H a n g Y o u r Hat In History OZONA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & VISITOR CENTER PARK P.O. Box 1135, 505 15th Street, Ozona, TX 76943 325/392-3737, 325/392-3485 Fax, www.ozona.com CHAMBER DIALOGUE Volume 15 Number 1 January 2018 The Ozona Chamber of Commerce recognizes the Travelodge as our Business of the Month The Ozona Chamber of Commerce recognizes the Travelodge as our Business of the Month. The Travelodge, a family motel is owned by Ganga and Prem Dharam, originally from the Fiji Islands, they now live in Midland, Texas. We are really thankful to everyone in Ozona for their continued support. We are very proud to be receiving local referrals which means that we have gained support from the town. We would like to thank all of our guests, and everyone in Ozona, who have shown us their support, said owner Ganga Dharam. We would also like to thank the Methodist church, the Ozona Sheriff and Fire Departments, and the Chamber of Commerce for their continued support and cooperation. Travelodge is a franchised motel by Wyndham Worldwide. Travelodge Ozona has been owned by Ganga Dharam since June 2014, and is currently managed by Aadi Singh and his family. All of the rooms at the Travelodge have been remodeled and offer amenities like microwaves, refrigerators, coffee makers, and pillow-top mattresses to make their guests stay and trip comfortable. ADA accessible rooms are also available. Bedding and pillows have been approved by Wyndham / Travelodge. The property offers free high-speed Internet access and guests help themselves to a free Bear Bites breakfast. Coffee is available in the lobby along with 24-hour front desk service. Guests are provided with year round BBQ grills for those who would like to cookout. Continued on page 2-Business of the Month Left to Right: Manager Aadi Singh, Owners Ganga Dharam and his wife Prem Dharam.
January 2018 Chamber Dialogue Page 2 Continued from page 1-Business of the Month Travelodge offers 40 guest rooms featuring smoking and non-smoking rooms. They are a pet friendly motel that has assigned particular rooms for pets. Travelodge was ranked 6th by the travelers on TripAdvisor in 2016. We were ranked 1st on TripAdvisor in 2017 as a result of our hard work and consistency. Our customer service is always ranked high on travel web sites. We also have leading reviews on TripAdvisor in the Ozona, Texas, motels category, said Ganga. Travelodge is looking forward to many more decades of serving the community of Ozona. We will continue to provide the same great service and we thank you for your patronage and support, said Ganga. The Ozona Chamber of Commerce would like to recognize Travelodge Ozona, their owners Mr. and Mrs. Dharam, and Manager Aadi and his family for the all of their hard work and persistence. Your commitment has resulted in a product and service of which the community of Ozona can be proud. Travelodge is located on 8 11th street Ozona, Texas, next to Ozona United Methodist church and minutes away from downtown Ozona. For more information you can reach them by calling 325/392-2656 or E-mailing: travel.lodge.ozona@gmail.com or by visiting their web site at https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/ travelodge/ozona-texas/travelodge-ozona/overview. Best way to market Ozona The Ozona Chamber of Commerce markets our local and surrounding businesses and attractions using social media platforms. As you know, when the oil and gas industry is NOT booming, our town then depends upon the traffic off the interstate to stop and spend money in our town. HELP US TO HELP OZONA. Spring is just around the corner and people are beginning to make their travel plans. Visit our web site and Facebook page. Share with your family and friends, who will share with their family and friends, activities available in Ozona. Go to Ozona.com, click on Tourist Info, then Travel Itineraries for ideas on what to do while in and around Ozona. Itineraries for less than two hours, a half-day or full day. Scenic driving tours, motorcycle routes and more. Sharing with your family, friends and co-workers is the best way to market Ozona. Go to www.ozona.com and check out Travel Itineraries Go to www.facebook.com/ozonachamber like and share our page.
January 2018 Chamber Dialogue Page 3 The Ozona Chamber of Commerce would like to wish the following members a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, and THANK them for their support of the Chamber organization, its programs and services, and their community. We would like to recognize and express our SINCERE appreciation to the following members who joined during the month of January: Mrs. Joe B. Logan - 1963 Fesco, LTD - 1979 Mr. & Mrs. Pleas Childress - 1981 Mr. & Mrs. Mark White - 1997 Quality Inn - 1997 Crockett Automotive - 1997 Hillcrest Inn & Suites - 1997 Americas Best Value Inn - 1997 Crockett National Bank - 1997 Dairy Queen of Ozona, Inc. - 1997 J J Marley Ranch - 1997 Ozona National Bank - 1997 Jerri Lynn Pierce - 1997 AEP Texas - 1997 Crockett County Consolidated Common School District - 2006 Mediajaw - 2009 J P Construction - 2009 Bahlman Cleaners - 2010 John Little - 2012 Area Wide Phone Book - 2015 Pizza Mia - 2016 Pikes Peak Energy Services, LLC - 2016 Chamber Welcomes New Member Chamber Welcomes New Board of Directors Chamber Welcomes New Staff Member Ben Forehand Ranch Ben Forehand 325/226-2584 badwesttexas@yahoo.com Hunting Lease 7,500 acres, 3 miles north of Ozona. 3 days hunting with lodging. $650 for 2 gobblers The Chamber would like to welcome new Board of Directors Amit Patel of the Hampton Inn and Jacob Vasquez of Sonic. Both will serve a three year term which began in January. We appreciate their willingness to serve the Chamber and the community The Chamber welcomes new part-time staff member Sarah DeLaGarza as Visitor Center Receptionist. Sarah will work Monday through Friday 9am-1:30pm and 10am-3pm on Saturdays.
January 2018 Chamber Dialogue Page 4 Chamber 2018 Plan of Action Approved The Chamber of Commerce held its annual Board of Directors Planning Meeting on Tuesday, January 30th, at the Visitor Center. Each year, incoming directors undergo an orientation outlining their role as a Chamber Board of Directors. They are familiarized with the Chamber staff and various committee projects. They review funding sources and the organization s Bylaws. During the annual meeting directors review the accomplishments of the Chamber for the previous year, as well as discuss the status of any ongoing projects. Board members and the Chamber President discussed in depth the role of the Chamber of Commerce to its members and the community. We discussed the availability or lack of resources that define the direction of the Chamber in terms of economic development. We reviewed the number of services provided to Chamber members. We also discussed at length where the funding for the organization comes from, which drives the focus of the organization. By the end of the day, both the 2018 Chamber Plan of Action or Program of Work, and the budget for the year were approved, said President Shanon Biggerstaff. In conjunction with the annual meeting, the board also held its regular January board meeting. The board reviewed the 2017 year-end budget and approved the new Executive Committee who began their terms in January. The Executive Committee and Board of Directors are as follows: Executive Committee / Officers: Chairman- Vice-Chairman- Treasurer- Past Chairman- President- Board of Directors: Abbey Carnes Jacob Vasquez Laurie Hale-Crockett National Bank G.L. Bunger-Bunger Real Estate Company, LLC Amit Patel Hampton Inn Paul Stroope - Ozona Truck Towing & Emergency Repair Shanon Biggerstaff Ozona National Bank Sonic Drive-In Already the Chamber has hit the ground running! We thank our membership for their support and investment that allows us to continue providing programs and services to our members, who represent not only the business community but local residents.
January 2018 Chamber Dialogue Page 5 Who walked into the Chamber of Commerce in 2017 Visitor Center -Walk-in traffic into the Visitor Center in 2017 was 5,819 people - An average of 485 visitors a month, down 8.92% or 342 visitors over 2016 -Where were they from? Texas visitors-3,595, Out of State-1,362, Local-707, Foreign-155 -Traveling: East 2,828, West-1,478, North-328 and South-133 -Top visiting states for the year were-az, CA, NM, FL, LA -Top visiting cities for the year were-san Antonio, Midland, El Paso, Austin, Odessa -Weekdays in order of the busiest in December were Friday, Wednesday, Thursday, Monday, Tuesday, Saturday -Year to date Chamber related inquiries 16%, Tourism 84% -Top requested items or services for the year were: general tourism, hunting, lodging, dining, directions, maps, museum, monument, Interpretive Trail, Texas Travel Guides, Hotel Coupons Advertising -Year-to-date the Chamber has filled, in response to our advertising, 20,000 requests for information on Ozona. An additional 6,973 brochures have been handed out to walk-in visitors and mailed to statewide Travel Centers What services are sought at www.ozona.com For the month of December, at www.ozona.com, there were 922 business directory searches, and 891 actual member page hits! These are people searching for YOUR services. Following are the members that received 10 or more page hits this month: Epic Permian Operating, LLC-59 Encino RV Park-33 Will M. Black Real Estate-30 Wool Growers Central Storage-25 Venegas Construction, LLC-19 Sunoco Energy Services, LLC-15 OTTER-12 Ozona Cable & Broadband-11 Escondido Draw Recreational Area-10 Pikes Peak Energy Services, LLC-10 Rusty Gold on the Square-10 Fred H. Chandler Ranching-51 Family Health Center of Ozona-33 CCWC&ID-25 L & B Automotive-19 Ozona Flour Mill & Goods-15 The General Store-14 Fesco, LTD-11 Clayton-Hill Ranches-10 Jarrett Juno Ranch-10 Pon Seahorn Real Estate-10
January 2018 Chamber Dialogue Page 6 What is Ozona.com doing for our members and the community? For 2017, Ozona.com had 41,161sessions: 32,300 new 8,861 returning. Of these 41,161sessions, there were 76,357 page views of these 62,053 were unique (1st time views) The 41,161sessions were from 117 countries and 38,388 sessions were from US. Bounce Rate: 73.81% Top 5 States: Average Session Duration: 00:01:27 Top 5 Texas Cities: Texas 30,706 Dallas 4,665 California 1,144 Houston 4,534 Louisiana 746 Austin 3,951 Florida 525 San Antonio 1,529 Arizona 503 Odessa 1,288 Devices used to access site: 20,651 mobile 17,218 desktop 3,292 tablet Top 20 Content Searches 1. Homepage 18,914 11. Lodging 1,465 2. Hunting Leases 16,840 12. Location 1,457 3. Photo Gallery 2,663 13. Interesting Facts 1,305 4. Area Attractions 1,744 14. Job Postings 1,193 5. Local Attractions 1,667 15. Membership Directory 972 6. Restaurants/Dining 1,569 16. Public Services 970 7. County Officials 1,559 17. Pandale Crossing 878 8. History 1,540 18. Chamber of Commerce 758 9. Events Calendar 1,509 19. Contact Us 747 10. Travel Itineraries 1,478 20. Shopping 605 Chamber Master (Membership Directory Data Base) Business Directory Searches 4,755 Hot Deal Hits 1,662 Hot Deal Searches 701 Member Page Hits 9,379 Job Searches 3,412 Job Posting Hits 139 Top Searched Chamber Master Service Categories: Roadside Assistance 87 Carpentry 28 Oil & Gas Services 72 Carports 19 Hunting 40 AC/Heating 18 RV Parks 37 Grocery 18 Feed Store 33 Ranching 17 Real Estate 17 Drive-Thru Car Wash 16 Restaurants 15 Utilities 15 Social Media Pages / Internet Facebook 6,097 Fans 668 New Likes - Gain in Fans 2,217,806 Total Paid Reach 226,770 Total Organic Reach 133,197 People Engaged 2,477 Daily Logged-in Page Views 2,587,034 Total Impressions of All Posts 64,477 Ozona Campaign-Results 617,417 Ozona Campaign-Impressions 118,746 Ozona Campaign- Individuals Reached Google 6,758 Search 34,644 Total Google Business Page Views 30,733 Listings on Map 4,787 Listings on Search 16,312 Photo Views 329 Clicks to Website 270 Clicks for Driving Directions 95 Clicks for Phone Calls Twitter 79 Total Followers 34,036 Impressions Texas Outside 124,379 Visitors to site 410 Clicks Through to Ozona.com