The California Area Chamber of Commerce met Thursday, with board members approving moving forward with the Publications & Marketing committee's QR code promotion initiative.
The committee came to Thursday's meeting with a breakdown of members' roles and its intended budget expenses for the project. With the plan approved, the Chamber will now move to purchase postcards and static cling window stickers with the QR code to display at Chamber businesses, as well as advertising. The group discussed the possibility of a Facebook advertising campaign but ultimately decided to hold off for now. Bringing on a high school student as an intern to help get the project off the ground was also approved.
The group also heard an update from the Ozark Ham & Turkey Festival committee. Chamber Executive Secretary Sandra Ratcliff said so far, around 80 vendors have committed to coming to the festival. The Chamber will also have a festival commercial running on Co-Mo Connect; there should be 90 commercial slots during September, updating the Chamber's last commercial that ran during 2019.
Outside of committee reports, the board discussed some repairs and landscaping. The Chamber will be working to re-paint and fix its sign that hangs at Proctor Park, which suffered some wind damage, before it is hung up again. The Chamber also was approached by a community member asking about adding landscaping around the city's welcome sign. Per the group's discussion, the land is owned by the Missouri Department of Transportation and controlled by the city of California, one obstacle in making any more permanent changes. The area around the sign is mostly rock, as well, which wouldn't be conducive to landscaping work. Some board members suggested the sign could use some repairs in general before looking into any other beautification work, perhaps an effort the Chamber could work with the city on in the future. The consensus was to leave the idea alone for now, but take a look at the sign and assess any future repair work.
The Chamber welcomed two new members in the past month - Vantage Supported Living and Moniteau County Memorial VFW Post #4345. The Chamber hosted a ribbon cutting last week at Central Missouri Community Action's new California location, and another ribbon cutting is planned for Vantage Supported Living on Monday, July 26 at 11:30 a.m.
The California Area Chamber of Commerce's next regular meeting is set for Thursday, Aug. 12 at 8 a.m.