Chamber discusses 'Spring in a Bag'

At the December 9 Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce meeting, CEO Meri Ann Rush had the board go through a SWOT analysis. A SWOT is an examination of an entity’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. There was much back-and-forth discussion.  

There was also a discussion about the chamber’s online presence.

Under old business, Rush reported about the Chamber’s Lunch and Learn on November 17, where they discussed estate planning. There were close to 20 guests. Rush said the next Lunch and Learn will be January 19 held by Greg Willson where he will discuss Medicare and Medicaid. Hot Springs Prevention will host the Lunch and Learn in February. 

Rush also discussed their Merry Christmas Market receipt program and contest. The Chamber teamed up with Main Street Thermopolis for the event. They started to collect receipts on Black Friday. So far, they have collected 700 receipts that total about $20,000. The recent winners were Shelly Deromedi and Kara and Bob Heine. When it came to the amount of local spending, Rush said “I was surprised.”

Additionally, Rush discussed the window decorating contest which began December 10.

Rush moved on to discuss the Marketing Al-A Cart, which focuses on advertising. There are several areas they plan to advertise chamber members and other businesses. Part of the discussion was to emphasize using local resources and staying within the community for services. Rush and the chamber do not want to spend money to go outside the county when someone locally can be of service.  

After a thorough discussion of prices and how to go about the advertising, the board voted and passed with the approval of the marketing plan. 

Under new business, Rush and the board discussed the coming January 13, 2022, work session where they will discuss their new strategic plan. Rush will compile the results of the SWOT analysis along with their other goals and together they will decide their plan. 

Next, Rush introduced to the board “Spring in a Bag”. This is a product that contains several packets of minerals that are of the same chemical combination and makeup of the hot springs in the State Park. The pools, the bathhouse and lodging vendors will all be selling it. The minerals are for sale at any entity within Hot Springs State Park (HSSP). The chamber’s office happens to be located in the HSSP and Rush was confronted by a subject who said if the chamber sells this product, it would be competing with other local businesses. After some discussions and much back and forth, the consensus of the board was the chamber would not be competing with other local businesses. The board motioned and passed approval to sell Spring in a Bag at the chamber office. 

Howie Samelson reported on behalf of Main Street Thermopolis and said they recently finished decorating the downtown and that the receipt programs were successful.

During the director’s report, Rush talked about the National Civic Bee Pilot Program, which will target middle schools to gain their interest in learning about civics. The local chamber will be the only chamber of commerce to participate in it in the entire state. Some of the financial support of the program will come from the Daniels Fund. There will be a state competition on Saturday, March 12, at 1 p.m. The goal is to have 100 middle school students get involved where they will submit an essay and those selected will come to the competition.

The Chamber Office will be closed from December 24 through January 2. Rush will also be out of town to attend the 2022 Winter Institute from January 4-9, held in Tucson, Arizona.

The next chamber meeting will be on January 13, 2022, at Big Horn Federal.