YOUR MARATHON CHAMBER; ALWAYS WORKING FOR YOU
What an amazing Awards & Installation Banquet we recently held at Hawks Cay Resort. We all had a marvelous time installing newly elected Board members, as well as giving out awards to deserving businesses. I look forward to an exciting year with Ben Daniels at the helm as Chairman of the Board of Directors. We also have some great new Board members that I am excited to work with this year; Stacie Kidwell, Bill Kelly, Justin Bruland, Julie Johnson, Steve Levine, and John Bartus. I surely am fortunate to have a plethora of knowledge, experience and tools at my disposal to do the best job I can in serving your business.
Looking ahead to ending out 2013 and moving into 2014, your Marathon Chamber wants to ensure we continue working for you, our business members. We are gearing up for another Marathon Seafood Festival on March 8-9, 2014; although it’s still a ways away, it’s amazing how much planning and coordination goes into planning Marathon’s biggest and best annual event. Your Chamber, with your and the community’s support was able to secure the appropriate funding from our local district Board of the TDC to promote and market our premier event. Annually, the Marathon Seafood Festival brings in over 20,000 guests, 77% of which are from out of town (county). Between the room nights, visitor spending, and circulation of monies locally, the Seafood Festival’s economic impact is over $7 million.
We want to be sure to continue to meet your expectations and needs; so please always call, email, or stop in to see me or my staff anytime. The more information we have on how to meet your needs, the better job we can do to connect your business to those needs and/or services. On that note you will soon receive a survey to assess your needs for an exciting new program we are hoping to roll out along with our program partner, Florida Keys Community College (FKCC). This program focuses on matching your business with college students who will be able to learn and acquire valuable training and experiences; while your business also receives a helping hand within a needed area (i.e.: social media marketing, customer service, etc.). We feel this program will meet both your needs as well as our young professionals enrolled in our local college at FKCC; and once again reinforces part of our mission, which is to support and educate our business-members, as well as develop our local workforce.
Please also be sure to stop by our Marathon Visitor Center where we have added new touch screen monitors to better promote our advertising members, as well as our new mural that local artist O’Farrill recently completed.
The Marathon Chamber Board of Directors, staff, and I are all committed to working for and with you and your staff. Please be sure to get involved in our beneficial programs; ask questions, and let your Marathon Chamber work for you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday later this month; be safe in your travels, and be sure to wait at least 3-4 hours to drive after eating all that turkey and stuffing!
Most Respectfully,
Daniel Samess, CEO
Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce
(305) 743-5417
ceo@floridakeysmarathon.com
www.FloridaKeysMarathon.com
www.RelocateToTheFloridaKeys.com