DATE: April 16th, 2024

START TIME: Meeting 8:00 AM

LOCATION: Town Hall, Council Chambers,

9312 W Smith St, Yorktown, IN 47396

Agenda: 7:45 am-8:00 am-Doors open/Coffee served 

8:00 am Call to order / Pledge of Allegiance

Introduction: Members and the question of the month- Brianne Kelly (membership chair) What is your favorite candy?

Attendance: We had 37 people attend the April meeting

Hot Spot: Breakfast Sponsor (3 minutes)
           Apex Benefits: Mark Goodpaster-Mark is in his 10th year as a Senior Advisor with Apex Benefits. He collaborates with his customers through strategic one-on-one consultation to design short- and long-term objectives to facilitate strategic plans for their organization’s employee health and wellness benefits programs. He offers health care plans and employee benefits to businesses with 50+ employees. He enjoys helping people with personal decisions and it is a very gratifying business. Health Insurance is the 2nd highest budget line item for businesses. He works with the Apex team to save his clients’ money and provide the best plans he can. Insurance is one of the things that no one wants to pay for until they need it! Kat Blankenbaker gave Mark a personal testimonial. He was able to help her connect with someone in his network who could help her get insurance.

Presentation of last month’s Minutes: Erin Ailstock-no changes

Treasurer Report: Tony Coston (Tony wasn’t present)-Kat Blankenbaker let the members and guests know that they are working on an annual budget.

School Report: Dr. Greg Hinshaw-The 3rd and 8th graders are in the middle of Ilearn right now. The Indiana Department of Education is working on redesigning the test. Construction will begin in June and is projected to be a 14-month project. They started installing a new chiller system on April 15th. The new list of legislation will be sent out to schools after the general assembly ends. They will start working through that list.      

Program: Chase Bruton presents “State of our Town” (includes Q&A)-Chase has been the Yorktown Town Manager for a year and a half now. He thanked everyone for welcoming him and making him feel supported. Chase is looking towards the future not the past. Yorktown is prime for continual growth due to having great schools, a great quality of life, and low crime. They have met with a developer to talk about what is next for downtown, and 4 blocks behind the town building. They want to be aggressive with infrastructure. They received a $1.16 million Next Level Trail grant. They want to connect the trail on River Rd. to the school, and eventually connect to the Cardinal Greenway. The Delaware Muncie Metro Planning did an overview of the roads. Yorktown had the best report on roads. The INDOT Community Crossing Grants awarded $349,000 to Yorktown for construction projects. The projects include Broadway to 32 to the town limits and 600 to Jackson to 32. Chase is committed to doing the hard work to get the grants. Yorktown was a place Chase wanted to be because he recognized the growth and potential it had. He is thankful for the opportunity!

Question: Has the property at 332 & 500 been sold?

Answer: Chase stated that there are no plans for development. He stated that they did a study to make it a turn lane.

Lunch and Learns: Brendon Comp- You can sign up on the website. This is free for members to attend and for non-members, the cost is $10. Wednesday, June 12th,2024 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. with Tisha Gierhart at Pizza King, Yorktown. “Unlock the Mystery of Generational Differences”

Shafer Leadership News: Ted Ward (not present)-Kat stated that if you are a chamber member, you are allowed to attend the Shafer Leadership programs and leadership courses at a discount.

Ambassador news:  Katadyn Connerley-Upcoming events:

Quarterly Luncheon: April 25th-Mr. Mouse, 11:30 am-1:00 pm

After Hours: May 9th-The Carriage House, 4:30 pm-6:30 pm

Community Picnic: July 18th- Civic Green, 1:00 pm-3:00 pm, they are offering booth space to businesses. There will be a DJ, and activity for kids, and is open to the community.

Civic Green Report: Kat B- The first Concert on the Green is May 31st. All concerts are free to attend. The budget to have the concerts for this year is $40,000. We still have these levels of sponsorships available: $1500, $500, and $150.

Member Announcements:
Katadyn Connerley-Cub Scouts 303 is doing a bike rodeo on May 4th from 2-4pm. This is open to the community to attend.

Maura Hoff-Fiddler on the Roof is on stage at the Muncie Civic Theatre, come see it. Summer camps are open for kids!

Marta Guinn-September 28th is the Alzheimer’s Walk. If you would like to sponsor or join Marta’s team, reach out to her.

Kat Blankenbaker- She let everyone know that the Chamber is paying for social media to be handled by Katadyn and that financially, the Chamber is good. There is over $40,000 in the bank. The Civic Green covers itself from the sponsorships. We are looking at giving scholarships to students and the town has agreed that they will match it.

Tip of the day: Mark Goodpaster-Mark gave a couple of cell phone tips. If you put your phone on silent and your significant other is trying to get in touch with you, you can set your phone up for that call to come in. Tap on Edit. When you tap on edit, go to the individual’s ringtone and tap there. Scroll to the top of that page and there is a setting for Emergency Bypass. With that switch on, you will receive sounds from that caller even if the phone is on Mute or Do Not Disturb is on.

If you have a lot of photos on your phone and struggle to find a particular one that you are looking for, tap on the topmost part of the screen, in the middle and it sorts your pictures.

If you don’t carry change in your pocket and need to do a coin toss, you can use Siri on your phone to do the coin toss for you.

Adjournment: Promptly at 9:00 am

Next Meeting: May 21st at Town Hall, Kevin Mullany, Assistant Athletic Director for Championship Experiences and Brand Elevation with Ball State University