Speaker 1: And good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome.
Speaker 1: It is time now for our community connection right here
Speaker 1: on K one, the one you trust, and it is
Speaker 1: time now to say hi to miss Judy.
Speaker 2: And how are we doing today, young lady?
Speaker 3: We're doing good.
Speaker 4: How about you, Tom super E Dupe.
Speaker 1: We've got the chamber busy as all get out. I said, so,
Speaker 1: what's on the agenda? And you know what, she just
Speaker 1: stopped telling me just before the microphone came on. And
Speaker 1: this is ten minutes ago.
Speaker 2: Now I'm kidding, it's probably true. We have a lot
Speaker 2: going on.
Speaker 1: In fact, tomorrow we start off with the whirlwind here.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Business after Hours is tomorrow afternoon at four o'clock
Speaker 3: at the Bartlesville Lions Club and that's at twenty nine
Speaker 3: hundred Tuxedo Boulevard. That will be it's just always a
Speaker 3: great time to come out network with other business leaders
Speaker 3: and other business people in the community. And there'll be
Speaker 3: food and beverages and door prizes and just a great
Speaker 3: time to network.
Speaker 2: Very good now, Judy.
Speaker 1: This is one of the ones that a lot of
Speaker 1: people like because it's kind of casual. It's very casual,
Speaker 1: and it's a great way to network, connect or even
Speaker 1: just just meet a few.
Speaker 3: Folks and just right and just like I said, there's
Speaker 3: going to be food and beverages and door prizes, but
Speaker 3: it is a great opportunity to just like I said,
Speaker 3: network and it is very very relaxed and very very
Speaker 3: it's just fun. It's just a fun time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just kind of keeping that for last Yeah,
Speaker 2: it is pretty fun.
Speaker 4: It is fun.
Speaker 3: It's just fun. And then on May fifteenth, coming up
Speaker 3: very very quickly, is our annual awards and gala time
Speaker 3: at celebrating we are celebrating one hundred and twenty one
Speaker 3: years of Chamber Wow of the Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce.
Speaker 3: Isn't that awesome? One hundred and twenty one years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And we're doing that downtown at.
Speaker 3: The downtown at the Hilton Garden. Enn reception will begin
Speaker 3: at six point thirty and we will do We'll do
Speaker 3: awards for Business of the Year and individual Small Business
Speaker 3: of the Year.
Speaker 4: We will have.
Speaker 3: Individual honor, will honor individuals and so's. That's a wonderful
Speaker 3: time just to celebrate the chamber and the businesses, our
Speaker 3: business community in Bartlesville and the businesses that are here.
Speaker 3: But we will also celebrate we're going to graduate Leadership
Speaker 3: Bartlesville and that is a very big deal and so
Speaker 3: that'll be a wonderful time. Leadership Bartlesville is these people
Speaker 3: spend a year of learning about our school system, our
Speaker 3: medical facility here, the police any They just deep dive
Speaker 3: into Bartlesville, our city government, so many different things, and
Speaker 3: it's they learn more about our community. Then even if
Speaker 3: they've lived here their whole lives, they'll say, I never
Speaker 3: knew that was even here. And so it's just a
Speaker 3: great opportunity. So that's Leadership Bartlesville graduating class. So that
Speaker 3: means we are going to take applications now for the
Speaker 3: new Leadership Bartlesville class and those applications open June the
Speaker 3: first and we'll close June thirtieth. So you need to
Speaker 3: go online at Bartlesville dot com www. Bartlesville dot com
Speaker 3: and get that information so you can be a part
Speaker 3: of the Leadership Bartlesville Class of twenty five twenty six.
Speaker 2: Well, I tell you one of the alumni.
Speaker 3: They're proud, yes, and they're smart, and they're and we've
Speaker 3: got such a wonderful crowd this year. And they're they're young,
Speaker 3: and they're sharp and they are ready to just just
Speaker 3: take that next step into Bartlesville, and I don't know,
Speaker 3: I'm out of them.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's one of those things that each
Speaker 1: and every year we see those bright faces come up,
Speaker 1: a new crop, a new crowd, yeap, and it's like wow.
Speaker 3: Yep, yep, and they're energetic and they know how to
Speaker 3: move forward.
Speaker 4: And so I'm excited about that.
Speaker 2: Everybody should.
Speaker 3: And so remember June first is opening application time and
Speaker 3: June thirtieth is when it closes, So be sure and
Speaker 3: get in there. And then also coming up in May
Speaker 3: May twenty ninth, there's our Classic Golf tournament that will
Speaker 3: be at Hillcrest and it's one hundred and fifty dollars
Speaker 3: per player, six hundred dollars for a team, and we
Speaker 3: still have some openings for teams to come in and
Speaker 3: so so be sure and give us a call about that,
Speaker 3: or you can sign up online. And so that is
Speaker 3: a great opportunity there too. We love to play, We
Speaker 3: love to have our players come out and play golf.
Speaker 3: And like I said, that's at Hillcrest. I think lunch
Speaker 3: and is going to be and check in and lunch
Speaker 3: is at eleven from eleven to twelve thirty and then
Speaker 3: I think they start play at twelve thirty, gotcha, Yeah, yepp.
Speaker 4: It'll be fun.
Speaker 3: And so I just want to encourage any businesses out
Speaker 3: there right now that aren't a part of the chamber.
Speaker 4: We would love to have you be a part of
Speaker 4: the Chamber.
Speaker 3: I would love to visit with you about Chamber membership,
Speaker 3: some of the benefits of chamber membership, or some of
Speaker 3: the things we've talked about just now.
Speaker 4: Business after Hours is.
Speaker 3: One of those wonderful things we like to do, ribbon cuttings.
Speaker 3: In fact, we've got two coming up tomorrow. Wow, And
Speaker 3: so it's it's going to be a good time. We've
Speaker 3: had seven new members this month and I look to
Speaker 3: have seven more next month. And so if you have
Speaker 3: any questions about becoming a part of the Chamber, please
Speaker 3: give us a call. We would love to have you
Speaker 3: come in and visit with us about that.
Speaker 1: You're a great resource for the business community you Like
Speaker 1: you said, we put on different events for chamber members,
Speaker 1: but there's also a lot of other components that come
Speaker 1: in as far as how the city's moving, what facts
Speaker 1: and figures about the city and the whole area that
Speaker 1: if you're a business person, you'd be flying blind if
Speaker 1: you weren't a member.
Speaker 2: Of the Chamber.
Speaker 3: Right we do events like Eggs and Issues where we
Speaker 3: have our city people like Mike Bailey, Chuck McCauley from
Speaker 3: schools and different different leaders in our city government come
Speaker 3: and talk to us about what is new going on
Speaker 3: in Bartlesville or what's coming up. The Bartlesville Development Authority
Speaker 3: will share insights about what is coming up and what's
Speaker 3: going to be new in our area. And so then
Speaker 3: we have hot topics which is going on right now
Speaker 3: at the Chamber that can tell us about what's hot
Speaker 3: in Bartlesville right now, what's going on in our community.
Speaker 3: But just like you said, there's things that the Chambers
Speaker 3: involved in that people really don't see that Sherry especially
Speaker 3: is so involved with with maybe helping lower taxes, you know,
Speaker 3: with the grocery tax issue, the things that are done
Speaker 3: at the state level that she's a part of, and
Speaker 3: things like that that are just affect business. If it
Speaker 3: affects the business in Bartlesville, we want to be a
Speaker 3: part of.
Speaker 2: That one thing.
Speaker 1: And I hate to bring up the COVID era, and
Speaker 1: I don't think anybody really wants to revisit it. But
Speaker 1: I will tell you that the Bartlesville Chamber of Commerce
Speaker 1: was a shining beacon in that because businesses really didn't
Speaker 1: know what to do, how to do it, how to
Speaker 1: get through it. And thanks not only to our chamber
Speaker 1: but also to our state officials who were actually listening
Speaker 1: to us, things reopened a lot sooner than they did
Speaker 1: anywhere else in the United States. And we were able
Speaker 1: to help people adapt by sharing knowledge and just a
Speaker 1: great conduit is what the Chamber acted as. And there
Speaker 1: there was just one of those things. So imagine if
Speaker 1: you don't have a pandemic, what kind of resources they
Speaker 1: have there for you. If you're a new business in town,
Speaker 1: or an existing business who hasn't been with the Chamber
Speaker 1: ever or it's been a while, give it a spend,
Speaker 1: give it a try, give them a call, get in
Speaker 1: and get on board, and you know you'll be able
Speaker 1: to really see the landscape a lot clearer.
Speaker 2: That's awesome business climate.
Speaker 4: That's a great way to put it.
Speaker 3: And then we do things like well, during the pandemic,
Speaker 3: one of the things we did was make a list
Speaker 3: of people that were open or maybe that they were
Speaker 3: even if they were not chambermen. We did that and
Speaker 3: would try to publish that, you know, through our website
Speaker 3: and other things, so that people could see what was
Speaker 3: opened but when they were open, so because it was
Speaker 3: such a hard time it was. But we also right
Speaker 3: now we have a little program called Member to Member
Speaker 3: where our members can offer discounts or Q ponds or
Speaker 3: something special to other members. And that's a that's a
Speaker 3: neat little program that we have.
Speaker 4: And then we.
Speaker 3: Also have Chamber Bucks where you can come in and
Speaker 3: buy Chamber Bucks for a gift or you know, a
Speaker 3: bonus for one of your employees or something like that,
Speaker 3: and then we give you a list of the businesses
Speaker 3: that will accept Chamber Bucks and it drives business to
Speaker 3: uh customers into your business to use those there.
Speaker 2: It's really amazing.
Speaker 1: Like I said, you're a great resource for the business
Speaker 1: community and for the community as a whole. One of
Speaker 1: the fun things that you do with the Chamber, and
Speaker 1: I know it takes about half a year to do
Speaker 1: it is Christmas in the film. What a driver that
Speaker 1: is for the downtown businesses, but not only for downtown
Speaker 1: but for all parts of town. Is people are coming
Speaker 1: into Bartletowe because we're such a draw from east, west,
Speaker 1: north and south. It's a great thing to be a
Speaker 1: part of. Just that it is.
Speaker 3: It's a wonderful It is just it's that wonderful time
Speaker 3: of year and the music and the kids laughing and
Speaker 3: the skating, and it is an enormous amount of work.
Speaker 3: And we are so grateful to all of our businesses
Speaker 3: that help sponsor that and help volunteer there, and so
Speaker 3: thank you to the business community that does that.
Speaker 4: And it is just so.
Speaker 3: Important for individual businesses to know that without each one
Speaker 3: of them, how would we come together collectively? Each one
Speaker 3: is so valuable and so important, and so together we
Speaker 3: can do things that individually we simply cannot do. So
Speaker 3: Christmas in the bill is yeah, it's it's at the Chamber.
Speaker 3: But it takes all of our sponsors and all of
Speaker 3: our volunteers to make that happen.
Speaker 1: One of the cool things you were at one of
Speaker 1: the trailers. You were helping poor coffee. I was talking
Speaker 1: to you. I don't think your hands stopped moving the
Speaker 1: whole night. It was kind of chilly, But right outside
Speaker 1: of your little trailer was an old timy like a
Speaker 1: way bearing sign that had different businesses and pointed him
Speaker 1: into the directions and there was actually a couple of
Speaker 1: businesses that, you know, I've been here for a while,
Speaker 1: Oh that must be new. Yeah, and by golly, it was.
Speaker 1: And there was a couple of them like that.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And so imagine, you know, you're a business in the
Speaker 1: downtown area or just in town whatsoever, and you've got
Speaker 1: folks coming in from I don't know, Coffee Bill maybe,
Speaker 1: uh Oceanida, Tulsa, Pahusca.
Speaker 3: We had some Parsons, Yeah, we had some from Parsons
Speaker 3: and Chanut oh yeah, and Coffeeville. But yeah, and then
Speaker 3: they see that sign and it points them to crossing
Speaker 3: second or or painted whorse or you.
Speaker 4: Know whatever the sign was out there that Yeah.
Speaker 1: There was like ten or fifteen bass on it. But
Speaker 1: imagine being a business and just benefits from that, you know,
Speaker 1: and you could be one of those businesses.
Speaker 3: We brought around twenty three thousand people into downtown.
Speaker 2: Bartlesville last year, that's.
Speaker 3: And then how many of those stayed at a hotel
Speaker 3: or went out, you know, down seventy five to eat
Speaker 3: or something like that downtown and we're downtown. I mean
Speaker 3: it just like you said, it was all over Bartlesville
Speaker 3: because we are the Bartlesville Regional Chamber of Commerce and
Speaker 3: and and that's just such a you know, it's just
Speaker 3: kind of a neat thing that people know they can
Speaker 3: be a part of the Chamber, even if they don't,
Speaker 3: even if they're not right downtown, but think.
Speaker 4: But we are just so grateful for our for our.
Speaker 3: Members and what they bring to the community.
Speaker 2: You have a dazzling website Bartlesville dot com. I'm not easy.
Speaker 2: I mean, you guys, you.
Speaker 3: It is and it's we've had it now for about
Speaker 3: eighteen months. I think that website. It's a new website,
Speaker 3: and it is.
Speaker 4: Beautiful and it's easy to work.
Speaker 3: It is if I can work at anybody can work
Speaker 3: it because I'm not exactly tech savvy, and so I mean,
Speaker 3: it's a good thing that I can do my email.
Speaker 3: But you could join online. People can pay their chamber
Speaker 3: dues online, they can sign up for an event online.
Speaker 3: But they can also just go in and learn more
Speaker 3: about Bartlesville and more about the Chamber at www dot
Speaker 3: Bartlesville dot com.
Speaker 1: Your calendar is wonderful, by the way, I know two
Speaker 1: different calendars.
Speaker 2: You have the chamber calendar, then you have the calendar.
Speaker 4: Of the whole community calendar.
Speaker 3: And Dawn is our receptionist at the chamber, and she
Speaker 3: does an amazing job of keeping up with that thing
Speaker 3: because it, yeah, it moves and changes and adds very
Speaker 3: quickly every day, so she knows how to work that
Speaker 3: thing a whole lot better than a whole lot better
Speaker 3: than me. But anyway, I am just I just want
Speaker 3: to encourage people to come out tomorrow at four o'clock
Speaker 3: to business after hours at Bartlesville Lyons Club and that
Speaker 3: and again that's at twenty nine hundred Tuxedo Boulevard.
Speaker 2: Very good, Thank you very much for being with us today.
Speaker 3: Thank you for having me and for helping me. You
Speaker 3: always do such a good job.