PRESIDENT’S LETTER

To Our Members:

Happy New Year! I would first like to thank Rob Capretto for his time as President of the North Coast Chamber of Commerce. Following Rob’s leadership and enthusiasm to grow the awareness of the chamber will be one of many goals to achieve in 2010. Also, thank you to the Board of Directors for their continued support and time dedicated to our business community. Thank you for a great 2009!

I look forward to working with you as the President of the Chamber and will continue to promote our mission statement, “To advance the economic interest of our members and thereby stimulate growth and development in the North Coast Region.” In my eyes, the Chamber of Commerce is a “Win-Win” for every member and we should spread the word to others that it can benefit.

As the past Chamber Membership Chairman, I feel that our current members are our most valuable possession. New membership for any organization is important to experience growth, but more importantly with the economic potential in 2010, many businesses could greatly benefit from the vast amount of resources that the Chamber offers. Let’s continue to spread the word and invite a business owner that you may work with to our next event.

We are happy to announce 3 new Board members for 2010; Lisa Roth with Towne Center Community Campus in Avon Lake; Theresia Oreskovic with Peter & Co. Jewelers of Avon Lake, and Linda Hamann with EMH Regional Medical Center in Elyria. We are excited to have them aboard as we will benefit from their past experience and energy for the future. Welcome aboard!

On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank the Spitzer Conference Center at LCCC and the Spitzer Café for the tremendous dinner for our Annual Meeting. Special thanks to Carrabba’s Italian Grill for hosting the business after hours on January 26th.

Some of our upcoming events include a networking luncheon on February 25th at Fratello’s Restaurant in Avon Lake with special guest speaker, Bob DiBiasio, VP of Public Relations for the Cleveland Indians, and our annual Mayors luncheon scheduled for March 25th at Tom’s Country Place. Be sure to check our website for updates and additional events scheduled this year.

For 2010, I would challenge all members to get more involved in one of the many North Coast Chamber committees or advertise on our award winning website or take advantage of our new “Click, Print & Save Coupons” page on the website. If you are interested in any of these opportunities, please contact the chamber office at 440-933-9311.

Let’s make it a great 2010!