Chamber Members Make Annual Bash the Best Ever

Pioneer Park Pavilion turned old time western theme town for the annual
Chamber Bash and Auction Friday, February 19th.  A big thank you
to Impressive Signs & Graphics for a fantastic Rodeo Country corral entrance.

This year's annual Chamber Bash and Auction drew the biggest crowd ever.  More than 250 people enjoyed a night celebrating all things country.  Included among the crowd were Washington State Fair board members, Washington State Fair Rodeo Wranglers, Daffodil Princesses, chamber members, business owners, a congressman, a senator and more Chamber Ambassadors than you could count at this fun salute to cowboys and rodeos.  

This event is the Chamber's annual fundraiser to support programs like Leadership Institute, Government Affairs activities, networking events and more, all intended to grow the bottom line for our local business members.  Dozens of business to business connections were made during the evening, all while having fun in downtown Puyallup.  A big thank you to all our members who attended and supported the event through our auctions, raffles, and games.   Your continued support ensures the success of Chamber programs, our ongoing efforts to grow business to business relationships and our advocacy of business issues like minimum wage, affordable health care, transportation and more.  If you would like information about how your business can be a part of chamber events, please contact our office at 253.845.6755.  

Don't miss our first annual "Ready to Rodeo" event on September 6th where we welcome cowboys from all over the country to Puyallup for the 2016 Washington State Fair Rodeo.

Daffodil Princesses greeted the guests!

Board members, Tracey Pidge and Dave Radcliffe, have a
great time at the event.

Auctioneer Extraordinaire and Washington State Fair Rodeo Wrangler, Jamie Gregory,
entertained the crowd.  That's a mighty fancy belt buckle you got there, Jamie.
Thanks for your help!

Volunteer Dana Larsen deals black jack to a happy crowd.

Ambassador Kristy Brady reveals the wine label to Joe Betzendorpher
at the Wine Grab table.

Cyndi Anderson and husband Chris Roberts enjoyed the evening.
Great to see Chris wearing one of the Sheriff badges as we know his day
job is in law enforcement.  Love it!

Congressman Denny Heck and wife Paula enjoy the evening
with Chamber members

Ambassador Karissa Thompson wears a Chamber blue
saloon dress to the Bash.  That's the spirit!

Randy Skeen tries his hand at Ping Pong Toss as Ambassador
Christine Holland watches.

Big smiles from Tyra and Stacie

Fair Board Members Roger Knutson and Denny Elvins were
dressed appropriately for the event in black western Fair attire. 

Chamber Meadows game was busy all night.  Great job, CC!

Full House!

Daffodil Princesses were great Auction volunteers!

The Shoot em Up game was part of the evening's entertainment

Big Thanks to the Columbia Bank Auction Team!

It looks like emcee Jamie Gregory has a fan club!

Crazy when you find out your daughter works in the same local dental office
as one of your board member's daughter.  It's a small world.

Black Jack table was a hit with the local cowboys.

Who knew Senator Dammeier had a cowboy hat?

Guests were definitely in the spirit of the evening with these
fun western themed outfits.

Ambassador Sherrie Harlow was a hit at the
Barrel House Saloon.

Volunteers add whipped cream to Strawberry
Rhubarb crisp desserts prepared by Chef Quan,
Executive Chef at the Governor's Mansion.
Lots of empty plates.

Ambassador, CC Lucas, having another banner year as hostess
of our Chamber Meadows game.

Julie Guild wins the Heads or Tails contest!

Northwest Seaport Alliance Update at February 12th Luncheon

Dick Marzano,
Port of Tacoma Commissioner

Now that the Northwest Seaport Alliance is up and running, we've asked Port of Tacoma Commissioner, Dick Marzano, to provide an update for our members about how the merger is impacting the Port of Tacoma.  

With the recent merge, the combined ports of Tacoma and Seattle form the third-largest container gateway in North America.  The Northwest Seaport Alliance delivers less congestion, closer proximity to Asia and deep ties to Alaska.  Their naturally deep-water harbors and ability to handle a wide range of cargo makes them ideally suited to meet the growing needs of Pacific Rim trade.

After last year's slow down at the Port, we anticipate a more positive update about the new organization's impact on our region and it's vision for the future.

Location: Parametrix – 1019 39th Ave SE #100, Puyallup, WA 98374

Program: 11:30-1:00pm 

To register, CLICK HERE 

Northwest Christian School Hosts Wonju Students

Northwest Christian School once again hosted students from their sister school in Wonju, Korea this January.  Our Chamber worked with school Principal, Craig Mattson, to provide the students with tours of our communities.  

Students first met with Mayor John Hopkins in Puyallup's Council Chambers at City Hall.  A meeting with the Mayor is considered a special honor in Korea and students were eager to have their photo taken with the mayor, as well as ask questions about the city and his English accent.

The students next traveled to Sumner City Hall to meet with Council Member Kathy Hayden and tour the police department.  Sgt. Gary Backus spoke to one student who advised that his father was a police officer in Korea.  In response, Sgt. Backus gave him a City of Sumner Uniform Patch to give to his father, and he asked that the student thank his father for his service to his community.  

This is the second year our Chamber has worked with Northwest Christian School to welcome international students to Puyallup and Sumner.

Minimum Wage A Concern For Local Businesses

 

Members of the Puyallup Sumner Chamber of Commerce participated in our Lunch with Legislators event in Olympia on Tuesday, February 2nd to talk about issues impacting their organizations such as minimum wage, transportation, flooding and education. 

Several representatives from the food services industry were able to discuss the financial impact raising the minimum wage would have on their businesses, while representatives from the financial and non-profit sectors shared that as minimum wage increases, their organizations look to automation and elimination of certain jobs.  All agreed that one of the unintended and unfortunate results of raising the minimum wage would be a loss of jobs for teens who are already experiencing high unemployment numbers.

Mayors from both cities also spoke about their legislative priorities.  Puyallup's Mayor John Hopkins discussed how the current public records laws are impacting city staff and inquired about the status of proposed legislation to address the issue.  Representatives Zeiger and Stokesbary reported that while most legislators agree that reform is needed and it is being given considerable attention during this session, they are concerned about legislation that would limit reasonable access to public records. Mayor Hopkins also stressed the importance of completing additional sections of the Foothills Trail.

Sumner's Mayor Dave Enslow advocated for support to address the increasing traffic at the SR 410 Interchange, especially as Sound Transit moves forward with a new parking garage. The 400+ stall parking garage in downtown Sumner will substantially add to the traffic impact at the already congested interchange.

The Chamber was also able to deliver our 2016 legislative list of priorities to our state representatives, though most are already familiar with the topics as a result of attending our monthly government affairs meetings.  If you are interested in attending our government affairs committee meetings or would like to request specific issues and topics be included in our monthly agendas, please contact the Chamber at 253.845.6755.  The meetings are held on the first Tuesdays of the month at 7:30am at our office.

The Chamber would like to thank Sen. Bruce Dammeier, Rep. Hans Zeiger, Rep. Melanie Stambaugh and Rep. Drew Stokesbary for meeting with our members, listening to their concerns, and providing us with a legislative update.  We also want to thank our transportation sponsor, Bill Korum Puyallup Nissan, for their support of this event.