Chamber Sponsored Workshop

The room was full as Jim Gossett Chamber Executive Director presented "Coping With & Managing Conflict". There were exercises on handling conflict, tips on resolving conflict, and an inciteful analysis of personality styles. Thank you Jim for taking the time to share this material with the members.

July unemployment rates

Once again Carroll County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state. Carroll's July unemployment rate was 4.0% compared to Iowa's unemployement rate of 6.5% and a U.S .unemployment rate of 9.4%.

Whiterock Conservancy Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Khrushchev Visit

I was honored to attend a luncheon for more than 100 invited guests served at the Roswell and Elizabeth Garst Farmstead near Coon Rapids Saturday. The occasion was the 50th anniversary of Soviet Premier Nakita Khrushchev's visit to Iowa, whose cooperation reinvented Soviet agriculture and produced one of the few thaws in the Cold War.

Thirty Russian officials and businessmen, along with members of the Garst family and guests were treated to a menu that replicated a lunch served during Khrushchev's visit in September, 1959. The menu included barbeque ribs, fried chicken, ham, corn casserole and slaw. A delicisous apple pie dessert topped off the meal. Elizabeth Garst was emcee of a short program of speakers who commented on the lasting effects of the 1959 visit.

Honored guest Sergei Khrushchev, son of Nikita, was a popular figure at the luncheon, signing autographs for those in attendance. Many events took place in Coon Rapids for the anniversary, including a dedication of the Garst Farm to the Register of National Historic Places, a Farm Progress Show, parade and street dance. The event was extremely well organized by the Garst family and Whiterock Conservancy staff.

Sergei Khrushchev, son of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, signs an autograph for 10-year old Hannah Sackett. "I love history and this is the best thing ever," said Hannah.

The delegation of Russian officials and businessmen sat for this photo with the Garst family. In assembling the subjects for the photo, I overheard one photographer say to the other, "It's like herding cats!", to which the another photographer, speaking in a thick Russian accent said, "It's like herding mulit-lingual cats."

Members of the Russian delegation at a luncheon that replicated a meal during Nakita Khrushchev's to the Garst Farmstead in 1959.

Marketlink to add 30 Jobs in Carroll

Marketlink, Inc. will open a new state-of-the-art outbound call center in Carroll in mid-October. The new call center will initially have a staff of more than 30 full-time employees, the majority being full-time professional telephone sales representatives who will learn approximately $9.50 per hour or more plus benefits, according to Kourtney Keough, company president.

“We are extremely excited about becoming part of the Carroll community,” Keough said.
“The Chamber of Commerce and Carroll Area Development Corporation have been terrific
to work with, and the community’s support has been outstanding.” Hiring for the phone representative positions will begin shortly and interested persons can apply now at the Carroll Workforce Center or send a resume to hresources@marketlinkinc.net. The call center will be located at 18657 Highway 71 North.

“Opening our 6th call center in the Midwest will help us meet our future growth projections
and expanding clients’ needs,” said Bob Beaman, Senior Vice President of Operations. “We
look forward to utilizing the great workforce in the Carroll area.”

Marketlink is a leading provider of outsourced teleservices solutions. Founded in 1992 and
headquartered in Des Moines, IA., Marketlink offers telemarketing solutions to clients in the
cable television, telecom, financial services, agriculture, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing
industries. The Carroll call center will specialize in telephone-based sales for the cable industry, servicing clients such as HBO, Comcast, Cox, Charter and Showtime.

"Coping With and Managing Conflict" Workshop

Join Chamber Exec. Director Jim Gossett as he presents "Coping With and Managing Conflict", a three-hour interactive workshop that will show participants how to recognize and resolve conflict in personal and professional situations. The Workshop will be held Wednesday, September 2, 2009 from 9:00 A.M. - noon, in the St. Clair Room at St. Anthony Regional Hospital Education Center. In this fast-paced workshop, participants will learn how to recognize what conflict is, how to identify the various types of conflict personalities and learn strategies for managing conflict. The cost is $25 per person for Chamber members and $45 per person for non-members. Get a registration form here by clicking on "Coping With and Managing Conflict" listed under Seminars and Workshops.

Progress Celebration

Join the fun and festivities Saturday at the Depot

Free Live Entertainment

5:30 - 11:30 PM

Full Blown Woodies

Ferd the Snurd

Dude Mathies & Last of the Full Grown Men

Time Flies

It's hard to believe two years ago today the Chamber Board and many volunteers dropped what they were doing and moved the Chamber and CADC offices from the temporary location in the former Wittrock Motors building to the renovated Depot. It sure doesn't seem like we've been in the Depot that long.

Pictured is former Chamber President and DMACC Provost Steve Schulz and Chamber Member Pat Soppe, Soppe Chiropractic, who helped with the move that day, along with about twenty other volunteers. It took just shy of two hours to complete the move, which the Chamber staff had organized very well. So well in fact that just four days later the Chamber was able to hold the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the new office, provide tours for more than a thousand visitors and hold the largest Progress Celebration to date. Quite an accomplishment!

Since that time, hundreds of meetings have been held here to plan and carry out Chamber and community activities and initiatives. Not only are we able to a better job for Chamber members from here, but visitors who come to the Chamber office to learn more about the community receive the first impression that residents want them to get.

None of this would have been possible without the foresight of the Depot Centre, Ltd., an organization that for nearly two decades has been dedicated to renovating the depot and making it come alive with activity to promote the community. They raised money, found grants and put alot of sweat equity in a facility that Carroll can be proud of.

Stop in sometime soon and enjoy the product of a true community effort.