2021 Chamber Year in Review
2021 has been a busy year here at the Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce! Besides the normal day-to-day business functions, we have had many things going on from community events to grant distribution. There have been many ribbon cuttings and we have also added 37 new members in 2021.
We ended December of 2020 on a great note- helping to allocate and distribute over $800,000 of CARES funds to local businesses and non-profits county wide. Working with County Commissioners and the Bucyrus Area Chamber of Commerce, we established the Crawford County Small Business Relief Grant to quickly administer much-needed funding to small, local businesses and non-profits. Thank you to the Crawford County Commissioners for entrusting us with this venture.
The hard work put in to this grant process was rewarded by once again being allocated CARES Act money in August 2021, this time by the City of Galion. The City of Galion provided $200,000 in Federal CARES Act dollars to fund a Small Business Relief Grant program that focused on Galion businesses. The Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce administered and distributed the Galion Small Business Relief Grant. Thank you to the City of Galion for the opportunity to do so.
Our first large event of 2021 was our first "Love Local Restaurant Week", which took place in the first week of February. Typically in this area, this time of year is one of the slowest for the restaurant industry. The Chamber was looking for ways to boost business for them in a needed time, so came up with a passport to be stamped for each dollar spent in local restaurants. Completed passports were turned in to the Chamber, and a drawing was held for prizes. Many of these prizes were donated by other local businesses looking to support the local restaurant industry.
On February 25th, The Bucyrus Area Chamber of Commerce and the Galion-Crestline Chamber premiered the 2021 Crawford County Business Forecast and Economic Development Update. Usually held as a breakfast, this event had to be virtual this year. There was a great lineup of speakers from all industries throughout Crawford County.
After missing the 2020 Annual Meeting & Awards Breakfast due to COVID, the chamber was thrilled to host nearly 100 chamber members and their guests at our 2021 Annual Meeting & Awards Breakfast in May.
The following were the 2020 Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce award recipients:
Galion Mayor’s Award — Galion City Schools Food Service Department, Crestline Mayor’s Award — Crestline Police Department, Industry of the Year — Iron Vault Distillery, Service Industry of the Year — Cleaning by Carrie (Carrie Cottrell), Business of the Year — Dzugan Real Estate Services (Joe and Gretchen Dzugan), Retail Business of the Year — Bistro 217 (Holly and Steve Rose), Service Business of the Year — Avita Health System, Professional of the Year — Chad Miller, Galion Port Authority, Young Professional of the Year — Chris Adler, Avita Health System Director of Emergency Management, Safety & Security, Chamber Chair Award — Matt Echelberry, City of Galion Communications Director, Chamber Volunteer Award — Crestline Community Development Team, Chamber Service Award — Joe Kleinknecht, former Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO, Organization of the Year — Community Counseling Services (Cindy Wallis, Executive Director), President’s Award — Jennifer Allerding (Galion City Schools Superintendent) & Matt Henderson (Crestline Exempted Village Schools Superintendent), and Executive Committee Award — Miranda Jones, Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director.
After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of most events in 2020, the summer of 2021 was full of events. Third Friday in Galion was able to happen in June, July, and August- even through inclement, severe weather in June and July thanks the the Galion Community Theatre offering their venue to move it indoors to avoid cancellation. Crestline was bustling with Community Concerts and Events held at The Hub at Village Square.
The 19th Annual McDonald's/Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce Golf Outing took place on June 24 at Valley View Golf Course. This annual event generates operating income for the Chamber to continue its Economic Development and Business Advocacy efforts on behalf of the business community and serves as a fund raiser for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Various contests on the course generated $2772 for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Since beginning this partnership in 2003 with McDonald's, a total of $39,926 has been raised for the charity.
The Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce and Galion Safety Council hosted a Health and Wellness Fair on June 30 at the Galion Community Center YMCA. Over 30 health and wellness organizations had booths set up with information. Free services available during the event included blood pressure checks, reflective house signs, oxygen level testing, and depression screenings. Information was available about fitness, chiropractic care, long term health care options, home health care options, suicide prevention, identity awareness theft education, massage therapy, counseling services information, and health care providers.
The Galion-Crestline Area, Bucyrus Area and Wyandot Chambers collaborated to hold Route 30 Business Expo on October 28th. The Route 30 Expo will showcased nearly 50 community businesses and organizations, offering ample time for business to business networking across a tri-county area.
November and December have continued to be busy with Crawford-Opoly and our annual Holiday Auction and Open House. We have a wrap up of those events in this newsletter.
We liked to thank everyone for their continued support of our chamber. Our growth and success is directly linked to our membership and the communities we serve. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you and be your advocate in the business community. We are hopeful for more growth and success in 2022.
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NEW CHAMBER MEMBERS
Buckeye IT Services, 525 Wall Street, Suite B, Tiffin. (419) 618-9454. Managed Service, Security, Computers.
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2022 Membership Renewal were mailed December 1st. Membership dues for 2022 are due January 31, 2022. Remember, if you pay by December 31st, 2021, you can take a 5% discount.
If you are having problems adding your chamber dues to you 2022 budget, please call us at the chamber so we can discuss options. The office number is 419-468-7737. You can also call in to pay with a credit card or set up quarterly or semi-annual payments.
Thank you for supporting your local chamber of commerce!
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Chamber Holiday Open House & Online Auction Wrap-Up
I want to start by saying THANK YOU to the Chamber Board of Directors, Chamber Ambassadors, Chamber Members, Event Sponsors, community members and auction bidders.
Thank you to all the businesses and individuals that donated items for the event and to anyone that took the time to bid, buy raffle tickets, or came to the sold-out event.
We appreciate the support!
We would like to thank our sponsors who continue to support us throughout the year and help to make this event a success.
We would also like to thank our event Co-Sponsors: Cander Excavating, Inc., Hydranamics, a division of Carter Machine, Dostal & Kirk Insurance & Financial Services, Dzugan Real Estate Service, Firelands Federal Credit Union, First Federal Bank of Ohio, First Federal Community Bank, Huntington National Bank, Mizick Miller & Company, Inc., Park National Bank, and Walter & Company Financial Services.
Our 50/50 Winner was Donna Conley. The winners for the Annual Chamber Raffle were Matt Echelberry ($250), Andrew Rush ($500), Chuck Jackson ($750) and Marilyn Miley ($1000). Thank you to all who purchased 50/50 tickets and our Chamber Raffle Tickets each year.
Lastly, we would like to thank those who helped with our in person event. The Hub at Village Square provided an amazing venue, Celebration Essentials decorated the tables beautifully, Rush Woodworks created the incredible custom charcuterie boards for each table, Doc's Deli catered and presented fabulous, delicious food on the boards, Cake & Icing made the BEST cupcakes for the event, Lorain Music provided a jukebox and sound equipment for holiday music, announcements and the live auction, Mansfield Photo Booth provided a fun way to commemorate the evening with their photo booth, Riverside Drive Thru sponsored a fun new addition to the event - the Wine Pull and Craig A. Miley Realty & Auction did a wonderful job with the live auction. We appreciate the details that each of these businesses put in to making our event a success! We really appreciate all you do for us.
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Galion-Crestline Area Chamber Small Business Expo
at the Hub
This was a way to showcase many great vendors with crafts, fudge, cookies, candies, Norwex, Railroad pictures and so much more.
Thank you to all who attended and to all of our vendors!
This event was part of the Crestline Winterfest, which was sponsored by the Crestline Community Development Team, The Galion- Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce, Park National Bank, Schneider-Gompf Funeral Home, and Anthony- Lee Screen Printing.
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2021 Crawford-Opoly
Small Business Saturday is one day- we wanted it to last the entire month of November, so we had Crawford-Opoly for the second year in a row. We were excited to once again collaborate with First Federal Community Bank and Bucyrus Area Chamber of Commerce on this effort to drive traffic to local establishments and help gain awareness of the amazing small business right here in Crawford County!
We had a total of 32 people eligible to win the Grand Prize (entrants had visited and turned in cards for at least 25 of the 50 participating businesses) and over 1000 property cards were in the drum for the drawing for the $1000 Community Shopping Spree that was sponsored by First Federal Community Bank.
In total, almost 2000 cards were turned in- double of last year's event. Each of these cards represents a visit to a local business.
This year we had additional sponsors- thank you to Apex Clean Energy, Avita Health System, Cleaning By Carrie, Crossroads Original Designs, Dzugan Real Estate Services, and J & F Construction.
We would also like to thank all participating businesses and participants for helping make Crawford-Opoly a success for the local business community for the second year in a row.
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