President's Message

Message from President Janell Zuidervaart

Dear Members,

My name is Janell Zuidervaart, and I am proud to be your 2012-2013 Chamber President! I am married to Kenny Zuidervaart, we have 3 boys and reside in Ripon. Kenny and I were both born and raised right here in Ripon, (well, not BORN here since we don’t have a hospital) and have lived here all our lives! Our parents were also born and raised in Ripon, and they still live here as well! I am co-owner of Friends Salon, (we opened in 2003) and Kenny works for the City of Ripon in the Planning department. With that being said, I can truly say that the love for Ripon runs deep! Our kids can frequently be heard saying, “I love this town”, usually on Sunday afternoon as we are turning down a rather deserted Main Street on our way home from church, or when we are pulling back into town after a vacation. We all feel like Ripon is our safe bubble, we joke that we can feel it sucking us in when we exit HWY 99 into Ripon. I know our story is not unique; there are countless family stories similar to ours. On the current Chamber board you will find many with the same story and feeling as me! I think this is what leads us to being on a board that supports business or another organization that continues to make this town that feel like HOME!

In the coming year, the board and staff would like to continue to bring you quarterly workshops (BIG thank-you to Marge for bringing them back) to help support your business or organization. I also have a couple ideas that I have to run by the board and staff that would greatly help support your business and life here in this GREAT town of Ripon… you’ll have to stay tuned to find out what they are! I look forward to this year as board President!