Nick Agopian, the newly installed Waunakee Area Chamber president, is rolling out new ideas for the local nonprofit, including a sort of business mentor program and changes to the board president terms.

Nick, along with Chamber director Ellen Schaaf, provided some background of the local business advocacy organization and those new initiatives.

The Waunakee Chamber was organized in 1979 by a group of business owners, including Phil Willems, who owned the Ben Franklin Store then. It operates out of the historic railroad depot, one of only two buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, Ellen said.

The Chamber’s mission is to to promote the community and its businesses with a unified voice, while bringing new business in. The depot serves as the tourism center for the area.

A 12-member board of directors, along with liaisons from the Village of Waunakee, Town of Westport and Waunakee school district, oversee the Chamber.

Ellen has been the director since 2006, the same year she joined Rotary. She called her involvement in both “energizing.” The Chamber’s administration also includes Polly Thuot, who recently began as an event planner, and assistant Laurie Mercurio, who oversees the website and social media outreach, and helps with event planning. The Chamber seems to average about an event a month, from large undertakings like the WaunaFest Run, to smaller meet-and-greet gatherings.

Small businesses and sole proprietors make up the largest number of the Chamber member businesses.

Ellen talked about the challenges businesses and the Chamber faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but through it all, the Chamber continued to serve its members. In 2020, all Chamber-sponsored events were canceled, resulting in a loss of revenue, Ellen said.

The Chamber did its best to adapt and help its member businesses adapt to the new way of life. Booster clubs organized Rally Around Waunakee, using their unused funds to offer grants for local businesses in 2020 through the Chamber. A Get Out And Try (GOAT) campaign helped market businesses as well.

Nick is hoping to make some changes that will allow Chamber presidents to have a lasting impact on the organization. He’d like to see their terms lengthened from one year to two, and have the board continue any initiative a Chamber president begins once the president’s term ends.

He’d also like to see more active engagement on the Chamber’s part, with members trying to draw people from Madison and other surrounding communities to Waunakee.

As he looked around the room during the Rotary Club meeting, he saw some veteran business owners who could provide guidance to young entrepreneurs, particularly during times of economic downturn.

Nick asked if Rotarians had an interest in helping to establish a program where the Chamber could match young entrepreneurs with older business owners.

“I think there’s a lot of potential knowledge in this room to help business owners navigate rough seas,” Nick said.

With an affirming response, Nick said he plans to take the idea back to the other members of the Chamber board.

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Other news:

-So far, 88 of the 1,000 WaunaFest Raffle tickets have been sold so far. The Rotary Club is selling the tickets with proceeds going to WaunaFest and the club’s solar light project at the Waunakee Dog Park.

-Jim Kattner is continuing the flower basket sale. He’ll be at Village Park Saturday with the plants if you’d like to buy one. He might also have raffle tickets to purchase.

-Saturday is also Tri-4 Kids and volunteers are needed that morning.

-Bob Klostermann is planning a trip to the Madison Youth Arts Center. See him if you’d like to go.

-The community Awards Banquet is from 3-5 p.m. June 5. Rotary will both give and receive awards.

-President Ross Mauer presented the following Paul Harris Fellows: Mick Holm, Lisa Humenik and Lori Derauf. Nice work!

Guests: Linda, guest of Ray and Harriet Statz; Nick Agopian, guest of Ellen Schaaf; Dean Grosskopf, guest of Phil Willems.

Visiting Rotarians: None.

Birthdays: June 2, Tom Roepke; June 2, Tom Kennedy

Anniversaries: May 30, Phil and Betty Willems.

Greeters: May 27; Allen Jaeger and Roxanne Johnson; June 2, Jim Kattner and David Kennedy; June 9, Tom Kennedy and Bill Kennedy; June 16, Chris Kenney and Bob Klostermann.