Emery County Business Chamber ribbon cuttings

By PATSY STODDARD Editor

The newly established Emery County Business Chamber held two ribbon cuttings for new businesses in the county on Aug. 31. Attorney David Blackwell is working on submitting the articles of incorporation for the ECBC. The goal of the ECBC is to create enthusiasm for being a business in Emery County and look for ways to help county businesses improve and be more productive. A monthly luncheon will be held featuring a speaker who will give ideas and helpful hints for different aspects of business. These business and lunch sessions will be called, Lunch and Learn.
The first event will be a kick-off lunch and speaker featuring Gilly’s famous ribs. The date is planned for the end of October and as final plans are made notification will be sent out. The chairman for the organization is Jerry Stotler, retired businessman of Ferron, the vice chairman is Keith Brady, businessman from Green River and the treasurer is Ann Jones from Zions Bank, Castle Dale. The organization also has several board members and the support of the Emery County Commissioners.
Stotler said, “We met in June with six people showing up for a brainstorming session. In July eight people showed up. We accomplished a great deal and gathered a list of potential business owners we hope will become part of the ECBC. We talked of our vision for the future. One of our goals is to have a full year’s list of programs planned for our monthly meetings. Some of our meetings will focus on; customer service, financial help, creating attractive businesses, hiring good employees; emergency preparedness for business and other topics. Time is precious in these hectic days as our economy becomes tighter and challenges press in on us. We are working on having something of value for our future members. Also at each Lunch and Learn meeting there will be a spotlight on local businesses. We will choose two businesses each month to focus on. One will be a long time established business and the other a new business. This will be a time for these businesses to showcase what they do and get the word out on who they are.
“The Business Expansion and Retention program has established a list of 500 businesses in Emery County. We hope these businesses will get behind us and join to make this a great and productive organization that can further the growth and development of business in Emery County. We have begun this effort to help our community businesses become more profitable by giving them the tools they need to make their business life smoother,” said Stotler.
The business focus for this week is Uniques Gifts. This business is in the foyer area inside of Boyd’s Pharmacy building in Castle Dale. Debbie Moore has been involved with gift baskets and crafts for most of her life. Her passion started long ago when she would help her dad with his tole painting projects. Debbie would always go out to find that unique treasures to decorate her home. Later in life, she wanted to create and seek out unique items to put together one of a kind gift baskets. She started selling these gift baskets in local shops around Emery County. As she did this the desire grew to have her own gift shop. Debbie likes to be around people. After her children grew up Debbie knew she needed to find something to fill her time. She enjoys interacting with people and helping them find the gift that’s just right for them or a loved one. Debbie enjoys brightening someone else’s day.
At the Uniques shop you can find jewelry, knick knacks, and one of a kind items. If you have a special request then Debbie wants to know about it she can help you find that special something.
Debbie is open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 am.-1 p.m. The number at Uniques is 381-2607 so you can call and talk to Debbie. Debbie carries gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, retirements, and any occasion. She also said don’t forget to treat yourself to something new once in a while too. “We have gifts that touch the heart. I helped a girl pick out a gift for her mother. They were trying to reconnect after not seeing each other for two years. I helped her pick out a gift that was meaningful and important. This is a perfect location and the people here are great. There are a lot of people in and out of the building and I want to encourage everyone to stop by and see what we have. We are here to help with whatever anyone needs. My family has been so supportive. I couldn’t have done it without them. My husband takes me on treasure hunts. I have distributors from all around the world,” said Debbie
Debbie had a booth at Heritage Days in Huntington and people really liked her items. She plans to visit other special events with her items. She has a few of her unique gifts on display at Gillys in Ferron, too.
Allred Sprinkler and Irrigation held their ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of their first big on farm job in Cleveland. Chet and Pacee Allred along with son Cache are happy to be in business. They have one employee currently Neil Howard, Pacee’s father. They hope to expand as time goes by.
Pacee said, “Sometimes it’s hard to explain why we started our business. One of the main reasons is my husband and I want to be able to raise our family here in a small town. Chet’s family is very involved in the farming industry. We saw an opportunity with the recent expansions to pressurized irrigation systems in Emery County. It seemed a good time to become involved in installation and repair of wheel lines and other systems. We hope to offer great pricing and service to other small farms similar to what ours might need. We started our business with the idea we would have something to fall back on when needed. We want to do repairs in Emery and Carbon counties. We also realize we have the potential to grow from repairs into something bigger. We recently completed a system on a farm in Cleveland. This entire system included underground pipelines and all. We have discovered our true potential comes in what we have to offer the customer. We want our business to grow and leave a stability and legacy for our family. We want to expand some day and open a store where we have installation and repair and can sell the products needed for irrigation. Maybe we could be a distributor for one of the existing companies in other locations.”
Chet said he might be considered the middle man. He finds out the prices for the items the farmer needs and checks several outlets to find the best pricing available. He then takes the information to the farmer who makes the decision. Chet takes it from there and does the ordering and installation on the farm. He is proud to offer this service to the farmers in Emery County. He knows the farmers often don’t have the time to do these types of projects themselves. A lot of Emery County farmers also work other jobs. Chet helps take some of the work out of installing a system on the farm. He can then be contacted for repairs and maintenance on the sprinkling systems as needed. The numbers to call are 687-2126 and 749-0135. The business has been operating since March.
Members of the Emery County Business Chamber met in the field in Cleveland where Allred Irrigation recently finished the irrigation system. They cut the ribbon and the Allreds are very excited to be part of the Emery County business community.