Published: May 14, 2008 11:31 am         

Commission to work with Chamber officials

In an attempt to become more prominent in Goshen, the Community Relations Commission is looking to work with one of the most well known organizations in the Maple City — the Goshen Chamber of Commerce.

CRC members met Tuesday to discuss their next steps following last month’s decision to devote their budget toward grants within Goshen.

The commission decided then that it would be a good idea to set up a “demo (demonstration) grant” with a local organization to see if putting money into an event could down the road benefit them financially. The first group it was agreed on to talk to was the chamber.

CRC members Richard Aguirre and Chic Lantz recently met with Chamber President David Daughterty and Vice President Brent Randall to discuss whether there was something that could be done collaboratively.

From that discussion arose the possibility of a workshop centered on getting Latino and Anglo business owners to have their clientele more connected.

“Being dependent on one sector of the community limits your opportunity to grow,” Aguirre pointed out.

The Chamber of Commerce regularly sponsors half-day workshops and training sessions, and Aguirre said they may be able to find a consultant to speak on business diversity issues.

“We should think small at this point to see how well it works,” Aguirre said.

CRC members may have to decide as to whether or not to continue the grant experiment sooner rather than later. Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman, who was at Tuesday night’s meeting, said that budget requests for next year have to be submitted in the next several weeks.

If several organizations are seeking grants from the CRC, then that would have a significant impact how much money the commission would seek from the City Council.