WARREN AREA CHAMBER MEETING
Lunch provided by Wagon Wheel
Prayer led by Ethan Stivers
Introduction of chamber members and guests
Minutes of Previous Meeting and Treasurer’s Report approved at Chamber Board Meeting
Spotlight Business/Speakers:
- Fort Wayne Property Group-Warren Estates – David Keating and Kyle Roemmich are out of the Fort Wayne area and manage about 450 homes. They bought Warren trailer park in March and have 6 current tenants. They intend to fill the park with new homes to sell. The homes will have a minimum of 1100 square feet with most being 3 bedrooms, some 2 bedroom. The electric has been upgraded and they now have 32 sites ready for homes with 11 sites under construction. They hope to expand the park over the years.
- Warren Pharmacy – Melinda Daniels stated the pharmacy is now in its 26th year and opened in April 1995. They work with most insurance companies and fulfill deliveries daily. They opened their current location in November 2002. They offer all pharmacy products, medical equipment, first aid items, greeting cards, and CBD products.
New Business
- Board Nominations – Congrats to Cheryl DeWeese, Jeremy Rufener, Rose Broyles for being elected onto the Chamber Board.
- Budget and Bylaw Committee – Nicole Johnson, Jeremy Rufener, Cheryl DeWeese, and Patti Bustos volunteered.
- 2021 Chamber Membership – Applications are available and are due by end of January 2021 for full chamber benefits.
- Christmas Cards – Josh Heim discussed the Chamber having a Christmas card this year to hand out to public. 1 student will be selected from Salamonie School as the winner to have their design on the card. 5,000 cards will be ordered and JH Pottery Works will cover the cost of printing. The cards will be available at local businesses for a free will donation.
Updates:
- Downtown Park – Jeff is working on getting concerts scheduled for next year’s Final Fridays concert series and currently has 5 of the 6 acts booked. It was approved by the chamber body to give $1500.00 to the concert series.
- HC Community Foundation – There are 3 Warren applicants in current grant cycle and 5 teachers from Salamonie have received classroom grants. $1250.00 was given to Bread of Life food pantry for Thanksgiving and $5000.00 was given to WAMA.
- United Way – Currently in the peak of campaign season, but Covid-19 relief fund is still available to businesses that are in need. There are Bedtime Boxes this year in conjunction with Giving Tuesday, to encourage kids to develop a healthy nighttime routine.
- HC Council or Commissioner – Huntington County Covid Task Force is now meeting every other week as positivity rate in the county is at 10%.
- Warren Town Council – Finishing up grant stage for the new water tower/system.
- SSF – Festival is set for July 2-4 of next year. Currently needing sponsors for events. The next meeting will be in January.
- Historic Warren – 2 weeks till Holiday Walk, currently have 32 trees and 13 gingerbread houses.
- CAO – Will host drive thru soup supper at KBC during the Holiday Walk from 5-6:30.
- Scarecrow Festival – Krista thanked all for coming and helping with the event.
- Taste of Warren – This event will be held next year.
- Chamber Gift Certificates – Located at Bippus. Used to promote shopping in Warren. Available in $5 increments.
*Please be courteous of RSVP’ing to meetings so we may get an accurate count for lunch.*
2020 Positions:
President – Jeff Souder
Vice President – Jeremy Rufener
Secretary – Leah Pursley
Treasurer – Patti Bustos
Terms:
Melinda Daniels 2018-2020 – 2nd Term
Cheryl Deweese 2018-2020 – 1st Term
Jeremy Rufener 2018-2020 – 1st Term
Josh Heim 2019-2021 – 2nd Term
Jeff Souder 2019-2021 – 2nd Term
Patti Bustos 2019-2021 – 1st Term
Leah Pursley 2020-2022 – 1st Term
Terry Miller 2020-2022 – 1st Term
Kevin Jackson 2020-2022 – 1st Term