To: Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce Members
From: Austin Bittner, President
Subject: Quarterly Letter to the Community
Dear Chamber Members,
It was a pleasure to get to talk with so many of you during our Annual Dinner this past month. For those of you who I haven’t had the opportunity to meet, my name is Austin Bittner and I am this year’s chamber president. I have lived in our community for the last eight years and operate two small businesses, the Austin Bittner Real Estate Team at RE/MAX Revolution and Apricity Insurance (co-owner). I also have had the opportunity to serve in our metro area as a Board Member with the Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce since 2020, Commissioner on the Pleasant Hill Parks and Recreation Commission for the past three years, several roles with Rotaract DSM over the last four years (from Founder and President to my current role as Vice President), and a Board Member on the Young Alumni Council at Grand View University for the last for the last four years.
As we start into the second quarter of this year, I would like to take the opportunity to begin writing to you on a quarterly basis. My hope in doing this is to provide information about our community and upcoming Chamber events that you all may find useful.
New Chamber Members:
Thank you to all of our members for renewing and joining us for 2022. We know the last few years have been difficult, but your commitment to this community shown, through your chamber membership, is much appreciated. I would like to welcome the following members to our chamber!
- Kwik Star
- Suzanne Cantrell
- Mugsy's Pizza House
Incoming Commercial Development:
The community has a few new businesses that have recently purchased land in our town and will be starting construction sometime this year!
- Kwik Star – on the corner of NE 56th and University
- Mister Car Wash – on University near Burger King
- Arby's – on University near Burger King
Residential Development:
There are several new construction residential developments going in across our town.
- Arbor Lake – Featuring Single Family Homes
- Gladbury Park – Featuring Single Family Homes
- Pine Valley – Featuring Single Family Homes and Bi-Attached Townhomes
- Peters Ridge – Featuring Single Family Homes
- Lexington Park – Featuring Bi-Attached Townhomes
- Spring Creek Apartments – Featuring a 55+ Apartment Community
- Rising Ridge- Featuring Studio to 3 Bedroom Units
City and Economic Development:
The City has approved this years budget! Some of the highlights include funding for a splashpad at Doanes Park and a new comprehensive plan. Both of these items will help to bring and keep folks in our community. We hope that the community will attend and voice their opinions during the comprehensive plan strategic planning process. It will be a valuable time to improve your community, let your voice be heard, and keep this city growing. Additionally, as Martha Miller Drive is expanded, we are hopeful of more economic development.
Upcoming Chamber Events:
We would like to extend an invitation to all of you attend our upcoming functions!
- Ribbon Cutting for the renovations of the Fire Dept and Library on April 2nd
- Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening of The Cove Nutrition on April 9th
- Membership Luncheon on April 12th
- Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening for SkinFusion FX on April 22nd
- Regional Afterhours on May 19th
Final Thoughts:
There are lot of exciting things happening in our community and we look forward to sharing more in the coming months! You may also be interested to know that the City has been looking to hire an Economic Development Director to fill the gap left by EPIC. We are excited to see this and look forward to working closely with that individual, at such a time as the City makes that hire.
I look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming events! If you ever have any questions about the Chamber, please do not hesitate to reach out to our Executive Director - Mackenzie, any members of the Board, or myself! We would all be more than happy to help!
All the best,
Austin Bittner
President
Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce
