Destination Businesses Start with Destination Thinking
This week, the Franklin County E-Community had the pleasure of sending five businesses and community advocate Sara Stauffer from the OMSA to Colorado for a three-day training on destination marketing (picture here). Recently, I attended Jon Schallert’s small morning session in Lyndon, where he gave a taste of his nationally recognized program on destination businesses. These few hours in Osage County were just a fraction of what our six community members have experienced over the last three days, as they gathered with dozens of others from across the country to learn from his 30+ years of experience. This extensive training is not cheap, but thanks to our partnership with Network Kansas as an E-Community, we secured over 9k to cover participants’ tuition. This is a massive win for the participating businesses, and really, our whole community, which will benefit from the work they put into making their establishments a destination location.
The content learned here is not just theoretical but practical. Content these businesses can bring back home and implement. Though many realize the benefits of attracting out-of-towners to their store, actually doing it can be much more challenging. Even with three whole days, there’s a ton of content to digest in that amount of time. These are really stepping stones into a long-term plan that will take some time and experimentation. Along with this week’s visit to Colorado, we also receive a bonus visit from Jon. He plans to travel to Ottawa at a later time to come and see how our businesses are digesting/implementing the material and to help guide them even further. I look forward to getting a full update from this group upon arrival!
Connecting City Hall and Local Business
Earlier this week, new City Manager, Thatcher Moddie, and I set out throughout town to ensure business owners had the chance to meet the City of Ottawa's administrator. The goal was to continue connecting him with businesses and to let those businesses get to know him. Over the course of the day, we were able to make our way through a dozen businesses, getting tours, meeting staff, and putting faces and names together (pictures here).
I’m extremely pleased with his willingness (and desire) to get out and about and socialize with folks from the community. It’s obvious that he values face-to-face communication and doesn’t want to be a stranger. If you’re interested in connecting and haven’t already, I imagine he’d love to hear from you (email here). With only one new City Manager and over 12,000 residents, it’ll be a little bit harder for him to meet all of us than it is the other way around. It’s been a busy two months on the job, but I’m looking forward to seeing his calm, collected leadership style unfold over the remainder of this year.
From Fort Riley to Franklin County
This week, the Franklin County Development Council (FCDC), led by Paul Bean, participated in the Kansas Employment Exploration Program (KEEP) with Fort Riley. This entails soon-to-be-retiring military families taking the opportunity to explore communities to see whether Kansas could be home after their orders are complete. As a result, six active military members came down to give Ottawa and Franklin County a chance (pictures here).
Throughout the day, they got a great look at our community. Starting the day with a welcome from Mayor Zach Clayton, then off to tours of Kalmar and Walmart DC. Afterward, they had lunch with nearly 20 community leaders who came to network. They then sat in on several conversations with our local first responders, education partners, leaders in banking and real estate, and I finished up with a chat about quality of life and our MakeMyMove program. Along with considering this for their own future, we hope that they take this information back to base and share it with the 14,000+ who have orders at Fort Riley. What a great day to show some Midwest hospitality and some of the things that make our community special. Great work, Paul and FCDC!
Networking Returns with a Multi-Chamber After Hours
We have had a bit of a hiatus from networking events over the past few weeks. Though we don’t have one next Friday either, we do have a midweek After Hours right around the corner. On June 2nd, we will partner with our Miami County neighbors for a Multi-Chamber After Hours (info here). All six Chambers and their members are invited to an evening of drinks, food, and networking at KC Watersports. This venue is really unique and is worth the trip in itself. With a pully system for skis and wakeboards, if the weather is nice, you get a free show!
This multi-county event only happens once a year. I’m hopeful that our Ottawa Chamber members will show up and spend some time out east for a few hours here at the start of the summer!
A Meaningful Start to Memorial Day Weekend
I hope you have a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend. Before the weekend officially began, I stopped by the war memorial at 4th and Main, where Franklin County Honors hosted their annual Memorial Day service. This year, Chief Adam Weingartner was the speaker, sharing about the ultimate sacrifice from our family, friends, and neighbors in the service who are no longer with us (pictures here). A great reminder as we head into this holiday weekend that freedom isn’t free!
Ryland Miller
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
ryland@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
