The August 2019 meeting for the WBPA will be held on Thursday, the 15th, in the main meeting room at the Walkersville Library. The meeting will be from 8am-9am.  All current members are urged to attend; however, attendance is not required. All minutes from the meeting will be posted to the event page after the event is complete, for any non-attending member.

Meeting Minutes

Members present/introductions (14): Alan Rugh, Bob Sussman, David Hawkins, Mary Blevins, Robin Bowers, Lee Anne Little, Barbara Garst, Erin Miser, Dale Clabaugh, Ken Kellar, Aleena Steele, Joanna Price, Consie Meyers, and Janet Morrissey.

2.  Bob Sussman briefly summarized the July meetings discussion

3.  Spring View Estates currently has (12) homes pending sale, highest to date $727,000 lowest range $450,000.

4. Alan Rugh called the meeting to order:
> Welcomed Janet Morrissey from Computer Enhancement Systems, Inc to the meeting.
> She briefly discussed the renovation of the building
> Multi-media conference room available for businesses- 1 hour free of charge with a small discussion of their services
> Capacity to hold 10 people
>  Video conferencing
>  They have converted more to corporate clients to grow the business
> Janet offered free business development to companies- will spec out software and hardware

5. Treasurer report not given Yvonne Reader absent.

6. Trunk or Treat – Thursday, October 31, 2019
> Set up 5:00 pm, Trick or Treat 6-8 pm, Robin stated they start shutting down roughly 7:30 pm due to library closing at 8pm
>  $25.00 for two spaces, a handful of businesses already signed up. Please contact Robin if you would like a spot- the sooner the better
>  This year the Town of Walkersville is considering Trick or Trunk an official event
>  Ask the people dress up that are handing out the candy to children
>  You may put out anything you want in addition to candy to spotlight your business- great
exposure to parents while doing something for our local community children
>  Discussion of more businesses using grass areas / in-between spaces if needed and
possibly closing off-street near the library during those hours if business participation
exceeded what was expected, will need to discuss with town
>  Robin discussed slat board in the library for business information, 1,000+ people a day go through the library and use of the display cabinets. Anyone who would like to put out information may see library staff and dates of display cabinet availability.
>  Easter- Discussed the “Adult” egg hunt- open for businesses to bring items for inside the eggs to promote business

7. Dale Clabaugh reminded all those attending that Friends of the Library, WBPA, and the town are trying to evolve Walkersville Days to more than yard sales with activities

8. New Business’s / Subdivisions Coming In-
>  Do we as a group want to do something as the WBPA?
i. Possibly reach out to them with a personal visit from two members
ii. Discussed “ Welcome basket/ bags” to promote our businesses with materials and materials on who we are as a group
iii. Aleena is willing to put together items, through the discussion decided
we will organize a team to get the task done – and not be on only one person’s
plate
iv. Janet Morrissey- offered to host baskets/ bags at Computer
Enhancements for people to pick up on their own time to deliver to new
businesses
v. Discussed going to bags, cheaper and more cost efficient, adding business cards around rims with possible card stock printed WBPA information or flyer
vi. Light Blue bags to match the WBPA logo- Amazon Qty. 100 around
$25.00 something to research for cost reduction- pending the size of the bag
vii. Discussed taking bags to settlement company of Spring View Estates to
give to new homeowners to promote business

9. Events- Amy Brandt not available to speak about Business to Business Social- “The Olde Town Restaurant, Woodsboro”. Alan will reach out to her.

10. David Hawkins invited everyone to his 45 th Anniversary Celebration for Hawkins Landscaping

11. “Best of the Best” Nominations round one voting is over.
>  Thanked everyone that voted. Round two is in September.
>  Will post everyone in next round for people to vote again -watch FaceBook for information

12. Alan welcomed anyone that wanted to take over social media posting or would like to post on their own to discuss with Alan.

13. A small discussion on Linked In Page – members can connect, not doing much on this site

14. Member of Month will be David Hawkins for September and Joanna Price for October. We will only do member of the month from now on, no bi-weekly profiles.

The meeting was adjourned. Next meeting is September 19, 2019 at 8:00 am

Respectfully submitted: Mary Blevins, Acting Secretary