2024 Was Fantastic, 2025 Will Be “Fantasticker”

In the past few weeks, I’ve sent messages to our membership regarding various events and legislative issues and I enjoy doing that.  I also wrote messages to our members for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years expressing my hopes and wishes for that season.  Thank you to Positively Osceola for allowing me to expand on those topics with some thoughts on 2024 and the exciting prospects for our community in 2025.

Accomplishments

Like most of you, 2024 was filled with a number of successes and fortunately, just a few lows.  One of the main goals we set for the year was not so much numbers but being the very best we can be in whatever we do.  I understand that for numbers driven people this might be difficult so let me help you with that.

• 2024 was the year we worked through a political season like no other.  Our Politics in the Barn event reminded us that though we may differ in opinion, Osceola County is worth discussing, debating and coming together with a clear vision for our community.
• We brought our members together many times through the year but bringing our entire community out for the 2024 Christmas Parade was just, well, heartwarming.  I get a huge emotional lift from looking down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the lake and watching a sea of families greet the Holiday season.  There is nothing like it.
• We presented a wide variety of business and community meetings and programs but one that really pulls at my heart each January is our Women 2 Women event that focuses on Human Trafficking.  The Chamber takes time away each year from business discussions to talk about keeping our friends, family and especially our children safe.

Challenges

I believe challenges are necessary, within reason, to keep us sharp, “on our game” and looking forward.   Problem solving brings out our best ideas and innovations that are later incorporated into our standard operating processes.  That may sound a little stiff and formal so, in other words, without challenges we get bored and stop thinking.

• In 2023, the Chamber Board asked us to begin working with our Veteran community.  We gathered all the Veterans groups that we knew of to come to the Chamber to talk about how we can help.  The feedback we got was that the established groups were already serving the veterans so don’t just invent something.  In 2024, through one of our members, Connecting the Dots for Veterans, we provided Chamber space that would allow Veterans to work with Connecting the Dots to prepare for their VA appointments.
• With a limited staff and an even more limited calendar, we wondered how to educate the business community on issues they needed to know.  Fortunately, our members came through with educational sessions that included Leadership, First Time Home Buying, Medicare 101, Spanish classes, and Financial Wellness workshops.  Our members showed just how many resources are available to us all.

The Vision for 2025

St. Cloud and Osceola County are uniquely positioned to not only handle the growth coming our way but to utilize it in phenomenal ways.  We may look at traffic and congestion and other challenges that are insurmountable but as mentioned above, these issues cause us to think, and talk and plan.  Only good can come out of our collaborative efforts

• The Chamber hopes to continue as a thought leader, innovator and information conduit for our members and for our community throughout 2025.
• Our goal is to make sure each member feels like family.  We believe that business, home and community should work together to create the quality of life that we want for ourselves and for our children.
• We stand behind our vision and mission of Advocating for Business and Community Prosperity.  Not just for our members, but for every person that works, lives or plays within Osceola County.

I want to challenge you to think outside the proverbial box in 2025 and find additional ways to “Pay it Back,” and even “Pay it Forward.”   

Pay it Back.  Take the time to reward those who contribute to our business and community successes by creating positive comments and gestures.  In this age of social media its easy to pop off with a searing remark about what angers us.  It’s so much more important to send a kind wish or comment to those who serve us.  That is a challenge we all can achieve.

Pay it Forward.  In 2025 intentionally find those people who could benefit from our deposits into their lives.  This is more than just buying a Starbucks for the car behind you.  We’re talking here about taking time to listen, to roll up our sleeves and help, and to even contribute a small token toward their future success.

2025.  Let’s make it a great one!

Holidays come and go.  Not only do we spend time with the people we are closest to, but we use the various holidays to mark the passing of time.

So often we look across the table at a relative or friend and begin the conversation with, “I remember one Thanksgiving…” or “Do you remember that Christmas when we…”

It is most appropriate to mark time at a Holiday such as Thanksgiving.  As we begin to look at winding our year down we are faced with what we have accomplished, the milestones we have passed and, for we who are older, how much time we have to left to affect our world both personally and professionally.

Thanksgiving is notable for measuring that short list I mentioned above with an attitude of appreciation.  Christmas is known for its sense of magic, color and tangible expressions of our love.  New Year’s provides us with the opportunity to set things right again and make our personal vows that those measurables will be immensely improved in the next year.

So, let’s stop and, in honor of Thanksgiving, set our minds and hearts inward:

• Let’s be thankful for what we already have, who we have, and the gracious blessings we’ve experienced this year.
• Let’s gather just a little closer, tune out the distractions and find the good in our world.
• Let’s turn our hearts upward in a silent moment of gratitude to the One who loves us even when we struggle to be lovable.

As always, I have a list of wishes for you this Holiday weekend:

• May you find a few hours to share a parade, a Thanksgiving dinner or a movie with people you love.
• May you lose the wishbone wish to a three-year-old who wishes to be a dinosaur.
• May you catch the winning pass in the family touch football game in the back yard and may your celebration dance be memorable.
• May you have another piece of pumpkin pie with an extra dollop of whipped cream and maybe some ice cream on top (you knew I’d find a way to include ice cream in this.)
• May the smells of turkey, ham or your family’s traditional dishes, take you back to a special memory of dear loved ones who once filled chairs at your table.
• May you realize with a heartfelt prayer that there are those living desperate lives around the world who are hoping for a brighter tomorrow.
• May God grant you blessings beyond your wildest imagination that you may share with others as we all work to bring peace to our world.

On behalf of Heather, Indhiana, Abigail and our entire St. Cloud Chamber family, we wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving.