Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau
Board of Directors Meeting
April 27, 2022
The Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met April 27, 2022. Chair Joe Loth called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Randy Brashers provided the prayer.
Review of Minutes – Tammy Johnson moved to approve the minutes of the March 23, 2022 Board of Directors meeting as presented. Cynthia Carson seconded the motion. All approved. Motion carried.
Financial Report – Treasurer Pam Yancey provided an overview of the current financials. She reported staff continues to work on the layout of the reports generated with the new software. Sam Voisin moved to approve the financial report as presented. Steve Critchfield seconded the motion. All approved. Motion carried.
City of Branson – Alderman Cooper briefly remarked on the tourism tax marketing contract with the City of Branson.
Ex-Officio Report – City of Hollister – City Administrator Rick Ziegenfuss reported on their municipal elections, budget, workforce development, and CID boundaries. He is pleased with Dennis Wiggins, Taney County Partnership’s new Director of Business Retention & Expansion.
2021 Year in Review – Jerry Henry, H2R Market Research, reported Branson topped its pre-pandemic numbers from 2019 and reached record visitation in 2021. Top activities our visitors report they engaged in are shopping live shows, downtown, outdoors/lake activities, unique local restaurants and Silver Dollar City. Average length of stay in 2021 was 4.1 nights. Spending per party saw an average of $1,006. When asked what they expect to find in Branson, non-visitors said, country music shows, original music, music festivals and hillbilly/cheesy entertainment. Jerry stated that type of entertainment is generally not mentioned negatively. The biggest barrier of non-visitors are other places they prefer to visit, Branson has not been recommended, and/or they don’t know enough about it.
Branson: Creative Community of the Year 2022 – Grant Sloan spoke briefly about the award presented April 20 during the Missouri Arts Council 2022 Awards Ceremony in Jefferson City. We produced a video, which was shown in the meeting, highlighting Christina Tabuchi, Mike Patrick and Tim Cherry talking about the creativity Branson offers. Mike Patrick spoke about attending the ceremony and accepting the award on behalf of the community.
Membership Update – Janet Minor reviewed the report included in the meeting packet. Pam Yancey moved to approve the member drop list as presented. Tammy Johnson seconded the motion. All approved. Motion carried.
President/CEO Report – Over 120 community members attended the Business After Hours at Ramata Italian last week. A new event, Brew Crew, will be announced soon. Good Morning Branson is May 11 at The Mansion.
Jason and Grant recently met with Your Chamber Connection about the membership drive to be held September 27-28.
The Executive Committee had a good meeting regarding tiered dues this month. Chair Loth stated he’s been involved with chambers of commerce for over 15 years. He feels this approach shows value and will help retain existing members. Kyle Sexton will present to the board in May.
Meeting adjourned 9:33 a.m.
Present: Randy Brashers, Cynthia Carson, Mike Combs, Clay Cooper, Bryan Cossiboom, Phil Cox, Steve Critchfield, Cassie Cunningham, Jon Davidson, Robert Griffith, Tammy Johnson, Mary Kellogg, Joe Loth, Raj Patel, Mike Patrick, Sam Voisin, Wendy White, Lynne Yaggy and Pam Yancey
Absent: Scott Bailes, Tom Healey, Steve Scherer and Craig Wescott
Ex-Officio Members Present: Rick Ziegenfuss