October 25, 2022

Each year, our board members carve out a full day in the early fall for a board retreat that is anchored by several meetings centered around building on the strategic vision of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce. We, of course, aim to tie some fun into the day for the board members as well, strengthening those relationships and fostering long-term opportunities. I wanted to share the experiences from the retreat with you all.

I was very happy to see the chamber’s plans this year would have us in Winter Garden, for the opportunity to learn about the history of our region and truly engage with many members in the surrounding area.

We started the day with our strategic planning meetings in Heller Hall at the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation. During our meetings, we reviewed great updates from Stina and the Chamber staff around the key success metrics we’ve been focused on for this year and had many productive conversations. Then we were thankful to hear from Jim Crescitelli, Director of the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation, as he presented the rich history of Winter Garden to our full group. Jim and his team host many groups and class field trips at Heller Hall, providing a great background to Winter Garden and our region that I highly recommend to anyone that hasn’t had the opportunity to experience it yet.

Our board members then had the opportunity to tour downtown Winter Garden together and visit Chamber members in the area. I loved the opportunity to meet with our members, learn more about their businesses and build on the spirit of why we are all part of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce, supporting community, collaboration, and leadership.

I’m looking forward to visiting many of the members we saw during the retreat again, but also visiting members in other parts of the West Orange community! I’m hopeful you’ll consider chamber members as you start your holiday shopping and event planning!