Minutes from:

• 03/02/05

NCABA Minutes

March 2, 2005 - Palace Hotel

The Northern Cambria Are Business Alliance met on Wednesday March 2. The meeting was called to order by President Chuck Contres at 8:05 am.

Those in attendance: Chuck Contres (Long-Contres Funeral Home, Inc.) Donna Zerbee ( Ameriserv Financial), Barb Kirby (First National Bank), John Weaver (John’s Hardware and Tools), Judy Hassen (Charlsons Furniture) John Rouse (Rouse’s Flower Shop) and our guest speaker Allen Bassler (Penn State Cooperative Extension Office).

Minutes of the Feb 16, 2005 meeting were read and approved. Motion by Barb Kirby and seconded by John Weaver.

Treasurer’s report:

$1339.91 with only 1 outstanding bill for the breakfast meeting March 2. We received 2 new memberships for $25.00 each, The Vision Committee and American Legion Post 508. These checks have not yet been deposited. Barb mentioned we are still in need of getting the founding members signature on the bylaws so that we can move forward on the tax exempt status.

Committee Reports:

Marketing Committee - Neither Jerry Brant or Fran Filkins were able to attend the meeting. More information on this committee at the next meeting.

Scholarship Committee - Donna Zerbee reported that the scholarship committee has met and come up with a list of criteria for the scholarships. Letters are being mailed to the 4 area schools, including Northern Cambria, Cambria Heights, Bishop Carroll and Harmony. The deadline date to apply for the scholarships will be April 15. We will award 2- $250.00 scholarships to 1 male and 1 female.

Fundraising/Activities Committee - Texas HoldEM Party- Fran was not able to attend the meeting; however, she is pursuing other options to still hold this event. The original contact has refused to organize it for us because of alcohol being able to be served at the premise. The original dates we had chosen are also no longer available.

Membership Committee - John Rouse reported that this committee had placed an ad in the Star Courier and received no response. Their original plan was to do the ad and then send postcards to area businesses as a follow-up. They are still going to follow thru send out the postcards. They are also going to getting in touch with other area alliances and pursue to ways of attracting new members.

In other business:

Chuck Contres noted that we still need to do a letter of support to the Coal Country Hangout for their skateboarding park.

Barb Kirby reported that both she and Fran Filkins had attended the Alliance for Business and Industry Meeting on February 24. This alliance group is focused on the growth and development for the northern part of Cambria county. The NCABA was welcomed to the meeting and encourage to join. The annual membership is $50.00. A vote taken and all present were in favor of joining. Barb and Fran agreed to continue attending these meeting which are held every other month. All current NCABA are also encourage to attend. Next meeting will be held on April 28 at the Community College.

Allen Bassler from the Penn State Cooperative Extension Office was our guest speaker. He explained how this program offers the assistance of Penn State resources and experts to help us grow and improve our community. The Community and Economic Development program offers planning, education and evaluation services to local and county governments, community organizations, agriculturalist, adults and youth. Allen also works very closely with the Cambria County Commissioners.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:00am.

The next scheduled meeting is Wed. March 16, 12:00, at the Slovak Club.