By Mary Jo Coulehan
Pagosa Springs Area
Chamber of Commerce
After a beautiful Easter weekend, people are certainly getting spring fever. But it’s not totally time to plant yet, except for maybe some hardy pansies. However, we can certainly plan.
The Chamber’s annual Pagosa Pride Hanging Basket program is now open. We will be offering our 12-inch and 16-inch baskets again this year.
The 12-inch baskets are planted especially for our program with a mix of geraniums, greens and “trailing vines,” and other colorful mixes of flowers. They come fully grown and very full, so it is important that upon hanging your baskets, you take care to protect them from wind and water them often.
The 16-inch baskets are primarily planted with calibrachoa flowers which love the full sun. They are stunningly full and quite heavy when watered, so make sure if you get one,that you have an appropriate place to hang the basket and support the weight.
Your display will certainly be the talk of the neighborhood or business location. The 12-inch baskets are $35 and the 16-inch baskets are $110. All flowers come with some plant fertilizer to help their growth through the season.
Our goal is to help beautify our community, your home or neighborhood. These colorful baskets are a welcoming invitation for people to enter your store or home. The program is not limited to businesses and is open to the public.
We’ve lost track of time; however, this program has been in effect for almost 20 years. The easiest way to order your baskets is to go to the Chamber’s website at www.pagosachamber.com. On the home page, there is a graphic under the Chamber and Community News section that will take you straight to the order form. There is a place for your organizational name. If an individual, just re-enter your name and that information will suffice. If you have trouble with your Internet or would rather pay by check, simply call the Chamber and we will fill out a form and take your check. Either way, ordering is very simple. The 12-inch baskets will be available for pick-up from the Chamber on May 28, just in time for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The 16-inch baskets are usually delivered the first week of June. However, they were delivered earlier last year, so we need to wait and see what the schedule is this year. It will be around the Memorial Day holiday weekend. If you would like your baskets delivered to your business or home, we will be happy to do so for a nominal fee.
Perk up your entrances, patios and balconies with beautiful hanging baskets. Visitors to Pagosa every year comment on how lovely our community is decorated with colorful floral baskets. Thank you for upgrading your businesses and welcoming people into your facilities with beautiful, colorful flowers.
Re-envisioning Retail — an online conference
The Pagosa Springs Chamber is pleased to partner with the Colorado Workforce Development Council’s virtual conference, Re-envisioning Retail, April 14-16. While the title says retail, this conference is really geared toward all those industries in the tourism market: restaurants, lodging, retail, basically — frontline workers.
The conference is also held part-day, not all day to better engage business owners and key staff. Day one has sessions on how businesses can better listen to and engage their employees and integrate their ideas into the organization’s structure.
Day two focuses on employee hiring and retention and building partnerships that can help retain quality employees. It also looks at industry trends and what can your business do to attract new customers and employ new strategies.
Day three is about training. It will have some Colorado-based businesses share how they develop employees through in-house training and include some actionable steps that you can incorporate into existing training programs.
The virtual conference uses the Whova platform, which will also allow you to engage with other employers before and after the virtual conference. You can connect with other business owners and seek and share advice and best practices.
The conference is free and open to the first 300 people who sign up. You can access the registration information at: https://cwdc.colorado.gov/reenvisioning-retail. The beauty of this conference is you can sign up for sessions that are of the greatest interest to you if you cannot attend the whole event. Don’t miss the free opportunity to help develop your workforce, especially new hires. Here is a great opportunity to engage in specific frontline training.
