The Buffalo Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau serves our business members,
promotes our local assets, and shapes the future of our community.
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FORGE TRANSFORMATIVE FITNESS
THURSDAY, MARCH 23rd 8:00 a.m.
120 1st St S (old Hotova Fitness DT)
Join us for a real power hour at FORGE Transformative Fitness! No - we won't be working out, but being in that atmosphere might inspire us! Come for coffee, treats and some great networking and hear what new owners Steve/Mariel Novacek and Casey/Kevin Mattson have in store for their new business!
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PARISIAN CORNER
THURSDAY, MARCH 30th 4:30 p.m.
11 Division St E #400
Join us for the first Good Afternoon Buffalo of 2023 at the Parisian Corner - the new wine bar/eatery in downtown Buffalo. Where? The original rear entrance of A Wreath of Franklin/outside the door of Lillians/next to JTB Furniture & Decor.
It's a casual way of networking with others and enjoying a little drink and appetizers!
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW
STATE OF THE CITY BUSINESS LUNCHEON
Tuesday, April 18th
It's that time of year - the always anticipated State of the City luncheon. Want to sponsor the event for $100? Your name/logo can be on this flyer and table tents at the event. Just let us know by the 15th.
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ARE YOU A CREATIVE TYPE PERSON?
Share your talents by creating the 2023 Buffalo Days Button. Think of what Buffalo Days means to you! Here are a few of the past buttons to give you ideas! Let us know if you or someone you know are interested and we can give you more details.
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J&J ATHLETICS
1002 1st St NE
763-684-4877
The Ambassador team made some great visits last week starting with J&J Athletics! Was fun to tour owner Jason Sorenson's new location (which you all will get to see at his Good Morning Buffalo in August) and understand how our graphic apparel is actually made!
Jason, as a FT teacher, started making mostly team apparel out of his garage in 2003 in Maple Lake. He and his family moved to Buffalo and he worked out of his basement. Then in 2006 he quit teaching and went into FT production, moved into a couple different spaces, opened a retail store and now has landed in his current location with triple the warehouse space which offers him the opportunity to do more direct orders. The items on his online store are now housed here locally so he can ship things out immediately vs waiting for a bulk order. Check out his website listed above to see all the online stores!
He and his 8 staff offer screen printing, heat press and embroidery services. He does so much more than team apparel too, though the sports connection got him the foot in the door with the schools. He currently does about 60% corporate work and 40% work for schools in the area. They have 11 embroidery machines - and at the time were stitching 600 aprons for a company. Check out all that thread in the photo below!
Below back row are Ambassadors Andrew Agrimson/Insurance Center of Buffalo, Hayley Theis/Old National Bank, Jennifer Carlson/American Family Chris Chapman, staff Shawna, Ambassador Krystal Fair/ServPro, Jason, staff Andy and me. Front row is staff Laura, Ambassador Tina Anderson/Anchor Realty, staff Erica and Taylor.
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These shirts use the heat press process, being able to do more individual items and get them shipped from the warehouse. |
A few staff were missing the day we visited, so on this photo see Darren on the far left and Park on the far right in the back row with Missy in the front row wearing the cardigan sweater - all a great team! |
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See screen printing in action! This takes place on the interesting piece of equipment above and is used for bulk orders. |
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SHELTER CONSTRUCTION
7040 Lakeland Ave N #102
Brooklyn Park, MN
817-965-4506
Matt Beasley, the Field Sales Manager for this territory, for Shelter Construction just moved to Buffalo from Texas in December! He had to face realty quick as it snowed heavily before he had even purchased a shovel!
Matt joined Shelter Construction because they are family owned and pride themselves on their ethics, honesty, team approach and best practices and processes with all their residential and commercial construction projects. They also have storm damage and insurance claim restoration expertise - believing your home is the shelter from the storm. Matt is working to grow their presence here in the communities west of their Brooklyn Park home base. Speaking of home base - he was an avid baseball player through his high school and college career.
We welcome Shelter Construction and Matt to our Chamber! We love when out of town businesses join our membership - allowing their staff to get to know other business leaders here and support the community where their staff reside.
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Bill to expand paid leave benefits comes with a big cost, says Minnesota Chamber CEO Doug Loon who described the legislation as “too big, too costly and too big of a tax.”
New legislation that would provide 12 weeks of paid parental and family leave plus an additional 12 weeks of paid medical leave could spell trouble for both employers and employees. That’s according to Doug Loon, president and CEO of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce .
As introduced, the legislation ( HF2 and SF2 ) would create a state-administered paid leave insurance program financed through a new tax on employers. This is different – and in addition to – a separate bill that mandates employers to provide up to 80 hours of paid sick leave for routine or minor illnesses.
“This bill is on the fast track but we need to understand it. It’s just not workable,” he said. Loon said only 11 states have enacted similar versions of paid leave mandates and some, such as Washington, have had to raise taxes to pay for the program. The state, Loon said, would need to hire more than 300 full-time employees to run the new paid leave insurance company.
If the legislation is full enacted, Minnesota would have the most expansive and expensive mandates in terms of eligibility, qualifying events, benefits and employer obligation, according to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. “We need to step back and consider alternate proposals, with simple approaches that are workable — less egregious,” Loon said.
Employers are already dealing with supply chain shortages and disruptions, lower productivity and a worker shortage, Loon said. “They can’t meet the demand and they can’t run their plant.” Under the program, an employee could miss 24 weeks of work – 44% of workdays in a year, Loon said.
The cost to find temporary workers to replace those on leave would double, or in some cases, triple the taxes employers pay, according to Loon.
The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, which has about 60 chamber of commerce members throughout the state, said the Legislature must act to:
- Ensure changes proposed through Minnesota state agencies consider impacts on employers.
- Oppose one-size-fits-all mandates on employee benefits that would constrain employers’ ability to conduct business.
- Preserve private-sector flexibility on wage, benefit and scheduling decisions.
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MEMBER/COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS |
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ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE THE PLUNGE THIS SATURDAY?
So far Buffalo has 286 plungers that have raised $49,000.
They are more than half way to their goal of $80,000 - can you help them reach it?
Be sure to stop by and cheer them on this Saturday at the Buffalo Lake public access in Sturges Park.
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THIS FRIDAY OR SATURDAY SEE THE ST FRANCIS SCHOOL PLAY
ALWAYS A GOOD SHOW!
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I heard Minnesotans are really excited - rumor has it that summer is going to fall on a weekend this year! |
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KEEPING YOU IN THE KNOW
Quick-link to the recent City of Buffalo public meetings:
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Buffalo Area Chamber of Commerce
763-682-4902
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