Saline Area Chamber of Commerce Holds Annual Meeting Via Zoom Call

The president of the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors asked members to take a bigger role in the organization during the chamber's annual meeting.

The meeting took place Saturday morning over a Zoom call.

Luke Schmerberg, President of the Board, urged members to "level up" and join some of the chamber's subcommittees as the organization focuses on helping the community's businesses recover from the COVID-19 economic slowdown.

The 2021 Board of Directors features three new directors: Lisa Bozzi of Liebherr, Ryan McGovern of Edward Jones, and Leah Nauseda of SCS Image Group. Monica VanOvermeer, of Jet's Pizza, and Clinton Williams, of Toyota NA, were elected to the board. 

Returning directors include Schmerberg, of Schmerberg Law; Oscar Cotero, of Oscar's Sports and Grill; Tammie King, of Bemis Farms Childcare and Preschool; Treasurer Paul Larson, of MMI Engineered Solutions; Mark Mazur, of Edward Jones; Alice Rea, of Thomson Reuters; Dr. Andrew Schneider, of Steadfast Chiropractic; Pastor Mark Smith, of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church; Past President Mark Stevenson, of Stevenson Enterprises; and Lynn Thomas-Perry, of Farmers Insurance.

The chamber is currently looking for new staff. Executive Director Jackie Hardy recently resigned for personal reasons and Stephanie Cole resigned at the end of 2020. Schmerberg said both positions have been posted. Lori Little is providing help in the office.

Last year, the chamber of commerce moved to a new location at 101 S. Ann Arbor, Suite 301 - above Carrigan Cafe.

The chamber has joined Saline Main Street, the City of Saline and Saline Area Schools to work on local economic recovery through the Community Resource and Retention Team.

Schmerberg said the chamber has recently shifted its bookkeeping duties, so he wasn't able to say how membership and revenue looked after 2020, but he said revenue was down. The chamber applied for and received a PPP loan to cover the shortfall.

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