Welcoming New Faces to the Chamber Board
Every year, our board recognizes those who have completed their terms of service and fulfilled their duty as board members. It’s always a bittersweet moment; after three years of serving, these individuals always have a special place in our staff’s hearts. We’re so thankful for Nannette Maxwell for her three years as a Chamber board member. The sweet bit about this process is that we get to bring on new board members! We are extremely excited to have three excellent additions to this team. This includes Elsa De la Torre of Fronteras Mexican Restaurant, Parker Olmsted of Impact Wealth Planners, and Nancy Johnson of Holiday Inn Express. These three additions will continue to provide support and perspective, and to represent our membership as we move forward as an organization. Looking forward to a great 2026 with this updated board!
What Andy Reid Can Teach Us About Leadership
Yesterday’s Leadership Franklin County class started with a presentation on leadership by Steven Iwersen (picture here). Steven is an LFC alum, former LFC Trustee, and former Ottawa Chamber Boardperson/Chairperson in his time in Ottawa. Since then, he’s moved closer to his grandchildren in central Missouri, but we’re fortunate to have him come to town once a year to speak to our class and the public. Each year, the conversation revolves around leadership, but this year had a fun twist. Steven dove into Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid and his leadership approach.
Whether you’re a Chiefs fan or not, there’s no denying that there is a drastic difference between the last 12 years and the 12 years that preceded Reid. Steven believes this night-and-day difference is about more than just a star quarterback. Iwersen examined Andy’s philosophy of coaching, which Reid self-proclaims has nothing to do with coaching, but rather with teaching. In an interview, he said, “The better teacher you are, the better coach you’ll be.” Andy believes his role is to teach his players to perform on the field and to succeed in life. His outlook on performance is not centered on results but on growth.
One of my biggest takeaways from this presentation was the concept of green, yellow, and red lights. We all know these meanings from a driver's safety perspective, but Andy Reid uses these in the way he “teaches” his athletes. Red light ideas/processes/actions are ones that cannot take place. That might be because they’re immoral, not aligned with the team's vision, or go against foundational pillars that leadership won’t budge on. Yellow lights indicate ideas/processes/actions that need to be taken with caution, but there is flexibility. Yellow lights for Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are seen almost every game. You can see this in plays that are adapted in real time to turn a potential loss of yards into a big play. Andy gives this area to flex in, to breathe more than you can put on a play card, and it has regularly panned out. A stricter coach might not give that trust, but Reid knows when to allow some wiggle room. Green lights are opportunities that are safe for your team and the environment in which they work. Give them the idea and let them run with it. I know I have used these concepts before, but I realize that integrating vernacular like this in the office can help our team better understand project or process expectations. Thanks Steven Iwersen!
City Advances Search for New City Manager
This week’s City Commission meeting had commissioners and leadership enter an executive session, as they continue to make progress on the search for a new City Manager. Through their hiring agency, they reviewed a couple of dozen strong applicants interested in the position. The next step entailed scouring the applicant material in an effort to narrow down the search. The result was cutting that list in half. Wednesday’s meeting was to further reduce the list to identify finalists whom they will invite to in-person interviews here in town. Hopefully, Wednesday’s meeting was fruitful! If so, with only a few candidates invited for interviews in early February, we could expect an announcement in late February-early March for a new City Manager.
From Classroom to Community
Our office has been fortunate to work with some exceptional interns over the years I’ve been with the organization. We often source these folks from our partners at Ottawa University or the Ottawa High School. At the end of the year, Stella Tharp, Counselor and College/Career CTE Coordinator, reached out about the possibility of us engaging with a high school senior during the spring semester. That conversation led to an in-person introduction, and after a brief exchange, we realized what a valuable opportunity it would be to have senior Madisyn Sprinkle in our office for the spring semester. This was our first week with Madisyn, and we have been regularly impressed with her technical and creative skills (picture here). As a graphic designer, she plans to help produce digital assets we can use for our various events and committees. Meanwhile, she will continue to build her resume while gaining real-life experience that she can use in the future.
If your organization would consider working with college or high school interns, we would love to connect you with faculty and staff who can refer high-caliber students. Although these opportunities require staff preparation, and students need regular guidance throughout their experience, the value of connecting with these individuals extends beyond the tangible products they produce. In a challenging workforce environment, opportunities like this enable your brand to make a positive impact on students and their families by providing them with real-world experience as interns. If you have any interest, please contact me, and we can start a dialogue about what this might look like for you and your organization.
Farmers Market Awarded Funding to Grow Healthy Food Access
This week saw a big win for the Ottawa Kansas Farmers Market (OKFM), as they secured $25,000 in grant funding from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas Pathways to a Healthy Kansas initiative (picture here). This money is earmarked to support OKFM in increasing healthy, affordable food in our community. These funds did not come about overnight, rather this is a big step in what has been over a year of planning, surveying, and experimenting. Prior to receiving these dollars, the OKFM has conducted community outreach, gathered input from residents who experience health disparities, expanded access to more residents in Ottawa by expanding their market, and added the ability to accept SNAP/EBT payments. Now that funding has been secured, they will be able to increase the availability and affordability of fresh produce by adding Double Up Food Bucks (which allows SNAP users to purchase fresh produce at half the regular cost), explore innovative ways to fit customer needs at the market, increase accessibility, and build out educational materials that provide customers access to resources needed to utilize the produce that is in-season. The grant funds will also help support equipment, signage, and advertising to help grow and strengthen the market.
To take a step back and look at the big picture, Franklin County is currently on its third round as a partner with BCBS of Kansas and its Kansas Pathways initiative. Starting over a decade ago, a health coalition called Live Healthy Franklin County was formed. Over the course of eight years and two rounds of Pathways funding (2016-20 and 2020-24), more than $1 million has been invested in our community through dozens of projects that have improved active living, healthy eating, and tobacco prevention. This current round has been shortened to just a two-year phase, starting at the beginning of 2025 and will run through 2026. Five projects are expected to receive funding, with the OKFM being the first to have reached this important step. Other organizations and projects include the Ottawa Memorial Auditorium for the development of an incubator kitchen, AdventHealth Ottawa for healthier cafeteria options, the City of Ottawa for trail enhancements, and the Ottawa Recreation Commission for new youth physical activity programming. When all of these grants have been secured, this will have resulted in over a quarter of a million dollars being allocated to making these projects a reality. A truly great win for Franklin County and its residents.
If you have questions or are interested in getting involved with this work, the BCBSKS Pathways grants initiative in Franklin County is coordinated through the Live Healthy Franklin County coalition and our Grant Coordinator Sheila Robertson (785-521-3496 or LiveHealthyFrCo@gmail.com). It’s safe to say that these projects over the last nine years would be extremely hampered if it weren’t for the leadership of Sheila. She has been integral in securing and maintaining these grants and in working with all the project leaders. I’m glad the Chamber can play a small role in supporting her endeavors with this grant, as I know it has positively impacted thousands over the course of the nine years. I look forward to sharing more on this as other projects progress!
Ryland Miller
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
ryland@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
