Chamber Vision January and February 2018 | Page 4

4 January and February 2018 Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau From the President Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and are ready for a successful 2018. As most years, I have sat down and charted out my goals for the upcoming year, both personally and professionally. I have thought about what is the best way to make it a successful year for all of our members and the community as a whole. I have looked back at all we have accomplished, talked to our members and the leadership of the Chamber, and I believe we are in store for a successful and fulfilling year. I am proud of our office that includes the Jeanine McKenna President & CEO Convention and Visitors Bureau, and what we accomplish together. I am happy to have the Regional Development Association in our building as well. We all work hard to Build Community, Through Business. I believe that we truly are meeting our mission of being “proactive in creating an environment for business and community success”. We have members who represent all sectors of our community, each with varying needs to grow and prosper, but in the end, I believe we all want Emporia to be a community in which we can live, work and raise our families. We are committed as an organization to continually ask you what we can do to help your business grow. My charge to you, is to let us know your thoughts. How can we be more purposeful in meeting your needs as a member? Remember our mission is “To be proactive in creating an environment for business and community success”. All we do needs to be based around our mission. I look forward to hearing what you have to say. We are kicking off the year with a lot of great and dynamic programs. The Government Matters committee will be traveling to Topeka at the start of the Legislative Session to deliver our Joint Legislative Agenda. This is the fourth year that we have come together as the Emporia and Lyon County area, and fourteen entities have joined us in sharing what is important for growth in our communities, business and region. This group will also be continuing their Dialogues throughout 2018. Be watching for more information as we draw nearer to each event. Our Annual Meeting will be held on Friday, January 26th, so mark your calendar for this premier event. We are gearing up for another sell out event, and