Over 25 local business people attended the Clear Valley Business Connections (CVBC) annual meeting and 6th Annual chili cook-off Thursday, held at Rejoice Lutheran Church in Clearwater.

 

Representatives from the Wright Co. Sheriff’s Office spoke to attendees concerning ways businesses and law enforcement can work together to reduce crime and increase safety in the workplace.

 

Sargent Brian Johnson informed attendees Wright Co. offers free help to businesses in a number of ways, including security surveys to give them ideas on how to keep their business safe and critical incident training, also known as active shooter training. Any business who is interested can schedule an appointment through the department.

 

“Our goal is to train everyone we can,” he said. “The more we educate people and make them aware the more we can save lives, save property, save assets.”

 

Often people don’t think their concern is important enough, but Johnson stressed they need to call, recommending they dial 911. Anything that seems suspicious or out of the ordinary should be reported; the department takes all calls seriously and relies on the public to keep them informed.

 

“If you’re wondering if you should call 911, you should call 911,” he said. “Let us determine if there’s a problem.”

 

Johnson said local businesses need to communicate with each other, so if one has been having problems or is a victim of a crime, the others are made aware of it.

 

“Crimes are often a crime of opportunity,” he said. “By educating we’re preventing.”

 

CVBC President Lori Johnson informed attendees April wouldn’t work for the Clearwater American Legion if they wanted to hold the 2nd Annual Explore Clearwater/Clear Lake Business Expo in their facility again.

 

Last year the event was held during one of the Legion’s Sunday breakfasts to help draw a crowd.

 

A discussion was held on possible dates and locations; some business owners felt it was crowded at the Legion during last year’s expo. 

 

Because traffic from the Legion breakfast helped bring in approximately half of the visitors to the expo, keeping the event at that location was the choice of the majority of the attendees. To help with crowding, businesses will share large tables or bring in smaller ones of their own.

 

A motion passed for the upcoming Explore Clearwater/Clear Lake Business Expo to be held May 6 at the Clearwater Legion. Committee members for the event are Jenny Massmann, Shalynn Reid, Glenna Soenneker and Kaitlin Vrchota.

 

Lori Johnson from Johnson Materials, Inc. was re-elected president, Pastor Steve Timm from Rejoice Lutheran Church was re-elected vice president, Jenny Massmann from American Heritage Bank was re-elected secretary and Eron Bordson from Clearwater Family Chiropractic was re-elected treasurer. Father Dennis Bakker from St. Marcus Church and Eldon Peterson from the St. Cloud/Clearwater RV Park were elected to join Dan Meer from Clear Waters Outfitting to fill the open board of director positions.

 

Susan Nagorski from the Citizen-Tribune presented information on the annual Clearwater/Clear Lake Community Guide. Along with the opportunity to run individual advertising for their businesses, as paid CVBC members each business can be listed in the full-page CVBC advertisement in the guide. This year’s deadline is May 26.

 

A motion passed to partner with the Citizen-Tribune on the guide and to run a full page advertisement.

 

After votes were tallied, Bordson retained his title as the chili cook-off champion and Andrea Zerwas was awarded second place.

 

The next CVBC meeting will be April 12 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., location to be announced.