Mansfield Chamber hires director, stays very active

For the first time ever, the Mansfield Chamber of Commerce hired a director.
Funding was secured for a year for this position. The new director, Janet Cain, has stepped into the role.
When asked what she wants for the future for the Chamber of Commerce of Mansfield Janet said, “I would like to see cooperation and unity between the various groups in the community. When we work together, Mansfield and the surrounding area will benefit.”
Before and even now, events were organized by volunteer chamber members. Volunteer event planning committee chamber chairwoman, Robin Brainard, is leading the planning committee and working on adding new events to Mansfield’s calendar.
When asked what her position was in the Chamber of Commerce, Robin stated, “From 2004 to 2008 I was in Beta Sigma Phi sorority, a women’s social organization, down in Poplar Bluff Missouri and did the events for two years there. I didn’t pick it up again until last year when I joined the Chamber. My position as it stands now is just an individual that joined the Chamber and is the chair person/chairwoman for the events committee, and yes this is a volunteer position.”
Everyone expects the annual events hosted by the chamber, sometimes with the help of other organizations in the community.
Those include the Easter egg hunt in March or April (depending on the date that Easter falls on), the Fourth of July celebration in late June, Wilder Days in September (not solely a chamber hosted event), Trunk or Treat on Halloween, and Christmas in the Ozarks in December.
These events are usually free to the community, but with the need for fundraising, a few tweaks have occurred.
A pancake breakfast was hosted before the Easter egg hunt to help bring in revenue. New events that are not all free have been added this year.
A business networking gathering happened in March at Wingo’s Cafe, a talent show was held in April at a local church, a Taste of the Town event showcasing local cuisine is on the calendar for July at the Community Center (replacing last year’s concert in the park, at least for this year), and a chamber sponsored chili cook off during the car show is planned in October, most likely on the square. These are all new events for this year.
With Robin leading the planning committee, the events have doubled. Robin is so excited to have Janet join the team!
With Robin, Janet, and the entire chamber working hard, Mansfield has already seen an up tick in family friendly events for this quaint town.
Now that Janet is on board, the Chamber of Commerce is able to strive for reaching goals for the chamber, which echoes into benefits for Mansfield residents and other communities.
“The Chamber has been in pursuit of a director for some time. We are absolutely thrilled to have Janet join our team. From day one, she’s made a positive impact—bringing organization, professionalism, and energy to everything she does. Janet is not only a huge asset to the Chamber, but to the entire Mansfield community. We truly couldn’t be happier to have her on board,” said Jen Ramos, President of the Mansfield Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber of Commerce works together to better the town and benefit everyone by recruiting businesses and hosting events. The chamber offers benefits to the businesses, but these businesses help a small town community thrive.