Looking at last year and starting off this year, I’m staggered by our statistics. We have a membership base of 350. We brought on 65 new members last year. Our membership retention rate is over 90+% which is unfathomable. We have steadily increased our retention rate (current members) and new membership over the last three years. We are averaging between 140-160 members/guests at our monthly forums, which if you look at our total membership is roughly 40% attendance. 5:01 SURGES (Business After Hours) are well attended and we are averaging 2 grand openings per month. We are proud of the speakers we were able to acquire and always look for a “headliner” that will be of interest and benefit our membership. 

            Earlier in the month, we had the pleasure of having our “Open House Celebration” at our new location, which we are so extremely proud of. It boasts professionalism, warmth and certainly visibility. The visibility and accessibility that we have worked so hard to have is a win-win for us and our members. We had standing room only at our open house and counted 125 people at one point. Thank you to all who attended. We received numerous flower arrangements throughout the day and appreciate the support and love that you all delivered. 

            We have the pleasure of working closely with our members and ensure strong benefits, fantastic networking and great advertising. The loyalty and following that we have is coming full circle and I personally want to thank our members for their continued commitment to our chamber.

            As our sign states, we are the Lacey Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center for the City of Lacey. With the amount of tourism that our area as a whole will attract, we expect our Visitors Center to be hopping and are contemplating staffing the visitor’s center on Saturdays.

            It will be rewarding and interesting to see what other businesses are interested in the Lacey area and who will choose to locate their business here. Only time will tell. 

            We have a brand new conference room that we will outsource to our membership and non-members. The promotional cost through June is $25 per hour for members and $40 per hour for non-members. It will host up to 14 people comfortably. A projector, whiteboard and other amenities will be at your disposal.  Please call Sceni Foster, Administrative Coordinator for additional details or interest. 

            The Board of Directors will continue to collaborate together to ensure many successful programs and benefits to you, our chamber members!  

            See you all on Wednesday, February 6th for our monthly forum at the Thurston County Fairgrounds  EXPO Center!