06/21/13 The 89th annual Plymouth Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting was held Thursday evening at Christo’s Banquet Center.
Guest speaker for the evening was Bethal College Basketball Coach Mike Lightfoot. The coach has led him teams to 7 national titles. He has won 600 basketball games quicker than any coach in collegiate history. Coach Lightfoot has been named National Coach of the Year 7 times and is a member of the NAIA, NCCAA, Bethal College and Marian High School’s Hall of Fame. He’s also been featured nationally on Fox TV and featured in Sports Spectrum magazine.
A motivational speaker, Coach Lightfoot used the word persevere to begin his speech asked, “How do we overcome adversity in our life? We persevere.” The Coach discussed adversities we each face on a regular basis included intimidation and frustration with examples of each. He said we should motivate ourselves and each other to persevere. Coach Lightfoot said, “The people being honored today are motivated to help their community.”
Chamber of Commerce President, Ryan Jessen gave the State of the Chamber address and noted that in 2008 there were 45 people at the annual meeting and last night they had 160 reservations. He said, “I’m proud of the new members that have joined the chamber.” Typically new membership has been 6 to 10 a year but in 2011 the Chamber gained 34 new members and in 2012 they had 40 news members. Jessen talked about the new activities including the weekly email blasts to 715 names, gift certificates totaling $75,000 that came back to the community with $40,000 of it being in 2012 and so far this year $35,000. Other programs include the Young Adult Professionals, Second Fridays, joining the Chamber Collation and the Business Networking Breakfasts.
Betty Glaub Gibbs there presented awards including Ambassador of the Year to Vickie Tallcott, the Walter Glaub Business of the Year Award to Johnson Danielson Funeral Home and Person of the Year to Randy Danielson. WTCA will highlight each of the award winners over the next couple of days.
