Wentzville, MO – Tri-County Fence & Deck celebrated new ownership by the Frank Leta Family Business in Wentzville, MO with a Ribbon Cutting ceremony on April 12th, 2012. Pictured is General Manager, Jerry Engelhard and Owner, Frank Leta joined by friends, family and community members. Also in attendance for the celebration were representatives of the Wentzville and O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce and the City of Wentzville.

Tri-County Fence & Deck is located at 1902 E. Service Road in Wentzville, Missouri. Call 636-887-4030or visit them online at www.fencedeck.com.

O’Fallon, MO – O’Fallon Nutrition celebrated their new location in O’Fallon, MO with a Ribbon Cutting ceremony on March 30th, 2012. Pictured are Owners, David Gaule and Diana Hess joined by friends and community members. Also in attendance for the celebration were representatives of the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce and the City of O’Fallon.

Celebrating 10 years in business O’Fallon Nutrition finally took the leap and moved into a larger space off Mexico Road in O’Fallon. With more room they have added several new items including health foods and gluten free products. Be sure to stop by and browse their great selection of supplements and sports nutrition options too. David and Diana will be happy to answer any questions you may have and can assist you in selecting products for you and your family.

O’Fallon Nutrition is located at 8648 Mexico Road in O’Fallon, Missouri. Call 636-240-5283 or visit them online at www.ofallonnutrition.com.

O’Fallon, MO – McDonald’s celebrated their newly remodeled location in North O’Fallon with a Ribbon Cutting ceremony on March 14th, 2012. Pictured are employees joined by friends and community members. Also in attendance for the celebration were representatives of the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce, the City of O’Fallon and O’Fallon Mayor, Bill Hennessey.

McDonald’s is located at 1001 N Main Street in O’Fallon, Missouri. Call (636) 978-3649 or visit them online at www.mcdonalds.com.

O’Fallon, MO – Pizzazz Gifts celebrated their new business in O’Fallon, MO with a Ribbon Cutting ceremony on March 14th, 2012. Pictured is Owner, Sandra McGillicuddy joined by friends and community members. Also in attendance for the celebration were representatives of the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce and the City of O’Fallon.

Offering a great selection of items from jewelry and purses to baby items, Pizzazz Gifts has something for everyone. Their customers can sign up for a perks card and save money on future purchases. If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind gift for a loved one or to add to your holiday décor be sure to stop by Pizzazz Gifts often.

Pizzazz Gifts is located at 2432 Highway K in O’Fallon, Missouri. Call 636-294-5977 or visit them online at www.pizzazzgifts.com.

O’Fallon, MO - Pain Management Rehabilitation celebrated their new business in O’Fallon, MO with a Ribbon Cutting ceremony on March 9th, 2012. Pictured is Owner, Dale Klein M.D. joined by friends and community members. Also in attendance for the celebration were representatives of the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce and the City of O’Fallon.

Many patients are referred to Pain Management Rehabilitation from their primary care providers or physician specialists. However, they welcome patients to their clinic directly to schedule an appointment. Each patient will receive a tailored treatment plan based on the assessment and evaluation by Dale J. Klein, M.D. who is board certified in Anesthesiology and the only board certified in Pain Medicine physician in the area.

Pain Management Rehabilitation is located at 103 Church Street in O’Fallon, Missouri. Call (636) 294-6322 or visit them online at www.pmrofallon.com.

The O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce is proud to host the 28th Annual USATF Certified Firecracker Run on Wednesday, July 4, 2012, in O’Fallon, MO. The Firecracker Run offers something for everyone! The Race begins at 7:00 am and consists of a 10k, 5K and a 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk. Awards will be given to the overall winner for male and female racers of the 5K and 10K. There will also be awards given to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers (male and female) of each class in the 5K and 10K. Ribbons will be given to all participants of the 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk.

The event will begin at the T.R. Hughes Ball Park located in O’Fallon, MO at 900 T.R. Hughes Blvd. A Pace Car will be leading runners through North O’Fallon and the race will end over home plate on the field of the River City Rascals. Runners will be met with a Health Expo, vendors, attendance prizes and an awards ceremony following the event. After the race, stick around the ballpark for the 2012 Heritage & Freedom Fest parade by the City of O’Fallon.

Tek shirts with the Chamber’s official race logo will go to the first 1000 registered runners and walkers. The cost of event is $25 for early registration for the 10K and 5K run and $30 after June 1st. The early registration for the 1Mile fun run walk is $15.00 or $20.00 after June 1st. You can register online at www.ofallonchamber.org/firecracker. There will be race day registration from 6:00 am until 6:30 am July 4th at the event. Packet Pickup will be held on Monday, July 2nd and Tuesday, July 3rd from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm at Big River Running located at 2548 Hwy K, O’Fallon, MO 63366 or race day Monday, July 4th from 6:00am to 6:30am at the River City Rascals Ball Park.

The 28th Annual Firecracker Run is proudly presented by Progress West HealthCare and Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital; and sponsored by Charter Business, Ameren Missouri, City of O’Fallon, Tree of Life Community Church and Big River Running Co.

Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: first, an ideal, with takes the imagination by storm, and second, a definite intelligible plan for carrying that ideal into practice. Arnold J. Toynbee

We definitely saw the enthusiasm of the Chamber membership this week! I’m sure that those of you who were at Tuesday’s speed networking luncheon would agree. Over 130 members and guests packed the party room at Brunswick Zone XL and were able to meet, exchange cards and have brief conversations with several other business leaders. Although this type of “speed networking” is not our usual format for our networking luncheons, we do try to mix it up so that our members have the opportunity to meet as many people as possible. I would like to encourage all of you to work on building actual relationships with the leaders you were able to meet on Tuesday to learn how you can help each other’s business thrive. We have ample opportunities for relationship building networking as well.

I would also like to thank all of our members who brought guests to the membership meeting on Tuesday; a DEFINATE sign of ENTHUSIASM. We had at least 15 guests with us, who were for the most part, invited by members of the O’Fallon Chamber who are enjoying the benefits of membership and looking to bring their colleagues in on all the fun that we are having and business that is being done.

On Wednesday morning we “checked out” our first book in the Chairman’s Book Club; Linchpin: Are You Indispensable by Seth Godin. This is a new program for us, but we already have 10 books checked out and I for one am very excited about the discussion that we will have about the book in April. Thank you to the Friends of the Library, St. Charles City-County Library for partnering with us for this fantastic new program.

As I type this I’m getting ready to head into a New Member Orientation, where my goal will be to keep the enthusiasm going!

Erin

The O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce would like to let our members and businesses in our community know that our organization has no intention on merging with any other Chamber of Commerce in our area.

Although the membership of the St. Charles and St. Peters Chambers have chosen to merge in order to “increase efficiencies”, the O’Fallon Chamber has been running an efficient member centric organization for years. The O’Fallon Chamber serves the largest city in St. Charles County, O’Fallon, with over 500 members, 67% of which are located in O’Fallon; 91% in St. Charles County and does so while adding benefits and keeping its membership investment at levels that are attainable for businesses of all budgets.

The O’Fallon Chamber has not raised its membership rates since 2004, something we are very proud of. The organization has been able to accomplish this by remaining member centered. “We understand how hard our businesses work for their dollars, so when they choose to invest those dollars with our organization it is our duty to serve them to the fullest while being as frugal as possible with the money they have invested with us”, says Erin Williams, President/CEO of the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce. The O’Fallon Chamber supplements its budget with fundraisers throughout the year in order to keep services at their highest without asking for a dues increase.

The O’Fallon Chamber continues to add benefits and services to its roster in order to serve members in the areas of networking, education and advocacy. In 2011 the O’Fallon Chamber invested in a software system that allows members to promote themselves in a variety of ways. In 2012 the Chamber is looking forward to the addition of a new promotion that will undoubtedly increase membership participation at networking events, as well as the addition of more free educational events to help foster the continuing education for our small business owners and managers. The O’Fallon Chamber will also begin a Legislative Awareness committee in 2012 so that our business community is always educated on the issues that are affecting their businesses and the opportunities to be proactive assuring a climate of economic vitality.

Earlier press releases from the merged organization state that the “decline in membership over the past several years was a major driving force for the merger.” The O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce has continued to grow. Since June of 2010 membership has increased by 13%. The O’Fallon Chamber has added 129 new members so far in 2011.

“The membership of the St. Peters and St. Charles Chambers have spoken and voted to merge their organizations and we fully respect that. What we oppose at the O’Fallon Chamber is the name, Greater St. Charles County Chamber of Commerce. I believe that the name misrepresents the merged organization to the business community. They have merged two of the eight Chambers of Commerce in our county, not even close to a majority, but still feel that it is okay to refer to the organization as a county-wide Chamber of Commerce,” said Williams. “I am disappointed that the leadership of the merged organization never reached out to the other Chambers in the county, which represent over 1500 businesses to even discuss our concerns.”

Williams goes on to say, “the Chambers in our county have had a great working relationship in the past, and now I worry about that relationship with the obvious disrespect that has been shown to the majority of the Chambers of Commerce here.”

This is a letter that was signed by all of the O'Fallon Chamber Board members in attendance at our November 8th Board of Directors meeting and sent to the Boards of the St. Peters and St. Charles Chambers asking them to reconsider thier naming choice of thier merged chamber.

On behalf of the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce I strongly urge you to reconsider the name choice of your merged St. Charles and St. Peters Chambers of Commerce.

It is the belief of our Board of Directors as well as the Boards of the other Six Chambers of Commerce in St. Charles County that the name under consideration, Greater St. Charles County Chamber of Commerce, is misleading to our businesses, since your merged organizations only represent two communities, not all of St. Charles County. From the information in the press release dated November 1st, the expected size of your combined organization will be more than 900; however the other Six Chambers not involved in your merger represent over 1,500 businesses.

As for the statement in the November 1st St. Charles Patch article, “It's possible that the six other chambers of commerce in St. Charles County might seek to join the Greater St. Charles County Chamber, said Aleece Vogt, board chair for St. Charles Chamber. However, the boards have not yet been approached by anyone, she said”; I can assure you that the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce has no plans to agree to this merger. The O’Fallon Chamber continues to thrive and grow even with the current economic climate. In the past 18 months our membership has grown by 13%, our fundraisers have exceeded budgeted expectations, and our membership participation continues to grow. All of these great accomplishments are the fruition of a hard working Board of Directors and staff whose number one goal is serving the best interest of our membership and ensuring that their needs are being met.

I would look forward to an opportunity to discuss this more at any time. Again, I, on behalf of the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce, strongly urge you to reconsider the naming choice of your new organization.


Thank you,


Erin Williams
President/CEO
O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce

The O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce its award winners for 2011. The Chamber sought out nominations for Small Business, Business, and Large Business of the Year as well as the first ever Sue Proost O’Fallon Chamber Person of the Year award from its membership.

“The selection committee had a lot of discussion when choosing from the nominees in each category,” said Erin Williams, Chamber President/CEO, “we are blessed to be in a community filled with businesses that are dedicated to O’Fallon and to our Chamber.”

Autotech Auto Center will be awarded as the 2011 Small Business of the Year. Autotech is known for the customer service provided by their staff and the knowledge of owner Greg Kinder. Both Greg and Barb Kinder are staples of the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce, helping to foster growth of their fellow chamber members in leads groups as well as volunteering as Ambassadors and on the Trivia committee.

F&M Bank and Trust Company will be honored as the 2011 Business of the Year because of the company’s dedication to the O’Fallon community as well as the Chamber of Commerce. F&M Bank and Trust relocated in O’Fallon in 2010 and has continued to grow since then. Employees of the bank are known to wear blue jeans on Fridays as an effort to raise money for their Adopt a Family program at Christmas time. “It seems like F&M Bank is always looking to help someone or some organization, their community spirit is evident in each one of their employees,” said Williams. F&M Bank and Trust representatives are on hand at each event the Chamber hosts, whether it is a ribbon cutting, a new member orientation, or a fundraiser, F&M has a presence.

The 2011 Large Business of the Year is being awarded to Delmar Gardens. Since coming to O’Fallon, not only has the company offered only the highest quality of life to its residents, but has only enhanced the quality of life of the residents of O’Fallon. Each year the company, free of charge offers an Independence Day spectacular with fireworks, food and fun for the whole family. They actively pursue ways to help out the not-for-profit community.

“When the selection committee met, the one thing that we kept asking was, ‘is this a company that we can hold up and say to our other members, this is what a good business does?’, I feel that each of the award winners are exactly that, businesses that our members can look to emulate,” Williams said.

The Sue Proost O’Fallon Chamber Person of the Year is being awarded to Mark Crank of Marcos Productions. This award is named after former Chairwoman of the Board who passed away in 2010. Sue Proost was known for her leadership, dedication and volunteerism to the entire O’Fallon community, but especially the Chamber of Commerce. These are qualities that Crank exemplifies. Crank is the current chair of the Ambassadors committee which has continued to grow in numbers and participation under his leadership. He is also the co-chair of the Trivia committee, a driving force in the leads group program and a friendly face to our new members and guests at all Chamber functions. Crank volunteers his time to Old Newsboy Day, Friends of Kids with Cancer, and the Missouri Association of Fairs and Festivals.

The Chamber will be honoring all of the winners at the December 13th general membership meeting luncheon to be held at the Christy Banquet Center. To make your reservations, please call the Chamber office at (636) 240-1818 or online at www.ofallonchamber.org.