Chamber holds quarterly meeting, presents awards
Jason and Carley Thompson received the Community Improvement Award at the quarterly chamber luncheon on Thursday, July 27 for their new business, HER Realtor. Beth Scott | Beacon
Cordell Brown and Buddy Bush were presented with various proclamations for the 50th anniversary of Camp Echoing Hills at the quarterly chamber luncheon on Thursday, July 27. Beth Scott | Beacon
WEST LAFAYETTE – The Coshocton County Chamber of Commerce held its quarterly meeting at Schumaker Farms on Thursday, July 27 with a catered lunch. After lunch, Bill Owens presented the Community Improvement Award to Jason and Carley Thompson of Carley Thompson and Associates HER Realtors.
“Realtors are coming back and businesses are coming back to the community,” said Owen. “Our real estate markets are back and that’s a great thing.”
The Thompsons purchased and demolished an old log cabin and rebuilt it as their office. They tore the building down last summer and stored it over the autumn and winter months. They broke ground on their new location in October and started work in January.
“We appreciate the support the community has given us in remodeling this cabin into our office,” said Carley. “It’s quite humbling,” she said about the award. “No way did we expect anything like this to happen.”
Camp Echoing Hills is celebrating its 50th year this year and representatives from the state were present to present Buddy Bush, president of Echoing Hills, and Cordell Brown, founder, with proclamations.
“I just want to take this opportunity to thank Coshocton for 50 years of support,” said Brown. “When I wanted to start a camp and ministry for my people, this community took us in and supported us ever since. Thank you all for your support and most of all, your friendship.”
Vickie Mabel of COTC gave a brief presentation about some new programs that are coming up at the Coshocton campus of COTC. One program is the Coshocton Community-Based Culinary Arts program for people in the community who are passionate about cooking. This is an informal setting with no textbooks or classrooms, just learning different techniques of cooking your favorite meals. Dates are Sept. 7, 21, and Oct. 5. Cost is $65 per person.
“We want to continue to listen to your needs and filter what you need and what you want and seeing what it is to help you grow,” she said.
Amy Stockdale, chamber director, announced that there are a lot of job postings coming in to the chamber office.
“There’s a lot of job openings in Coshocton County,” she said. “People don’t think there are many jobs, but there are.”
Tiffany Swigert, new Port Authority director, spoke about her brief time spent at her new job and what she plans for Coshocton County.
“I want to thank the chamber and Amy for hosting this event and for highlighting the positives here in Coshocton,” she said. “I think that’s often missed and something I plan on highlighting.”
She said that business retention will be a focus for her in her new role.
“We want to make sure our future industries know of the assets we have here in Coshocton,” she said.
Gary Fischer, chairman of the Coshocton County Commissioners, announced that the hydrological land has been leased by Wilcreek Outfitters for hunting rights. The commissioners have also purchased the Progressive Center for $28,170. They also recently purchased body scanners for the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office for $118,750. A new person has also been hired to head the litter program, although the name has not yet been released. He also announced that there are two levies that will be on November’s ballot, one for the library and one for Hopewell.
Fischer also said that the MCO sales tax could potentially remove $640,000 out of the county’s general fund. The commissioners are also working with the city on a Neighborhood Revitalization grant and a Critical Infrastructure grant.
Mayor Steve Mercer then introduced Max Crown as the new service director. He recently replaced Jerry Stenner who retired.
“I can’t thank Steve enough and the management team at the city,” said Crown. “They’re a pleasure to work with.”
Mercer briefly touched on the recent bomb and anthrax scare at city hall, saying that everyone worked well together in handling the situation.
Century National Bank is working on a new branch building behind Rite-Aid on Third Street and Allwell will have a new building on Main Street. McDonalds will also tear down their current building to remodel. That is slated to be a four-month project and start in autumn.
The start date for the bridge project has been announced as April 1, 2018. This will be a two-year project.
Eric Taggert, director of the Coshocton Public Library announced that they will be getting a new bookmobile with half the funds coming from community foundations and the other half from a savings account specifically set up for the bookmobile.
He also announced that 97 percent of their funding comes from the state and they are not receiving as much as they have in previous years. Because of that, the library is asking for a 0.5 mil, five-year levy that will generate roughly $400,000 a year.
Danny Brenneman of Coshocton County Job and Family Services also announced that Mindy Fehrman is retiring soon from the organization.
Category: Business
