Purpose of Meeting:

To Find and Accentuate the Positives in Your Business in Today’s Business Climate

Presenters:

Mark Nunn – Edward Jones Investments in Frisco, Financial Expert/Planner

Sharon Russell – Executive Director of Summit County Chamber of Commerce

Susan Roberts – Action Coach, business advisor/presenter offering group and individual counseling, serving Summit, Eagle, and Pitkin counties

Moderator:

Howard Hallman

Speakers: Mark Nunn, Susan Roberts, Sharon Russell,

Mark Nunn: this has been a bear market on steroids.  Yet, it is unlikely we would have a repeat of 1929 Great Depression where stock prices declined 89%. Why?  

·  In 1929, no FDIC

·  No social security

·  No unemployment benefits

·  No regulatory SEC

Who is to blame? (all of us)

·  People who bought big homes and didn’t have the income to support the loan

·  Mortgage brokers

·  Lenders

·  SEC

·  Wall Street (began packaging loans in new ways – sliced and diced them – “toxic assets”

·  Agencies that rated Securities

The market is bruised but not dead. Problems are serious but not insurmountable. We will come out of the recession. We should not stop at the headlines; the public needs a thorough understanding of what went wrong and how to proceed. Education is our single most important ally.

Susan Roberts: Creativity emerges from hard times. The rules are clear: we should take ownership of our business and marketing strategies, be accountable, and responsible. Blame, excuses, and denial help no one. Stay above the line and come in with a solution! Attitude is what you are willing to do. Try five things everyday to make your business work! Susan recommends the book by Tavern Wench: Yes is the Answer. What’s the Question? Our #1 killer is procrastination. 

Sharon Russell: Sharon believes in the Power of Words. Keep them upbeat and positive. Develop a thrive mentality; don’t go down a pre-determined path in your thinking. Customer service is even more essential now. Shift marketing to respond to the habits of your customer. Re-examine customer base; you may have to make an “in-flight switch”. Business owners should want more – more value advertising, more value customer service, more value product. More Value. Surpass the customer’s expectations. Check out Sharon’s informative blog on business tips, ideas, and things to consider on the Summit County Chamber website:  http://summitchamber.org/

Forum overview:

·  Time is ripe to unify the marketing plan of individual towns to market Summit County as a whole (example: Ski the Summit).

·  Increase our savings, more thoughtful investing, more quality stocks/dividends – Stock Market is a Bargain

·  Opportunities in real estate investments – Listing prices are low

·  Consider the homebuilder community (a great time to remodel, build a home; price of wood is down)

·  Consider non-traditional lending sources

·  Foster a county-wide spirit of success – come together as a County

Comments from several attendees:

 What specific actions do you think you might take with you as a result of tonight’s forum?”

·  Phillip Schlosser – Join the Chamber! (Primerica Financial)

·  Kent Abernathy – Set up a conference for people out of work

·  JoAnn Bemus – Market my business more (Extreme Clean Home & Condo Cleaning)

·  Lorie Williams – Possible new ways to enhance the Community & Senior Center’s Future