[Music] hi Cottage Grove I'm oi Garza with your February Council update I'm joined here today by Lori LaVine president and CEO of Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce welcome Lori thank you I'm glad to be here yes yes today we're discussing something important to our community our local business and how The Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce is working hard to support our area our local businesses are the heart of Cottage Grove from family-owned shops to service providers they shape our community and economy and the Chamber of Commerce plays a key role in helping them succeed Lori could you share some information about the chamber's role in supporting our local businesses absolutely of course so the Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce supports our local businesses by offering several resources to local entrepreneurs and business people things like networking opportunities marketing resources educational workshops and advocating for local businesses here's how the chamber directly supports local businesses by networking um the chamber connects business owners and helps them build Partnerships also through visibility through our chamber directory online and in print on our social media events businesses can increase their visibility and attract more customers we also have great resources so the chamber offers workshops one-on-one Consulting to help businesses improve and grow and then of course through our advocacy um so working the chamber works with local government to address any issues that might be affecting business owners we are so fortunate to have such amazing local businesses here in Cottage Grove and I'm personally grateful for the chamber's work it's also important for people to get connected and to get involved if you're a business owner consider joining the chamber if you're a resident support our local businesses by shopping locally and attending chamber events by supporting our local businesses you're helping Cottage growth stay strong with a thriving local economy let's all work together to keep Cottage Grove a great place to live and do business so Lori are there any events that the chamber has coming up yes absolutely we have a Community Showcase that's actually on April 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 2 PM we hold that at the Park High School activity center and our Community Showcase not only showcases many of our local businesses and food vendors this year we have a job fair we have a kids area we're super excited about it it's going to be a lot of fun last year was a blast I'm sure this year will be even better thank you and all are welcome thank you again and this has been Mo'Nique Garza and Lori LaVine with your February Council update [Music]