Chamber’s new lead has eyes on events
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FAIRMONT-- Miranda Tulowetzke has two weeks under her belt as president of the Fairmont Area Chamber of Commerce. Tulowetzke, a life-long resident of Martin County, has a diverse work history she believes has equipped her well for her new role.
After graduating from Truman High School, she went to Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, where she studied exercise science.
"I was going to do physical therapy but it was super competitive back in those days," Tulowetzke explained. "I ended up just moving back here and worked at Green Mill, which is how I know a lot of people."
She also worked for a time at Green Plains as a legal assistant and then was at Sweet Financial for five years.
"That's where I got my marketing experience," she said.
Most recently she was the branch lead at CCF Bank in Blue Earth. She officially started her role with the chamber on Sept. 9. However, Tulowetzke is not new to the chamber as she's been on the board for about three years.
The chamber is not responsible for bringing in new businesses, but once they're here, it works to support them by supplying local, state and national information and offering seminars and opportunities for networking. While the chamber focuses on members businesses first, it can assist all businesses in times of need.
Speaking to what got her interested in this position, she said, "I've always enjoyed doing community events and business networking. When the AI stuff came out, I really jumped head-first into that and really enjoyed that."
Tulowetzke expanded on the fact that she does enjoy socializing and networking and is looking forward to doing that through her role with the chamber.
"I think what they do here is very powerful and has a purpose," she said.
Carrying on some exciting chamber events, therefore, is something that Tulowetzke plans to keep up with. These include, but are not limited to, the Glows Parade, Chamber Golf Outing and new events like Sip and Shop and the 4th of July Boat Parade.
"I'm open to new ideas as well but it takes volunteers and I feel like that's hard to find. It's great to have ideas, but it takes committees and people to help if they want new things to come to town," she said.
In just a short amount of time, Tulowetzke has jumped into her new role. Her first day on the job was also the first Bureau 14 meeting of the year. Bureau 14 is a networking event that the chamber holds monthly from September to May at a different venue in town.
"That was fun. My first day I was the speaker. Kandi just threw me to the wolves," Tulowetzke said with a laugh of the chamber's former president, Kandi Menne. "I spoke about our upcoming events and where the chamber is sitting at. It was a beautiful night and we had about 20 people sitting on the patio at Tami's."
Then, a week after she started, the chamber's fourth annual Sip and Shop event took place. Looking forward to later this month, the chamber will host the candidate forums which take place ahead of elections.
Just last week, Tulowetzke went to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Executives (MCCE) conference in the Fargo/Moorehead area, where she had the opportunity to make connections and come away with some fresh ideas.
Speaking to what ideas or changes she'd like to bring about, Tulowetzke said, "I think I need to see how the events go so far to see how much we can add. Right now we're still down a front office person so we're kind of adjusting to see the need."
While she's still getting her footing, Tulowetzke is excited to continue to dive in and help support the business community in the greater Fairmont area.