Message from the President
Every month our President writes an article for the benefit of the Chamber.
Dear Chamber of Commerce Members,
It has been said that, we here in the Mini-Cassia area, are about two years behind the rest of the country economically. Some say that is a bad thing and some say it is a good thing. All I know is that I still need to pay my bills and make a living here in the Mini-Cassia area.
What does it take to be a positive productive business in 2011 with the economy that we find ourselves in? Is the answer to hype up the electronics, faster computers, smart phones, etc...? Is it the human element and we need to consume energy drinks to keep us performing at optimum levels, or taking it to the next level.
A manager was promoted to a position in the company. He had over 15 co-workers. The manager was interested in optimum performance so he pushed the workers hard and told them to keep the machines running as production was the most important thing to him. Maintenance was not a priority. The numbers showed that his department was profitable and the company’s production and overall profit soared. Soon, that manager was promoted up the ladder, and another person was promoted to take his position. What the newly promoted manager found was a tired crew and machines in badly need of repair. Production went down and costs went up as machines broke down and had to be repaired. What the spread-sheet shows and who the overall best manager is may not be as easy as looking at the results on paper.
Sir Joshua Reynolds' famous quote: "There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking."
I believe that some of the challenging times of our history, such as the Progressive Era (google it – you might find it interesting) were times when Americans were innovative, and developed different strategies to carry on their work. I appreciated John Webster’s article he wrote on economic development (www.minicassiachamber.com/news/economic-outlook.html). He mentioned a couple of examples in our country’s history and what they did to overcome challenges of economic woes.
Change is not necessarily a criticism of how things were done in the past. It is recognition of new opportunities in the future! New inventions, better processing, time saving procedures, etc… are but a few of the things that come from challenging times. Don’t be afraid to try, failure that doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, or so I have been told!
One of the characteristics of a productive person is "resilience". Resilience is the ability to recover from misfortune or adjust to change. Everyone will have misfortune and change every day. How long we choose to allow it to affect our productivity is up to us. Be resilient today.
As the story goes of the attempts of Thomas Edison to invent, he was working with an assistant to build a light bulb that would sustain light for a period of time and they succeeded then the assistant broke the bulb. After considerable time and effort to repeat the process, who do you think handled the bulb? Yes, it was his assistant.
Warren Buffet once said, "The truth is, everything that has happened in my life...that I thought was a crushing defeat at the time, has turned out for the better."
The Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce is working diligently in various areas that will be disclosed at the annual installation banquet on February 10, 2011 at 7 pm.
I would ask you to become more involved with the chamber if you are not already. Volunteer to assist on a committee -- ask tough questions and bring up tough issues. If we don’t flush out the issues, then they may never get dealt with. I will put out this challenge to the first (non-board member) who calls the Chamber office with a list of events taking place in the Mini-Cassia area in February, will get a prize from the visitor center.
I look forward to listening to you, please feel free to email me ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or get in touch with me if there is anything that YOUR Mini-Cassia Chamber can do for you or your business. On February 10 2011, you will have the opportunity to attend the Chamber Installation Banquet; there we will have displays of each of our committees. At each of the displays there will be a sign up for each of the committees. If there is one that you’d like to be a part of, please consider making the decision now to help to make a difference in one or more committees. As members of these committees generally only requires a few hours of your time, we all know that the more we put into something the more we get out of it, but those hours combined can accomplish amazing results! Here’s a big “Thank you” to those that have gone before and done so much, and here’s to us to accomplishing great things in 2011!
Dear Chamber of Commerce Members, It is my privilege to serve you as president of the Chamber Board in 2011.
As we look forward to the New Year, we would be remiss not to thank the leaders at the Chamber for their efforts in 2010. Last year’s president, David Nebeker, of the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott, dedicated hours of time to coordinate, train, and plan activities and events. With the help of some great committees, last year was a great success! Our Executive Director, Kae Cameron, with a lot of help from David Nebeker and others have done a fantastic job of streamlining our finances and the programs that we use to monitor and safeguard those finances. This past year, the Chamber board, the committees, the ambassadors, Kae the Executive Director, chamber staff and volunteers have done some wonderful programs and events, like Chamber Leadership, Band-Aids Bones and Bucks (a health career fair for high school students), Heavy Metal Cashing In (an industrial career fair for Magic Valley high school students), Mark Moorman Regatta Golf Tournament, Women’s Seminar, and our Chamber luncheons and other recognition events. All are working together diligently to accomplish the vision statement of the Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce: “Create a vibrant, thriving and successful Business community in the Mini-Cassia area”.
I believe that we are in the time of challenge. Have you ever reached a goal only to find the victory empty? We are happiest when working toward something. We have our vision & mission statements and guiding principles, we know what is important to us, and we know what we stand for. Louis Armstrong once said, “The music is in the spaces.” Life is like that. Right now, our economic challenge is that the way we have done business in the past might not be enough for the challenging times we are encountering today. We may need to work in the spaces instead of only playing the notes. The true success is in the Journey, not reaching the goal. I enjoyed our Farmer Business Appreciation Banquet with Randy Hardy and Max Twiss speaking about their journeys they have and are traveling in each of their businesses. Scott Bedke said, “It’s not the lean years that will bankrupt the ranch, it’s the prosperous years where you over obligate the ranch. When the lean years return, the ranch can’t meet it's obligations.” This is true in any business.
The Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce and I are both feeling the challenge of helping our area businesses transition to meet the challenge of today’s business economy. We will do our best to render support as a way of perhaps helping you and your business to make 2011 a ‘vibrant, thriving and successful business’ year. I look forward to listening to you, please feel free to email me ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or get in touch with me if there is anything that YOUR Mini-Cassia Chamber can do for you or your business.
On February 10, 2011, you will have the opportunity to attend the Chamber Installation Banquet; there we will have displays of each of our committees. At each of the displays there will be a sign-up for each of the committees. If there is one that you’d like to be a part of, please consider making the decision now to help to make a difference in one or more committees. As members of these committees generally only requires a few hours of you time, we all know that the more we put into something the more we get out of it, but those hours combined can accomplish amazing results! Here’s a big “Thank You” to those that have gone before and done so much, and here’s to us to accomplishing great things in 2011!
This past year, it’s been my privilege to work on behalf of the chamber as your president. It’s with great pride that I’ve been able to represent in a small way the awesome business community in our Mini-Cassia area for a year. I’ve been able to see some great things this year, listen to some great luncheon speakers, witness our Chamber website take off, introduce Senators and other speakers, eat some great food at the different banquets and luncheons, and attend countless meetings to plan and prepare for the great activities our Chamber, Board of Directors, and other volunteers make possible. The true heroes of the Chamber are the staff and volunteers that act as the glue. We as the Board of directors for the Chamber come and go, but Kae, Darby, and now Jackie, hold it all together as we transition. I can’t say enough about the team of staff, Directors, and other leaders that are in position to take over for 2011 and am excited to still be involved as past president.
This year it’s also been my pleasure recounting a few true tales from one of my favorite books about leadership: Leading at the Edge, but Dennis N. T. Perkins. If you’ve followed along, we’ve learned from the preparation, endurance of countless hardships, and hard-won triumph of Ernest Shackleton bringing an entire crew back to safety after their ship was destroyed by the shifting ice flows in the Weddell Seas off of Antarctica. The truly beat incredible odds at getting every crew member back alive. We learned from their story ten strategies for success as outlined by Mr. Perkins:
1-Never lose sight of the ultimate goal, and focus energy on short term objectives
2-Set a personal example with visible, memorable symbols and behaviors
3-Instill optimism and self-confidence but stay grounded in reality
4-Take care of yourself; maintain your stamina and let go of guilt
5-Reinforce the team message constantly :”We are one—we live or die together”
6-Minimize status differences and insist on courtesy and mutual respect
7-Master conflict—deal with anger in small doses, engage dissidents and avoid needless power struggles
8-Find something to celebrate, and something to laugh about
9-Be willing to take the Big Risk
10-Never give up—there’s always another move.
In our community, we can make a difference in our place of employment, and in the greater community—and even in our families—if we will follow the above strategies for leadership. I count myself fortunate to have been able to be of small service to my Mini-Cassia community and feel honored to have rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest civic and community minded people I’ve ever met.
