January Newsletter Blair Area Chamber of Commerce 1646 Washington Street www.blairchamber.org T: (402)533-4455 CELEBRATING SUCCESSES BIG AND SMALL The Blair Area Chamber of Commerce and Gateway Development Corporation held its first combined membership banquet on January 10 th at Southcreek Conference Center. 235 members from both organizations were on hand to celebrate the successes our communities had in 2013. Thank you to our generous sponsors for this event: Black Hills Energy, Cargill, Evonik, Great Plains Communications, Memorial Community Hospital, Metropolitan Community College, Novozymes, OPPD, Sid Dillon Blair, Two Rivers Bank, Washington County Bank, Woodhouse Auto Family. Your generous support is appreciated. Upcoming Events Shop Local Remember to shop local. We have some wonderful businesses in the community, with some great gifts for that special someone in your life. The Blair Area Chamber of Commerce also offers Blair Bucks as another gift idea, for that hard to buy for person. Blair Bucks can be used at Chamber member businesses such as restaurants, boutiques, salons, thrift stores, grocery stores, etc. When you shop with local merchants, more of your money stays close to home; supporting the parks, recreation centers, libraries and other things that make this community a great place to live. Page 1 of 5
FRIENDS OF THE BLAIR PUBLIC LIBRARY NAMED the 2013 COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD WINNERS Each year the Blair Area Chamber of Commerce recognizes a person or group of volunteers in the community that truly make a difference. This year the award went to the Friends of the Blair Public Library. This group is over 100 members strong, and donates time, money and supplies for the various events put on by the library. They are very involved with the Summer Reading Program, Tween Lock-ins, help people learn how to use the computer, and many other activities. Their goal is to make the library a place where young and old want to be. Congratulations to this amazing group of men and women! Thank you to Micheal Dwyer Photography for taking the wonderful photos from our event! Page 2 of 5
MEET THE NEW MEMBERS OF THE 2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORS CLAIRE RILEY KICKING BIRD GUN DOGS Claire Riley is a retired Texas reading teacher. Her husband Darrin, herself, and their two boys Hayden and Nolan transferred from Texas to the Blair area with The Kiewit Corporation three years ago. Claire has served as an Ambassador for the Blair Chamber shortly thereafter. Her two sons attend Blair schools and her husband established Kicking Bird Gun Dogs, a micro-sized breeder of champion bloodline Labrador Retrievers. They feel "Blessed to have been so graciously embraced by such an awesome community". CHRIS DUTTON SID DILLON BLAIR Chris works at Sid Dillon Chevrolet in Blair in the Finance Department He is a lifelong Nebraska football fan. I graduated from Blair High School and then the University of Nebraska Kearney. Chris enjoys hunting, fishing, camping and most things outdoors. He has a black lab named Cricket. Chris is excited to serve on the Chamber board. RICK PAULSEN MID AMERICA COMPUTER CORPORATION Rick is a lifelong resident of Blair. I ve been employed at Mid America Computer Corp for the past 18 yrs. He has been happily married for over 30 years to Susan Lauritsen Paulsen. They have 2 daughters, Allison McClanahan resides in Rochester, MN and Mallory who lives in Houston, TX. Rick enjoy Husker football, Cubs baseball; golfing and yard work in my spare time. I look forward to being on the Board again and making new friends and working for the betterment of Blair! 2014 AFTER HOURS OR MEMBER COFFEES We are currently setting up dates for Chamber After Hours and member coffees. If you would like to host one in 2014, please contact Jordan at (402) 533-4455 or jordan@blairchamber.org and let her know what month you might be interested in hosting. EVENTS CALENDAR Be sure to check out the events calendars on www.blairchamber.org to see what events are going on with the Chamber or in the community. If you would like to add an event, you may do so by logging into your member portal and adding the event information. If you need help to do so, please let us know. Page 3 of 5
Northeast Nebraska Legislative Day at the State Capital sponsored by Black Hills Energy & NPPD Monday March 24, 2014 Northeast Nebraska Chamber Group consists of the following communities West Point, Blair, South Sioux City, Wayne, Columbus, Fremont & Norfolk. Intinerary: Dropped off at the North Door. 9:45 a.m. 10:00 am meet in room 1126 10:00 10:30 a.m. NE Department of Economic Development - confirmed InternNE - Allison Hatch Labor Shed study - Dave Deermont Clusters and workforce- Catherine Lange 10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Department of Education Commissioner - Matthew L. Blomstedt confirmed Senator Kate Sullivan Chair of Education committee - confirmed 11:00 a.m. 11:15 a.m. Confirmed Department of Roads Randy Peters 11:15 a.m. -11:45 a.m. Attorney General Jon Bruning - confirmed Secretary of State John Gale - confirmed 11:45 a.m. Noon Governor Heineman -invited Noon 1:00 pm Lunch - move to room 1023 for lunch with Senators Senators will be coming in for lunch randomly please mix and mingle Boxed lunches including drinks will be available for $11.00 per person 1:00 1:30 pm Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry Barry Kennedy - confirmed 1:30 2:00 pm Visit to the floor This will be a very informative day for the Chamber members from each organization attending. It will be a great day to network with members from other communities. Please RSVP by March 7 th if you are interested in attending. mail@blairchamber.org or (402)533-4455. Page 4 of 5
WELCOME NEW MEMBER JOB S TREE SERVICE Contact: Jon Simpson 8867 Whitetail Lane Fort Calhoun, NE 68023 (402)210-9248 START OFF 2014 ON THE RIGHT FOOT If you have not taken the time to log in to your member portal and update your business information, this is a great time to do so! It is easy and it is an important part of your membership. Recently two businesses called to tell us that they were getting referrals from our website. One business had a number of referrals in just a short period of time. If you do not have your log in information that was sent to you this fall, please call the Chamber office and we can give this to you. If you would like help to update your member portal, please let us know. We would be glad to assist you at your place, or at the Chamber. It takes about 20 minutes and is a REAL benefit to you! LEADERSHIP WASHINGTON COUNTY Last call for applications for the 2014 Leadership Washington County Class that will begin in March. If you are interested in attending or having an employee participate in the class, please go to our website and download an application. The applications are due by January 31, 2014. There are 12 applications already submitted, and class size is limited to 15. If you would like additional information, please contact the Chamber office. Page 5 of 5