August 10, 2023 • 20 mins
What if you could unlock the true power of community connection and celebration? Christina Williams, the executive director of the Sun Prairie Chamber of Commerce, joins us to unravel this secret. Christina sheds light on how the Chamber serves as a vital link between businesses, resources, and customers. She takes us on an enlightening journey of Cornfest, an annual community event that has stood the test of time, serving as a beacon of unity and celebration for a whopping 70 years! From supporting scholarships to advancing health initiatives, Christina reveals how every dollar spent at Cornfest goes back into nurturing the community.
Yet, it's not just about commerce and festivities. Christina opens up about the Chamber's earnest efforts to weave diversity and inclusivity into the fabric of Cornfest. The event has become a cherished tradition for many Latino families, and the Chamber is striving to make it a welcoming haven for the black and LGBTQ communities as well. Christina also offers a sneak peek into other fun ways to engage with the Chamber, like volunteering at Cornfest or joining their lively coffee chat. Please tune in to our heartening conversation with Christina, and discover how the Sun Prairie Chamber of Commerce is shaping a future where everyone feels heard, important, and, most importantly, part of one big family.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up everybody.
This is your host D-Star herewith Christina Williams.
Christina Williams, how are youtoday?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
So you got to meet my lovely wife.
I did Rocio.
Hmm, yes, she told you abouther many, many, many plants.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yes, fantastic, it's a little jungle up there.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
It is a jungle in here, so for the people that
don't know you, can you tell usa little bit about yourself?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
So I am the executive director at the Sunpray Chamber
of Commerce.
I came to the chamber as aformer business owner, so I had
a great deal of respect for themembers that are at a chamber.
I had been a member of achamber myself.
It gave me a really greatperspective, coming into the
chamber and understanding what Iwas looking for when I was
(00:47):
coming into a chamber.
It was a great fit for me.
I've lived in Sunpray for over30 years, raised my family there
.
I have four children that havegone through the school district
there.
My husband and I have lived inthe same house in Sunpray area
for 30 years.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Wow yeah, 30 years.
So it's safe to say that youare invested.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Absolutely.
Yeah, this is my home and I'velived there longer than I've
lived anywhere else.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
What role does the chamber play in the community?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
We view ourselves as a connector.
We are responsible forconnecting our member businesses
with the community, theircustomers, businesses that maybe
they need or businesses thatneed them, as well as the
resources that they may need tobe successful in their business.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, and I can vouch for that because I'm a chamber
member.
Yeah, and I don't know how longI've been a chamber member.
I think I've been a chambermember for about two, three
months.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Maybe longer.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
It was in the spring.
It was in the spring because Iremember still having to wear a
coat.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
And now it's record breaking heat.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Right, yes, it's been a summer.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah, it's been about as long as the summer, right
before the summer, and theconnections that I've made and
the people that I've met havereally been lucrative, not only
for my business but personally.
I feel a really greatconnection with you.
We talk, I tell people, I sayChristina, I'm like you know, I
talk to Christina like once aweek, right, Right.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, right, right.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Working on this cornfest thing.
I really enjoy ourconversations.
Yeah, speaking of cornfest, howdid cornfest start and what's
its main goal?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
All of the dollars that are raised at cornfest are
turned back into our communityto help with scholarships and
health initiatives and bettering.
For starters, cornfest isactually celebrating 70 years
and it was started in the 50s,where actually it would be 1953,
(02:53):
70 years ago.
Really, it was the communitymembers looking for a reason to
come together.
So it was these businessmembers that came together and
said you know, we'd like to havesome kind of a community
gathering.
So where the Bank of Semperi iswasn't there and it was a park
at the time.
They hosted a corn boil andinvited the community.
(03:17):
It was a great way, like I said,for the community to come
together and over the course ofa couple of years it grew a
little bit more.
They decided that it needed tostay around.
So they looked at businesses inthe community and tried to
decide who could take over theplanning of this, because these
business owners were trying tobuild their own businesses.
So to take time off to do thisevery single year was difficult.
(03:41):
They looked around and they'relike oh well, you know, the
chamber chamber has staff.
We'll give it to the chamber.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
And since you've been at the helm, you understand why
they did that.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yes, yeah, I really do.
So it was born, the chamberowned cornfest and put on this
festival the Stokely CanningCompany.
They decided to donate the cornand they would boil the corn
and they would deliver.
It, moved it down to Angel ParkI can't remember the year
exactly, but and so they wouldjust deliver it.
Well, the canning company waswhere the nitty gritty is right
(04:14):
now, and so it was really areally easy transition to take
it over to Angel Park across therailroad track, and when the
canning company closed, theygave the canning equipment just
enough to do for Cornfest to thechamber.
And so we own a huge industrialboiler and these steaming
vessels where the corn getssteamed for the festival.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Cornfest has done a lot for the community.
As the community grows, we'retrying to be more inclusive to
everyone in the community.
Can you tell us about theculture celebration and why it
was created?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
So we've done a lot with Cornfest to try and engage
the diversity of our community.
Two years ago we had La Movitastart coming in on Sunday
because the Latino communityShout out to La.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Movita.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, absolutely.
The Latino community.
The maze is such an importantpart of their culture and so it
was a natural fit to have themcome in.
And it's really become a reallybig Sunday event for so many
Latino families to come out toCornfest and celebrate with live
music and contests et cetera,so on.
(05:28):
It's become a family event forso many.
They'll come out and they'lljust hang out all day.
So it's really been fun.
But we thought, well, what canwe do to further this?
So this, with the help of somebusiness owners in our community
you and certainly our one welistened and we said, okay, what
can we do?
We really want to embrace ourblack community and give them a
(05:48):
platform for sharing with theworld their culture and to
celebrate the fact that we havesuch a great community, and we
just really want the blackcommunity members to feel
welcome and we want them to havea space where they can go.
Oh, look, they're playing musicthat I know and I love, and
they're.
You know, I'm seeing more ofpeople that I know and I'm
(06:12):
comfortable with and trying tomerge those two things so that
we can bridge a gap that exists.
You know, we just wanteverybody to feel welcome and
loved and valued at the festivaland this really gives us a
great platform for that.
We really want to start thedialogue, continue the dialogue
and have it be a two-sidedconversation.
(06:33):
So, you know, shout out to youfor really seeing that and
bringing it to me right andsaying, hey, I have this vision,
and really challenging me tothink outside the box.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Absolutely.
I'm just doing my civic duty.
Yes, for my community.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Yeah, absolutely, and it's a great community.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
It is.
That's it.
That's all it is.
Yeah, so what is the mainmessage that the chamber and the
city would like the blackcommunity to know?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
I can't speak specifically for the city.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
And not to cut you off.
Yeah, that is a great point.
One of the commonmisconceptions is that the
chamber and the city are one inthe same, when in fact they are
two separate entities.
Yes, the chamber is its ownentity and the city is its own
entity.
They might have some of thesame interests, of course, yeah,
(07:30):
but they're not necessarilyintertwined to the fact where,
if the chamber goes left, thecity is going to go left.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's alot of projects that you wanted
to do or things that you wantedto get done that the city, you
know, wasn't 100% on board withas quick as you wanted them to
(07:52):
be, or they've just flat outsaid no.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Sure, we've really worked hard to build a
relationship with the city andthat's really been done for the
benefit of our members, right?
Because if we have a good,solid working relationship with
the city, if we have a businessthat comes to us with a concern
or an issue, we are able to sitdown, we have that immediate
(08:17):
connection with the city and wecan call them and we can say,
hey, you know, this is a concernor something that's happening.
But we had a member call us andsay we heard from the city that
it's going to take, or we'vewe're hearing rumors that it's
going to take six to eightmonths for us to get a permit.
And we're we can't wait thatlong.
We have the equipment we needto get this done and that permit
(08:37):
can't hold us up.
We need to get moved out.
Is there anything you can do forus?
And I actually made a phonecall to the city and I said,
okay, who do I need to talk to?
What do we need to do?
And what I was able to do was Iwas able to connect the
business with the exact personthat they needed to talk to so
they would know exactly how tosubmit all the paperwork in a
(09:00):
way that it would be approved,and what happened was, instead
of that business needing to waitsix to eight months, they were
able to get it done in fourweeks.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
So that's the value of what we can provide and
that's why we have such a closeworking relationship with the
city.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So what is the main message that the chamber would
like to send to the blackcommunity?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
We've worked really hard to create an environment
where all of our minoritybusiness owners are welcome, so
we've really gotten to know someof the individuals over the
black chamber.
I had a great conversation withJessica from the Wisconsin
Latino chamber before she wentoff and did her thing, which I'm
so excited for her family thatshe's now working on a more
(09:45):
national level and is able toreally advocate for, so that's
really exciting.
But we also recently startedworking with the LGBTQ community
, so we're really trying tocreate a space that everyone's
feeling welcome in, and part ofdoing that is when we have
anybody come in and it's justanybody.
(10:06):
We have a lot of connectingevents.
We have a lot of networkingevents every week.
Every week, every Fridaymorning from 8.39 30, coffee and
chat yeah, absolutely, and it'sa great place to really get to
know people personally.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Shout out to Action Jackson.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Action.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Jackson set the attendance record for his
sponsor coffee chat.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
He really did.
Oh my goodness, I think we hadalmost 50 people there.
It was crazy and that'sincredible, considering when we
first envisioned coffee chat,we're like it was just a small
group of eight to 12 peoplechecking in making sure
everything was going well andtalking about the challenges
that they were having in theirbusiness.
And to go to you know, almost15 people.
(10:51):
What a fantastic day to.
It's just such a fun time toreally engage with people and it
gives me the opportunity thento introduce them to others Our
business community, our membersin Sun Prairie.
There's just something sospecial about all of them and
when you come to coffee chat, wehave some regulars that are
(11:13):
there and they will justliterally wrap you up into the
event.
Before you know it.
You're talking to everybodythere's.
You know, and that is by design.
I did not want a chamber wherepeople would come to an event
and sit on the edge trying tobreak in and leave the event
because they just couldn't breakinto a conversation.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
It's definitely not like that Coming to coffee chat
and people are wanting to knowwho you are, what your business
is and how can they collaborate,you know, or hey, do you need
any services in this?
Or call me if you need anyoffice supplies or furniture or
any.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Like they want to do business, you know.
Shout out to Bob too.
Shout out to Bill.
Bill is hilarious.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
He really is.
He's such a great ambassador.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
And he is an ambassador of the chamber.
Steve, I like Steve too.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
No, steve's great, yeah, and Steve is on the city
side, so yeah, he's an aldermanright.
He is and that's reallyimportant too right.
We have our city officialsengaging with the chamber and
wanting to engage with ourbusiness members in these
environments.
That's really important forpeople to understand that they
really do want to know and theyreally do want to advocate.
(12:27):
They wanna know what we need todo to make this community
inclusive and welcoming and asafe, warm place for everybody.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
So what are some of the misconceptions that you
would like to clear up regardingthe reputation of the Sum
Prairie Chamber of Commerce?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
All I can do is speak to the chamber and what we're
doing right?
We are focused on the future.
We really want to create thatspace that people feel like
they're heard, like they'reimportant, like they really
matter.
We are doing what we canthrough personal relationships,
(13:05):
through outreach, throughconnecting with people who can
help everyone understand thatthat's where we're headed in our
business community, and if ourbusiness community can do it,
then our entire community can doit right.
So we're setting that standardof we want everyone to feel like
(13:25):
they are a part of thiscommunity.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Awesome.
I really think that you'rereally speaking from the heart
and speaking truth, in fact, sothank you for that.
So what's next for the chamberand how can people get involved?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, so what's next for the chamber?
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Cornfest.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Cornfest.
You know it.
You know it.
So, yes, we are actually for us.
We are actually looking forvolunteers.
So you want to get involved?
We have some really fun thingsthat people do, our community
members do and any members cancome in and do it.
I don't have the volunteerroster public, so people reach
(14:04):
out through us and our memberbusinesses have it.
So you know anybody wants to doit, they can get the link
through the member businesses.
But to get involved at CornfestI have signed up Genius for
serving hot corn.
Now that sounds like okay.
What do we do with that?
It's literally you're the onesthat are, as people are coming
in to get their hot corn.
(14:24):
They're so excited about thishot corn.
It's crazy.
You know the servers areactually picking up corn and
putting it in the tote.
They're taking it off aconveyor belt and putting it on
the tote.
So we have those types ofpositions we have.
Helping with uncooked corn.
We sell a lot of uncooked cornbecause it's really inexpensive.
We do a brown paper bag.
It's you pick, can't husk, butyou pick.
(14:45):
It's 10 bucks for a bag, reallyinexpensive.
So we have people there thatare helping pull the corn out to
the edge of the trailer.
They're helping to pick upgarbage.
They're selling the bags sothat people can pick their own
corn.
We also have parade volunteers.
I need a lot of paradevolunteers.
So we have the parade onWednesday night and the block
party afterwards.
I overlap the parade and a banddowntown.
(15:08):
The parade starts at six, theband starts at seven.
The parade is probably gonna beanother hour and a half parade
this year, so there is thatoverlap hoping to draw people
downtown.
The band that we choose is theyare last year and this year
it's the same band, but they'rea local grown band.
They're all high schoolgraduates of Sumprey High School
that are part of this band andthey sing songs from all years
(15:31):
60s, 70s, 80s, 90s.
They're across the board theparade.
We have people that need tostand at corners and make sure
that cars know they need to turnaround.
We have barricades or cones upbut we're making sure that
people are behaving at thecorners and also helping with
(15:52):
the parade lineup as the paradefloats, come in and entries,
helping with them, check in,with the check in process to
make sure we have them on thelist.
All of these things take a lotof people.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
It's an incredible number.
What about businesses?
How can businesses get involved?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
To become a Chamber member.
We have an online applicationat some prairiechambercom.
When you get there at the verytop toward the right, it says
Join us.
You can click that, you canfill it out and just go through
the whole application.
Our membership is based on thenumber of employees that you
have, and that's by design,because when you apply to be a
(16:29):
member, all of your staff cantake advantage of the benefits
that the chamber has to offer.
We have educationalopportunities that maybe you
know you want some of your staffto take advantage of, or you
want them to do networking, soyou can enter them in as
representatives and then justhit submit.
You can pay with credit cardonline or, if we don't, we get
an email anyway and it says, hey, they haven't paid.
(16:51):
We reach out and we're like hey, is you have any questions?
What can we do for you?
And so our sole proprietor is$175 for the year.
The most that any company wouldpay is $675.
And that is for businesses thathave over 30 employees.
So a small business, one tofive employees, is $255 a year
(17:12):
and for that you can come, takeadvantage of all of our
opportunities and you also getan opportunity to be in our
community guide, so the SunPrairie community.
We don't have yellow pagesanymore, so the Sun Prairie
community guide is pretty muchthe closest thing that we have
out there to a yellow pages andit goes across the city so
people moving into town.
Realtors are giving it out tothem, they're in the hotels, so
(17:35):
visitors they're getting them.
It also gets distributed acrossthe Midwest so we have a
network of other chambers,tourist locations, so the
tourist places in between theroads as you're going up the
highway.
We have them in a lot of thoseplaces as well throughout the
Midwest.
So Minnesota, iowa, illinois,yeah, across Wisconsin, and it
(17:55):
just continues to grow.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yeah, it does.
It's growing rapidly yeah, andcome kind of like a hotspot in
the Madison area because someprairie like has everything now,
you know, you really don'tactually have to go into Madison
if you don't absolutely need to?
Right, yeah, absolutely.
People actually come to someprairie to go to the movies,
(18:18):
right, even though they have amovie theater, you know, at East
Town Mall or wherever.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Actually come to some prairie yeah, absolutely Every
amenity is available.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And that's kind of by design from the chamber Right.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Um, yeah, so our economic development is is
actually through the city.
We work very collaborativelywith them.
Prairie Lakes was actually afarmer that wanted to sell his
land and he had this vision, sothat's really where that kind of
came.
But the city had to be on boardfor that.
And then, of course, thechamber supports in any way that
we possibly can.
(18:51):
We have a lot of members overthere in Prairie Lakes,
including the movie theater.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Including the movie theater.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
They might be at cornfest, probably yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
So how can people get in contact with you?
Speaker 2 (19:03):
So they can give us a call at the chamber or I'll
give your phone number is608-837-4547.
Or they can email us at info atsunpraichambercom and they can
go to sunpraichambercom for anyinformation that they would like
to know more.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Well, Christina, thank you for coming on the
podcast.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Thank you so much for having me.
This has been fun.
You're great to chat with.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I'm Dee Star.
Until next time, guys.
What's up everybody.
This is your host D-Star herewith Christina Williams.
Christina Williams, how are youtoday?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
So you got to meet my lovely wife.
I did Rocio.
Hmm, yes, she told you abouther many, many, many plants.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yes, fantastic, it's a little jungle up there.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
It is a jungle in here, so for the people that
don't know you, can you tell usa little bit about yourself?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
So I am the executive director at the Sunpray Chamber
of Commerce.
I came to the chamber as aformer business owner, so I had
a great deal of respect for themembers that are at a chamber.
I had been a member of achamber myself.
It gave me a really greatperspective, coming into the
chamber and understanding what Iwas looking for when I was
(00:47):
coming into a chamber.
It was a great fit for me.
I've lived in Sunpray for over30 years, raised my family there
.
I have four children that havegone through the school district
there.
My husband and I have lived inthe same house in Sunpray area
for 30 years.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Wow yeah, 30 years.
So it's safe to say that youare invested.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Absolutely.
Yeah, this is my home and I'velived there longer than I've
lived anywhere else.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
What role does the chamber play in the community?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
We view ourselves as a connector.
We are responsible forconnecting our member businesses
with the community, theircustomers, businesses that maybe
they need or businesses thatneed them, as well as the
resources that they may need tobe successful in their business.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah, and I can vouch for that because I'm a chamber
member.
Yeah, and I don't know how longI've been a chamber member.
I think I've been a chambermember for about two, three
months.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Maybe longer.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
It was in the spring.
It was in the spring because Iremember still having to wear a
coat.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
And now it's record breaking heat.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Right, yes, it's been a summer.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Yeah, it's been about as long as the summer, right
before the summer, and theconnections that I've made and
the people that I've met havereally been lucrative, not only
for my business but personally.
I feel a really greatconnection with you.
We talk, I tell people, I sayChristina, I'm like you know, I
talk to Christina like once aweek, right, Right.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, right, right.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Working on this cornfest thing.
I really enjoy ourconversations.
Yeah, speaking of cornfest, howdid cornfest start and what's
its main goal?
Speaker 2 (02:31):
All of the dollars that are raised at cornfest are
turned back into our communityto help with scholarships and
health initiatives and bettering.
For starters, cornfest isactually celebrating 70 years
and it was started in the 50s,where actually it would be 1953,
(02:53):
70 years ago.
Really, it was the communitymembers looking for a reason to
come together.
So it was these businessmembers that came together and
said you know, we'd like to havesome kind of a community
gathering.
So where the Bank of Semperi iswasn't there and it was a park
at the time.
They hosted a corn boil andinvited the community.
(03:17):
It was a great way, like I said,for the community to come
together and over the course ofa couple of years it grew a
little bit more.
They decided that it needed tostay around.
So they looked at businesses inthe community and tried to
decide who could take over theplanning of this, because these
business owners were trying tobuild their own businesses.
So to take time off to do thisevery single year was difficult.
(03:41):
They looked around and they'relike oh well, you know, the
chamber chamber has staff.
We'll give it to the chamber.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
And since you've been at the helm, you understand why
they did that.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yes, yeah, I really do.
So it was born, the chamberowned cornfest and put on this
festival the Stokely CanningCompany.
They decided to donate the cornand they would boil the corn
and they would deliver.
It, moved it down to Angel ParkI can't remember the year
exactly, but and so they wouldjust deliver it.
Well, the canning company waswhere the nitty gritty is right
(04:14):
now, and so it was really areally easy transition to take
it over to Angel Park across therailroad track, and when the
canning company closed, theygave the canning equipment just
enough to do for Cornfest to thechamber.
And so we own a huge industrialboiler and these steaming
vessels where the corn getssteamed for the festival.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Cornfest has done a lot for the community.
As the community grows, we'retrying to be more inclusive to
everyone in the community.
Can you tell us about theculture celebration and why it
was created?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
So we've done a lot with Cornfest to try and engage
the diversity of our community.
Two years ago we had La Movitastart coming in on Sunday
because the Latino communityShout out to La.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Movita.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, absolutely.
The Latino community.
The maze is such an importantpart of their culture and so it
was a natural fit to have themcome in.
And it's really become a reallybig Sunday event for so many
Latino families to come out toCornfest and celebrate with live
music and contests et cetera,so on.
(05:28):
It's become a family event forso many.
They'll come out and they'lljust hang out all day.
So it's really been fun.
But we thought, well, what canwe do to further this?
So this, with the help of somebusiness owners in our community
you and certainly our one welistened and we said, okay, what
can we do?
We really want to embrace ourblack community and give them a
(05:48):
platform for sharing with theworld their culture and to
celebrate the fact that we havesuch a great community, and we
just really want the blackcommunity members to feel
welcome and we want them to havea space where they can go.
Oh, look, they're playing musicthat I know and I love, and
they're.
You know, I'm seeing more ofpeople that I know and I'm
(06:12):
comfortable with and trying tomerge those two things so that
we can bridge a gap that exists.
You know, we just wanteverybody to feel welcome and
loved and valued at the festivaland this really gives us a
great platform for that.
We really want to start thedialogue, continue the dialogue
and have it be a two-sidedconversation.
(06:33):
So, you know, shout out to youfor really seeing that and
bringing it to me right andsaying, hey, I have this vision,
and really challenging me tothink outside the box.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Absolutely.
I'm just doing my civic duty.
Yes, for my community.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Yeah, absolutely, and it's a great community.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
It is.
That's it.
That's all it is.
Yeah, so what is the mainmessage that the chamber and the
city would like the blackcommunity to know?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
I can't speak specifically for the city.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
And not to cut you off.
Yeah, that is a great point.
One of the commonmisconceptions is that the
chamber and the city are one inthe same, when in fact they are
two separate entities.
Yes, the chamber is its ownentity and the city is its own
entity.
They might have some of thesame interests, of course, yeah,
(07:30):
but they're not necessarilyintertwined to the fact where,
if the chamber goes left, thecity is going to go left.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's alot of projects that you wanted
to do or things that you wantedto get done that the city, you
know, wasn't 100% on board withas quick as you wanted them to
(07:52):
be, or they've just flat outsaid no.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Sure, we've really worked hard to build a
relationship with the city andthat's really been done for the
benefit of our members, right?
Because if we have a good,solid working relationship with
the city, if we have a businessthat comes to us with a concern
or an issue, we are able to sitdown, we have that immediate
(08:17):
connection with the city and wecan call them and we can say,
hey, you know, this is a concernor something that's happening.
But we had a member call us andsay we heard from the city that
it's going to take, or we'vewe're hearing rumors that it's
going to take six to eightmonths for us to get a permit.
And we're we can't wait thatlong.
We have the equipment we needto get this done and that permit
(08:37):
can't hold us up.
We need to get moved out.
Is there anything you can do forus?
And I actually made a phonecall to the city and I said,
okay, who do I need to talk to?
What do we need to do?
And what I was able to do was Iwas able to connect the
business with the exact personthat they needed to talk to so
they would know exactly how tosubmit all the paperwork in a
(09:00):
way that it would be approved,and what happened was, instead
of that business needing to waitsix to eight months, they were
able to get it done in fourweeks.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
So that's the value of what we can provide and
that's why we have such a closeworking relationship with the
city.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So what is the main message that the chamber would
like to send to the blackcommunity?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
We've worked really hard to create an environment
where all of our minoritybusiness owners are welcome, so
we've really gotten to know someof the individuals over the
black chamber.
I had a great conversation withJessica from the Wisconsin
Latino chamber before she wentoff and did her thing, which I'm
so excited for her family thatshe's now working on a more
(09:45):
national level and is able toreally advocate for, so that's
really exciting.
But we also recently startedworking with the LGBTQ community
, so we're really trying tocreate a space that everyone's
feeling welcome in, and part ofdoing that is when we have
anybody come in and it's justanybody.
(10:06):
We have a lot of connectingevents.
We have a lot of networkingevents every week.
Every week, every Fridaymorning from 8.39 30, coffee and
chat yeah, absolutely, and it'sa great place to really get to
know people personally.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Shout out to Action Jackson.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Action.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Jackson set the attendance record for his
sponsor coffee chat.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
He really did.
Oh my goodness, I think we hadalmost 50 people there.
It was crazy and that'sincredible, considering when we
first envisioned coffee chat,we're like it was just a small
group of eight to 12 peoplechecking in making sure
everything was going well andtalking about the challenges
that they were having in theirbusiness.
And to go to you know, almost15 people.
(10:51):
What a fantastic day to.
It's just such a fun time toreally engage with people and it
gives me the opportunity thento introduce them to others Our
business community, our membersin Sun Prairie.
There's just something sospecial about all of them and
when you come to coffee chat, wehave some regulars that are
(11:13):
there and they will justliterally wrap you up into the
event.
Before you know it.
You're talking to everybodythere's.
You know, and that is by design.
I did not want a chamber wherepeople would come to an event
and sit on the edge trying tobreak in and leave the event
because they just couldn't breakinto a conversation.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
It's definitely not like that Coming to coffee chat
and people are wanting to knowwho you are, what your business
is and how can they collaborate,you know, or hey, do you need
any services in this?
Or call me if you need anyoffice supplies or furniture or
any.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Like they want to do business, you know.
Shout out to Bob too.
Shout out to Bill.
Bill is hilarious.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
He really is.
He's such a great ambassador.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
And he is an ambassador of the chamber.
Steve, I like Steve too.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
No, steve's great, yeah, and Steve is on the city
side, so yeah, he's an aldermanright.
He is and that's reallyimportant too right.
We have our city officialsengaging with the chamber and
wanting to engage with ourbusiness members in these
environments.
That's really important forpeople to understand that they
really do want to know and theyreally do want to advocate.
(12:27):
They wanna know what we need todo to make this community
inclusive and welcoming and asafe, warm place for everybody.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
So what are some of the misconceptions that you
would like to clear up regardingthe reputation of the Sum
Prairie Chamber of Commerce?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
All I can do is speak to the chamber and what we're
doing right?
We are focused on the future.
We really want to create thatspace that people feel like
they're heard, like they'reimportant, like they really
matter.
We are doing what we canthrough personal relationships,
(13:05):
through outreach, throughconnecting with people who can
help everyone understand thatthat's where we're headed in our
business community, and if ourbusiness community can do it,
then our entire community can doit right.
So we're setting that standardof we want everyone to feel like
(13:25):
they are a part of thiscommunity.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Awesome.
I really think that you'rereally speaking from the heart
and speaking truth, in fact, sothank you for that.
So what's next for the chamberand how can people get involved?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, so what's next for the chamber?
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Cornfest.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Cornfest.
You know it.
You know it.
So, yes, we are actually for us.
We are actually looking forvolunteers.
So you want to get involved?
We have some really fun thingsthat people do, our community
members do and any members cancome in and do it.
I don't have the volunteerroster public, so people reach
(14:04):
out through us and our memberbusinesses have it.
So you know anybody wants to doit, they can get the link
through the member businesses.
But to get involved at CornfestI have signed up Genius for
serving hot corn.
Now that sounds like okay.
What do we do with that?
It's literally you're the onesthat are, as people are coming
in to get their hot corn.
(14:24):
They're so excited about thishot corn.
It's crazy.
You know the servers areactually picking up corn and
putting it in the tote.
They're taking it off aconveyor belt and putting it on
the tote.
So we have those types ofpositions we have.
Helping with uncooked corn.
We sell a lot of uncooked cornbecause it's really inexpensive.
We do a brown paper bag.
It's you pick, can't husk, butyou pick.
(14:45):
It's 10 bucks for a bag, reallyinexpensive.
So we have people there thatare helping pull the corn out to
the edge of the trailer.
They're helping to pick upgarbage.
They're selling the bags sothat people can pick their own
corn.
We also have parade volunteers.
I need a lot of paradevolunteers.
So we have the parade onWednesday night and the block
party afterwards.
I overlap the parade and a banddowntown.
(15:08):
The parade starts at six, theband starts at seven.
The parade is probably gonna beanother hour and a half parade
this year, so there is thatoverlap hoping to draw people
downtown.
The band that we choose is theyare last year and this year
it's the same band, but they'rea local grown band.
They're all high schoolgraduates of Sumprey High School
that are part of this band andthey sing songs from all years
(15:31):
60s, 70s, 80s, 90s.
They're across the board theparade.
We have people that need tostand at corners and make sure
that cars know they need to turnaround.
We have barricades or cones upbut we're making sure that
people are behaving at thecorners and also helping with
(15:52):
the parade lineup as the paradefloats, come in and entries,
helping with them, check in,with the check in process to
make sure we have them on thelist.
All of these things take a lotof people.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
It's an incredible number.
What about businesses?
How can businesses get involved?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
To become a Chamber member.
We have an online applicationat some prairiechambercom.
When you get there at the verytop toward the right, it says
Join us.
You can click that, you canfill it out and just go through
the whole application.
Our membership is based on thenumber of employees that you
have, and that's by design,because when you apply to be a
(16:29):
member, all of your staff cantake advantage of the benefits
that the chamber has to offer.
We have educationalopportunities that maybe you
know you want some of your staffto take advantage of, or you
want them to do networking, soyou can enter them in as
representatives and then justhit submit.
You can pay with credit cardonline or, if we don't, we get
an email anyway and it says, hey, they haven't paid.
(16:51):
We reach out and we're like hey, is you have any questions?
What can we do for you?
And so our sole proprietor is$175 for the year.
The most that any company wouldpay is $675.
And that is for businesses thathave over 30 employees.
So a small business, one tofive employees, is $255 a year
(17:12):
and for that you can come, takeadvantage of all of our
opportunities and you also getan opportunity to be in our
community guide, so the SunPrairie community.
We don't have yellow pagesanymore, so the Sun Prairie
community guide is pretty muchthe closest thing that we have
out there to a yellow pages andit goes across the city so
people moving into town.
Realtors are giving it out tothem, they're in the hotels, so
(17:35):
visitors they're getting them.
It also gets distributed acrossthe Midwest so we have a
network of other chambers,tourist locations, so the
tourist places in between theroads as you're going up the
highway.
We have them in a lot of thoseplaces as well throughout the
Midwest.
So Minnesota, iowa, illinois,yeah, across Wisconsin, and it
(17:55):
just continues to grow.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yeah, it does.
It's growing rapidly yeah, andcome kind of like a hotspot in
the Madison area because someprairie like has everything now,
you know, you really don'tactually have to go into Madison
if you don't absolutely need to?
Right, yeah, absolutely.
People actually come to someprairie to go to the movies,
(18:18):
right, even though they have amovie theater, you know, at East
Town Mall or wherever.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Actually come to some prairie yeah, absolutely Every
amenity is available.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And that's kind of by design from the chamber Right.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Um, yeah, so our economic development is is
actually through the city.
We work very collaborativelywith them.
Prairie Lakes was actually afarmer that wanted to sell his
land and he had this vision, sothat's really where that kind of
came.
But the city had to be on boardfor that.
And then, of course, thechamber supports in any way that
we possibly can.
(18:51):
We have a lot of members overthere in Prairie Lakes,
including the movie theater.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Including the movie theater.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
They might be at cornfest, probably yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
So how can people get in contact with you?
Speaker 2 (19:03):
So they can give us a call at the chamber or I'll
give your phone number is608-837-4547.
Or they can email us at info atsunpraichambercom and they can
go to sunpraichambercom for anyinformation that they would like
to know more.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Well, Christina, thank you for coming on the
podcast.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Thank you so much for having me.
This has been fun.
You're great to chat with.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I'm Dee Star.
Until next time, guys.
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