After taking a boat ride to get there we had a guide lead us to some of the most amazing buildings and churches.

What would be a trip to Venice without a Gandola ride?  Many of us took the Gandolas through the canals and even were sung to — Volare’ -love that song!  Well, its back to the US tomorrow!

Yesterday we drove to Portofina which many of us thought was the best day yet, it was amazing!  We took a short boat ride on a nice, warm sunny day and enjoyed the beautiful shorelines.  The small town of Portofina is a must see-breathtaking doesn’t come close to describing it.

Afterwards we went to a marble quarry in Carraro.  How large is it?  Let’s just say many of us thought it was snow on the mountains only to find out it is some of the marble!  Today we are off to Venice and then tomorrow we end our journey and head home.

Our group had some free time to explore the city or catch a quick nap before our dinner at the hotel.  Some did some shopping at a local grocery store, getting snacks and even some vino.

Our guide, George, gave us an overview of our trip before we enjoyed a four course meal that helped us all get some needed sleep.

Here at the Chamber we work to stay on top of the top issues our businesses are focused on and one of those issues is light rail.  We have been providing input to the county for years on light rail as well as getting our businesses involved in the discussion.  We recently had a joint meeting of the Edina and Eden Prairie Chambers’ Government Committee to continue to discuss light rail.  For those new to this discussion the draft environmental impact statement is scheduled to be released in the next month or so and this will begin the 45 day comment period.  As such, the Chamber is working to eliminate some of the major concerns in our community around the alignment.  One of those is the line will have an at grade crossing on technology Drive between Gander Mountain and Rosemount/Emerson, cross Rosemount/Emerson’s driveways, cross Costco’s driveways and continue to the Southwest Station.  Traffic is a major issue in this area already and the concern is that light rail will only make this traffic worse by closing the road and driveways when trains come through.  Please stay tuned for more information and ideas to help alleviate this problem.

Health and fitness are tied to our work and jobs.  The healthier an employee is, the less sick time they use, the more productive they are and they typically get more work done.  That is part of the reason the Chamber is starting an annual 5K event on April 23 with the support of SCHEELS.  We are challenging our businesses and local residents to place a greater emphasis on fitness and to join us in recognizing the importance of health.  Please register for the event online and share with us any fitness stories you may have.

I was very interested to get a sense of where our elected officials would focus their time and in particular their approaches to the budget issue.  I was excited to hear both parties interested in doing a zero based budget – starting with a blank sheet and setting the top priorities first and determining their costs and continuing on until the dollars are used up.  The reason I like this approach is because it gives our businesses and residents the chance to know what their priorities really are.  One of my criticisms of the past few years is with budget deficits and cutting costs the communication did not do a good enough job telling us what were the priorities and what was the top budgets that needed funding.

I am hoping we will get a better understanding of priorities and we will learn more at our February program with our Eden Prairie state elected officials.  Stay tuned!

Guests were greeted at Hazeltine by student volunteers & great signage donated by Sign-A-Rama!

Now that our Bahama Breezes Gala is over, I wanted to highlight how this great event comes together. It starts pretty much a year in advance with some great volunteers that dedicate themselves to organizing and putting the event together. From the staff side, Laura Beam and I work directly with the committee to provide support and work on many items including promotions and sponsorships.

Teamwork – the gala is an amazing example of what teamwork can get done. Our committee divides the work up into sub-committees including live auction, entertainment, decorations, silent auction and more. Each sub-committee works on their piece of the event and helps with the overall organization of the night’s event.

A snow storm didn't stop 2010 Gala Committee Chair Regina Cannon Treml of Belladonna Florist from working hard to set up for the big night!

After roughly 12 months of planning, our group sets up the facility the morning of the event, then all go home to get dressed up and come back to continue to work the event.

Add in the tremendous support we get from our EP high school students and their teacher Karen Brettingen, and you have a tremendous effort in making the Gala a huge success. Want to be a part of it? We are starting in on the 2011 Gala and are welcoming volunteers!  Check out our Gala photos and sponsor recognition on the website – it was an amazing night!  Thank you to everyone who was a part of it!

Deanna Favre is set to speak to the Eden Prairie Chamber!  We are very excited to have Deanna, who in 2007 wrote her NY Time’s best seller “Don’t Bet Against Me.”  She now serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Favre 4 Hope Foundation.  She is a breast cancer survivor and October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month – so please wear pink to this event! 

On a separate note, Friday night I was able to see “I Do I Do” at the New Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.  The show and meal were great as usual and perhaps more importantly the Chamber’s November Luncheon will be at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres and we will be hearing from one of their new owners – Tamara Kangas Erickson.  Don’t miss these great programs!!!  Sign up on our website at www.epchamber.org/events.asp.

• This person was a very good basketball player.
• Grew up in a small town.
• Is known around the world.
• Is a New York Times best-selling author. 
• Has overcome many challenges.
• This person has helped many, many people and families and has made a major impact in numerous communities.

Stay tuned for more clues – and the big announcement on Monday!  October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and we are excited to bring this event to our audience!  Thank you to our supporting sponsor, C.H. Robinson.

Education reform and opportunities are hot topics in our state legislature, and with the gubernatorial candidate discussions we will continue to support efforts to improve results, increase learning, and when possible – reduce unnecessary costs.  The K-12 budget for Minnesota is roughly 40% of the general fund budget.

The 20 participants of the 2009-10 Student Membership Program

Lastly, it was a very exciting day on Friday as I was able to kickoff the Chamber’s Student Membership program at Eden Prairie High School.  We are now in the process of picking 20 high school students to be Chamber members (Thank you Thomson Reuters for your sponsoring their membership).  This is a great program that helps teach our future workers important business skills, put them in direct contact with area businesses, help them stretch beyond their comfort level and have job mentorships.

If you are interested in supporting this program for 2010-11 either with dollars to offset some costs or to provide a job shadow/mentorship, then please call our office at 944-2830.  For more information on this student membership program (the first of its kind in the nation), visit http://www.epchamber.org/Student_Membership.asp.