Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce 2026 events with Executive Director Dallas Knack

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Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce 2026 events with Executive Director Dallas Knack · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Sock Valley. You've joined the Waking crew here
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  Speaker 1: on FM ninety five one and AM fourteen sixty wix
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  Speaker 1: N and it is eight fifteen, so that means it's
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  Speaker 1: time for talk line this morning. I'm joined by Dallas Neck,
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  Speaker 1: executive director of the Sock Valley Area Chamber of Commerce. Dallas,
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  Speaker 1: how are you this morning?
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  Speaker 2: I'm good.
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  Speaker 3: How are you?
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  Speaker 1: Very well? But it's warm in the booth. I didn't
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  Speaker 1: have to brave the cold. They can do.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it is a little chilly.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, I appreciate that, and we're starting off with a
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  Speaker 1: you know what was I'm sure a chili event but
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  Speaker 1: also fun. As me and you were talking, I don't
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  Speaker 1: like to be this cold, but I love the different
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  Speaker 1: events that happened this type of year, and Sits and
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  Speaker 1: Sounds was one of the ones, you know that you
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  Speaker 1: were part of.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, Sits and Sounds was on Friday in downtown Sterling.
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  Speaker 2: It was quite chilly, but we had.
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  Speaker 3: A wonderful turnout. We're very thankful for the community to
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  Speaker 3: still come out and support. Is really the best way
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  Speaker 3: to just kick off the festive season in downtown Sterling.
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  Speaker 3: We really try to plug this as a big event
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  Speaker 3: to get everyone downtown. We had some really great things
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  Speaker 3: going on, like a hop on, hop off trolley that
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  Speaker 3: drove throughout downtown Sterling, so people were able to get
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  Speaker 3: on and go to the next stop and get off
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  Speaker 3: and maybe explore something, see something new, maybe try out
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  Speaker 3: a new restaurant, stop in a new storefront. Maybe it's
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  Speaker 3: things you've driven past before and you're always like with
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  Speaker 3: all the one ways downtown Sterling, right, you're always like, oh,
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to find a parking spot and go back,
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  Speaker 3: and then you're like, oh, my gosh, I don't know
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  Speaker 3: where to go, and so sometimes you just never stop
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  Speaker 3: at those new places or new to you places. So
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  Speaker 3: this was a really great way to get people moving
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  Speaker 3: throughout downtown Sterling. We had a lot of people exploring
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  Speaker 3: shops at Grand and Plaza to see what's new over there.
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  Speaker 3: If you aren't familiar with that, there are six small
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  Speaker 3: businesses that are over kind of right behind Grand and Civic,
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  Speaker 3: so like right behind the big bandshall in Sterling. They
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  Speaker 3: had a lot of things going on over there, with
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  Speaker 3: some hot chocolate and an elfie station where you.
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  Speaker 2: Could take selfies with elves.
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  Speaker 3: They had some really cute things happening, So it was
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  Speaker 3: a great way to just explore, see what's new, and
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  Speaker 3: like I said, kick off the holiday season in downtown Sterling.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's that's awesome. I love that. I unfortunately missed that.
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  Speaker 1: I had to do a road trip to Georgia and
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  Speaker 1: back this weekend, so I'm sorry I missed that. The trolley,
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  Speaker 1: I really thought that that was cool. Was that new
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  Speaker 1: this year?
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  Speaker 2: That was new this year? Yes, and it was.
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  Speaker 3: We've gotten really great feedback, so we're hoping to continue
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  Speaker 3: to implement it in coming years.
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  Speaker 1: So you'll see me hanging off the back with some
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  Speaker 1: hot chocolate. Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: No, it was a really cool thing, and like I said,
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  Speaker 3: it's just a great way to get people like moving
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  Speaker 3: downtown too. We know there's a lot of parking downtown,
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  Speaker 3: but we know it doesn't always seem that way. So
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  Speaker 3: it was a great way to just park your car
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  Speaker 3: at one of the stops and be able to go
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  Speaker 3: throughout all downtown and not have to worry about it.
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  Speaker 1: No. Absolutely, And you've also again, you guys are just
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  Speaker 1: always a part of so many things. You've got some
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  Speaker 1: upcoming events or years almost over here and an annual dinner.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, So the Chamber has this annual meeting and dinner
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  Speaker 3: that's coming up in January, So this is the big
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  Speaker 3: event for all of our members to come out and
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  Speaker 3: partake in one of our annual meetings.
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  Speaker 2: This is a way that we celebrate our members. This
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  Speaker 2: is also where we'll.
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  Speaker 3: Announce things like our Chamber Champion, because those nominations just
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  Speaker 3: closed recently, so we'll be celebrating the Chamber Champion, which
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  Speaker 3: if you're unfamiliar with that, that's kind of like the
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  Speaker 3: citizen of the Year for our chamber members and our community.
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  Speaker 3: So anyone is able to be nominated for this, and
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  Speaker 3: then we have a nominating committee that goes through all
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  Speaker 3: of those and then awards one special Chamber Champion for
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  Speaker 3: all of their outstanding contributions to our community at large.
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  Speaker 3: Will also be naming our Ambassador of the Year, which
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  Speaker 3: of course those are our Chamber ambassadors. They do so
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  Speaker 3: much for our organization. They're really the boots on the
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  Speaker 3: ground for us. They're the public face. They go out,
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  Speaker 3: they're all the ribbon cuttings, all of the events. So
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  Speaker 3: we'll be naming our Ambassador of the Year and recognizing them,
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  Speaker 3: and then we also have some new excite awards will
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  Speaker 3: be giving out, such as our Emerging Leader Award.
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  Speaker 2: That's our Sock Value under forty group. They are now
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  Speaker 2: they've nominated someone.
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  Speaker 3: That has really been a big factor in getting this
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  Speaker 3: group re energized over the past year. So we're going
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  Speaker 3: to implement it this year to award someone for their
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  Speaker 3: efforts and then continue in years coming receiving some nominations
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  Speaker 3: and just.
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  Speaker 2: Seeing who we get.
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  Speaker 3: We have some really great individuals that are emerging leaders
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  Speaker 3: in our community and we want to shine a light
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  Speaker 3: on those individuals.
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  Speaker 1: I love seeing and hearing the fact that obviously the
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  Speaker 1: participation in this just seems to be growing as far
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  Speaker 1: as the chamber, Am I right in assuming this?
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  Speaker 2: Yes?
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  Speaker 3: So our Sock Value under forty Group, formerly the Keystone Group,
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  Speaker 3: they had a meeting in early twenty twenty four.
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  Speaker 2: We had a handful.
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  Speaker 3: Of individuals come to it, and then we in twenty
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  Speaker 3: twenty five.
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  Speaker 2: We reinstated the steering committee.
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  Speaker 3: So now there's a group that is really helping drive
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  Speaker 3: this mission forward for individuals under the age of forty
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  Speaker 3: in our community. So they rebranded. They changed from Keystone
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  Speaker 3: to stock Valley under forty. They felt like maybe it
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  Speaker 3: was a better just name when you say Keystone, we
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  Speaker 3: did a lot of you know, just explaining what that meant,
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  Speaker 3: right Sock Valley under forty is maybe a little bit
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  Speaker 3: of a better glimpse of what the group really is about.
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  Speaker 3: They also worked on re energizing it, so seeing what
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  Speaker 3: people wanted and then providing some activities that lined up
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  Speaker 3: with that. So you're going to see a lot more
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  Speaker 3: of that coming in twenty six as well, which I'll
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  Speaker 3: talk about in a minute. But they recently received an
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  Speaker 3: award from the Illinois Main Street Organization for these efforts
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  Speaker 3: that they've been putting into and it's been phenomenal. So
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  Speaker 3: they went from twenty twenty four having a handful of
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  Speaker 3: engaged active individuals to this fall. A couple months ago,
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  Speaker 3: they hosted their first professional development opportunity, which was a
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  Speaker 3: lunch and learn.
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  Speaker 2: In the middle of the work day.
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  Speaker 3: So it was the first time we've tried anything in
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  Speaker 3: the work day, and it was the first time that
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  Speaker 3: you've had to pay to attend to any of the events,
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  Speaker 3: and we had fifty five participants at it. So we're
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  Speaker 3: very happy with the growth that we're seeing there. We're
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  Speaker 3: really trying to take the feedback that we're getting. We're
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  Speaker 3: trying to gather that data from the events and from
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  Speaker 3: those that are actively participating and build out future events
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  Speaker 3: the next year.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. And speaking of future events next year, y'all already
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  Speaker 1: have some lined up, right.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, So our next one will be January fourteenth. It'll
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  Speaker 3: be from six to seven thirty at Elevate Youth Center, Sterling.
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  Speaker 3: So if you're familiar with where Kroger is, it's right
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  Speaker 3: behind there in the old fun Jump building that's now
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  Speaker 3: the Sterling Township and Elevate Youth Center. So Sock Valley
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  Speaker 3: under forty will be meeting there for Cultivate and connect.
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  Speaker 3: This event is really a networking opportunity. It's speed networking
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  Speaker 3: between participants, but also then introducing them to different civic
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  Speaker 3: organizations and leadership opportunities in the community. So they'll come in,
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  Speaker 3: they'll do a little bit of networking amongst themselves, meet
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  Speaker 3: some new people hopefully, and then we'll have stations that
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  Speaker 3: they'll rotate through to learn more about things like Rotary,
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  Speaker 3: Optimist and leadership opportunities. So just a general like, what
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  Speaker 3: does it even mean to be on a board and
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  Speaker 3: what are some of those opportunities? Because I don't think
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  Speaker 3: a lot of us realize the different organizations that have
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  Speaker 3: a board in place and how you can get involved.
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  Speaker 3: So maybe you've been volunteering and you've never even considered
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  Speaker 3: taking that next step. So what does that look like
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  Speaker 3: and what are those organizations maybe look like. And there's
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  Speaker 3: a couple other opportunities that will have as well that
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  Speaker 3: you can rotate through and learn more about. Because we
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  Speaker 3: know that the under forty group is really the ones
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  Speaker 3: we want.
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  Speaker 2: To plug into our community.
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  Speaker 3: We want them to say we want to retain these individuals,
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  Speaker 3: and we know that getting them engaged in the community
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  Speaker 3: is one of the best ways.
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  Speaker 2: To do that.
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  Speaker 3: We also know things like Rotary and Optimists they're not
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  Speaker 3: getting any younger, they're having trouble recruiting younger individuals, and
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  Speaker 3: they do so much work for our community. They're truly
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  Speaker 3: the lifeblood of everything we have going on here, and
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  Speaker 3: so if we were to lose those organizations, what would
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  Speaker 3: we do. So we're trying to kind of have a
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  Speaker 3: pipeline into those opportunities and this is one of the
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  Speaker 3: ways we're doing that with Sock Value Under forty. January
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  Speaker 3: fourteenth is a free event to attend. Again, it starts
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  Speaker 3: at six pm at Elevate Youth Center. We do ask
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  Speaker 3: that you ARESVP just so we have a headcount and
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  Speaker 3: know how many two expect. But the information is on
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  Speaker 3: sock Value under forty social media, the Chambers social media,
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  Speaker 3: our website, you name it, seventy Smoke Signals. I'll get
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  Speaker 3: you that link to register.
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  Speaker 1: I love it and you're absolutely right getting these groups
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  Speaker 1: in to be able to carry the torch of these
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  Speaker 1: organizations which do so much great work in the community,
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  Speaker 1: and I think people don't know enough about You're right. Actually,
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  Speaker 1: it's absolutely vital that you guys have people in place
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  Speaker 1: to keep that going forward. Now, if somebody, you know,
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  Speaker 1: maybe they can't make that event, where can they go
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  Speaker 1: to get more of this information?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so SoC Value under forty has all of their
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  Speaker 3: own social media channels, so they have a Facebook and
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  Speaker 3: Instagram and a LinkedIn. We also push all that information
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  Speaker 3: on the Chambers social media as well. And then this
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  Speaker 3: is a collaboration with Sterling Main Street, so they provide
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  Speaker 3: some of their the info as well. But you are
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  Speaker 3: more of the welcome to Just reach out to me
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  Speaker 3: and I will get you on our email server list
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  Speaker 3: so that you'll get all of the notifications, because we
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  Speaker 3: already have something in the works for April twenty fifth, so.
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  Speaker 2: Mark your calendars for that one as well.
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  Speaker 3: And then we'll have two other opportunities, one in the
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  Speaker 3: summer and then one in the fall.
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  Speaker 2: So all of that is already in the works.
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  Speaker 3: If you can't make the January event, no worries at all.
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  Speaker 2: Reach out to the.
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  Speaker 3: Chamber eight one five six two five two four zero zero,
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  Speaker 3: or you can send me an email my email addresses
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  Speaker 3: on Stock Valley Area Chamber dot COM's website. You can
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  Speaker 3: find all of our contact info there or like I said, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn,
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  Speaker 3: any of that good stuff.
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  Speaker 1: Well there you go, folks, so many channels you got
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  Speaker 1: no excuse not to get that information. And one of
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  Speaker 1: the things I absolutely love during my time when I
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  Speaker 1: was a reporter is how many new businesses that I've
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  Speaker 1: seen over the last couple of years really kind of
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  Speaker 1: take start, take root here in the Sock Valley area.
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  Speaker 1: So for those who might not be familiar maybe a
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  Speaker 1: new business, remind them what the chamber does and you know,
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  Speaker 1: and what's the point of getting involved there.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, So the Chamber is really your resource.
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  Speaker 3: We are a connector So if you have questions about
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  Speaker 3: anything coming up, whether that's some new legislation, whether that's
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  Speaker 3: hr I'm hiring new staff, I don't know what to do,
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  Speaker 3: how do I go about any of that marketing aspects?
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  Speaker 2: Reach out to the chamber.
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  Speaker 3: We either have those resources for you or we'll connect
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  Speaker 3: you to those resources. We really are trying to be
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  Speaker 3: that the big resource for anyone that's starting a business
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  Speaker 3: and organization, whatever that might look like. We provide networking opportunities.
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  Speaker 3: So if you're a brand new business, one of the
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  Speaker 3: best things we provide, in my opinion, is a ribbon cutting.
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  Speaker 3: So we bring a bunch of people out and we
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  Speaker 3: cut that ribbon, and then that photo that we take
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  Speaker 3: will go on our social media, we'll go in our newsletter,
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  Speaker 3: it goes in the newspaper.
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  Speaker 2: We take care of all of that.
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  Speaker 3: For our members so that they aren't paying fees to
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  Speaker 3: run ads and the paper for those kind of things.
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  Speaker 3: We love to highlight them where we can, and then
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  Speaker 3: we also have monthly networking opportunities for them as well.
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  Speaker 3: So if you're a brand new business, or even if
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  Speaker 3: you've been in business for a long time and you're
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  Speaker 3: looking to expand that network, come on out to our
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  Speaker 3: business after hours that we host every month and meet
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  Speaker 3: new people, meet new faces.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely vital resource, great community to be a part of.
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  Speaker 1: If you're part of a business owner in the saug Valley community,
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  Speaker 1: and even if you're not, there's ways to get involved
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  Speaker 1: with the chamber even if you're not a business right.
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  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, we have tons of volunteer opportunities and as
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  Speaker 3: open to individual membership too. If you're just a random
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  Speaker 3: person that would like to get involved. You don't have
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  Speaker 3: connections to a business that you want to represent, you
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  Speaker 3: just want to come as an individual.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely coming out there.
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  Speaker 1: You go support your community, support small business, Get a
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  Speaker 1: hold of Dallas in the chamber and just see what's
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  Speaker 1: going on. Anything else you want to share in a
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  Speaker 1: couple of minutes.
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  Speaker 3: Just a reminder over the holiday season to support our
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  Speaker 3: local businesses.
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  Speaker 2: They're really the flavor of our community.
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  Speaker 3: They're what makes us special and things are kind of
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  Speaker 3: tough for small businesses right now, so please make sure
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  Speaker 3: that you're out shopping and eating locally this holiday season.
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  Speaker 3: Even if you're grabbed a gift card for a white
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  Speaker 3: elephant gift or something, try to make that a local
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  Speaker 3: gift card.
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  Speaker 2: Because what you don't see is that.
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  Speaker 3: A majority of that money, over half of that dollar
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  Speaker 3: that you spent, stays here locally, and that's important to us.
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  Speaker 3: Whether that's going back to the high school's prom night,
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  Speaker 3: or whether that's a donation to United Way that's going
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  Speaker 3: even further beyond that, are local dollars. Over half of
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  Speaker 3: that dollars saying here locally. So please make sure that
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  Speaker 3: you're just out supporting local restaurants, businesses, whatever that might
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  Speaker 3: be this holiday season.
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  Speaker 1: That's a great point, Dallas. You're not just supporting small businesses,
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  Speaker 1: which are which is very important on its own, but
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  Speaker 1: like you said, having that portion coming back into your
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  Speaker 1: own community. Plus these small businesses they you know, whether
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  Speaker 1: it's a restaurant or you know, a clothing boutique, they've
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  Speaker 1: they've got things you're not going to find somewhere else
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  Speaker 1: heading out of town. You know, these big box chains,
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  Speaker 1: you know, So get that unique gift, have that that
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  Speaker 1: meal that you can have anywhere else right here in
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  Speaker 1: the Sock Valley. Dallas, thank you so much much for
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  Speaker 1: sharing this information and for all the great work that
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  Speaker 1: you and the chamber do.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much,