We take our work seriously at The Chamber, and are always striving to make sure that your membership support goes right back to you. By evolving our events and programs to get you the most of your experience, and adding new benefits, services and web features, you can really make your membership work for what matters most for you. Below are just a few ways we were able to serve you in 2019.

Thank you so much for your support, however you were involved with us last year. We can't wait to continue working for you in 2020!

Cost Savings
1. Member partners offer member advertising specials, updated on fmwfchamber.com
2. Ongoing discounts through AAA, Employee Assistance Programs, Constant Contact Email Marketing, and Auto Owners Insurance
3. Members purchased other member's deals that were advertised for free
4. Chamber members got special pricing on all events (Typically, a saving of 20% per event per attendee!)
5. Promotion of your community events free through the Member Information Center (MIC)

Access
1. Over 85 jobs were posted for free with over 1,550 views
2. Ability to search members by category in the MIC and directly reach out to the primary contacts from one to 50 businesses
3. Over 65 hot deals were posted for free online with over 1,500 views
4. 54 members made use of the various resources available to view and download on the Member Information Center
5. Members have accessed over 3,500 other members through directory searches

Visibility
1. Held 120 ribbon cuttings to celebrate our members’ success since last January
2. Over 9,900 specific categories have been searched in our online member directory
3. Hundreds of new hires and member news ran in the Bridge
4. 151 businesses held booths at two Business After Hours—a members only event!
5. Increased SEO from all member listings, with over 41,000 page hits to our members overall

Public Policy & Advocacy
1. Fueling Our Future allocated resources to support three main projects in the areas of People, Place and Prosperity, including career academies, a business accelerator and a shovel ready site program
2. Nearly 20 agriculture-minded individuals gathered each month to share, learn and discuss the impacts agriculture has on the Red River Valley and how our community can impact the ag industry of the world
3. Over 50 individuals, including seven Commanders and Officers in Charge, met over the course of the first four months of our fiscal year,  discussing collaborations of our business community and local military
4. 80 business, community and military leaders joined our December Eggs & Issues centered around military to learn the impact of our area
National Guard
5. An average of 22 business and community leaders surrounded the table monthly for our Public Policy committee meetings, discussing top issues in our region and recommending policy stances to our board
6. With the input of over 25 business and education leaders, the Education committee has developed initial steps to help promote and expand experiential learning opportunities provided to our pk-12 and higher education students and business community.

Through the Chamber and EDC’s joint venture, Fueling Our Future (FOF), we have taken strides to address the workforce issues of our region. FOF dedicated resources to seeing local Career Academies through in Cass and Clay Counties. This support lead to a successful 75% voter approved Moorhead School Bond Referendum in Clay County in November, which included plans for a Career Academy. FOF continues to be engaged with the initiative in Cass County as we educate policy makers and business leaders alike on the importance of the project. Another exciting workforce initiative that FOF has invested in is a regional approach to retaining college graduates in the region. Through collaboration among various groups such as The Chamber, EDC, FM Convention & Visitors Bureau, Folkways, The Arts Partnership, Tri – College and United Way of Cass-Clay, we are excited to collectively come up with a plan aimed at cohesively increasing the retention of talent in our region.
 
With Minnesota’s legislative session around the corner we continue to work with our Minnesota legislators on various business related issues. Last week, our public policy team brought in all three District four MN legislators, including Representative Marquart, Chair of the Tax Committee, to discuss federal tax conformity. Through this roundtable, the Chamber provided an access point to our members with expertise in accounting who are affected by this policy, in order to share their support and concerns related to Section 179 Expensing. We continue to connect with these legislators on this issue and various others. February’s Bridge will include a MN legislative kick-off article with interviews of all three of our District 4 legislators weighing in on important hot topic issues coming up this session.


Events & Programs
1. Over 20,000 people visited the events page to seek out community and chamber events
2. A national speaker came to town for Voices of Vision; Peyton Manning shared his seven leadership tips
3. Women Connect collected over 250 donations for local non-profits
4. The Game of Skillz at Business After Hours added more value and fun for attendees
5. The YPN and POC now have crossover capabilities for each program to overlap into each other's events, creating more connection opportunities
6. Professionals of Color was created to address the evolving demographic of our metro and offer inclusive opportunities for personal and professional development through meaningful engagement
7. The fifth year of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy program was completed, teaching area youth business skills
8. Our biggest event ever was held featuring Rachel Hollis last year, exposing 4,000 people to her insight into success in life
9. The Leadership program’s Community Change Initiatives saw through real change through the work of seven groups working to positively influence our community and support non-profits

Want to learn even more? Join us for the next Chamber 101! These FREE sessions are all about how to maximize your membership.

Now, as we look to the next year, we’re excited to continue our commitment to our strategic goals, and announce even more exciting plans for 2020. Stay tuned!