Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce

Business Monthly June 2015

Thank you

New Members

Essence of Yoga

Albert Lea Monument

Thank you

Renewing Members

Carpenter Company, Inc.

The Arc of Freeborn County

Gold Cross Ambulance

Copper Kitchen

Jensen Excavating &

Trucking, LLC

Liquor Depot

Tic Toc Digital Printing Plus

Rotary Club of Albert Lea

Albert Lea Art Center

Minnesota Energy Resources

St. Theodore Catholic Church

Fisher’s Jewelers

Education Foundation of

Albert Lea

George’s of Geneva

Pizza Ranch

Get out of the office and onto the green! The 52nd Annual Scholarship

Golf Outing will be Monday, July 20, 2015. In keeping with our tradition of al-

ternating between our local courses, Green Lea will be the host course. A 12:30

shotgun start will send you out on the course for an afternoon of networking and

a round of golf!

There will be contests, food, drinks, games, and tons of fun along with

many prizes to be given out! The grand prize will be announced at a later date.

Teams of four can reserve a spot for $375.00 which includes 18 holes of golf,

dinner, and a golf cart. Individual golfers can register for $100.00 and the

Chamber Staff will endeavor to create a team with other individual

registrants. Also available is the opportunity to purchase a helper “bundle”. The

bundle includes 2 mulligan's and a 2ft section of string to avoid those annoying

1 ft. putts with a foot of break! Also included in the “bundle” will be 5 raffle

tickets. The cost for the “bundle” is $20.00 per person. Register for these at the

time of registering for the Outing and save time when you check in that day.

Dinner only tickets are available for $15.00 if you would just like to come and

enjoy the dinner.

Again this year, you get to pick the prize or prizes on which to use your

raffle tickets. Prizes will be displayed in the Club house after play is launched.

Each prize will have a container so you can place your tickets.

This fun, eventful day is hosted by the

Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of

Commerce Ambassadors. Proceeds fund 6

$1,000 scholarships for area students.

Registration for this event can be

found at the Chamber Office, as well as on

the Chamber of Commerce Website:

www.albertlea.org. Space is limited, so

register early! If you have any questions,

contact the Chamber office at 373-3938.

AMBASSADORS HOST 52NAMBASSADORS HOST 52NAMBASSADORS HOST 52NDDD

ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP GOLF ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP GOLF ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP GOLF

OUTING ON OUTING ON OUTING ON

JULY 20, 2015 AT 12:30PMJULY 20, 2015 AT 12:30PMJULY 20, 2015 AT 12:30PM

The Albert Lea – Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce and Riverland Commu-nity College are once again partnering to present Leadership – a community based leadership program. The vision of the program is that as a result, Freeborn County will have a wealth of willing leaders. Its mission is to nurture and develop the future leaders of our county.

The program, entering its 9th year, is patterned after successful programs that have preceded it in Austin and Owatonna. Dr. Ron Langrell, former Executive Vice

President of Riverland Community College along with former Chamber Board Chair Matt Benda, spearheaded the implementation of the program here in Albert Lea.

Leadership is a program designed to enable attendees to learn about Albert Lea and Freeborn Coun-ty resources, values, strengths, weaknesses and challenges. It is a learning experience geared to-ward providing an intense look at the business community, politics, education, quality of life, health care, law enforcement, media, diversity and other topics inherent in our community. Attendees will build networks, exchange ideas, and begin the process of identifying and solving important commu-nity issues.

Classes have ranged in size from fourteen to twenty three. This year’s class of participants repre-sents, as all classes have, a cross section of the community. Graduates of other classes are already more deeply involved in the community. They serve on various boards as well as City Commissions.

Leadership is aimed at individuals who have a desire to increase their community involvement in order to assume present and future leadership roles. Leadership builds civic awareness and helps develop relationships to better connect individuals to the community. The ten-month program be-gins with a social in August, followed by a series of all-day monthly sessions. The June session con-cludes with a graduation.

Leadership involves a major commitment on the part of both the attendees and their employer. Each attendee agrees to commit one day per month (currently the third Tuesday of the month) to the program. Additionally, they are asked to complete various assignments throughout the course of the year and to make a presentation at the Graduation Ceremony in June.

Applicants are reviewed by the steering committee and selected to participate in the year’s Leader-ship program. There is no age limit, and anyone may apply who is a resident of Albert Lea or Free-born County. Participants are selected on their individual merits. The class selection process seeks individuals from a cross-section of the community with different back-grounds to reflect Albert Lea and Freeborn County’s educational, political, social, and cultural diversity.

Many employers support the program through either full or partial reimbursement of the tuition fee. Tuition for the nine month program is $695. A detailed brochure is available in the Albert Lea/Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce office and is also available on our web-site. Deadline for application is June 12, 2015. For more information, contact the Chamber Office at 507-373-3938.

Leadership is presented by the Albert Lea/Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce and Riverland Community College with generous support from the local business community.

I strongly encourage you to consider enrolling or sending any employees who are new to the com-munity. It is a great way to get connected.

Randy Kehr

Executive Director

Dear Chamber Members,

Business Monthly

The following Business have received referrals from

the Chamber Office this month:

Freeborn Lumber Company &

Design

Holiday Inn Express & Suites

Best Western/ I-90

AmericInn of Albert Lea

Americas Best Value Inn

Big Island Grille & Bar

Wedgewood Cove

Green Mill

Comfort Inn

Alliance Benefit Group

Applebee's Neighborhood Grill

& Bar

Home Depot

Kwik Trip

Albert Lea Family Y

Fleet Farm Supply

Snap Fitness

Hy-Vee

MarketPlace Foods

Salvation Army

Mona’s Style Salon & Spa

Senior Resources

Anytime Fitness Albert Lea

Country Soule Boot &

Western Market

Trumble's Family

Restaurant

Godfather’s Pizza

Grandma’s Kitchen

Trail’s Travel Center

Kay Nails

Pantheon Computer

Systems

Ambassador Visits

Business Monthly

Chamber Board of Directors

Randy Cirksena Chair

State Farm at the Barn 373-7717

Jeff Woodside

Vice Chair Albert Lea Select Foods

379-9265

Catherine Buboltz 2nd Vice Chair

Albert Lea Tribune 379-3427

Amy Davis Cargill Value Added Meats

377-2526

George Gonzalez Dave Syverson Auto Mall

373-1438

Julia Thompson Freeborn County Shopper

373-1310

Justin Oman Security Bank

373-1481

Kathy Sabinish Dave's Phone Booth/Frames-R-Us

377-0848

Jeff Eaton Eaton Sport and Spine

377-1570

Patricia Dahl Mayo Clinic Health

System Albert Lea and Austin 373-2384

Dr. Adenuga Atewologun Riverland Community College

433-0607

Kim Nelson

The Children’s Center

373-7979

Angie Kolker

Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services

373-6421

Stephanie Haedt Past Chair

Peterson, Savelkoul, Kolker, Haedt & Benda, Ltd. 373-6491

Ranch & Pet Supply 10th Anniversary— Michelle Nelson

Advanced Family Dental New Facility Ribbon Cutting–

Rachel and Kevin Poppel

Small Street Journal

Business Monthly

Leadership 2014-15

May was Business and Economic Development Day for

this year’s Leadership participants. The day began with

day leader Ryan Nolander giving an overview of ALEDA

and the process involved with recruiting and growing

businesses. Participants then toured a diverse group of

businesses including Albert Lea Select Foods, shown

above are participants preparing to enter the production

floor at Select Foods. They also visited Lou Rich and

Agilis. Lunching at Crescendo gave them the opportunity

to hear Bob Tewes’ story. All of the businesses were gen-

erous in sharing their time and knowledge.

Five Albert Lea businesses named Best Places to Work

We are happy to share that 5 Albert Lea business, who

are also members of the Chamber, were recognized in

May among the Best Places to Work in Southeastern

Minnesota! The local businesses that were recognized

are Albert Lea Electric Co., Albert Lea Seed House,

Alliance Benefit Group, Freeborn Lumber Co., and In-

novance Inc. The Best Places to Work awards program

focuses on many different aspects of each business and

surveys were used to gather the information. Each

business stood out for different reasons but all should

be very proud of this recognition.

The Chamber and Constant Training Present: Joe Constance

The Chamber and Constant Training are collabo-

rating on two half-day workshops in one day on

June 10th. Come to one or come to both! The

trainings will be presented by Joe Constance and

will be held at the Freeborn County Historical Mu-

seum.

Dealing with Difficult People and Conflict

Time: 8:30 a.m.—Noon

Cost: $69/person members, $79/person non-

members, $59/person if attending both

Building Positive Attitudes in the Workplace

Time: 1:00 p.m.—4:30 p.m.

Cost: $69/person members, $79/person non-

members, $59/person if attending both

Don’t miss this great opportunity!

To register please contact the Chamber at 507-373

-3938 or alfccoc@albertlea.org.

The 2015 Fireworks Fundraiser on Friday, May 29th

was a huge success! The goal was to reach $16,000

but we exceeded that amount and reached a total of

$16, 551! Thank you to all the businesses, groups, and

individuals that donated to the fund. It is truly out-

standing to see a community raise this much money in

one day! Also, a big thank you to Albert Lea Radio for

all of their help and for broadcasting live at two loca-

tions this year. Thank you to Hy-Vee for donating wa-

ter and Green Mill for donating pizza to keep our vol-

unteers hydrated and happy. We can all look forward

to a great fireworks display once again this year.

2015 Fireworks Fundraiser a Success

Business After Hours

Business Monthly

Thank you Accentra Credit Union, Albert Lea

for sponsoring the May Business After Hours

Quote of the Month

“If you can’t fly, then run,

if you can’t run, then walk,

if you can’t walk, then crawl,

but whatever you do, you have to keep

moving forward.”

–Martin Luther King Jr.

2015 Business After Hours Schedule

January 2015 - Pantheon Computer Systems

February 2015 - Green Mill

March 2015– Albert Lea Chiropractic

April 2015 - Vern Eide

May 2015 - Accentra Credit Union

June 2015 - Blue Zones Project

July 2015 - St. John’s

August 2015 - American Legion Post #56

September 2015-

October 2015 - MarketPlace Foods

November 2015- Hy-Vee

December 2015 - Albert Lea Tribune

If you are interested in hosting a

Business After Hours Event please call the Chamber Office at: 507-373-

3938

Something BIG has happened! We’ve

gone mobile!

That’s right, we’ve brought our services

to the streets—with all of the advances

in technology now available, it makes

sense for us to make this transition. That

means instead of you coming to us….we

can come to you! That means we fit into

your busy schedule instead of you fitting

into our office hours.

As of May 11, 2015, all of us here at

Certified Travel have been working from

our home bases and meeting with you,

our clients, at a time and place that is

convenient for you (or continuing via e-

mail and phone). Same

name...people...e-mails...phone num-

bers, just better service more tailored

to you!

We look forward to continuing to work

with you for many years to come.

Sincerely,

Sue Stehr, Karen Hagen, Tami Hallum

A Reminder from Certified Travel...

Business Monthly

Chamber Offers Job Board The Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce has a webpage dedicated to job openings in our area. To view the job openings, go to www.albertlea.org. If you have positions that you would like posted, please send your available positions to chamberoffice@albertlea.org or call the Chamber for more information.

Chamber Continues to Connect with Membership The Albert Lea/Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce in an attempt to keep up with the times and in an effort to better com-municate with our membership, encourages you to like us on Facebook.

Interested in having an Ambassadors Visit at your Office? Has your business experienced a change – such as management changes, relocation or remodel? If your business has experienced any of these changes, please contact Geri at the Chamber Office – 507-373-3938 to schedule an Ambassador visit.

Special Chamber Member Offer

The Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber in partnership with Coggno.com, are now offering our member businesses the op-portunity to purchase, through our website, a carefully selected assortment of online training courses that are relevant to your needs. For a limited time, we are offering a coupon code for a 20% discount per class for a month. The code is: alfccoc1 and should be entered at checkout. Go to www.albertlea.org and click on Online Trainings to redeem your coupon and register today!

Video Tours Now Available! Check out the community video tours on our website www.albertlea.org.

These videos make great tools for businesses to use for employee recruitment!

Member Referral Know someone who isn’t a Chamber Member but who should be? Now there is a reason for you to actively recruit those non-members. Any member who actively recruits and refers a current non-member to our office and that non-member subsequently joins the chamber is eligible for a special prize drawing. Drawings will be held once per quarter from those new members. Prize will be $50 dollars of Chamber Bucks for both the new member AND the referring member. The Quarterly drawing will take place at Business after Hours.

Become a Fan!

Go to our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/alfcchamber and “like” us for news and special offers from the Cham-ber and it’s member businesses. You can also follow us on Twitter! @alfccoc or www.twitter.com/ALFCCOC

Business Monthly

The Chamber Green Committee: The Green Committee did not meet in May.

The Chamber Worksite Wellness Committee- met on May 15th. Patti Hareid gave an update on the George Family Founda-

tion that is interested in Integrated Medicine and mind/body issues. They are offering seed grants to help train a trainer for

mind/body issues and Patti is trying to judge interest. She also reported that the mental health subcommittee is partnering with

the United Way “Make it OK” program since they are working on the same things. They have an event planned for May 29th

from noon-1:00 p.m. at the Freeborn County Historical Museum. Ellen Kehr gave a report on the progress of the worksites in

the Blue Zones project. We have reached our 10 designated worksites needed. We have reached our goal for certification in

every sector. Upcoming Blue Zones activities and events were reviewed. The Guide to Healthy Meeting and Events is almost

completed.

Kellie Jordahl of ABG presented the idea of a cross-company competition which would be a 5k walk/run. Teams of 5 would

raise a minimum of $200 for each team. Proceeds would go directly toward helping fund healthy foods or activities for chil-

dren. It is hoped that this event would become annual and Kellie was presenting it to judge the interest. The committee showed

much interest and there followed a lengthy discussion of possibilities. The Diabetes Prevention Program has 5 Lifestyle

Coaches and no participants so far. Dennis asked the group to get him the names of their insurance contacts so that he can get

them in touch with the CDC. There are also scholarships available, so if anyone knows of an employee who could benefit,

please let Dennis or Dani know.

The Business/Education Committee- The committee met on Friday, May 1 at the Chamber offices. High School Career/

Tech updates: The 8th graders toured Riverland Community College in late April. 233 9th graders will have their business

tours May 13. A letter sent from Kathy Niebuhr and Supt. Mike Funk to area Chamber members and businesses has generated

some new business interest. Doug Olson, Lou-Rich, will be touring the school to see where there are gaps in supplies and

equipment in the Industrial department. Blandin Group and Community Partnership: Local group name is changing to “Lift

One Lift All” as the Blandin partnership timeline expires. The group is working on their mission statement, etc. A wrap-up

session will be held on May 6th 12:30-6 pm. Ongoing Campaign to Raise Community Awareness of Careers: WDI will offer

a “Careers Exploration Academy” for those entering Grades 6 and 7 through Comm. Education. Val continues to promote the

importance of career exploration in the radio spots she has on KATE. Riverland Community College updates: The group re-

viewed poster drafts for promoting the manufacturing field. Al Hauge, consultant for Riverland, is working on credit for expe-

rience/ manufacturing curriculums with the TSA outlines for the Youth Apprenticeship and other high school programs. High

School updates: Prom went well. Working on the transitions within the Administrative areas. ACTs were held for the 178

juniors. Community Education updates: End of year activities happening. Summer Community Ed book is out. Deadline for

Fall session booklet will be July. Youth Apprenticeship updates: Students are doing well. Several have been offered jobs once

their YA hours are finished. One student has left the program. Christina and Val will attend a meeting in May in Mankato.

Enterprise Minnesota interviewed Val and Roxanne after their focus group in March and a reporter took a photo at Lou-Rich

for an upcoming publication

(Anticipated to be the May 2015 magazine?) Follow www.enterpriseminnesota.org to spot it. The April 10, 2015 Weekly Re-

port (same website) has an article on the Albert Lea YA program. Val is following the previous graduates and will work on a

“Where are they Now?” type article to highlight the first two years of YA students. HR GROUP: The May 21st mtg: Speakers

will be Mariah Lynne and Abby Murray, from the Marketing Plant, with info on the new Outlet site and what resources they

can offer businesses. Workforce Development, Inc “Best Places to Work” program: We are blessed with FIVE honorees from

Freeborn County: Albert Lea Electric, Albert Lea Seed House and Freeborn Lumber (all first time entries), Alliance Benefit

Group and Innovance Inc. The next meeting will be Friday, June 5, 8:30 am at the Chamber offices.

The Chamber Governmental Affairs Committee met on May 14th. The County Commission will be holding a workshop on

the sales tax and will likely vote by September 1st. The tax, if approved would not go into effect until January 1st. The County

is waiting for the Legislative session to end to find out if there will be road funding.

Chad Adams reported on the meeting that he and Steve Jahnke had with representatives of MnDOT regarding the change to

three lanes on So. Broadway. The MnDOT representatives said that the change makes perfect sense. This change will come

with a one-time cost to the City of $40,000 for striping and signage. They will explore other partners for the bike lane striping.

The City is advocating the bike lane as more of a buffer lane between parking and the drive lane. There will be public discus-

sions scheduled and June 8th is the targeted date for the City Council to vote. Randy K. stated that he met with one of the

Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Information Committee Updates

business owners on South Broadway to help answer some of his questions about assessments and public meetings as

well as his concern about traffic backing up at Broadway and Main. The public meetings will be important. Chad also

reported that they look to be moving forward at the May 26th Council meeting on the market rate rental housing devel-

opment on Wedgewood Drive. There will be five complexes with a total of 30 rental units. There is a question about a

covenant with the Homeowners Association and whether the covenant applies to this development. Chad said that we

don’t know how the Legislature will vote on workforce housing but he is optimistic. There has been no action in the

Legislature regarding the MPCA peer review request brought about by the storm water and phosphorus requirements.

Chad went to the Watershed to see if the City could use some of the sales tax that the Watershed collects if need be. He

pointed out that Freeborn County has been very proactive about water quality. The HRA has received a Small Cities

Grant and will be using that money to rehab 40 single-family housing units this year. The County has reported that there

are going to be a lot of tax forfeited homes in the next 5-10 years. The City is sending out another Citizen’s Survey to

1200 randomly sampled households. The results will be in by August. The City is being more proactive about acquiring

buildings on the 300 block of South Broadway to rehab. They are working quietly and slowly. There was a discussion

about the North Parking Lot use on Farmer’s Market days. Businesses do not have parking at this time. There was a gen-

eral discussion of the Farmers Market and the splitting of their time between the mall and downtown. Because of the im-

provements that the City has made to the parking lot, they were disappointed that the Farmer’s Market chose to move to

the mall on Saturdays. A fee has been charged to them for the North Lot location because of the improvements and Chad

would like to revisit the fee with the City Council.

There was a general discussion about the Legislative Session. Most present agreed that it does not seem that anything

will come together. Rep. Bennett and Sen. Sparks know our issues; however the decisions are really in the hands of the

leadership now. Randy K. encouraged everyone to contact Sen. Sparks and Rep. Bennett to remind them what is im-

portant to Greater Minnesota. Transportation seems to be a wild card.

The Chamber Agriculture Committee: did not meet in May. The next meeting will be June 11th.

The Chamber Ambassador Committee: This month the Ambassadors will be visiting Intego Financial Group, LLC

and The Marketing Plant. The Ambassadors will meet June 17th for their Golf Outing meeting.

The Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber Board of Directors: met on May 28th. Chad Adams reported for the

City, John Kluever for the County, Jon Murray for the Ambassadors, Brett Behnke for the Shell Rock River Watershed

and Susie Petersen for the CVB.

Action Items: The Board approved purchasing a new phone system and headsets. The Board also approved writing a let-

ter of support for the Shell Rock River Watershed.

The move to Skyline Plaza was discussed. They are moving along on the build out and we are packing. The Constant

Training seminar was discussed and the Board was reminded that registration was available through our website. Bro-

chures for Leadership 2015-2016 are available. The Blue Zones Living Proof Summit was discussed as was the June

Board Retreat. The Retreat was postponed until July, after we are moved in to the new offices.

Full Board minutes will be available next month on our website.

Business Monthly

Wind Down Wednesdays are scheduled for June 17, July 15 and August 19 and will be held in Downtown Albert Lea. Scheduled to perform at noon will be Chloe Hanson & friends and Echo Messenger headlining band at 5pm in June. There will be a special performance by the Al-bert Lea High School Dance Team at 6pm in the main stage area. New food vendors, artisans and crafters are scheduled to attend.

Eddie Cochran Weekend, June 12 and 13 includes the annual cruise in at Green Mill/Country Inn & Suites on Friday evening – lots of give-a-ways and great food and music! Saturday downtown is the car show, cruise and UV Night Color Run. Richie Lee will be performing at Marion Ross Performing Arts Center. New this summer - Wee Wednesdays and Wednesdays on the Water and Bruno’s on June 10 at Fountain Lake Park 4-5:30pm with crafts, scavenger hunts and sensory activities, sto-ry time, songs and games. Canoes, kayaks and paddleboards will be available and plenty of Bruno’s corn dogs! JustPlay! Festival/Bike Rodeo will be held Saturday, June 27 at Frank Hall Park with lots of activities for the family along with the Bike Rodeo. Many of the activities include horse-shoes, pickle ball, Pelican Breeze II rides at 10:30 & 12:30, aquatics pool, yoga, zumba, ca-noes, kayaks & paddleboards, baseball, football, soccer and many more activities for the family. The Chamber Worksite Wellness Committee will sponsor a poker walk. There will also be food vendors and music! The 2015 Tour of Minnesota, formerly called the Klobuchar Ride, will be stopping overnight in Albert Lea on June 15. Over 120 bicyclists will be camping out at Frank Hall Park and spending their day off in Albert Lea. June events include Blue Zones Purpose Workshop, Take A Kid Fishing, Pelican Breeze II Cruises, Cloverleaf Flight Breakfast & Touch-A-Truck, Alden Morin Lake Days, Glenville Days and the annual Y Not Golf Tournament. For a detail list of events, fundraisers, support group/wellness meetings please log onto our website at www.albertleatourism.org to find all the latest in local tourism related information. Our calendar is updated daily. Stop in at our office at 102 W. Clark Street, email susie@albertleatourism.org or assistant@albertleatourism.org or call us at 507-373-2316.

Business Monthly

Albert Lea Convention and Visitors Bureau, Susie Peterson, Executive Director

Business Monthly

Less waste is smart business By Bill Blazar The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce has an excellent record of delivering legislative victories that translate into significant savings on the bottom lines of large and small businesses. Less visi-ble, but equally important, are our everyday efforts to offer private-sector solutions to public problems.

Our two sustainability programs – Waste Wise and Energy Smart – are premier examples. Grow Minnesota!, our economic development program aimed at keeping businesses growing here, is another. More on Grow Minnesota! in the future. Today, let’s focus on Waste Wise and Energy Smart. Our initiatives trace their steps to 1994 when the Minnesota Legislature was considering a tax on packaging. Busi-ness leaders, at the initiative of the Minnesota Chamber, decided to take the growing waste issue into their own hands. Waste Wise was created to protect the state’s natural resources and build business profits. Our expert staff identi-fies ways to lower overhead costs through reducing, recycling and reusing waste. It’s as easy as inviting us into your worksite, and we take it from there. Successes led to the creation of Energy Smart in 2008. Our staff finds opportunities to reduce energy costs and guides companies through the steps to receive financial incentives. Almost any worksite has plenty of low-hanging fruit such as replacing light bulbs – projects that can be accomplished with minimal effort and at minimal cost. We’ll also help you tackle more extensive and expensive projects like replacing heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems. Both programs continue to make their mark. Since 1994, Waste Wise staff has helped businesses throughout the state divert more than 30 million pounds of material from the waste stream. Since 2008, Energy Smart staff has facilitated projects resulting in a cumulative cost savings of nearly $2.8 million for companies. Our staff’s expertise enables us to assist in a variety of projects: Multitenant buildings are some of the most challenging places to establish recycling programs and alter waste

collection. Today, approximately 30 businesses at Overton Park and Heights Plaza, St. Paul, are recycling com-monly produced items such as cardboard, paper, plastic, glass and metal. The group is now recycling an esti-mated 28,900 pounds of material per year – reducing trash output by more than 50 percent.

Sappi Cloquet, one of the largest producers of specialized dissolving wood pulp in North America, began recy-cling all of its combustible-derived fuel waste as well as its pallets, electronics, and a few other miscellaneous items. Sappi is now able to efficiently recycle hundreds of tons of materials each year.

Summit Brewing Co., St. Paul, changed the lighting in the kettle area of its brewhouse from incandescent flood-lights to high efficient LEDs. The company anticipates an annual cost savings of $3,527 and annual energy sav-ings of 44,511 kilowatt hours.

Our sustainability staff provides a fresh set of eyes to explore ways to reduce your waste and energy costs. No matter how big or small your business, we have the expertise to evaluate your needs. Contact Jill Curran at jcur-ran@mnchamber.com or 651.292.4653 for your on-site evaluation. The Minnesota Chamber is dedicated to providing Minnesota businesses with the tools and resources they need to be competitive and thrive. Our sustainability programs operate by a simple credo: Less waste is smart business for a better environment. It’s a great opportunity for your company to become involved. Bill Blazar is interim president of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce – www.mnchamber.com.

Minnesota Chamber Information

Page 11

Business Monthly

Business Monthly

Chamber Staff

Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce

2580 Bridge Ave. Northbridge Mall Albert Lea, MN 56007

Phone: 507.373.3938 Fax: 507.373.0344 Email: alfccoc@albertlea.org

Mission Statement:

"Promote and develop a healthy and positive business climate and improve

the quality of life in the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Area."

Randy Kehr Executive Director director@albertlea.org Sue Axsmith Exec. Administrative Assistant alfccoc@albertlea.org Geri Jensen Sr. Administrative Assistant member@albertlea.org

Noelle Hagen Administrative Assistant chamberoffice@albertlea.org Check out our Member to Member Discounts Here: http://www.albertlea.org/Discounts.php