The Stuart Chamber of Commerce gathered Thursday evening at the American Legion Hall for their annual dinner and meeting. About thirty business owners, Stuart officials, and guests enjoyed a social, followed by a dinner and desserts catered by Linden Street Sweets. Following the dinner, Mayor Dick Cook and members representing several other local organizations, including: Stuart Enterprise for Economic Development, White Pole Road Development Corporation, and Midwest Partnership gave updates on annual projects and campaigns.

Stuart Chamber Director Brenda Dudley and President Kristy Lonsdale also gave their remarks. Lonsdale emphasized the importance of collaboration between the Chamber and local businesses. “The Chamber’s main function we kind of look at is to work to help promote and support you guys, the businesses in the community, and do things for the community.”

The guest speaker for the evening was Steve King, the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer for the state of Iowa. King was impressed with Stuart’s list of ongoing projects, and thinks it could pay dividends when it comes to attracting younger generations to town. “I think Stuart, itself, combined with this sort of move closer to the City, but a workforce that wants a place that is distinguishable from every place else, and when I say workforce, I mean those younger people that the media refers to as ‘Millennials,’ they want a place that is really not suburban. They want that notion of community. They want what you have here in Stuart.”

Each business present was also given the opportunity to introduce themselves and share any updates.