2022 April Meeting

The Troy Chamber of Commerce met on Wednesday, April 6, at noon at Northern Tier Solid Waste. 

Members included Zachary Gates, Bonnie Seeley, Rachel Heitzenrater, Veronica Seymour, Robyn Cummings, Amy Ward, Scot Sample, Trish Wilkinson and Barbara Barrett. 

Minutes from March were motioned for approval by Cummings and seconded by Seymour.
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For the treasurer’s report, it was noted there was $42,886 in the regular checking, $2,000 in the restricted account and $5,628.15 in the money market. There were 45 members as of April 5. Gates noted to chamber members to get their application in as soon as possible. Heitzenrater will send out an update as to who has done that so far out of the 45 people. 

For the car show committee, Seymour noted the food pricing and asked chamber if prices needed to be raised or stay the same. Chamber voted to keep them the same. Sample noted that NTWSA would like to donate $250 for soda for the car show. Seymour stated that she needs members to sign up for a Tuesday to help with the car show. Dates will be distributed. 

Next on the agenda was the event committee and the upcoming planned joint chamber meeting with Canton. The date is planned for Wednesday, July 6, at 5 p.m. at Alparon Park in Troy. Tentative speaker will be Stacy Garrity. The event will be BYOB. Water, soda and meat will be provided by the chamber. The event is a dish to pass for members. 

For Hometown Heroes, Gates asked the chamber about whether or not it was time to change banners. He noted he would like to wait a year due to the time and lack of volunteering in order to switch them. Chamber voted to wait a year for that reason, as well as the fact that the banners look more than fine still. 

Cummings spoke on behalf of the person/business of the year committee. After noting her recent attendance at the valley’s chamber of commerce event, she asked chamber if they would consider making the annual event an evening one instead of a luncheon, due to the hope that there will be better attendance and an over all more exciting event. Chamber agreed that the possibility will be looked further into. Wilkinson, also on the committee, noted her role in the valley’s event and said that she thought it would be a better opportunity for the chamber. She also noted that she would like to see the money possibly made at that event be put towards a scholarship or two for the local high school students at Troy Area High School. 

For the website committee, Heitzenrater noted to the chamber of the items Tami Bethune, of BTG Solutions (the company working on the new chamber website) needs. These items include: names of the current members, photos of the town and contact information for the current website on people she may be able to get a hold of to move the domain. 

Next on discussion was a decision on the chamber of commerce to move forward with an offer from WVIA on a hometown feature. After discussion, the chamber voted to politely decline the offer of a production at a cost to the chamber of $5-10,000. Gates noted he would like to see the role be shared with a more local news source, such as Homepage. 

Business updates were next. 

Wilkinson and Sample introduced Matt Baker, a worker of theirs, who attended the meeting. Sample then went on to share with chamber about his expansion project with the landfill, noting more acres across the road were purchased.

Barrett spoke about the Heritage Farm Museum’s updates, noting some special dates for the chamber to keep in mind. The first was Maple Festival, in which tickets to the festival include admissions to the Farm Museum buildings. This event will take place on Saturday and Sunday, April 23 an 24. 

Gates led a discussion about the recent Biden administration announcement that they will accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and how that could possibly help local businesses. 

Cummings concluded the meeting with a report on the Bradford County Tourism and Promotion Agency. She started off her report noting that this last fourth quarter was “the best they’ve ever had.” She also noted some recent burglary activity at the office and then how they won an award through the valley’s chamber of commerce. 

A motion was made by Seymour to adjourn the meeting.
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The next Troy Chamber of Commerce meeting will be Wednesday, May 4, at noon at Troy Community Hospital.