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With Grow Holbrook as their watchword, the Holbrook Chamber of Commerce (HCOC) is set to inspire and encourage business and community growth during 2019 in Holbrook.
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HCOC Board President Shar Gillespie gave a brief rundown of the 2019 Chamber mixers at the Nov. 14 HCOC board meeting, noting that times and places will be listed on the HCOC website and Facebook.
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January will be the membership open house, giving current and potential new business members a chance to mix and mingle. In February, the Navajo County staff will do a presentation on community health. In March there will be a financial services presentation.
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April will focus on lodging and travel bringing to light the many things folks can do in Holbrook. May will spotlight Holbrook’s service industry and June will be the Taste of Holbrook.
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July is dedicated to community and first responders, while August will bring something new called Salsa Fest, of which Gillespie said, “There will be a competition for the best salsa. We are hoping to encourage the restaurants to get involved.”
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In September, there will be a candidate forum done in partnership with the City of Holbrook, Holbrook Unified School District and Navajo County.
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October will remain Old West Fest month, with November slated for Fly-Ins, Flannels and Flapjacks, as a way to coordinate with the Holbrook Pilot’s Association and Wings of Faith.
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December will wrap up again with the Festival of Trees, Parade of Lights, Light Up Holbrook and Holbrook’s 12 Days of Christmas.
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Gillespie shared that while the chamber will set the date and help promote each mixer, they need businesses to help provide venues for them to happen. “We need businesses that will host these mixers and be responsible for putting them on,” said Gillespie. “I have found that lunch time mixers are better attended.”
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In her report, Secretary Colleen Marsh said that the updates to the website were ongoing as she was working on getting the bios and pictures of the board members added as well as updating the business listings.
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Marsh encouraged everyone to look at the online Google reviews for their businesses and get more people to post on them.
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“People will choose to stop in Holbrook based on those reviews,” said Marsh. “Some businesses in Holbrook are doing well and some aren’t. Having the correct information online and then getting a good review can make a difference. Tom and Suzie’s Diner came up with the highest stars, but they push to get the reviews.”
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Marsh also shared that she had watched all three seasons of “Small Business Revolution” on HULU Plus. “Each episode is only 20 minutes long. But they do a fabulous job of working with small business owners and community leaders and talking with them about what they are facing as they vie to be nominated for the Revolution. Everything they are saying is the same stuff we are facing. We can learn from those towns and see what they are doing.”
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In other business, the board heard an update on the Drone Video of Holbrook and tabled the discussion on benchmarking with other gateway towns.
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The HCOC meets at 11 a.m. on the third Wednesday of each month at the Route 66 Auditorium in the Historic Navajo County Courthouse, unless otherwise noted. For information on participating in the mixers or to become a member, call (928) 524-6558.
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