
The State of the West Side Chamber
2025 Board President's Message
The board of directors and I are excited for an amazing 2025 for the DSM West Side Chamber!
Before I mention anything else, I want to thank Kristen Boldt who served as board president the past two years. When we had a leadership void she stepped up when we needed someone most. She led our board and our chamber establishing a solid foundation to get where we are at today. I will certainly lean on her as she serves in the Past-President role this year.
Similar appreciation goes out to our outgoing board members. They also have had a strong hand in our organization achieving that foundation and momentum. Any future success and growth that we experience the next few years will be partly because of their service. Thank you to:
Molly Olsasky - Mediacom
Dawn Collins - Edward Jones
Nancy Williamson - HOPE Agency
For those of you who don’t know me, I have been an active member of the West Side Chamber since 2018 and have served on the board since 2020. Beaverdale is where my home and heart are and my family has lived there since 2009. I’m married to my wife Tisa and we have four children (Ages 18,16,13,11). I own a financial planning firm, Teacher Wealth, that focuses on helping Iowa educators. I was a high school teacher for 17 years before embarking on my second career as a financial planner, so you can guess why I have chosen to help the clients I serve… educators are my people!
Now on to details about our chamber that you may or may not be aware of…
Chamber Stability
I’m happy to report that our chamber is in a strong financial position and ready to grow!
We are excited to celebrate 2024 at our upcoming Annual Celebration on Thursday, February 6th (Hope you can join us!) but we are just as pumped about the momentum we will be building on in 2025.
Drake Intern
This past June we hired a student intern from Drake to help with back-office support. Our intern has been crucial in bolstering our communication with membership, coordinating billing/invoicing, and making sure things don’t fall through the cracks.
Delaney Henry has owned this role, helped define what it should be, and impressed everyone she has come in contact with these past 7-8 months. She graduated in December and is currently looking for a full-time position in the Minneapolis area. If anyone needs a great employee who can work remotely let me know. Her interest lies in marketing and she is dynamite!
We have recently posted a position for a new intern to take Delaney’s place.
Membership Engagement Coordinator
Traci Klein began her role as the chamber’s engagement coordinator on January 1st.
This position is, I believe, the missing piece our chamber needs to take us to the next level. We are so excited to finally have someone who can…
- Put their entire focus on meeting with you, our members.
- Help you get engaged.
- Listen to your needs and suggestions.
- Ensure that you get the most out of your membership.
- Go out and encourage other businesses and organizations on the West Side to become members and join our great chamber community!
Traci has been a member of our chamber for a number of years and has hit the ground running in her new role. She already knows the culture of our chamber and the events/programs that we offer.
Expect Traci to contact you at some point to touch base and try to schedule a meeting to discuss the chamber and how you can be engaged. Please take her email or call. She is going to help you as a member and us as a chamber as we continue to improve in serving you.
Events (Including some new for 2025!)
You can always check the Chamber Calendar for dates and event details.
Ongoing events
We will continue to have our usual events in 2025 that we have offered the past few years:
- Third Thursdays.
- Wake Up West Side.
- Lunch and Learns.
- Downtown breakfast - This is a Downtown chamber-hosted event. Our members can join this event at no extra fee.
- Ribbon Cuttings to celebrate our members' milestones.
Fantasy Football League
We added this on a whim in 2024 and the ten members who joined in the fun were able to connect and build relationships in a unique way.
We will be looking to add unconventional opportunities like this in 2025 that will be fun and maybe a little outside of the box. If you have suggestions let me know. If it is fun and easy to organize we will consider it.
Small Business Workshop Series
Hoping to offer something new of massive value to help small business owners, this workshop series is what we came up with.
This is a chance for members to carve out time to work ON their business. Many of us spend too much time IN our business, making it challenging to do important things that often get overlooked because of lack of time. Even though it is designed for business owners, those who are not in that role can benefit from some if not all of the workshops offered.
There are 12 individuals in our 2025 cohort who signed up for the entire series.
Our first workshop on 2025 goal setting was a great success and we are looking forward to our other workshop topics on taxes, marketing, retirement planning, and more.
Signing up for the rest of the series and getting added to the cohort is still possible. Or, you can sign up for only the one or two workshops that you find most interesting.
Accountability Partner Program
Soon to be announced!
If you find that accountability is an issue getting in the way of becoming the best version of yourself, you will want to sign up for our accountability partner program. Be on the lookout for more information!
Ongoing Programs
B.O.S.S.
Are you a business owner and would find value in attending a group with other business leaders where you can discuss your challenges openly and honestly?
The experience and wisdom in the group can often give you the insight, answer, question to ask yourself, push, or just the listening ear you need at the moment.
All group members sign a confidentiality agreement.
Speaking from my own experience, there have been major decisions I have made at Teacher Wealth because of the discussions had in the B.O.S.S. group I attend.
West Side Referral Network
Want an opportunity to earn referrals? This monthly group does just that.
There are only a few spots available with our current group so don’t delay in reaching out if you are interested. We will soon be starting a waitlist to get referral network #2 up and running.
Ambassadors
Another great opportunity to network with people who are super active with the chamber. Build deeper connections quickly and help chamber members get the most value out of their membership.
Collaboration with the Downtown Chamber
We continue to collaborate with the Downtown Chamber to find ways where we can serve both of our members better.
Combined Events
We invite members of the Downtown Chamber to attend our Third Thursday networking event each month and they do the same for us for their monthly Breakfast Club networking.
Higher attendance at these events increases the networking opportunities available to you.
2025 Golf Outing
This year the two chambers will jointly hold our annual golf outing at Waveland Golf Course. Save the date: September 11, 2025.
Affiliate Membership
If you are located in the footprint of the Des Moines West Side Chamber, you can become a member of the Downtown Chamber at a 50% discount as long as you stay a current member of our chamber.
The same deal applies to Downtown members located in the Downtown Chamber's footprint boundaries. They can join us as an affiliate and West Side Chamber dues will cost 50% less.
Excitement for 2025
As you can see:
- Our membership is growing.
- Our staff is growing.
- Our events and programs are growing.
- Our goals are growing.
Our board will continue to look for ways to grow the value of your membership.
We are excited for 2025 to be the best year since our inception to be a DSM West Side Chamber member.
To Your Success,
Mike Johnson
DSM West Side Board President