One small line item in the City of Fulton's nearly $46 million budget could make a huge difference for the Callaway Chamber of Commerce, Executive Director Tamara Tateosian said.
During a work session before Tuesday evening's Fulton City Council meeting, Tateosian approached the council about restoring previous funding levels to the chamber. Ever since the chamber merged with the Fulton Area Development Foundation and Show-Me Innovation, the city has contributed $88,000 per year toward its operations. The 2020 budget draft offers $78,000.
"I believe every council member believes the chamber is needed in the community," Ward 4 council member Steve Moore said. "But we're building a new recreation center, and we have to find savings somewhere."
Ward 2 council member Jeff Stone noted the city is also facing salary increases for some employees and the need to purchase equipment in several departments.
"That's where we're at - we're cutting these small amounts of dollars," he said.
Of the $78,000, $20,000 is marked as "discretionary," though council members clarified the city does not intend to withhold any of that amount. Rather, it's to be made available throughout the year by request - for example, so the city can sponsor a specific event.
However, for Tateosian and the chamber, that $10,000 isn't small.
"This isn't making cuts to our annual banquet, it's a cut to our economic development efforts," she said.
The chamber also receives funding from Callaway County and a variety of grants.
Momentum
Tateosian and a number of community supporters spoke up about the chamber's efforts, which are funded in part by the city's contributions.
"We've had 71 events in 2019, and the year's not over yet," Tateosian said. "In 2018, we had 56. You can see how our momentum continues to grow."
The chamber currently includes 420 active members, 40 of whom joined just this year and 284 of whom are located within Fulton. It partners with a number of other local and area groups (for example, the Fulton Job Center and the Missouri Women's Business Center) to bring in resources to feed economic and workforce development in the county, Tateosian said.
For example, the chamber hosted 13 classes in 2019, including "Grow with Google," which helped local businesses boost their web presence.
This year's annual Teacher Appreciation Breakfast, targeted at increasing job satisfaction and retention of the county's teachers, drew 450 attendees. The event also earned the Callaway Chamber an award of excellence at last week's Chamber of Commerce Executives of Missouri conference.
National Manufacturing Day brought high school students to four Callaway County manufacturers, in hopes they'll enter the workforce here in the county rather than leaving to work elsewhere.
"We can't bring in new industries until we develop our workforce," Tateosian said.
Danuser Machine Company was one of those four businesses, and its vice president, Janea Danuser, was on hand Tuesday to lend support to the chamber.
"When I learned what was at stake, my immediate reaction was that I needed to come before the council," she said. "Workforce development is an issue on every business owner's mind. Danuser is very proud of our chamber membership."
Beth Snyder of 1Canoe2 also voiced support, reading a letter signed by current and former active members of the CCOC, Show-Me Innovation and FADF. Signatories included Matt Gowin, Callaway Bank's Kim Barnes, Michael Westerfield and Curt Warfield.
"If you choose to step back from the commitment made by then-Mayor and City Administrator Bill Johnson, we will be greatly disappointed," the letter read, in part. "More than that, we believe our community will be negatively impacted in the long run."
After reading the letter, Snyder added a few remarks as a business owner and Fulton resident.
"My daughter is here tonight, and I want her to be able to grow up and be able to stay in Fulton if she chooses," she said. "Business development is a crucial part of the success of our community. If the chamber isn't funded to do this work, who will?"
Tateosian said, compared to other chambers of commerce in small-town Missouri, Callaway's stands out.
"Did you know we are leaders in this?" she said. "At the conference last week, I cannot tell you how many times people were talking about planning parades, and not one person was talking about economic development."
Council response
Following Tateosian's presentation and supporters' remarks during the visitor comment period, council members discussed how to handle the request. No final decision was reached.
Mayor Lowe Cannell said he'd reached out to Callaway County Presiding Commissioner Gary Jungermann about potentially upping the county's contribution to the chamber; the conversation is ongoing, he said.
"He'd not talked with me about that before yesterday," Jungermann said Wednesday. "He texted me asking, 'If we gave a little more, would you make up the difference?' I told him it could be a conversation."
Jungermann said the County Commission is working on finalizing its budget and hopes to have it complete in December. The county typically contributes $24,000 toward the chamber, plus another $2,000 or so specifically for the Teacher Appreciation Breakfast. That's the number currently in the budget, though that could change, Jungermann said.
Several council members who spoke noted the decrease in funding was not intended to be a slight against the chamber's work. Rather, as Moore noted, it reflects the city's increased expenses for 2020 - including the $4 million put aside toward the city's $9 million recreation center construction project.
The conversation then turned to whether to delay the passage of 2020's budget, which was on the agenda Tuesday evening.
"I feel like it should be held off until we decide what's going on with the Chamber," Ward 3 council member John Braun said.
Johnson noted if council members wanted to restore the original funding amount, they could hypothetically cut a $10,000 check from the special project/contingency fund, rather than delaying and reworking the budget.
Stone moved to table the budget's third reading and passage until the next meeting. The motion passed, with Moore and Ward 2 council member Mary Rehklau opposing.