Chamber Accomplishments in 2008

Ambassadors

Held over 20 ribbon cuttings and open houses
Attended monthly Membership Breakfast & Business After Hours
Organized and participated in the Newcomer's Social Event
Participated in the following community events:
- Attended the 2008 3i Show Opening Ceremony in Great Bend
- Assisted in promoting and selling tickets to the Chamber's 2nd Annual Pig Gig
- Participated in the two Finney County Job Fairs
- Hosted and sold tickets for the annual Chamber banquet
- Delivered Meals on Wheels for one week
- WKMA Banquet
- Volunteered for the IFCA Rodeo
- Participated and volunteered in the 3rd Annual Chamber Golf Tournament

Beautification Committee

Defined guidelines for business eligibility to receive the beautification award
Presented Beautification Awards, which recognize permanent long-term improvements of the building and landscaping, to Linenberger Jewelry and Office Solutions
Helped educate the business community about the effects of storm water runoff and the steps that can be taken to ensure that the water is clean that drains into ditches, ponds, and eventually to the Arkansas River

Business Visitation Committee

Contacted over 125 Chamber members in 2008
Assisted in connecting training needs of members to resources available in the community for training
Provided valuable feedback to the Chamber board from member visits and implemented feedback ideas where applicable
Recommended follow up by Chamber staff after conducting some of the surveys and Chamber staff would follow up with member
Recruited several volunteers through visits and explanations about what Chamber committees do
Added five new members to the committee to increase the number of Chamber members visited each year

C.A.R.E. Task Force

Successfully completed Crystal Apple Banquet meeting all present goals

Finney County Convention & Tourism Bureau

3,755 gift bags distributed to 77 convention and conference attendees, dignitaries, recruitment possibilities, motor coach travelers and other guests to our community
The Travel Information center has 10 volunteers and 15 TIC and RSVP volunteers assisted CTB staff with gift bags
Staff promoted and assisted in the organization and helped on a number events to encourage travel to Garden City including:
3i Show
4th Annual Chamber's Wine Tasting Event
Appropriations Committee of Kansas
Beef Empire Day's Rodeo Breakfast
Buffalo Days
Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament
City of Garden City - 4th of July Fireworks
Community Mexican Fiesta
International Feedlot Cowboy Association Rodeo Finals
KARL
Garden City Community College Ammonia School
Garden City Community College Rodeo Team
Garden City Kennel Club
Garden City Recreation Commission - 14 & Under Baseball Tournament, Women's D State Tournament
Girl Scouts
Little Britches Rodeo
LULAC
Pig Gig
South Central Regional Campout
Tumbleweed Festival
UOM School - Underground Overhead Metering School
USD 457
YMCA Spring Fling, Spring Invitational Basketball Tournament, Turkey Shootout
Staff organized and hosted the 5th Annual Garden City Hot Air Balloon Classic
Staff continues to partner with Wild West Country, the southwest Kansas Tourism alliance, Try Southwest Kansas, with Dodge City and Liberal, and Wild West Kansas, six communities in the western third of Kansas, to create marketing and tourism opportunities in our community
Staff along with the Garden City Community College continues to cultivate the growth of the Finney County Young Professionals Club
Staff brought in visitors to Garden City by offering bids on conventions, meetings and events
Staff gave presentations to local organizations and clubs about the CTB activities, events and the Kansas Sampler Festival
Staff prepared bids, created name badges, and assisted at registrations for several conferences
Staff continues to update, twice a month, the current events guide for Garden City and Holcomb and provide the guide to: local and regional media, community organizations, schools, churches, individuals and posts event information on six web sites
Staff along with the Garden City Chamber of Commerce organized and hosted the 2nd Annual Pig Gig
The Finney County CTB staff attended the Kansas Sampler Festival in May to encourage visitors to visit Garden City

Multicultural Task Force

Participated in the 2008 Community Mexican Fiesta's 82nd celebration held at Steven's Park. Provided pinatas filled with candy
Organized bilingual business classes for the minority business members and non-members
Sent in nominations for the 2008 Kansas MED (Minority Enterprise Development) Week in Topeka and received an award for Unique Automotive, owner Enrique Alvarado
Held two Multicultural Networking Events targeting and creating an opportunity for all of the multicultural businesses in Finney County to network
Encouraged and invited minority business owners to be involved in all Chamber activities including the networking events, Membership Breakfasts and Business After Hours

Leadership Garden City

21 individuals made the commitment to participate in Every Voice, skills and capacities based leadership program for 21st Century leaders. These individuals took what they learned and passed it on to other employees, friends, family and civic organizations.
Leadership Garden City sponsored a Spring Session, a Summer Session and a Fall Session as well as hosted an alumni gathering to organize an alumni association
Facilitated individualized business training and partnered with GCCC for a Business of Excellence series featuring different aspects of leadership
Sponsored, organized and led a Youth Leadership program in cooperation with League of United Latin American Citizens that included internships with local businesses that helps youth make career choices
Continued a partnership with the Western Kansas Community Foundation where two Leadership endowed funds from the Kansas Health Foundation are held
Garden City had two individuals participate in an extensive third round of specialized 21st Century Leadership training through the Kansas Health Foundation. Both have taken a more active role in facilitating the traditional leadership programming as well as specialized training that Leadership Garden City offers to businesses and groups
Created marketing brochures to help explain the leadership training opportunities available through Leadership Garden City
Offered Advanced Facilitation Training to Every Voice graduates, in cooperation with Sunflower Electric and Leadership Liberal
Revitalized and rejuvenated the leadership board of directors
Reviewed and updated Every Voice curriculum
Continued to build a leadership library of reference leadership material

Government Affairs Committee

Represented the business community on state and local legislative issues and hosted four legislative coffees
Kept in continuous contact with legislators in Topeka on a weekly basis during the legislative session.
Tracked legislation throughout the session to monitor the effects proposed legislation would have on Finney County area businesses
Created a legislative agenda focusing the committee on Regulatory Fairness, Health Care, Immigration and Workforce Development

Other Accomplishments

Answered 26,633 calls
Filled 3,451 requests for information
The Chamber Internet web site had 1,056,017 hits.
Referred Chamber members in over 150 business categories 1,359 times
The Chamber staff participated in various committees and organizations in the community
Sponsored the Award of Merit recognition program for the 28th year
The gift certificate program for 2008 generated monthly sales averaging almost $27,000 per month in Garden City at participating merchants. This program is seeing an annual growth rate of 12% a year. Over the last four years, Chamber Gift Certificates helped generate over $900,000 in direct local sales in Garden City. Year-to-Date sales through the month of December 2008 were $372,780 up $55,275 from last year
Provided blue prints to 42 construction projects that over 25 chamber members used to develop bid proposals
Co-sponsored seminars and trainings with Garden City Community College and other companies involved in workforce development and continuing education training
Hosted public discussion about issues surrounding regulatory fairness issues and the environment with the Kansas Chamber
Organized and implemented two Finney County Job Fairs in cooperation with FCEDC, GCCC, Kansas Department of Commerce, giving employers access to over 600 prospects at the events
Organized and promoted a nation-wide web-based Job link for all Finney County employers with FCEDC and other community partners
Provided housing and rental information to hundreds of newcomers needing a place to live
Held 12 monthly membership breakfasts, giving chamber members an opportunity to network with other members and learn more about the Chamber and the community
Held monthly Business After Hours events at various locations, giving Chamber members an opportunity to network with other members and more about them
Held the 3rd Annual Golf Tournament which included over 60 participants
Hosted the 4th Annual Wine Tasting Event with over 150 people in attendance
Published the 2008 Chamber and Community Profile which was distributed to all Chamber members, provided for all 800 hotel rooms in Finney County, inserted in all relocation packets and placed throughout the community in professional and organization offices
Continuous media exposure on a regular basis with Western Kansas Broadcast Center radio stations: KSSA, KSKL, KBUF and Q97; as well as KIUL Radio / Steckline Communications Inc., and the local Newspaper Garden City Telegram. Also, continued exposure on television stations: KBSD, KAKE, KSNG and radio stations such as NRG Media / Magic 95
Provided Chamber representation on the 2008 City of Garden City's CIP (Capital Improvement Program)
Chamber board of directors toured Sunflower Power plant in Holcomb, Ks, a major employer
President personally visited over 45 major employer plant managers or CEOs and with all the area state Senators and Representatives
Organized a regional alliance of other southwest Kansas Chambers into a partnership known as the Southwest Kansas Chambers of Commerce for the purpose of legislative, economic development and political issues
Actively involved in litigation with the State of Kansas regarding a legal issue involving the denial of a permit for a coal-fired generating unit in the Sunflower Holcomb expansion
Regularly attended and represented the business community at meetings of the two cities, two public school districts, the county and the community college
President established ongoing monthly and twice-monthly informal regular meetings with the administrators of Garden City, Finney County, Finney County Economic Development Corporation and Downtown Vision to improve communication and support
Held an annual fall retreat that included representation from the City of Garden City, Finney County and the Finney County Economic Development Corporation to discuss and develop the Chamber 2009 Business Agenda
Established a Chamber Transportation Task Force of a cross-section of community representatives that focused and developed a Garden City area transportation platform of issues needing support
Revamped and reorganized the FCYP organization (Finney County Young Professionals) to retain the area's best and brightest young people
Sent the Chamber's Vice President of Member Services and Marketing to Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA for her first year of Institute of Organizational Management through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Invited the mayor of Garden City to participate in all Chamber ribbon cuttings.
Participated in an annual financial audit of the Chamber of Commerce.
Organized website training for Garden City Area realtors enabling them to list their commercial buildings and sites on the Finney County Economic Development Corporation's website for national business relocation exposure.
Hosted the City of Garden City's 2008 annual State of the City Address and hosted a reception for new administrator, Matt Allen.