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As the Baraga Chamber of Commerce marks its 15-year anniversary this week, 35 Baraga County businesses will receive awards Friday for their continued support as founding members of the Chamber.
“The Chamber has been in existence for 15 years. We’re celebrating our 15th anniversary this week actually. Our purpose is to support the businesses in Baraga County, the ones that are members and the ones that are not members,” said Chamber President Debbie Stouffer.
The awards will be handed out Friday afternoon at the Ojibwa Casino in Baraga. “We are honoring founding members with us 15 years ago and are members today. It’s a casual event—networking, appetizers, some wine, some coffee, a silent auction—just a chance to mingle with other businesses in the community and for us to say thank you,” Stouffer added.
Roxanne Osga is a business owner who joined the chamber two years ago, after selling her assets downstate and embarking on a new adventure. “As a benefit of joining the chamber, we got a discount on our insurance. That was our main driving point in joining, but we have also received many opportunities to display our items and what we offer to the community. More people got to know about our place,” said Osga.
Osga is the owner of a resort in Trout Creek that was built in the 1940’s with locally harvested timber. “Two Rivers Motel and Cabins is where the Ontonagon and the Jumbo River meet. They were hand hewed cedar right from the property and they had a little saw mill right there where they built them. Now we have 4 cabins and 4 motel rooms,’ said Osga.
Osga says that her involvement with the chamber has increased her company’s local exposure as well as e-commerce. “Probably the largest benefit is to have our link on the website. A lot more people can find us that way. It’s a global presence.”
The Chamber has an open house coming up later this month that will be held on April 25th from 12:00 PM until 3:00 PM at the Chamber offices located on Broad St. in L’Anse.
“It’s an opportunity for the community to come in and see what the chamber does. We’ll have our newest art exhibit up at that time. It’s the Baraga County Student Art Show. So come in and visit. We’ll have prize drawings and a chance to learn more about the chamber,” Stouffer added.
