The quarterly meeting of the Clear Valley Business Connection (CVBC) was held Thursday, January 12th at Tri County Alliance Church in Clearwater.
As is customary during the first meeting of the year/chili cook-off meeting, CVBC members donated prizes for the annual raffle held. A variety of prizes and gift certificates were distributed at the end of the meeting.
CVBC annual dues were increased to $75 and due the end of January.
The annual chili cook off was held, with seven crockpots of chili sampled by all attendees. First and second place winners received prizes. Doug Malsom (T & J Construction) took first place ($50 gift card) and Jen Randall (Clearwater Library) took 2nd place ($25 gift card).
Jolene Foss with Wright County Economic Development Partnership (WCEDP) gave an update and discussed a Mn State funding request for the Wright Technical Center in Buffalo — which is a cooperative career tech-ed school for high school students — and the Wright Academy Alternative Center. Recognizing the great importance of workforce development in this environment of lack of available labor, Jolene discussed the potential creation of a workforce mobility training program for adult learners in Wright County with satellite classes at St. Cloud Tech and Ridgeway colleges in evening, weekends and summers.
A recap on the Welcome-To-The-Community packets was given by Dave Fogal (pastor of Tri County Alliance Church in Clearwater). Businesses were encouraged to drop off their items for the next Newcomer packet drop scheduled to happen the end of January. Items can be dropped off at Tri County Alliance Church in Clearwater, Royal Renovations in Clear Lake or American Heritage Bank in Clearwater. Contact Dave Fogal for more information: PastorDaveTCA@gmail.com
Music and Movies in the Park was discussed. Alyx Johnson has done a wonderful job of coordinating the event and doing groundwork for a successful event going forward, but she will be stepping down to spend more time with her children.
The possibility of a Clearwater Farmer’s Market has been discussed in the past, but it has been decided to table the idea at this time until more research can be done.
Clearwater Heritage Festival is on track to happen the first weekend in August. There will be a parade. Clearwater Legion’s annual pork chop dinner will coincide with the event. The hope is to add new events for Saturday and Sunday during the event that weekend. There will be a Heritage Day planning meeting held at Rejoice Lutheran Church in Clearwater Tuesday, February 7th at 6pm. People who are interested in volunteering can reach out to Brandii at: ClearwaterHeritageFestival@gmail.com
Election of officers took place for the CVBC. Glenna Soenneker will continue in her role as president, as will Lori Johnson stay on in her role as Vice President. Jenny Massman will carry on her duties as secretary. Dr. Eron Bordson will continue in his role as treasurer. Chris Vasecka will take over the position of Social Media Coordinator.
The annual Business Expo is tentatively being planned for Sunday, May 7 at Clearwater Legion. More details will be coming. Watch the Patriot newspaper for updates on upcoming Clearwater events.
Clearwater Legion will be hosting their 66th annual fish fry Sunday, February 26th from 11am to 6pm.
CVBC Treasurer Eron Bordson gave an update on finances.
The meeting was adjourned.
The next meeting of the CVBC will be held Thursday, April 13th at Irrigation Management and hosted by Chris and April Vasecka.
