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| Shaddox Marks First Year As Chamber Director |
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| News - Osawatomie | |||
| Written by Travis Perry | |||
| Wednesday, 10 February 2010 09:00 | |||
When Jessica Shaddox stepped into the job of Osawatomie Chamber of Commerce executive director about a year ago, she was in a bit of an awkward position.  At the time, the chamber had no physical office or discernible representation and was more of a passing thought to area businesses than a powerhouse of resources. Even after setting up shop in the Osawatomie Railroad Museum, 628 Main St., Shaddox said, it took her two months to get any type of Internet connectivity or printer. She recalled contacting some area businesspeople only to receive surprised responses that Osawatomie had a chamber of commerce, and important files were scattered across multiple sites. To say the least, she faced an uphill battle. “The chamber was stagnant where it was, just dead in the water,” Shaddox said. In the last year, however, Shaddox has made tangible strides toward combatting the difficulties the chamber faced. From becoming an active face in the community to boosting membership from 65 to 75 between June and December 2009, Shaddox is pleased to have real results to show people the chamber is indeed growing. Her goal for 2010 is to expand to 100 members. “I’m very satisfied with how things have gone in the past year,” she said. “There has been a lot of challenges, but I think the rewards have outweighed the challenges.” Viewing the chamber as a place to help boost local businesses, Shaddox sees her role as one of reviving old practices the chamber may have forgotten, maintaining active services beneficial to the community and developing new services to not only promote Osawatomie businesses, but also the chamber itself. She noted that the annual Osawatomie Home and Business Expo, currently in its second year, is one example of new services she has implemented. However, the most popular addition, she noted, is also perhaps one of the simplest: Participation has grown in Osawatomie Chamber of Commerce after-hours and coffee networking events at community businesses throughout the year. “When you’re there, you come over and over again to build those relationships,” Shaddox said. “It’s something everyone can find time in their schedule for; it doesn’t take a lot of time, and it’s really effective.” While Shaddox categorized her first year as more of a revitalization effort, her goals for the future focus on growth — specifically, promoting the community and attracting additional businesses while continuing to promote the business community Osawatomie already has. She elaborated, saying the point is not to attract just any business, but the kind of shops, stores and retailers the town needs. Chief among the needs Shaddox has identified is something to serve young adults. She said she would like to attract a business like Plato’s Closet, which deals in gently used contemporary clothing for teens and young adults. “Our secondhand stores do well, so playing on that niche, plus that’s what the economy is willing to support right now,” she said.
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