The Guthrie Center Chamber of Commerce invites you to consider membership, whether you are a new business to town or an existing business who has never been a part of the Chamber in the past.
Our Chamber members include all kinds of businesses – service oriented (including professional, health & beauty, auto-care, etc.), manufacturing, retail/dining/shopping, farming operations, and some members are simply individuals and/or retired residents who believe in Guthrie Center and the future of our business environment who want to see our community, and business owners like you, thrive.
Our Chamber of Commerce has a lot to be proud of. The Chamber takes the lead on community events that have historically drawn significant community support and participation such as:
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Class Night: Providing a special reception for guests at Class Night (seniors graduating AC/GC).
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Celebrate Guthrie Cneter: Annually, we team up with other leadership organizations in the community and invite the community for an evening of updates and networking
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Summer Daze / Sidewalk Sales: Retailers or other businesses downtown are encouraged to participate, on the Highway 44 sidewalks in front of their stores, with sales & discounts to bring shoppers to town. This event is typically held in July.
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Food Drive: Collection of non-perishable food, hygiene & clothing items for New Opportunities.
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Teacher Coffee: Welcoming new and returning teachers and staff at AC/GC for the new school year.
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Parent Appreciation: A project with local elementary students.
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Fall Festival & Trick or Treat: Beggars night starts with Chamber member businesses handing out candy/goodies to the trick-or-treaters downtown, before they make their way to the residential neighborhoods. Earlier in October we partner with Main Street Guthrie Center to hold a Fall Festival downtown for children in costume to play games and win prizes!
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Holiday Showcase: This event is the first weekend of November and has been a total success! Three days of deals, lovely holiday store fronts, and visitors from all over Iowa shop in Guthrie Center and take advantage of all that we have to offer! Without question, we’ll be doing this again in 2021!
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Christmas Festival: Again, we partner with Main Street Guthrie Center to hold a Christmas Festival downtown for children to meet Santa and his helpers and even his live reindeer! The children play games, make treats and crafts to take home and also win prizes! This also includes promotions for the adults to get out and get shopping locally as they participate in a Reindeer Scavenger Hunt to win some great prizes also.
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Yard of the Month: From May to September we team up with Guthrie Center Lions Club to award Chamber Bucks to one family with a well-maintained yard! 2022 was our first year doing this, and it was so much fun, we held a Christmas edition!
Our community-wide events draw significant community support and participation, as well as attracting consumers from neighboring towns and counties.
The Chamber also lends support to other community efforts as well by putting up a Christmas light display at City Park and donating to the AC/GC Booster Club and AG/GC After-Prom activities. The Chamber is also a member of Midwest Partnership Development, Guthrie Activity Center and the Guthrie Center Area Economic Development Group.
The Chamber strives to promote shopping local and using the local services of our members by giving away Chamber Bucks in many of our promotions. We also encourage the public, civic groups and businesses to use Chamber Bucks as gifts. A business needs to be a Chamber member in order to redeem Chamber Bucks. The Chamber has also set aside an annual advertising budget to help promote your business through local newspapers and Social Media. We also record regular interviews on the local Raccoon Valley Radio Network on their popular “Let’s Talk Guthrie County” segment. We publicize our Members list when/where we can, as a way to show the community your support.
We meet monthly, the second Tuesday at noon, at various locations. At these meetings we discuss upcoming events, business promotions and our committees report on their events. If you can, feel free to attend one of our meetings to see if it’s a fit for you before committing to becoming a member.
Once becoming a member, you will receive reminders, agendas, minutes and other emails pertaining to Chamber meetings and events. Your business is also welcome to send to our Chamber email address promotions or items of interest you would like to share with other members, and we’ll forward those and post the information on our Facebook page as requested and/or necessary.
Our annual dues structure was developed and approved by our Board to be as equitable as possible. Special recognition is given to our Bronze, Sliver and Gold Members who give extra support to the Chamber.
We hope you are interested in showing your pride and support for Guthrie Center by becoming a Chamber member. Membership forms and dues (payable to “Guthrie Center Chamber”) can be mailed to Guthrie Center Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 193, Guthrie Center, IA 50115 or dropped off to Guthrie County State Bank at 413 State Street, Guthrie Center – ATTN: GC Chamber. Venmo is also accepted - @Guthrie-Chamber. Upon receipt of your dues and application, a member of our membership committee will reach out to you to schedule a ribbon cutting ceremony (for new members, if you opt to), which will be publicized as well.