Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce & CVB
Board of Directors Meeting
January 24, 2024
The Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met Wednesday, January 24, 2024. Chair Rob Griffith called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Tom Healey provided the prayer.
Review of Minutes – Joe Loth made a motion to approve the minutes of the December 13, 2023 Board of Directors meeting as presented. Marshall Howden seconded the motion. All approved. Motion carried.
Financial Report – Treasurer Pat Cox reviewed the current financials of the organization. Cassie Cunningham moved to approve the financial report as presented. Cynthia Carson seconded the motion. All approved. Motion carried.
Taney County Partnership Year in Review – Jonas Arjes reviewed project activity over the past year, along with business retention and expansion and workforce development efforts. He shared the 2022-24 action plan and stated the 2025-27 plan will be developed this year.
Ex-Officio Report – Tourism Community Enhancement District – Kirk Elmquist reported tax collections for November were up 24.1% over November 2022. He also stated they are looking at a winter event in 2025 to help January/February numbers.
City of Hollister – Rick Ziegenfuss reported they are working on the next fiscal year’s budget, which starts April 1.
Legislative Update – Monica Evinger provided a brief update.
Membership Report – Grant Sloan reviewed the report included in the meeting packet. We ended 2023 with 880 members.
This month’s report contains two proposed member drop lists. One is for those who joined during the membership drive. The other is the regular, monthly proposed drop list.
Grant reported the tiered dues structure was fully rolled out in 2023. The next step is to double down on retention. He is evaluating several retention efforts, from phone calls to emails, etc. The board could assist by looking over the new “forecasted drops” report. If you know any of them and can help, contact Grant or Janet. Cassie Cunningham moved to approve the membership report as presented. Pat Cox seconded the motion. All approved. Motion carried.
Chairperson’s Report – Chair Griffith appointed Joe Loth to serve on the Finance Oversight Committee for the remainder of 2024. Griffith and President/CEO Yancey have been meeting regularly and he feels they share a vision of where to go with the organization this year.
President/CEO Report – President/CEO Pam Yancey reported she’s been meeting with community members, as well as representatives from the City of Branson and the Tourism Community Enhancement District (TCED).
The TCED and staff have been working for some time to establish an allowable cost policy. The District’s Finance Oversight Committee has approved the policy. It goes to their board later this week.
A new policy with the TCED requires board approval of contracts of $25,000 or more prior to entering into the agreement. Contracts of $10,000-$24,999 must be approved by the TCED Executive Director.
We are interviewing candidates for open positions in graphics, public relations, and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Yancey reported Ashlie Beede and Lynn Berry have been doing a great job filling in for the vacant CMO position.
Pam recognized Ashlie Beede for the Kansas City Chiefs review and marketing update she provided at the Branson Board of Alderman. She also recognized the sales team for overcoming the weather challenges at ABA in Nashville recently when over five inches of snow fell in the city.
Public Relations – We reached an ad equivalency of $19.9 million, which is our fourth highest in history, in 2023.
This meeting of the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce & CVB adjourned at 9:30 a.m.
Present: Evan Bradley, Cynthia Carson, Mike Combs, Bryan Cossiboom, Pat Cox, Steve Critchfield, Cassie Cunningham, Cole Currier, Robert Griffith, Tom Healey, Marshall Howden, Joe Loth, Bay Mourer, Mike Patrick, Paul Satterwhite, Scott Skoglund and Wendy White.
Absent: Katie Hodges, John Parker, Steve Scherer and Brad Thomas Ex-Officio Members Present: Kirk Elmquist – TCED and Rick Ziegenfuss – City of Hollister