A Message From The President & CEO AND FALL RETURNS By Trish Christensen
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ineteen months and counting… covid has yet to truly leave the stage. Things are ever changing, remain fluid, and we continue to reinvent things we fully expected, or hoped, to have back in action in as near to “normal” as they were before the pandemic. I often pause to remind myself to look up and look out. The days keep coming, the months keep changing, and the seasons have continued to arrive. I find that getting outside is an excellent reminder that life goes on. Things will continue, no matter how slowly, to improve. Maybe not exactly back to what they once were, but I think that is the point in many ways. When challenges arise, are we not meant to find the good, adapt with the changes, and evolve to something new and improved?
COMMUNITY
We have chosen to take small and steady steps as we expand in-person happenings and stand ready to make nimble adjustments as needed along this path of coming together. We have continued to be cautious regarding attendees to open venue space as we invite people together. Most of our committee and program meetings are now done in a hybrid fashion. We are playing catch up with ribbon cutting and networking events. We have new member and grand re-openings, anniversary ribbon cuttings, green certification ribbon cuttings, and a few tentative Member Mix & Mingles now on our schedule.
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Additionally, we have arrived at the return of some events, albeit reinvented, and mostly virtual or hybrid. I hope everyone has heard about the Inspire Youth - Inspire Dreams Career Exploration (IYID) platform that our Business and Education and IYID steering committee developed with the assistance of some incredible, skilled, and creative partners and participants. The platform was shared with sixth grade teachers, who then released it to their students near the end of last school year. We are currently taking sponsorships and business and industry participation registrations for the fall 2021 edition which we are striving to expand on the content to also reach eighthgraders this round.
MODESTO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE I MODCHAMBER.ORG
The window to participate will be closing soon, so please refer to our website for information right away. We hosted our first “Council Connection” webinar end of September and really enjoyed the dynamics of this new concept to get to know our City Council and Mayor. The long-standing Harvest Luncheon Committee has pivoted and is now developing a webinar version to highlight MJC Ag student success, while giving us an opportunity to hear the students’ stories during the program and scholarship awards presentations. This is allowing us to raise these valuable scholarship funds once again. These awards will continue to aid students going on to Universities in Ag pathways. Please note that in November you will receive information on the opening of our 2021 Annual Members Awards nomination season. Information will be sent to all members via email and in print. Currently the Modesto Chamber Board of Directors nomination season is also open. If you have interest in joining our board, and you are a member in good standing, I encourage you to contact me for information. Lastly, I have a few reminders for you. If you are an exporter of any kind, from nuts to merchandise, our online export documentation platform, Swiftdox, can be accessed from our home page. We always want to encourage our members and partners to consider running ads here within the pages of our magazine. And for those of you that do not have a brick and mortar, or dedicated office space, we have a conference room and meeting space available to rent, with both member and non-member rate options. These can be reserved by the hour, or the day, as available. Feel free to contact us anytime you have questions, need guidance to resources, or information on what we have going on. We are always here to assist you. With warm regards, Trish
