Welcoming New Neighbors Through the Chamber’s Relocation Efforts
I was able to visit with the City Commission at this Wednesday's commission meeting to share an update on the relocation program the Chamber has been spearheading (recording here). Since October, the Chamber has been leading outreach alongside our friends at MakeMyMove to relocate 10 households to our community. This is made possible through a statewide grant that the Chamber applied for and received. Along with sharing progress at the City Commission meeting, I was also there to celebrate with them. As of this week, we have seen two households choose to make the move to our community!
The first household secured through this program is the Green family. David and Jessica Green come to us from North Carolina. This young couple and their three kiddos made the jump in January and have already begun settling in. David is an RN at AdventHealth Ottawa, and Jessica had a private practice focused on mental health on the East Coast, but has since decided to stay at home with their 4-month-old son for the time being. An incredibly lovely family, and a perfect addition to our community. If you would like to give the Greens a welcome message, let me know, and I’ll share a good contact! Our second household will be arriving the week of the 23rd, and I’m excited to connect with them soon.
We still have 8 more spots to be filled before we hit our goal for this program. We do already have a half dozen folks that are highly engaged and closing in on the end of that process. Though these are not guarantees, we’re highly encouraged by their eagerness and the many applicants we have received. With that said, it’s not too late to consider whether your future employee/family member/friend needs an $8,000+ reason to move to our beautiful community. For questions around the program, reach out to me directly, or check out our community’s portal here (view that here).
Short Conversations, Big Connections with OAYP
Last night, the Ottawa Area Young Professionals had their kick-off event at the new library location on 204 S Walnut Street (photos here). A fun play on ‘speed dating’, they hosted Ottawa’s first ‘Speed Networking’ event. This laid-back social event saw 20+ YPs move around and answer questions in a speedy fashion. With three minutes per person and three prompts to answer, there wasn’t much time to dilly-dally with the person across from you. At the same time, the prompts helped direct the conversation in meaningful ways and were often very powerful questions. With a little liquid courage on hand, I think everyone had a lot of fun and inevitably met some new people who either live/work in town. I personally was able to meet four or more new people, and I got to know those I already knew on a deeper level. Even my introverted wife said that it “wasn’t too bad” and was glad she came! Though every YP event won’t work just like this, they will all have intentional connection take place. If you, one of your employees, or a family friend, want to be part of something bigger, meet with others, and make impactful relationships, YP is your place to be!
I have to shout out the YP leadership team that helped make last night possible. JieJie on staff has brought together an all-star group of young leaders who all played a role before, during, and after the event. Bryce Sommer with OakStar Bank, Kylie Wheeler with Dengel and Son Mortuary, and Landon Randall with Advanced Investments helped make this evening the success it was (photo here). The next opportunity to participate in OAYP is on April 1st, when those interested will have a Lunch and Learn at Kalmar Ottawa (RSVP here). Stay tuned for more programming down the road!
Prairie Sunlight Brings Solar—and Sheep—to the Open-Door Conversation Downtown
This morning’s Chamber Ribbon Cutting brought us to the 400 block of Main Street to celebrate Prairie Sunlight’s office downtown (photos here). Prairie Sunlight is the LLC for the prospective solar project here in Franklin County, managed by Orion Renewable Energy. This office space has been occupied for about a year now, but Alicia mentioned that, along with celebrating this space, this morning was to bring forward connection and conversation. We had a great turnout to do exactly that!
40+ people were able to listen in as their team shared a bit about who they are and what this project is all about. A bit of background: Orion was established in 1998 by founder Mike Haas, who hails from the Midwest but currently runs its operations out of Oakland, California. Their staff of 30+ is located all over the US and abroad. Today’s meeting included folks from Colorado, Illinois, and even Sydney, Australia. Franklin County is one of many projects that they’re engaged in across the nation.
Though this conversation this morning touched on several different pieces, for a full glimpse at the project, check out their website here (click here) or reach out to Alicia, who is this project's Project Development Manager, for more info (email here). Here are a few snapshots from this morning that I was able to jot down: this solar project would look like 180 megawatts of energy produced annually, the project would produce 53 million dollars of property taxes over the course of 35 years for Franklin County, 15 million dollars would be reserved for community projects and organizations over the course of the project, and lastly, they plan to have sheep (check out the baby sheep)! The grass below the solar panels would need to be maintained throughout the lifespan of the project, and instead of getting mowers in and around the panels, they would work with Kansas ranchers. This project could have upwards of 2,000 sheep graze the land, using the panels as shade trees as the shepherd strategically moves them throughout the multitude of properties. The lamb may or may not have stolen the show this morning, as the one-and-a-half-month-old looked for shoelaces to chew or people to pet her.
Prior to questions, Alicia shared at the end of her prepared speech that Prairie Sunlight is proud to be here in Franklin County and wants to continue showing up, listening to questions and concerns, and be part of the conversation here locally. She encourages those interested in learning more to stop by when they’re in town or reach out electronically (email here). Regardless of topic/industry, the Chamber is committed to being a resource for communication and encouraging connection. Good leadership is often defined by good dialogue, and we believe the better we understand one another, the better we can make progress on our challenges.
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Spring break is officially underway! If you have kiddos that need to stay busy, there's a TON of activities around town this week (check out that list here). Talk to you soon!
Ryland Miller
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
ryland@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
