AREA BUSINESS NOTEBOOK: Chamber taps Brown

The Red Wing Chamber of Commerce has announced that Patty Brown will take over as the organization's interim president.

In a e-mail to its members, the chamber board said Brown "is a longtime ambassador of the chamber, knows Red Wing and our members very well and will be a great person to communicate with and deliver services to our members."

The organization recently terminated Marie Mikel.

• New improvements to the Red Wing Auto Spa, 1315 Old West Main St., have the car wash operating a lot quicker, the company's owner says.

"It's a lot of stuff you won't see but it makes it faster," owner Joe Melson said, explaining the overhaul included numerous upgrades to the car wash's moving parts. He said the improvements have cut wash times in half - down to five minutes.

Melson co-owns the Auto Spa with his wife, Angela Melson. They also own Hanson Mower, an adjacent business to the car wash.

Melson said the upgrade will hopefully draw more people to the Auto Spa and the Melsons are planning a "Main Street Bailout" promotion to draw attention to the faster service.

• Red Wing Super Lube has a promotion that allows customers to give to both save money and give to the Red Wing School District.

The business is offering a rewards card that gives customers a 15 percent discount on oil-changes and other services. Half the discount will go directly to the customer and the other half will be donated to the school district.

• Shoreline Dance recently hired Staci Hanson as a new dance instructor. Hanson will offer workshops, available to the community, which will focus on different dance genres from all around the world.

Tags: business notebook, red wing area chamber of commerce, patty brown, red wing, business