LBOT Annual Report NOVEMBER 30, 2023
LAUREL BOARD OF TRADE
ANNUAL REPORT
DELIVERED AT THE
ANNUAL GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
NOVEMBER 30, 2023
Beginning in late 2018 with the revising and updating of the By-Laws (approved in November 2019), the Laurel Board of Trade has been working step by step to build LBOT into a vibrant, diverse, inclusive, professional association of businesses in the City of Laurel. By December of 2022, and in spite of COVID and all it entailed, we had an organizational structure in place with procedures and committees, policies and expectations, a solid budget, and long-term plans.
Starting in January 2023, we welcomed two new Directors to the Board (Jason Plotkin and Joshua Rosales) and then held 2 major, new events. The Business Roundtable, held in conjunction with the City of Laurel was an opportunity for all businesses in the City to meet with the Mayor and Dept Directors and have a 2-way conversation about business issues, concerns and compliments as well as learn what each Department does. It was a great success and we will be hosting the 2nd Annual Business Roundtable on January 23, 2024…please plan to attend!
The second new event was a Board of Directors Retreat. During the retreat, we assessed what had been accomplished, what still needed to be done, what short and long term plans should be put in place and what the LBOT focus should be for 2023.
We agreed with structure in place, the focus should be on bringing more LBOT members into active participation with the organization and increase the community’s awareness of our existence and what LBOT does and stands for.
To accomplish this, we developed a multi-pronged approach starting with our social media. We have increased and formalized our social media presence and need to thank Vice-President Reshma Bourne. She has developed a series of theme days for each week with the most popular being Trivia Tuesdays. Reshma has also coordinated with LBOT member, Mike Mondy, who runs a very popular FB page called LaurelMD Connect. I hope you are all following our FB page and click the like and share buttons when you see something there. The FB page is also how we communicate with members about upcoming events and other things members need to know in between issues of the newsletter
Director Jody Broughton has worked tirelessly to expand on the monthly Networking meetings. Starting in September, she was able to hold the first IN PERSON networking event since 2019. About 40 people attended the event at LBOT member Acapulco Restaurant. She has established an on-going schedule of lunch-time zoom meetings for 2 months with the 3rd month being in person in the evening at an LBOT member location. The December networking event will be in person at the Entourage Hair Salon on December 21st from 5:30 to 7:30pm. We hope to see you there!
Director Carla Conway agreed to be the Host for our TV program Around Town. She has done a series of LBOT member interviews that are broadcast on Laurel TV and made available on YouTube and the LBOT website. Thanks to the skills and expertise available to us from the City, the quality of these interviews is comparable to anything you see on CBS or MSNBC. If you haven’t been interviewed yet, you will be soon.
The Featured Business Program was revamped this year. President Marilyn Johnson had been featuring one business a month on the LBOT website and in the LBOT newsletter. That worked okay when our 2019 membership was maybe 30 people. Our 2023 membership now stands at 120+. Working with VP Reshma Bourne, they decided to use the LBOT FB page to feature 3 businesses a week so every member would be featured in a year..
The newsletter continues to go out each month packed with LBOT, Member, City and Community news and information. All the issues are available on the LBOT website under the NEWS tab.
As LBOT has grown, so has what we need from our website. We have been working for the past several months to update and expand what it can do for us.
We hope to have it up and running soon.
To increase our outreach into the community LBOT has participated in the City’s Juneteenth Day, Night Out Against Crime, Community and Culture Day and Pride Day. Thanks to Chair Jim Cross and President Marilyn Johnson and a myriad of Director and member volunteers to staff the LBOT table at these events (which includes hauling and setting up our display of LBOT member literature). This means if you haven’t dropped off your business cards and brochures you should do so now…or restock the supply if you have.
The LBOT Officers have continued to meet regularly with the Mayor and Dept Directors to share what the business concerns are, what the City is doing, who can deal/solve which problem, what compliments to pass on and keep all sides informed. This has been an important part of how LBOT is able to provide service and impact to the Laurel business community.
The City passed a milestone this year. After 21 years as Mayor, Craig Moe decided not to run for re-election. Five people ran for Mayor. On the City Council, 2 members ran for re-election leaving 3 seats up for grabs. A total of 11 people ran for 5 seats on the Council. As it has in the past, LBOT hosted Candidate Forums. Thanks to the efforts of Director Jason Plotkin, former Director Bob Mignon, Jim Cross and Marilyn Johnson we held 2 Forums, one for Mayoral candidates and one for Council candidates. We worked with the City to broadcast the Forums on Laurel TV. We opened our website and FB page to the community to submit questions for all the candidates. We must also thank Pamela Hunter for acting as the Moderator and maintaining decorum.
As LBOT hears about businesses’ Grand Openings, Ribbon Cuttings and Special Events, various Directors and Officers have attended to represent LBOT and show that we support them. They have also represented LBOT at many other functions such as Small Business Saturday, Sustainable Saturday, The Farmer’s Market, and many more.
We all know that COVID has caused many changes for many people, businesses and organizations. True for LBOT, too. We have dropped the September Riverfest from our calendar of events and are re-evaluating the August Back2School Jam.
One event that has stayed is Trick or Treat on Main Street. It’s always been a popular event drawing hundreds of costumed kids and parents, but this year was exceptional in numbers. Many businesses, including LBOT, ran out of candy before we ran out of kids. Rumor has it that the Women’s Club ran short in spite of having 82 pounds of candy.
Our mainstay event, the Main Street Festival, has and will continue. COVID wreaked havoc on the scheduling of Main Street Festival. There was no festival in May 2020, efforts to schedule for October 2020, May 2021 and October 2021 all fell thru. When finally we would have a MSF in May 2022 we were forced to cancel it 24 hours before due to severe weather and flood warnings. October 2022 was a relief. We finally had a Festival! It was a success.
But, successful though it was, it, too, was re-evaluated as we came out of COVID. For the May 2023 Festival we wanted to make it more “kid friendly” with games and attractions specifically for them. We wanted to focus more on local vendors and artisans and bring back the hometown emphasis. We wanted to share the limelight with other local non-profits by selecting Parade Judges who represent those non-profits and Grand Marshalls who represent the vibrancy and history of Laurel. We wanted to highlight the local talent of artists just getting started so we added a 3rd stage called “Laurel’s Got Talent” and invited dancers, musicians, rappers, and performance artists. MSF 2023 was the same and different and it was a huge success.
Another part of the MSF re-evaluation was the date of the Festival. The pre-COVID traditional date was always the Saturday before Mother’s Day. We knew this had a negative impact on some Main Street merchants and we needed to respect that. So for MSF 2023 we experimented and held it on May 20th, the week after Mother’s Day. But other feedback said October was good; others said we should do it some time in May, some insisted it should go back to tradition. To be fair in setting a date for MSF going forward for the rest of eternity, we did a survey of Main Street Merchants, MSF Vendors, LBOT members and MSF Parade participants. The final decision was made based on survey results and it will always be the day before Mother’s Day from 2024 onwards. That was by a lot!
We do listen to members and the community and try to follow through as much as possible. In response to requests from Main Street merchants, this will be the first year of a Holiday Decorating contest on Main Street. Director Carla Conway is leading the efforts with help from Reshma Bourne and Marilyn Johnson. Businesses can register to participate, be judged, win prizes and create a Holiday atmosphere that brings shoppers to Main Street. This year is the fledgling event and we hope to build on it in coming years and really make it something to look forward to.
But, the down side of listening and trying to follow thru is that, as with many organizations, there seems to be a ratio of 10/90. Our Directors are all business people and they are all volunteers. I’m happy to say that this year our outreach to members and encouragement to actively participate has brought more members to the fore. We need more, lots more. There are so many ideas, suggestions, why don’t cha’s and not enough member power to do them all. This is where you come in. Volunteer your time, skills, expertise and help keep this organization growing. The ultimate goal is to build community. It can be fun and rewarding and help your business.
