Eight counties | 36 cities | one region

ST. JAMES­— Nelly Roach of Caledon Virtual, the Columbia-based marketing firm that has been developing the Naturally Meramec website, will present information on how local businesses can use Trip Advisor as part of their marketing efforts during the group’s upcoming meeting. The Naturally Meramec Consortium will meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at Meramec Regional Planning Commission, Industrial Drive, St. James.

Roach will also walk Naturally Meramec members through the “Members Only” section of the website and share ideas for members to use this feature. St. James Marketplace Cafe will be the featured business, and owner Deb Kleinheider will share information on her business with the group.

The Naturally Meramec consortium was developed to enable businesses to work together, sell and highlight local products with marketing tools such as brochures and interactive websites. The Naturally Meramec website enables travelers to preplan visits to local consortium businesses as destinations. For more information please contact Connie Willman at 573-265-2993 or cwillman@meramecregion.org. The Naturally Meramec meetings are open to the public, and qualifying businesses can become a member at no cost through 2016.

Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. A professional staff of 21, directed by the MRPC board, offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.

To keep up with the latest MRPC news and events, visit the MRPC website at www.meramecregion.orgor on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/meramecregion