A History of The Woodland Business Link

Introduction:
I have been asked by Mike Jansen to write a short history of the Woodland Business Link. The Roster of Founding Members contains 10 of the 14 businesses that founded the group under its charter written by Terry Schauer in May of 2001. The four missing businesses have since closed their doors. Of the 10 listed businesses, only Nancy Tinsley of ReMax Realty and G Richard Yamagata of VME, Inc. remain with the organization. The third oldest member is Betty Doud of North American Title, who joined in January of 2002. I, G Richard Yamagata, was recruited by Anthony Mengali, one of the originating, founding board of the Woodland Business Link.

Founding of The Woodland Business Link:
The Woodland Business Link was formed in what was viewed as a vacuum. People that went to 1 or 2 LeTip meetings, came away with a feeling that they could never conform to such an organization and wanted an alternative. Some of these people were even denied membership with the Woodland LeTip. From this all of this was born The Woodland Business Link. Nancy Tinsley paid Printer's Ink to come up with a logo and for printing promotional materials for the group. We tried to have a table/booth at the 2001 Farm City Banquet sponsored by the Woodland Chamber of Commerce each October.

The founding roster of this organization was important for it showed who was forming this group and that we had no ties to LeTip. Another business organization was founded in Woodland by disaffected members of LeTip, about this time, and it was reported by the Woodland Daily Democrat, that they were formally named in a lawsuit. It was then decided that we would put up the founding roster of this group on the world wide web to define us and tell the world who we were and what we do.

The Founding, First President:
Terry Schauer became the first president of the Woodland Business Link in the Fall of 2000. He held this office until December of 2003. After three years in office as the founding president, he decided that he wanted to leave the organization. Some were skeptical about the organization surviving the exit of Terry Schauer.

Under Terry's tenure as president, the meetings were first held at the Krellan Works on Main Street in Woodland. These were breakfast meetings. From there, the meetings moved to The Carousel, also on Main Street and also breakfast meetings. At this time there were people that complained about the early time of the meetings, 7:30 AM to 9 AM. Terry then moved both the time and the meetings to a sandwich shop on Main Street that was named Queenie's (which now is Osaka Express). The meetings time was now 11:45AM to 1PM (and remain so to date). The high pitch hum of the refrigerators, drowning out all who spoke, caused us to move the lunch time meetings to Rico's Pizza, also on Main Street, but further west. Sharing an open room also proved to be distracting when there was a big lunch crowd of other patrons and the meeting moved further east and north to Sizzlers. We finally had a room for our presentations, but participation and membership started a downward spiral. It may have been due to the location being off of the beaten path or it may have been the tedious, uninspired food buffet. I remember one meeting where there were only three people present. This was the nadir of the organization.

Terry continued to scour for locations to hold the meetings and he came up with the Hotel Woodland, catered by the new owners of Gormans. It had a downtown Woodland location and it brought a degree of opulence and grand presence to the meetings and the group was once again growing. We were not able to break the magic number of 21 members for at least a year. Within that time, the owners of Gormans went financially insolvent and Cracciola's took over the catering contract for the Hotel Woodland. There then was imposed a $200/lunch minimum price and though the organization saw new members come and go, we were still short $10 to $30/lunch. During this period of time, there was no strict accounting or enforcement of the lunch dues and some of the people that were not paying, surprised even me. It is not surprising that these members are no longer with The Woodland Business Link. Terry continued to subsidize the organization, while others came and went. Finally, there came a day in the Fall of 2003, when it seemed that the organization finally could be self-sustaining. We had over 20 people coming for lunch at each bi-weekly meeting.

Woodland Business Link Social Gatherings:
Terry Schauer kept trying new ideas to keep the organization fresh. He tried recording member birthdays and celebrating them. He tried giving gifts donated by members to speakers at the meetings. He never gave up or tired of having social gatherings. For each of the 5 years, the organization has held a social gathering at the home of Nancy Tinsley. The first social was a potluck held in the Summer of 2001 and had 8 people show up for it. The second social was held in the Fall of 2002 and had 15 people attend. We held the first Holiday Party on the first Thursday in December 2003 and we had over 20 people attend. This was considered a success by all that attended and remembered by many. The second Holiday Party was held on the second Saturday in 2004 was not such a success and there was reported to be only 5 people in attendance and was the first one without Terry Schauer. This year, we were back to having the party on the first Thursday in December 2005 and there were once again over 20 people in attendance.

The Second President:
There was a tie vote in December 2003 for this first ever Woodland Business Link election at the December meeting between Michael Jansen and Kevin Stringer. A run-off vote by members that were not present at the December meeting was done by e-mail. The results were that the second president of the Woodland Business Link was Michael W Jansen, the principle attorney in a personal injury law office in Woodland. Terry Schauer still remained with the group until about May of 2004. The organization saw growth, but members that had been long with the group were dropping away. The group became quite stable and comfortable. With the by-laws in place, they guaranteed that we would have great, compatible group of people. The secretary-treasurer, Brenda Kline, brought in by President Michael Jansen, started enforcing the lunch dues. The club was finally well on its way to financial stability. Board members at large were Stephen Chaudry, Toni Lampman, Tina Ginnetti, and G Richard Yamagata.

The Third President:
In January of 2004, there was another election for president with this time only one candidate, Tina Ginnetti, a certified massage therapist and reflexologist and holistic health manager. Under her presidency this organization saw a huge growth in membership. We grew from 21 members to 34 members during this last year. Tina chose Terry Ram as her secretary treasurer and G Richard Yamagata was vice president. With Terry Ram in charge of the collection of lunch dues, the treasury grew to $1600 in the bank. Board members at large were Stephen Chaudry, Toni Lampman, and Brenda Kline.

The Fourth President:
In December 2005, The Woodland Business Link held its 4th election for president and Krista Carlson was elected. Terry Ram was re-elected as secretary treasurer and Pam Dewey was elected as vice president. Board members at large were Stephen Chaudhry, Jack Allen, and G Richard Yamagata. Under Krista Carlson, the club grew to a record 39 members, due to her network connections. We picked up many new members from her breakfast group. After serving for one quarter as President of the Woodland Business Link, it was no surprise that she was promoted at her work place and had to take over a new position in Elk Grove. Krista led the club through a very difficult period in terms of our organization. What she accomplished in 3 months was equivalent to a year's worth of work for the organization. She will be sorely missed, especially with her connections with the community and businesses of Woodland.

The Fifth President:
In Spring 2006, The Woodland Business Link board of directors moved Pam Dewey from vice president to President. Jack Allen was elevated to vice president and we currently have one board member at large position vacant. Terry Ram remained secretary treasurer. Board members at large were Stephen Chaudhry and G Richard Yamagata. Pam Dewey continued to bring new members into the organization and she had a relaxed style of leading the organization, which some people liked. Pam was a president of strong character and an able leader. She bowed out after only 8 months of service as president. Under her leadership the club maintained a membership of about 38 people as businesses came and left the membership roster. The final event of her term as president was the Holiday Party held at the home of Nancy Tinsley. There were 22 people in attendence. Everyone that went to the party stated that they had a great time. We should have the "White Elephant" gift exchange worked out in 2007!

The Sixth President:
In December 2006, The Woodland Business Link held its 5th election for president and Steven Chaudhry was elected with Melika Schoech as vice-president. Terry Ram was re-elected as secretary-treasurer and board members at large were Jack Allen, Megan Murphy, Toni Lampman, and Steve Pearson. Rounding out the board as ex-officio members are webmaster G Richard Yamagata and past-presidents Pam Dewey and Mike Jansen. This year saw the resignation of many members with the economic down turn. From a high of 39 members, the club finished 2007 with 21 members. The final event of the year was the Holiday Party held at the home of Nancy Tinsley. There were 16 people in attendence. Everyone that went to the party stated that they had a great time. Nancy Tinsley funded the entire party for the lunch club!

The Future:
In January 2007, The Woodland Business Link held its 6th election for president and Mike Jansen was elected to that office, with Stephen Chaudhry as vice-president. Melika Shoech is our acting secretary-treasurer. The board members at large are Jack Allen, Megan Murphy, and Steve Pearson. Rounding out the board as ex-officio members are 2006 Vice President Melika Schoech and webmaster G Richard Yamagata. Because of low turn out to the January meetings, we have moved to Casa de Sapore for our lunch meetings. Hopes and expectations are high for continued growth and prosperity for The Business Link of Woodland under the presidency of Mike Jansen! Mike has boundless energy and has great style in leading meetings. For more about Mike Jansen, visit a testimonial page at Davis IOOF Bingo or his web site at www.MikeJansen.com.