Menno Area Development Corporation

February 17, 2009

The Menno Area Development Corporation held its regular monthly meeting February 17, 2009 at the Open Door Café with the following present: Peg Thranum, Bill Headley, David Bender, Darlene Mehlhaf, Jerome Hoff, Morna Anderson, Dale Weiss, Jeffrey Zeeb, Bruce Anderson, Donna Zeeb and Shannon Herrboldt.

President Dale Weiss called the meeting to order at 12:15 p.m.

Jerome Hoff moved to approve the agenda. Shannon Herrboldt seconded; motion carried.

David Bender moved to approve the minutes. Morna Anderson seconded; motion carried.

Jerome Hoff moved to approve the finance report. Shannon Herrboldt seconded; motion carried.

SEFP REPORT: The SEFP report was handed out with the packets as Nancy Larsen was absent. She submitted information stating “Nearly 61% of ALL businesses in the US have 4 or less employees.” The SBA Advocacy shows the US had over 6 million small employers (less than 500 employees) in 2006, representing 99.7% of the nation’s employers and 50.2% of its private-sector employment. South Dakota had 21, 233 small employers for the same period, representing 96.8% of the state’s employers and 63.2% of its private-sector employment. Further data on all states and territories is available at www.sba.gov/advo/research/profiles.

There were no committee reports given.

Business: A “Survive and Thrive, Small Business Education Series” was shared with the group. There is no cost for the one hour training sessions that will provide guidance on various areas of business management and are designed for small businesses who want to improve business practices and be better positioned in today’s economy. The Ready Talk system is a call-in and website login system, which enables us to provide an audio presentation over the phone and a video presentation over the internet. Lines are extremely limited so call 605-330-4243 and press 0 to register NOW! Registration closes one day prior to each session. The first of six weekly sessions is Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. CST, “Where do I stand financially? Getting a grip on your finances by understanding your financial statements.”

Discussion was had on gathering statistics that would be needed to attract business to the community. Weiss and Thranum are working on this and will try to have something put together for the next meeting.

Donna Zeeb moved to hold our March 17 meeting at 12 noon at the Open Door Café. Darlene Mehlhaf seconded; motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Peggy Thranum, Secretary