Attendance: 94

Invocation: Dave Turner

Greeters: Brooke Hamstra, Michele Bickel

Guests: Olivia Comeziac (Randy Polston), Jim Miller (Charlie Hollar), Dana Lawrence (Charlie Hollar), Linda Goodman (Vickie Lootens), Ellie Hansen (Trace and Bruce Hansen) Abigail Gordon (Josh Gordon)

Birthdays: Bill Katip, Gary Tanner, Tracy Fitzgerald, Matt Tague, Jim Walmer, Tammy Keirn

Check Presentation: Brooke Hamstra and Vickie Lootens presented the Head Start Director with a check for $2,000. This will go to i-pads for preschool students from low income families.

Announcements: 1) Art Gakstatter passed around a sign-up sheet for Spooktakular. He needs volunteers for this event Friday, October 26, particularly with tear down. Please contact Art if you can’t get in to sign up. 2) President Rob Bishop needs someone to chair the Oratorical Contest. 3) Coach Kessler talked about the Officer Terry Polston Hoops for Hope event at the MOCC on Nov 16 and 17. Proceeds go to the Kosciusko County Cancer Care Fund. He passed around a sign up sheet for donations. You can also donate by buying tickets. The proceeds are not for medical bills but supportive things like gas, etc. 4) Club visitation by Ron Chambers. We had a very nice visit to Plymouth yesterday morning. They had an interesting program and a good free breakfast. 5) Craig Allebach passed around a handout about the Winona Lake Comprehensive Plan. Please fill out the survey at https://tinyurl.com/Imagine WinonaLakeSurvey or at town hall. You don’t need to be a resident to fill it out. 6) Sari Benyousky will be at a Meet the Candidate Forum at the Chamber Monday October 29, from 7-8:30 p.m.

50/50(Kris Farwell): David Taylor won!

Sergeants: Paul Heaton, Brittany Lyon, and Mitch Goon entertained us. Highlights included fining everyone with a beard, not wearing a name tag or being a Purdue or OSU fan. Trace Hansen showed off his moves.

Program: Rob Parker from the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce was our speaker. He said they are a membership organization not a government entity. Kosciusko County has a population of 81K and median income of $54,500. We are 1/4-1/2 of the national crime rate. Unemployment is rarely above 3%. Low unemployment is causing wage inflation nationally. Attainable housing is a big challenge being addressed by the Chamber and KEDCO. There are multiple economic development projects going on in the county including the courthouse plaza project (improving the SE corner of lawn with a 30K grant from IHCDA), Rotary Park, Buffalo Street (paving soon, housing next month), Little Crow Lofts, restaurants and fiber ready industrial parks (Tech Park on U.S. 30 and the north side of Rte 6). Potential high speed rail, lakes, trails, shops and high quality schools were discussed. There are several problems with work force: finding workers, retaining skilled workers, brain drain, incarceration/opioid crisis, and inclusion (dignity, opportunity, hope, everyone, everywhere).Partnerships are forming between business and education. The Chamber held a global leadership summit August 9 and 10 with 523 attendees, 83%business, 10% non-profit and 7% churches. Next year the summit with be August 8 and 9. Feed My Starving Children created a million meals for children around the world. The Bike Share Program (partnering with Zimmer Biomet) had 900 members and 1250 rides.