Chamber News
November 2020
Chamber Holiday Open House & Auction Update
Dear Chamber Members,

As the coronavirus continues to affect our community members, our Annual Holiday Open House and Auction will be a virtual online auction only in 2020. This event is our largest non-dues income generator each year and allows us to keep our membership dues affordable, continue to advocate for our businesses and pursue economic development opportunities for our area.

The auction will open on Wednesday, November 25th at 5pm. We hope you will stay safe at home and start your holiday shopping with us. Tickets for our annual raffle will be available for $20 through the online auction site, or from any chamber board member or ambassador. The drawings for the $250, $500, $750, and $1000 prizes will be held at 5pm on Thursday, December 3rd via the Chamber’s Facebook page. The auction will end on Thursday, December 3rd at 7pm. You will receive an email letting you know of the items you have won from the auction and you can pick up winning items at the chamber office starting at 9am on Friday, December 4th.

We will have the Chamber office open for viewing of the auction items on Monday, November 30th from 4pm to 6pm and again on Tuesday, December 1st from 8am to 10am. This will be your opportunity to see items in person and start your bidding! Masks will be required, and social distancing guidelines will be followed.

Our chamber ambassadors will begin calling and emailing our members to solicit donations starting Wednesday, November 4th. Items can be dropped off to the chamber office between the hours 9am and 4pm. You will be recognized for your donation to the auction on the online event site with a link to your website. This is a great way to gain exposure for your business! Your donation means that you will get your name in front of hundreds of local merchants, business owners and decision-makers.

If you have any questions, would like to sponsor the event, or if your donation needs to be picked up, please contact me at the Chamber office at 419-468-7737. Deadline for donations is Friday, November 20, 2020. 
 
The online auction can be found on our website at the below link and items will be updated daily, as they come in. The website with link to auction is: www.galion-crestlinechamber.org/event/holidayopenhouse/

Thank You,

Miranda Jones
Executive Director
NEW CHAMBER MEMBERS

Galion Family Health Center, 126 Harding Way East, Galion, 419-777-7570
As businesses continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, and much of the public considers how to support their local businesses, multiple Crawford County businesses have teamed up to encourage shopping local in a fun way, “Crawford-Opoly”.

Inspired by the popular board game, Monopoly, the two chambers of commerce in Crawford County, the Bucyrus Area Chamber and the Galion-Crestline Area Chamber, have teamed up with First Federal Community Bank to develop a way to safely drive more foot traffic to local businesses. Fifty chamber member businesses signed up for a space – called a “property” – on a monopoly-like game board. Those businesses provided gift cards to their locations and were then randomly grouped in different color sections made up of five properties each.

Prizes for each color category will include a $10 gift card to each business in that color category, for a total value of $50. There will be two winners per category, for a total of 20 – $50 winners. Also, First Federal Community Bank donated $1,000.00 for the grand prize drawing, which players are entered into if they collect 25 property cards by November 30th. This “$1,000 Community Shopping Spree” will include 10 – $100 gift cards to chamber members businesses.
Prize Drawings will be held on Wednesday, December 2nd.

For more information on the Crawford-Opoly Game, please visit www.bucryusohio.com or www.galion-crestlinechamber.org. You can also contact the Bucyrus Area Chamber of Commerce directly at 419-562-4811 or by emailing jessie@bucyrusohio.com or the Galion-Crestline Area Chamber at 419-468-7737 or by emailing  mjones@galion-crestlinechamber.org.
On November 2nd, a $125 million grant program will open to help small businesses that have struggled due to the effects of COVID-19 on the business community. The grants will provide $10,000 to small businesses in Ohio with no more than 25 employees. Each county will receive a minimum of $500,000. The program will be administered by the Ohio Development Services Agency.

Eligible businesses that are approved to receive grants can use the money for a variety of expenses- mortgage or rent payments, utility payments, wages or compensation for employees and/or contractors, business supplies and/or equipment, along with other costs.

These grants are available on a first come/ first served basis- we encourage any business in need to apply as soon as possible. If businesses Crawford County do not deplete the county’s allocation within 21 days after the application period opens, the remaining funds will become available to businesses statewide.
The owners of Mill Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation have plans to expand their business in Galion. A new 40-bed assisted living facility on the corner of Hosford Road and Portland Way South is in the works. This new facility will employ about 30 people.
Miley A. Miley Realty & Auction - has welcomed a new realtor, Debbi Gifford. Debbi currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Galion-Crestline Chamber. Congratulations!
Avita Health System has purchased the former Sears property at the Richland Mall in Ontario. “The increased growth from the community using Avita’s health care services has created a need for expansion,” explains Jerome Morasko, CEO/President of Avita Health System. “The purchase of the former Sears store will allow for convenient patient access and meet foreseeable future space needs. This purchase demonstrates our commitment to maintain and grow health services in the region.”
Do you have an anniversary, new associate or employee, sign, or business update? Contact Miranda or Candy at the Chamber Office, 419-468-7737 or email candy@galion-crestlinechamber.org so we can add your business to the Member Spotlight in our next Newsletter.
Crawford Partnership Announces Annual Awards During State of the Vision
The Crawford Partnership hosted their annual State of the Vision event via livestream on October 22. Many thanks to Ohio Mutual Insurance Group and New Day Creative for their help in ensuring a successful event.
The Partnership had the pleasure of announcing the following award winners:
  • Collaboration Award: Crawford County Health Partners
  • Innovation Award: Crawford Park District
  • CU Lead Impact Award: Amanda Sheets
  • Community Development Award: Doug Leuthold
  • Economic Development Award: The Timken Company
The Crawford Partnership also premiered their movie "I.Am.Crawford." This feature film shares Crawford County through the lens of the Crawford: 20/20 Vision Plan & paints a vision for the next chapter of Crawford County's story.
October was Manufacturing Month in Ohio
Each October, we celebrate those individuals who work in our manufacturing industry. Due to COVID-19, we could not hold our annual Manufacturing Breakfast. We did however still want to acknowledge those individuals that work in our local manufacturers for the leadership, service, loyalty and dedication to the local manufacturing industry.
A 2020 Service in Manufacturing Award was also presented to Steve Ditty from Carter Machine in recognition of his leadership, service, loyalty and dedication to the local manufacturing industry. In his nomination, Steve was described as a "wizard at absolutely everything."
Congratulations Steve! Thank you!
A 2020 Service in Manufacturing Award was presented to Chris Robinette from Tramec Sloan in recognition of his leadership, service, loyalty and dedication to the local manufacturing industry.
His nomination stated, "Chris Robinette has worked at Tramec Sloan for 20 plus years and has worked his entire adulthood in the mfg. truck / trailer industry. He started his career in the shipping dept., working his way up over the years to shipping manager, production manager and most recently plant manager. During the pandemic he excelled in his new role as the Galion plant manager and ran with the changes. Chris was recently recognized by Corporate Management for helping out a sister company with packaging label requirements on short notice. Chris has kept the plant open, ran with a shortened crew, worked alongside our HR department handling the employee concerns and managed to keep a 100% on time delivery!"
Congratulations Chris!
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