Dear Valued Chamber Member,

We hope your holidays and the beginning of this new year have been positive. We are looking forward to a successful 2022 for our Forest County businesses and communities.

We want to emphasize our commitment to you and all of Forest County as we begin the new year. Over the past several weeks, your Chamber Board has been managing a transition in the Chamber’s office operations. We know that personnel changes are difficult, and questions may arise as to why a different direction is necessary.

We are writing this to you to share some updates, accomplishments and our objectives with you.
We have posted the position of Executive Director, and Rian Schaible, our Administrative Assistant, is maintaining the office operations.
Rian has been with the Chamber since last March, and her email is info@visitforestcounty.com. The Chamber’s winter hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Last summer, the Chamber Board created an ad hoc Personnel Committee to manage human resource matters. We believe this approach establishes a balance of the Board’s vision of the Chamber with our objective to provide our employees a consistent line of communication with the Board. This ultimately also serves the best interests of our Members.

The Chamber Board is comprised of volunteers who represent all sectors of business in our communities. These diverse business owners and high-level management employees bring well over 100 years of business experience and knowledge to the Board.

The Board’s decisions on personnel and other important topics are always based on three fundamental objectives: our commitment to the promotion, support and protection of our Members’ best interests.
We recognize there has been alleged misinformation and many opinions circulating in our communities. While we cannot comment on personnel issues, please know that we take our responsibilities very seriously. We have devoted countless volunteer hours in our decision-making process, and, in this case, our process evolved over several months, beginning in May 2021. The departure of our former Executive Director has been challenging, but we are moving forward and are focused on serving our Members and communities.

We believe it is significant to note that the Board always strives for unity, particularly when involving personnel matters. For that reason, we share with you that our Board has been unanimous in all of the decisions made as we continue to move forward.
Here are a few of the significant accomplishments that have occurred the past several weeks:

  • Rian, with the support of Krystal Statezny at the Potawatomi Traveling Times, dedicated a significant amount of time and effort to develop the 2022 Forest County Visitors Guide. Thank you to Krystal and Rian! We also congratulate Rian on selling more ads for this Guide than has been the case in past years. We have included a copy of the 2022 Guide for you, and we are excited it’s being distributed ahead of schedule!
Click on the image to view the 2022 Visitors Guide
  • The Chamber LED sign was not being utilized, and is now working thanks to the joint efforts of Rian and Allan Smith, a Board Member. The LED sign is a great communication tool for our communities and visitors. Thanks Rian and Allan!

  • Leslie Meyer, Chamber Treasurer, and Board Members have been diligently reviewing accounting practices and records to ensure we are ethically and accurately reporting our finances to the Room Tax Commission and the Chamber Board.

  • Tina Kulaf, Leslie Meyer, Kim Swisher and Melissa Widucki assisted Rian in organizing old files and implemented a new filing system.

  • Last year, the Chamber purchased a subscription to Growth Zone software. As it was not being utilized to its full value, Rian has taken the initiative to have the Chamber and our Membership fully benefit from the program. We look forward to sharing more about this in the near future.

  • The Board is reviewing the Chamber’s operating procedures, a schedule of Membership meetings, and all of our operational practices. We want to ensure we are acting in a beneficial, efficient way that best serves all of our Members.
Finally, the 2022 Chamber Board Nomination Ballot is ready for you. Voting closes on Friday, February 4th, and the newly elected Board Members will be announced shortly thereafter.

We apologize for any previous confusion. A Nomination notice was sent to the Membership in November 2021, but unfortunately contained inaccurate information so we followed up with an updated notice in December. Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in serving on the Chamber Board!

You may print this ballot and return it to the Chamber office before Friday, February 4th at 4:00 pm, or you may vote online here.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we look forward to sharing the announcement of our upcoming Annual Meeting. We’re finalizing details, and will be notifying you shortly with the date, time and location.

We are excited for this new year, and we all look forward to serving our Members and Forest County in a beneficial, ethical and professional manner.

As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Sincerely,

The Forest County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
Forest County Chamber of Commerce
(715) 478-3450