Chamber Doing All the Things

From the recent Ag Expo to planning events well into next year, the Chamber doesn’t slow down.

The Glasgow Area Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture held their big Northeast Montana Agriculture Expo & Night of Honors Oct. 11 at the Valley Event Center. The annual event is the Chamber’s premiere agriculture showcase, bringing together stakeholders from across the industry.

The all-day event kicked off 7:30 that morning with breakfast burritos prepared and served by the Hinsdale FFA and 4-H clubs, and went until late that evening with the Harvest Dance and live band, Time in the Saddle.

The trade show opened shortly after, at 8 a.m. and ran through 6 p.m. The welcoming remarks were given by Haylie Shipp, of KLTZ Radio, who also introduced the keynote speaker, Jolene Brown. Brown, a farmer in eastern Iowa and contributor to Successful Farming magazine, gave a talk entitled, “Harvest the Humor! A Celebration of Life on the Farm.” According to her bio, Brown is “on a mission to share leading-edge best practices, appreciation, laughter and celebration to increase productivity, profitability and peace of mind.”

The Market Update was presented by CattleFax & Grain Analyst Sparky Dreesen out of Circle. Immediately following that was lunch provided by Auzzy’s Cook Shack. After lunch, Brown was up again, this time presenting “Stop the Fighting on the Way to the Funeral Home!” in which she addressed what she identified as the top 10 mistakes that family farms can correct to honor their families and conduct business correctly.

An applicator points session and no-host waterhole came next, giving attendees a chance to mingle and network before dinner commenced. According to Chamber Executive Director Lisa Koski, all 40 sponsorship tables were sold out and approximately 240 people were served dinner, which was catered by the Cottonwood Inn as was the bar service.

The Night of Honors Ceremony was the highlight of the event, showcasing the best of the best in Valley County. The Chamber this year recognized Lori Westby, Jenn Jackson, and Rocky Thompson.

Shipp presented Westby the Del Strommen New Trends in Ag Award, which is given to an individual who has demonstrated innovation, business structure, community involement, production agriculture and overcome adversity. Westby was nominated in committee, along with three other individuals, and won the subsequent vote. Shipp told the Courier, “The committee member that nominated her did so due to her dedication to 4-H, FFA, and community involvement.”

According to a bio written by her daughter, Brooke, Westby was involved in 4-H and FFA long before her first teaching job brought her to Opheim, instructing third and fourth grades. A growing family led Westby to move to the role of kindergarten teacher before eventually leaving the profession to spend her time helping on the family ranch. Her community involvement continued with volunteer positions as a Sunday School teacher for the Opheim Community Church, an organizational leader for the Northern Lights 4-H Club, a member of the local Reading Council, and most recently, joining the Scottie Booster Club Board.

Summing up the lengths her mother will go, both literally and figuratively, the younger Westby wrote, “While volunteering she also remains dedicated to helping on the farm and ranch in Opheim. During the school year she will drive 100+ miles a day to go to Opheim to assist in any way she can. This shows her extreme dedication to the agriculture aspect of her life.”

After recognizing Westby, the Chamber took time to recognize all employees and members of their board, acknowledging the role each person plays in making events successful. A special thank you was extended to Bethanie Knight of Edward Jones for all her years of service to the board.

Koski then presented the Volunteer of the Year Award to Jennifer Jackson. Koski spoke on what it means to be a volunteer, the connections made, the health and well-being benefits of volunteerism, and the value of volunteering. “Volunteering is about giving, contributing and helping other individuals and the community. Volunteering means working with others to make a meaningful contribution to a better community. One estimated dollar value of volunteer time is $21.36 per hour,” she told the assembled guests. The winner is hand-selected by the Executive Director for being involved in Chamber events, being reliable and available, and giving significant help to the director.

Jackson is a born-and-raised local, who returned to the area after graduating college to be closer to her family. Her community involvement extends to Hi-Line Sportsmen, The Governor’s Cup, and PTO, among others. Koski told the Courier, “Jen helps at every single event. She is always selling 50/50 tickets for me,” earning her the moniker, the 50/50 Queen. She is also now known as an avid outdoors enthusiast, hunting, fishing, and camping.

To cap off the awards, Chamber President Josh Sillerud presented Thompson the President’s Award, given in acknowledment of committee involvement, community development, cross-organizational work, and demonstrating care for the community. Though Thompson resigned his position on the board after the acquisition of T&R Trucking, he remains available to the Chamber when needed and has shown up to volunteer at numerous events. Indeed, rarely does a Chamber activity pass without Thompson’s involvement, despite his family’s businesses’ obligations and his young family.

The Chamber’s next big event is not really an event, but given the amount of organization and planning involved, it is being treated as a full-on event by staff. The 2020 Montana Governor’s Cup Registration Day will be Friday, Nov. 1, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Full applications can be found at montanagovcup.com

This year the Chamber will be accepting mailed applications, walk-ins and faxed or scanned email applications. Absolutely no phone call-ins will be allowed this year. In fact, Chamber staff will not be answering phones at all that day. “I fully expect we will fill up that morning,” said Koski. “Last year the tournament filled up in five hours and 20 minutes.”

Looking beyond that, the next event will be the annual Christmas Stroll and Parade of Lights on Saturday, Dec. 7. The Polar Plunge to benefit the Special Olympics will also take place that day in front of the Glasgow Civic Center at 2 p.m. Koski plans to have the downtown Christmas tree in place the week before Thanksgiving so that she can take some much-needed time to enjoy the holiday. She stressed that at this time, “I’m still looking for a tree,” and encouraged anyone willing to donate to contact the Chamber at 228-2222. “We come cut it down and haul it,” she said, so no extra work is required of a donor.

In between hosting and planning events, the Chamber actively seeks ways to improve their services to the community. The Montana Department of Commerce recently announced new grants given as part of the Eastern Montana Tourism Partner Initiative, a collaboration between eastern Montana communities and the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development at Commerce. Over $1 million dollars will be invested to support the eastern region’s tourism goals.

The Glasgow Area Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture secured a grant of $75,000 for an event stage and digital screen project. Koski submitted the grant request with the idea that the set-up would be available to any non-profit organizations in northeast Montana (with a damage deposit) with a priority on smaller communities with limited funds, giving them access to equipment that might be too costly to procure elsewhere.

“I’m really excited about it,” she told the Courier. “The Milk River Catfish stage set up was $9,000 alone and the nearest rental place is 300 miles away. Having a mobile stage available to us frees up money for other activities and more marketing of events.” Koski listed Alive at Five, Catfish Classic, the Street Dance, and the All-Class Reunion as potential beneficiaries of the stage. She has already secured numerous partners and in-kind donations for the venture.

There will be some costs borne by the Chamber for the mobile stage and digital screen such as storage and insurance, but the benefits are expected to offset those costs. Koski has plans to wrap the trailer to promote the Glasgow Chamber when the set-up is rented by communities outside of town. The Chamber may see a small profit on those rentals, but as the idea is to benefit all tourism efforts in northeastern Montana, the gain will be nominal.

Koski is following up on bids submitted to procure the stage and digital screen. “We hope to have this up and going this spring. We’re looking at the Catfish Classic which will be the first week in June.”