Starting yesterday, Nov. 1 we switched to our winter hours. We are now open from noon to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Our next Chamber Board meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 13 to accommodate our president, Ryan Mahoney, and my schedule. We usually meet on the second Thursday of the month, but that would be on the 8th and I will be out of town on that day and other dates would not work for Ryan so Tuesday the 13th it is at noon at the Visitors Center.
Our last business after hours was a huge success. It was hosted by the Dolores State Bank. The food, prepared by Shawna Valdez, was fantastic. The networking, mingling and munching was great. The entire Dolores community is so very proud of our new bank building. It is a beautiful facility.
Our future business after hours schedule is set through February. There will be none in November and December and tentatively Riverfront Pizza will host our first one on Jan. 17 and on Feb. 21 we will be at the Cortez Cultural Center.
The Dolores Chamber and Dolores Public Library co-hosted an Introduction to Quickbooks Class last Tuesday and it was an overwhelming success. We had numerous businesses and individuals from throughout Montezuma County participating. Region 9 Colorado, The Dolores State Bank, SBDC with Joe Keck and Ft. Lewis College also sponsored this event.
We are looking at hosting a Facebook & Social Media Class for local businesses and individuals as well in the near future to help our members find more ways to market and promote their businesses in a cost effective and culturally relevant manner.
Business Wise is a virtual services corporation that is currently hiring part time customer service personnel to work for nationally known companies in the comfort of their own home. Requirements include high-speed internet, a good working computer with Windows XP or 7, a dedicated land line phone, a good phone voice and patience. There are several clients to choose from as well as being able to choose your hours each week.
Business Wise held an informal Q & A session at Karma Coffee within West Fork Gallery in Dolores yesterday to answer any questions about these jobs. If you were not able to make it and you, or anyone you know, wants to learn more, please go to www.businesswise.net for more information.
This past Wednesday the chamber held a ribbon cutting for the grand opening of the Pony Expresso Coffee Shop, bakery, and gallery here in Dolores at 795 Railroad Ave. There was free samples, a costume contests for the kids and candy for Halloween. It was great. They are in the former Summit Vista Real Estate office.
Mesa Verde National Park announces their annual Luminaries Tour & Open House from 4 to 8 p.m. Its scheduled for Thursday Dec. 6. This is absolutely free and is a wonderful event for the whole family. They have free chili, hot chocolate and cookies too.
Dont forget Rubys world famous Christmas Bazaar is coming Dec.1st to the Dolores Community Center from 8 to 4 p.m.. The 4th Street Girls will also be hosting a Christmas tea and open house on the same day in the Ginger Jar building on the corner of Railroad Ave and 4th St. This is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Both of these events will feature some great, great unique Christmas shopping opportunities.
Our monthly membership meeting was at the Riverfront Pizza and we had an excellent turnout and the pizza and service were incredible. Dont forget that if you attend our monthly membership meetings we will display your business info or web-site link on our home page for that whole month.
We are also featuring a few local businesses on our web-site home page every month and also a business every week in the visitors center so when somebody walks into the Visitors Center they will see a flyer of that business with all they have to offer. So please get an 8X11 page featuring your business and we will prominently display that in the visitors center 7 days a week for you for a one or two week period. The Visitors Center visitor numbers are up substantially over last year and the sales at the visitors center are also way up for 2012. And finally our November monthly membership meeting will be at the Rio Grande Southern at NOON Wednesday the 28th. Hope to see you there.