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February 2015
Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau
From the President
We just celebrated our accomplishments of the last year at our Annual Meeting,
another sold out event! We were just shy of four hundred people attending. Wow!
I am humbled, and want to thank everyone who attended and celebrated with us.
Jeanine McKenna
President & CEO
If there is one thing I can say to our members it is; “Remember--the Chamber
is you!” If you did attend our Annual Meeting you heard our Chairman Rich
Avery, talk about the importance of our membership, and the light will be shown
on you this year. The staff is committed to bringing value to your investment in
our organization. We have plans to reach out to our members and find out how
we can best serve you. We also want to thank you for your years of support
and recognize your successes. Many of you have already received a thank you
note from the Board. This note thanks you for your years of membership with the
Chamber. Our Ambassadors will continue to help us reach out to our new members
and get them active. Staff will be reaching out to arrange a time for us to develop
a 30 minute plan on how to make the most of your membership.
Have you seen our joint legislative statement? If not, go to our website at www.
emporiakschamber.org to view it. Ten organizations participated in this first
time joint statement that focused on four issues that we felt were vital to our area:
Education; Transportation; Health Care and local elections. Those organizations
include: The City of Emporia; Emporia Main Street; Emporia State University;
Flint Hills Technical College; Lyon County; Newman Regional Health; Regional
Development Association of East Central KS; USD 252 – Southern Lyon County and
USD 253 – Emporia Public Schools.
The Government Matters Committee has announced that the first Dialogue will
take place on Saturday, February 21st beginning at 8:00 with the gathering and
the actual forum starting at 8:30. It will be held at Emporia Presbyterian Manor.
This is a great opportunity to get an update from our State Elected Officials and find
out what is happening during this legislative session and to ask your questions.
We also ask that you mark your calendars for Saturday, March 21st. This is
the date set for the Spring Expo. You will be receiving information about how to
participate in the Spring Expo within the next week.
We are the voice of the business community and look forward to continuing to
serve you. It’s a Great Day in Emporia! Please tell someone!