| Welcome to the Mississippi Valley Partners (MVP) Membership!
Founded in June 1992, we are a non-profit coalition of business owners and other volunteers who have joined forces to promote tourism and economic development in the area around Lake Pepin and the Mississippi River Valley. The many benefits of membership are listed below. You may also access this information by checking our website, http://www.mississippi-river.org/membership.html.
On the site you can also access the by-laws [word document] and download them.
Meetings
Our meetings are usually held 7:00 – 9:00 pm the first Wednesday of each month in one of our 14 communities. For the time and location of the next meeting, check our website: Meeting Location; minutes of our last meeting are listed on our website under Meeting Minutes, while minutes of previous meetings can be found on our website under Meeting Archives.
Responsibilities of Membership
Being a member of MVP requires more than just paying your membership fee. Please attend our meetings and get a chance to meet some of your fellow members. As a volunteer organization, MVP depends upon its members to hold various offices, serve on committees, distribute travel planners, recruit new members, staff booths, and take initiative to support other MVP activities. Decide which office you might like to hold and discuss this with the President or a Board Member. Sign up for one of our standing committees focused around events and activities such as the 100-Mile Garage Sale, Birding Festival, Gardens, Marketing, and Membership. You may also give us your photos that we can use in future publications of the travel planning guide; click Shutter Bugs on our website for more information. You may pick up your supply of travel planning guides at our Wednesday meetings. As a member, we encourage you to distribute the guides, make them available in your place of business, and inform others about how they can obtain additional copies. You may refer to our website or toll-free number 1.888.999.2619, in case someone requests a guide and you have none available.
Once again, I would like to personally welcome you as a member of Mississippi Valley Partners.
MVP is a wonderful group, based on volunteerism that is a great help in promoting our businesses. Now that you have joined MVP, enjoy all of the benefits of your membership and apply your talents to make a great organization even better. I hope this answers the majority of the questions you may have about membership in MVP. You are always welcome to contact me.
James Grandy, President
| 2007-2008 MVP Officers: |
| President: Dale Bluem |
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| Member-at-Large: Rachel Yenter |
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| Acting Secretary: Carol Wiersma |
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| Acting Treasurer: Dale Bluem |
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| Member-at-Large:Paul Garry |
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| Member-at-Large: Dan Fedie |
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| 2008 Town Captains: |
| Alma: OPEN |
Kellogg: Shelly Speedling |
| Nelson: Jim & Laura Grandy |
Wabasha: Brian Yenter |
| Pepin: Joanne Lerum |
Reads Landing: Mary DeRoos |
| Stockholm: Carol Wiersma |
Camp Lacupolis: Bea & Dick Koch |
| Maiden Rock: Tricia DuSaint/Loribeth Wade |
Lake City: Paul Garry |
| Bay City: OPEN |
Frontenac: Harry Roberts |
| Winona: Pat Mutter |
Red Wing: OPEN |
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| Benefits
of Membership |
| Any member of MVP is eligible to host a meeting, and you are encouraged to do so. What better way to showcase your business! Time slots fill quickly; so, if you would like to be a host, contact the current president who will let you know what dates are available. Our annual meeting is held in February, when we elect officers for the following year. Any MVP member is eligible to hold an office. |
| As a paid member of MVP, you are eligible to have a free web page on our website, http://www.mississippi-river.org. A link to your web site is also free. Your free web page can include one picture and up to 250 words of text; you may include additional information for a fee. To get your web page on the MVP website, go to the Member page on the MVP website and pull up the page labeled “Join Us”; on the side of the page you will see a box which indicates that if you are a member you can log in to complete your webpage. To log in you will need to enter user: mvp, then the password is: membership. |
| Only paid members of MVP, located in one of the 14 communities, are eligible to advertise in our Mississippi Valley Partners Travel Planning Guide. Published each January, we distribute copies to significant sites in the Twin Cities, Rochester, Eau Claire, and surrounding areas. Sites include the Mall of America, rest stops and travel information centers along freeways leading to our area, the Mayo Clinic, hotels, and restaurants. The costs of travel planner ads are not included in your membership fee. Travel planner bids are reviewed each fall, and the company that receives the contract for printing is given a list of current paid members to contact about placing ads. |
| MVP membership not only provides excellent internet and print-advertising opportunities for you to promote your business, membership also helps you to develop mutually supportive relationships and network with others in our 14 communities who can promote your business. MVP members routinely refer business to other members, and they work concertedly to preserve the scenic, environmental, and historical treasures of our area. |
| Each of our 14 communities has a Town Captain who answers questions members in that community may have and reports on the activities of that town at our monthly meetings. This insures that others in our group are aware of upcoming festivals, concerts, and other events and may send business your way. If you have an event scheduled, notify your Town Captain, so he/she can announce it at the next meeting. The current board members and Town Captains are listed in the monthly meeting notices at Meeting Location on our website. |
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