This morning at the Cottleville-Weldon Spring Chamber of Commerce General Membership Meeting, the first CASH MOB in the St. Louis area was announced! We are very excited to tie this into the already successful Shop Local program sponsored by the chamber.  Below you will find all the information, links, and video clips to become familiar with the Cash Mob concept.  Please invite all of your friends, family & business partners to join us so we can make this an amazing event for our chamber and community!  

What is a CASH MOB?     
The general idea is to encourage people to go into small, local businesses and spend their money, en masse, to give the business owner a little bit of economic stimulus. We’d help businesses grow, we’d make people happy, we’d get stuff for ourselves, have a great time, and maybe we’d get a drink to celebrate afterward.

Video Clip of Kansas City Cash Mob





Informational Cash Mob Website

Where & When is the Cash Mob?     

When: April 17, 2012 @ 5:00 PM will be the meeting time for the first Cash Mob.

Where:  The meeting place will be announced via Facebook and Twitter closer to the date, and at the April General Membership Meeting the morning of April 17.

"Like" us on Facebook, "Follow" us on Twitter!     
Like us on Facebook to get all of the latest information! You can also share our link, share updates and invite your friends to like our page!

Cottleville Weldon Spring Cash Mob Facebook Page

Follow us on Twitter, too!

Cottleville Weldon Spring Twitter Page
 

Interested in having your business "MOBBED"? 
Here are a few things we are looking for:
* The business must have products for both men and women.
* The business must be locally owned.
* The business owner must give back to the community in some way.
* The business owner must approve the CashMob before the mob is announced.
* The business must be within one block of a locally-owned watering hole.

Need more information?  Feel free to email us!

Email for additional information
 

Registration $75 per golfer – Fajitas, Margaritas, and other goodies before and during golf, and appetizers after the tournament!  Includes 4 drink tickets too!

Download the Registration Form

• Officers for the Chamber (2012)
  
• Small Business Person of the Year (2011)
  
• Service Excellence Award (2011)
  
• Shop Local
  

Officer elections were held at the December 2011 GMM and the winners were announced at the January Meeting.  Officer for 2012 are:

• Paul Orso, President
  
• Ken Tucker, Changescape Web, President Elect
  
• Angie Curtis, Keystone Mutual, Secretary
  
• Amy Lewis, City of Cottleville, Treasurer
  

Nate Vogel of Fitness Together Cottleville and Fitness Together O'Fallon received the Small Business Person of the Year for 2011.

Jim Rasmussen received the Service Excellence Award.

The winners for Shop Local (which ran from Oct-Dec 2011) were:

• $500 Gift Card – Judy Hendrickson (Lake Saint Louis MO)
• Floyd's Glass Gift Card – Mariann Sutton (St. Peters MO)
• $25 Gift Card – Diane Fix (St. Charles MO)

Please remember that you have another opportunity to win at Shop Local 2, which runs from Feb through May 2012!

Congratulations to all of our winners!

CWS Chamber Shop Local and Win – The Spring Edition!

Shop Local for a chance to win a $500.00 Gift Card this spring!

Supporting local businesses and keeping tax dollars local makes a big difference to the community.

Every time you shop at a Cottleville or Weldon Spring Business OR a Participating Cottleville Weldon Spring Chamber Member in another community, enter your name in a drawing for a chance to win a $500.00 Mastercard Gift Card.

The promotion will run from February 1st through April 30, 2012 and entry forms will be collected by May 4, 2012.  The drawing will take place on May 15th 2012 at the Cottleville-Weldon Spring Chamber Breakfast.

Highlights

One entry per purchase at any Cottleville-Weldon Spring Business
Two entries if you purchase from a Cottleville-Weldon Spring Chamber member

If you are a Business and you want to find out how you can participate, contact info@cwschamber.com

How you can help – We need:

• Volunteers to help us build and design the float
  
• Volunteers to help us with the day of event fundraiser
  
• Advertisers to sponsor and/or ride on our float
  
• Ideas on how to use this event to help us grow our chambers and our members
  

If you are interested in participating, please contact the chamber or email info@cwschamber.com.

ST CHARLES – The $63 million rehabilitation of the westbound Interstate 70 Missouri River Bridge (Blanchette Bridge) will close and detour traffic starting late fall 2012. 

Walsh Construction Company plans to close the westbound I-70 Blanchette Bridge and shift lanes to the eastbound bridge starting late fall 2012, and no earlier than November 1.  The work will take less than one year.  An exact date for the closure is contingent on the manufacturing of steel for the new truss and approach spans.    Weather at that time of year could also affect the exact closure date. 

During the construction, three lanes of eastbound and three lanes of westbound I-70 will be using the eastbound bridge.  The two directions of traffic will be separated by a concrete barrier wall in the middle of the eastbound bridge.  Lanes will be reduced to 11 feet wide with no shoulders.  The speed limit on the bridge and through the work zone will be reduced to 45 mph. 

"Knowing the contractor's schedule to start in late fall provides us all many months to prepare for these traffic impacts," said MoDOT St. Louis District Engineer Ed Hassinger.  "The good news is three lanes of I-70 will be open during the construction so you will be able to get to work, home, shopping, and attractions in the area.  However, we strongly encourage people to start thinking now how they are going to use other Missouri River bridge crossings during the peak morning and evening weekday rush hours." 

The Route 370 and Route 364 (Page Avenue) Missouri River bridges are the primary alternate routes to use to avoid congestion on I-70 during the construction.  Both bridges are located within a few miles of I-70 and provide an easy alternate to get to and from St. Charles and St. Louis counties as well as in and out of the major business and shopping districts in downtown St. Charles and Earth City. 

"We have been working for over a year with the local business community and emergency responders to prepare for the upcoming closures and detours," Hassinger said.  "Now that we have the tentative schedule dates, we can continue those efforts to ensure all preparations are ready to keep motorists safe and moving on the bridge and assist with all the ways to access the local businesses." 

"We encourage major employers especially those with many employees who travel from St. Charles County to consider allowing flextime and alternate work hours and locations," Hassinger said.  "This isn't a full closure like the I-64 project, but all the same preparations need to be made to ensure everyone has a plan for how they will cope with the extra congestion on I-70 during peak hours." 

Construction work to prepare for the closure will begin in summer 2012.  Lane closures will occur for this work primarily during off peak hours.  Details will be announced on a week by week basis as the contractor's schedule progresses. 

For more information or to sign up for email updates regarding the westbound I-70 Blanchette Bridge rehabilitation, visit www.modot.org/blanchettebridge .  MoDOT reminds motorists to slow down in work zones and avoid distractions to keep yourself and the workers safe.

ST CHARLES – The utility work will begin again Sunday, January 15 through Thursday, January 19. Motorists can expect overnight lane closures to move a fiber optic utility in preparation for the upcoming major rehabilitation work scheduled on the westbound I-70 Blanchette Bridge.  The January 15-19 work will include the following closures:

• Sunday, January 15, one lane closed eastbound at 7 p.m. until 5 a.m.  A second lane and both of the Fifth Street ramps to eastbound I-70 will close at 8 p.m.
  
• Monday, January 16 through Thursday, January 19, one lane closed eastbound I-70 at 8 p.m. until  5 a.m.  A second lane and both of the Fifth Street ramps to eastbound I-70 will close at 9 p.m.  When the Fifth Street ramps to eastbound I-70 are closed, motorists will be detoured to use Veterans Parkway (the south outer road) west to the Route 94/First Capitol Drive interchange to access eastbound  I-70. 
  

For more information or to sign up for email updates regarding the upcoming westbound I-70 Blanchette Bridge rehabilitation, visit www.modot.org/blanchettebridge. MoDOT reminds motorists to slow down in work zones and avoid distractions to keep yourself and the workers safe.

Our Chamber is poised to have continued growth in 2012 and you could benefit by having free membership next year.

With the combination of the St. Peters and St. Charles Chamber, many of the St. Peters members are looking to our Chamber for a new opportunity.

Our Chamber Champion program provides free membership for and member who brings in 5 new members.  On the membership form make sure to have them put your name in the area on the form where we ask who we can thank for your membership.  Take this opportunity to personally ask your business friends to join our Chamber.

Here is some of the information you may need when talking to fellow business members about our Chamber…..

We are keeping our membership dues inexpensive again in 2012, only $75!!  We offer you excellent value for your money:

-          General Membership Meetings on the 3^rd Tuesday of every month from 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Varying Locations. Only $10 for breakfast.

-          Leads Group

-          Quarterly “Morning Cup” open to all to welcome new members

-          Monthly e-Newsletter (promote your business 3 times a year – no cost)

-          Your business listed on our website and promoted on our Facebook page.

-          No Charge, 1 minute commercials

-          Minimum of 30 minutes of real networking at each meeting.

Please join us for our upcoming meetings:

-          January 17 – GMM @ Mario’s Donuts in Weldon Spring

-          February 21 – GMM @ Old Hickory Golf Club

-          March  20 – GMM @ Cottleville Fire Station 3, in Weldon Spring.

We are currently seeking nominations for:

• 2011 Recognition of Service Excellence for an employee who exhibits excellent customer service
• 2011 Small Business of the Year

Details and qualifications are included on the nomination forms below.

Download the 2011 Recognition of Service Excellence Award Nomination Form

Download the 2011 Small Business of the Year Nomination Form

Nominations are due by December 13, 2011 5:00pm.  The awards will be presented at the January 2012 Cottleville Weldon Spring Chamber General Membership Meeting on January 17, 2012.

Cottleville Weldon Spring Chamber Board of Director Nominations

We are currently accepting nominations for Board Members.  There are currently several board positions that are open:

• Three 3-year terms
• One 2-year term
• One 1-year term

If you have someone you wish to nominate, please email info@cwschamber.com.

Nomination as are open though December 13, 2011 5:00pm. 

The ballot of candidates will be presented and voted upon by the chamber membership at the December General Membership Meeting.