Chamber Horizons, USPS 330070, is published monthly by the Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce. Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, MN 56308. Postmaster: Send address changes to

Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce | 206 Broadway St, Alexandria, MN 56308 320-763-3161 | www.alexandriamn.org

FEBRUARY 2020 | VOLUME 112 | ISSUE 2

Upcoming Chamber Events

CHAMBERHORIZONS

Official Newsletter of the Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of CommercePromoting the Alexandria Lakes Area as the ultimate destination to “live, work, play and prosper.”

Alexandria Lakes Area Chamber of CommerceVisit Alexandria MN alexlakesareachamber

Thanks to all who attended the Chamber’s 2020 Annual Celebration Jan-uary 27 at Arrowwood Resort & Conference Center. The event celebrat-ed the successes of 2019 and gave a glimpse of what to expect in 2020. Here are a few highlights from the event!

Chamber Celebration spotlightssuccesses of 2019 and plans for 2020

Brett Paradis, General Manager of Leighton Broadcasting, KXRA-KX92-Z99 Radio and Voi-ceOfAlexandria.com, was named the 2019 Friend of the Chamber. Brett has served on the boards of the Unity Foundation and ALP Utilities and was the 2009 Ernie Unruh Christian Service Award recipient. He has been a strong supporter of the Chamber through membership, allowing employ-ees time to serve on the board and committees, and through generous donations of radio airtime to promote Chamber and community events.

2020 President Robyn Snyder, owner of Winning Edge accepts the gavel from 2019 President Greg Bowen, owner of Brophy Lake Resort and Bowen Con-tracting. Greg was presented with a caricature drawing repre-senting himself and his passions in honor of his year served as president. Snyder’s theme for 2020 is “Be Positive, Do Posi-tive.”

Alexandria Area Young Professionals Luncheon Featuring Networking Game - Human Bingo

Thursday, February 6 from 12 - 1 pmGrand Arbor | 4403 Pioneer Rd. SE

Wake Up Alexandria Friday, February 7 from 7:30 - 8:30 amThe CBD Centers 405 50th Ave. W, Ste. 103 Non-profit of the Day: Selective TV

Wake Up Alexandria Friday, February 21 from 7:30 - 8:30 amRecover Health @ Pizza Ranch | 1522 Broadway St. Non-profit of the Day: Habitat for Humanity of Douglas County and Habitat for Humanity ReStore

Off the ClockThursday, February 27 from 4:30 - 5:30 pmArt & Soul Hair Design | 614 Broadway St. Non-profit of the Day: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

More Annual Celebration highlights on page 2.

SPRINGLUNCHEON

Featuring Cindra KamphoffWednesday, April 29, 2020

Broadway Ballroom

Presentation from 11:45 am - 1 pm

GenerouslySponsored by:

Bethany on the Lake kept $4,300 local in 2019 through the Chamber Bucks program!

results you want.

EOS®, the Entrepreneurial Operating System® is a comprehensive business system, with a complete set of tools and a proven process to align and synchronize all the pieces of your business to produce the

Contact Rhonda Forkrud for a complimentary introduction to EOS® and start getting more of what you want out of your business.

Want to take your business to the next level?

rhondaf@rsfbusinessadvisors.com | 763.242.6519 | www.rsfbusinessadvisors.com

2 Chamber Horizons | February 2020

Jeff Meland of Databae

Systems was named 2019 Membership

Team Member of the Year.

Chamber Celebration HighlightsThe Top 5 Under 40 Young Professionals

honored at annual celebrationEach year, the Chamber teams up with Echo Press Newspaper to honor young professionals who are doing amazing things in our community. Many nomina-tions were received from business leaders and community members for this honor. A committee, including representatives from both entities, judged the nominations based on professional achievements, community involvement and overall depth of qualities, and this year’s winners include:

Scott Teaser of Massman, LLC was named Ambassador of the Year for 2019.

Douglas Machine received recognition as the top Chamber Bucks Partner for keeping $6,385 local in 2019!

Diamond Buick GMC was the second top Chamber Bucks Partner for keeping $6,000 local in 2019!

Melissa Amundson, Account Executive/Voice of Alexandria

Operations Manager, KXRA-KX92-Z99 and

VoiceOfAlexandria.com

Josh Lustila, Master Plumber and Journeyman HVAC Installer, Ellingson Plumbing, Heating, A/C and Electrical

Jillian Reiner, Professional

Landscape Architect, Hagstrom Engineering

Katelyn Steffel Spangrud,

Assistant Alexandria City Attorney, Law

Firm of Swenson Ler-vick Syverson Trosvig Jacobson Cass, P.A.

Stu Wood, Broker Associate,

Edina Realty

6th & Broadway Clothing & DecorKari Lempka528 Broadway St.(320) 763-3313 kari.lempka@gmail.comwww.shop6thandb.com

Dani’s Nature CampDani Schultz305 7th Ave. E(320) 287-1986 drayschultz6@gmail.comwww.danisnaturecamp.com

Encompass Coaching, LLCShannon Swenson 1307 State Hwy. 29 N, Ste. 80(320) 219-7309 shannon@encompasscoachingllc.com

www.encompasscoachingllc.com EVT Baseball

Erik Van Tuyl(320) 760-1089evtbaseball@gmail.comwww.evtbaseballmn.com

Greater Fergus FallsAnnie Deckert(218) 321-2079netia@greaterfergusfalls.comwww.greaterfergusfalls.com

February 2020 | Chamber Horizons 3

Wake Up Alexandria

January Host

Wake Up Alexandria is a networking event held the first and third Friday of each month from 7:30 to 8:30 am at a Chamber member location. A dollar gets you in the door, with all proceeds donated to a non-profit Chamber member.

First Lutheran Church was founded by Norwegian immigrants in 1872. A desire to reach out and help those who are less fortunate has been part of its mission ever since. Communi-ty Preschool has provided preschool in partnership with First Lutheran Church for more than 40 years with the purpose of providing an early childhood social and education experience for 3-to-5-year-old children in a Christian atmosphere.

First Lutheran Church / Community Preschool | January 17

1655 18th Ave. ENon-profit: Ecumen Bethel Manor &

Winona Shores Apartments

Welcome! January new members

Please consider these new membersfor your personal and professional needs, and welcome them to our network!

Pot of Gold Winner

The Chamber celebrat-ed a Pot of Gold winner at Wake Up Alexandria Friday, January 17 at First Lutheran Church / Community Preschool. Heartland Orthopedic Specialists won the prize package valued at $4, 622! The Pot of Gold is a highly antic-ipated part of Wake Up. Donations include business items, dis-counted services, gift certificates and pro-motional items.

Sponsoring businesses are promoted through Chamber email blasts, displayed at the event and listed on the Chamber website. Every Chamber member is included in the drawing, but a representative of the business drawn must be present to win.

Heartland Orthopedic Specialists wins the Pot of Gold!

Market your business or organization in the Pot of Gold! For details, contact Jess at

(320) 763-1489 or jess@alexandriamn.org.

Mike Doyle, administrator at Heartland Or-thopedic Specialists, accepted the Pot of Gold prizes on behalf of the company at the January 17 Wake Up Alexandria event.

Membership TeamVolunteers on the Membership Team visit new member businesses to welcome them to the Chamber. They also serve as mentors and liaisons, supporting new members with introductions, information, and education on membership benefits.

4 Chamber Horizons | February 2020

January Visits

Central Lakes Concert AssociationKathi Haug, Member; Mitch Odland, Member;

Randy Morken, Member; Polly Stephens, Member

Central Lakes Concert Association was formed in 1983. The as-sociation puts on six concerts per season at the Alexandria Area High School’s Performing Arts Center. It is funded through spon-sorships, ticket sales and memberships.

Good Shepherd Lutheran ChurchShirley Johnson, Secretary; Tim Schiller, Lead Pastor; Deb Hull, Member

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is located on North Highway 29 and was formed in 1984. It offers Sunday Worship, Adult Bi-ble Study, Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and more. Its mission is “Where people are loved by Jesus and each other and learn to live as a Caring Believers Sharing Joy!”

Will O B WoodworksJohnny Thill, Owner/Woodworker

Will O B Woodworks is owned by woodworker Johnny Thill. John-ny provides custom wood products including cutting boards, charcuterie boards and tables. Many varieties of wood are used to make these products. Johnny also makes his own wood wax that helps seal and protect his cutting boards.

Vinna Human ResourcesNatalie Steward, Co-owner/HR Consultant

Vinna Human Resources focuses on your business needs to build your human resources department. It offers both small project services such as looking over your company handbook to large scale ongoing projects. It has two consultants that can work ei-ther on-site or remotely.

AmbassadorsThe Ambassadors are volunteers who extend the public relations arm of the Chamber. They attend business open houses, groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings; welcome new businesses to the area; and commemorate relocations and major remodels. They are out making business visits the second Wednesday of every month.

January Visits

February 2020 | Chamber Horizons 5

Alexandria HRA - New LocationJeff Hess, Executive Director

Alexandria HRA recently moved into its new location at 809 Broadway St. in Alexandria. The new location offers a more pro-fessional atmosphere for employees to work in and meet with potential tenants and homebuyers. The Alexandria HRA pro-motes and provides affordable housing solutions and more.

Magpie - New OwnersBill and Jan Teschendorf, Owners

Magpie is located at 529 Broadway St. in downtown Alexandria. Magpie is a boutique offering a variety of items ranging from women’s clothing, to jewelry, baby items, fudge and many other knick knacks. Though owners, Bill & Jan purchased the business in fall of 2019, Jan has been there for over 14 years.

Tru Lumber - New BusinessAnthony Larson, Owner; Brett Bloedorn, Owner

Tru Lumber opened in June of 2019 at 1301 N Nokomis St. NE in Alexandria. Tru Lumber is a lumberyard offering quality-building materials at affordable prices to the Alexandria area. It keeps “true” to its customers by providing transparent pricing with no hidden fees or markups – just an 18% margin.

Reach Church - RebrandNick Grey, Lead Pastor

Nick Grey is Lead Pastor at Reach Church, formerly known as Liv-ing Waters Church, located at 1310 N Nokomis St. NE in Alexan-dria. The church rebranded with a new name and with a mission to “Reach the Lost”. Worship service is every Sunday at 9:30 am.

Business Buzz

6 Chamber Horizons | February 2020

Geneva Capital announced the promotion of Andrew Cav-ers to President, Troy Putnam as Director of Sales and Ja-mie DeBoer as Sales Manager.

ICON Business Advantage (IBA) announced 2020 as its year of giving. Each month a new charity or non-profit will be chosen to receive a monetary donation from IBA, based on that month’s sales. January’s recepient is UNSEEN.

Carlos Creek Winery was named a 2020 finalist by MN Bride Magazine for best central Minnesota venue and best winery venue.

ProMach announced Aaron Hanson’s promotion to Vice President and General Manager of Brenton and Orion brands in Alexandria.

To include your business news in the Chamber Horizon Newsletter, email information to Lauren at marketing@al-exandriamn.org.

Legislative Corner

CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS:Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen (R) District 8(651) 297-8063 sen.bill.ingebrigtsen@senate.mn

Senator Torrey Westrom (R) District 12(651) 296-3826 sen.torrey.westrom@senate.mn

Representative Mary Franson (R) District 8B(651) 296-3201 rep.mary.franson@house.mn

Representative Jeff Backer (R) District 12A(651) 296-4929 rep.jeff.backer@house.mn

Representative Paul Anderson (R) District 12B(651) 296-4317 rep.paul.anderson@house.mn

2020 MN Chamber Federation PrioritiesThe MN Chamber Federation unites and amplifies the voice of local cham-bers by advocating for policies to advance business in every corner of the state. Federation partners represent 43 communities and 21,000+ business-es that promote pro-growth policies, helping ensure lawmakers understand the needs and interests of MN’s diverse business community. The Federation identified the following policy priorities for the 2020 Legislative Session:

Workplace Management: Employers adhere to strict labor laws and work-place standards at state and federal levels. They must have flexibility to make staffing decisions and provide appropriate wages, benefits and schedules.

• We oppose “one size fits all” state mandates that limit employers’ ability to design competitive benefit packages for their employees.

• We support state legislation that explicitly prohibits local govern-ment labor mandates.

• We will pursue modifications to the 2019 wage theft law that has far-reaching, overly complicated requirements for employers.

Tax Competitiveness: MN’s high taxes continue to rank as a top barriers to economic growth. The Federation has a broad tax reform agenda including business property tax relief, personal/corporate rate reductions, estate tax federal conformity and enhancement of the research/development tax credit.

• We support tax relief for businesses that pay taxes through person-al tax returns by adopting federal conformity with Section 179 busi-ness expensing rules.

Environmental Sustainability: We recognize scientific consensus that climate is changing due to human activity.

• We support recognizing state policies could result in disruption or discontinuation of business operations in MN, considerably affect state/local economies, and may only marginally impact global en-vironmental progress.

• We support policies that collectively enable a cleaner environment, recognize technological/economical limitations, support/advance innovation, maintain a secure economy and protect jobs.

• We support environmental policies that drive private investment in MN while helping employers reduce environmental impacts.

Health Care: MN requires health insurance policies to cover 60+ benefits. Large employers tend to insure workers under federal law. As a result, these state mandates negatively impact small employers.

• We support requiring a cost-benefit analysis before any proposal to add insurance mandates to state law.

Education and Workforce Development: MN’s education and workforce de-velopment efforts must align with employer needs.

• We support private-sector initiatives to increase employer engage-ment in the training of workers in addition to supporting policies that ensure student readiness.

• Postsecondary and dual-credit programs provide students with credit toward certificates and degrees and should be promoted.

• We support career exploration/hands-on training opportunities.• We support using data to better understand training needs and

high-demand careers. Transparency and accessibility improvements should be made to the programmatic and institutional information to allow students to make informed decisions.