retail and commercial business community. The committee will promote participation and attendance in monthly seminars and will seek and embrace participation with the MBA of other cultures and minority groups who own and/or operate small businesses.

Goals of this committee are:

• Develop one-hour monthly informational meetings for small business owners and retailers to attend with topics that address specific challenges of the small business community. Monthly topics of concern brought to the attendees may include how to write an effective business plan or marketing plan, the latest tax law changes affecting small business owners and managers, workers compensation rules and regulations, etc.
• Coordinate and direct with the help of Chamber staff twelve monthly topics small business owners and/or operators need to better run their small business in a more profitable method.
• Plan and organize with the help of Chamber staff the forum that the meetings will be held in, perhaps monthly luncheons or short, one-hour evening seminars.

Regionalism with Southwest Kansas Chambers of Commerce Committee

This committee will monitor the successes and the direction of the newly formed alliance between the four full-time, staffed Chambers of Garden City Area Chamber of Commerce, Dodge City Area Chamber of Commerce, Grant County Chamber of Commerce and the Liberal Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the alliance of the Chambers shall continue to be to combine the strengths of the local Chambers of Commerce in Southwest Kansas to provide a positive impact on growth and development of Southwest Kansas by addressing regional issues, legislative concerns and internal issues within individual Chambers while maintaining the individuality of the local Chambers of Commerce. The entity is known as the Southwest Kansas Chambers of Commerce.

Goals of this committee are:

• Monitor the successes of the Southwest Kansas Chambers of Commerce from a Garden City perspective in addition to a Southwest Kansas perspective.
• Represent the best interests of the Garden City business community and to represent the best interests of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce.

Workforce Development Initiatives:

• "Recruiting and Retaining Talent & Leadership" Committee
• "Finney County Young Professionals" Organization
• "Leadership Garden City" Organization and Program

This committee will be responsible to oversee three initiatives of the Garden City Area Chamber of Commerce: Finney County Young Professionals, Leadership Garden City and Recruiting and Retaining Talent and Leadership. These three initiatives are directly related to the improvement of the Garden City and Finney County workforce which has always been a major business concern for the Chamber. Two of the three workforce development initiatives, Finney County Young Professionals and Leadership Garden City have their own boards of directors, goals and finances. The third initiative, Recruiting and Retaining Talent and Leadership began in 2009 as a task force to develop a Chamber and business response to recruiting and retaining top quality workers to the area. The Chamber's response fits into a larger overall recruiting and retaining campaign with other public entities involved with the same task in order to formulate a community-wide plan.

The Workforce Development committee will oversee the two boards of directors providing support and information but will be directly responsible to carry out the goals of Recruiting and Retaining Talent and Leadership.

Recruiting and Retaining Talent and Leadership

The Workforce Development committee will be responsible to take the plan developed by the 2009 Recruiting and Retaining Task Force and implement it in 2010.

Goals of this committee are:

• Develop a Finney County job inventory listing service and also a data base of former Garden City high school and community college students to connect the two groups together
• Consider taking the program regionally to possibly include Lakin, Deerfield and Scott City.
• Develop strategies for success to continue the program in 2011 and beyond.
• Continue to work with and communicate with other public entities involved with the same task in order to formulate a community-wide plan on recruiting and retaining business leadership and talent with an emphasis on youth.
• Seek business leaders and other volunteers to carry out in 2010 and beyond the Chamber's role as a part of the overall community-wide plan.

Finney County Young Professionals

Established in September of 2006, the mission of Finney County Young Professionals (or FCYP) is to assimilate into the community talented workers that already live here and to retain them in the community long term.

Goals of Finney County Young Professionals are:

• Cultivate young professionals through leadership, education and community involvement,
• Connect ambitious young professionals in an environment that fosters professional communication and social interaction
• Enhance the professional relationships of the skilled work force in Finney County and to -Serve the county and community by promoting service and involvement.

Leadership Garden City

Leadership Garden City was started in 1989 to educate potential community leaders about their community and its challenges, and to provide leadership skills training for people interested in getting more involved in the community. It has evolved into several levels of leadership and facilitation training, focusing on 21st Century Leadership skills and capacities.

Goals of Leadership Garden City are:

• Serve as a leadership source providing resources and training to the community.
• Offer the "Every Voice" class at least two different times throughout the year.
• Recruit a broader scope of participants from the community.
• Offer the "Common Ground" class, an advanced leadership program of Leadership Garden City, the Every Voice class serving as a prerequisite.
• Provide 21st Century Youth Leadership training in conjunction with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Leadership Program and/or other youth programming.
• Participate in the annual Kansas Health Foundation opportunities.
• Continue to market programs in order to make our community leader-full.
• Offer advanced facilitation training on a periodic basis.
• Talk to clubs, organizations and social service agencies about the kind of leadership communities will need to be successful in the future.

TASK FORCES

Your Chamber of Commerce will continue to utilize Task Forces throughout the year if and when they become needed.

The Public Entity group will continue to meet in 2010. Public Entity is a meeting of the CEO's of the Chamber, the Cities of Garden City and Holcomb, Finney County, Finney County Economic Development Corporation, Garden City Community College and the School Districts of Garden City and Holcomb. These administrators/CEOs will continue to meet to discuss current issues in their respective organizations so as to avoid duplication of efforts, to communicate ideas and valuable information, seek support and utilize common resources when available.