Celebrating a Decade of Development
In 2022, Sarpy Chamber President Karen Gibler is marking her 10-year anniversary at the organization. She has been uniquely positioned to witness and guide the organization’s growth and evolution in a decade’s time, and though the woman herself would prefer to skip any fuss, the Sarpy Chamber team is eager to celebrate and commemorate this milestone. In 2012, Karen Gibler came to work for the Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce part-time as the Director of First Impressions. The position allowed her to get back into the professional world while balancing the busy schedule of raising five kids. A typical day was spent answering phone calls, making coffee, and carrying at the small administrative tasks that make an office run. So much has changed for her in 10 years and the same is true of the chamber itself. Continued inside on page 2.
FROM THE PRESIDENT Anyone who knows me knows I’m
result of the people and businesses
not eager to jump in the spotlight,
I serve, so in that sense I’m happy to
so it took some convincing from the
shine a light on what’s made the past
staff to hand over the cover story to
decade so great—you! Being your
my 10-year anniversary. However,
unwavering advocate is what our
I am proud of the work I’ve done
work is all about and what this issue is
together with my team the past 10
all about.
years and any success I’ve had is a
WHAT’S INSIDE THE MEETING YOU NEED
Karen Gibler ROAD TO LEADERSHIP.........................1
NEW CHAMBER RESOURCES
Learn what just a 20-minute
Get the latest on the newest
meeting with a Sarpy Chamber
resources for business networking
membership manager can do!
and education.
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TRIVIAL FUNDRAISING PURSUIT..........3 ADVOCACY IN ACTION.....................5 JOIN THE CASH MOB..........................8
402.339.3050 WWW.SARPYCHAMBER.ORG 1243 GOLDEN GATE DRIVE
Whether you’re looking to develop yourself personally and professionally, or strengthen your succession-planning by investing in your employees, Leadership Sarpy is the tool you need. The application deadline is coming up so here’s a look at the timeline you can expect on the road to Leadership.
APPLICATION
September 2022 April 2023: Once a month you’ll attend Leadership Sarpy class days. These courses will get you in front of elected officials, give a close-up view of what’s going on in Sarpy County, and sharpen your leadership and personal development skills.
CLASSES
May 2023: May is for celebration as the Leadership Sarpy Class receives commendations for completing the program. Legacy Project Groups will give a comprehensive presentation on the formation, process and final execution of the project they designed.
GRADUATION
RETREAT
April 25th: The due date for the 2022/2023 Leadership Sarpy class is coming up on April 25th. Get started now by scanning the QR code to get to the application form.
August 2022: The 2-day retreat will include ice breakers, teambuilding activities and speakers. The ultimate goal of the retreat will be to begin each class member’s personal leadership journey and to create lasting bond between classmates.
SARPY COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION IS NOW
LEGACY PROJECT
November 2022: Over the course of the program, participants are assigned to smaller teams and tasked with creating a Legacy Project, which is a community initiative designed to leave a lasting positive impact on the county. In November, the groups will determine what their project will be.
Grow Sarpy works as a catalyst to attract new businesses, create jobs, enrich communities and build potential.
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP
10 Years at the Sarpy Chamber After 1 and a half years of working part-time, Karen went fulltime as the Interim President. In just a few months she took over the role in an official capacity and has been at the forefront of the Sarpy Chamber’s mission and growth ever since. Now a typical day is filled with meetings with officials and representatives from the cities of Sarpy, developing large-scale projects that expand the visions and resources of the chamber, and all the excitement that comes with being the leader of an organization that serves the fastest growing county in the state. For Karen, the 10-year anniversary is a celebration of how far the Sarpy Chamber has come and how it’s positioned to continue that trajectory. It’s something special for a person to have witnessed 10 years of change at an organization. You have a uniquely comprehensive perspective on the Sarpy Chamber, what have you seen in that time that has surprised you? Karen: I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the continual support our work for the business community gets from bigger businesses and corporations. They see the benefit of having a healthy business community for businesses of all sizes so that tells me we’re on the right track for continued economic prosperity. What has grown or developed as you would have expected? Karen: I’m so pleased to see the membership grow as much as it has. It’s certainly not a given that if the county grows, the Sarpy Chamber
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grows. I’ve always maintained that if we’re doing our job right, and doing right by our business community then we can earn that trust and support. The entire Sarpy Chamber team puts their whole heart into supporting our membership, so I’m not surprised our numbers have consistently grown. But make no mistake, that trust and growth isn’t something we take for granted. It’s extremely rewarding to work to earn that every day. Given what you’ve seen the chamber do in the last 10 years, what do you think we’ll be seeing in the next 10 years? Karen: I definitely see our membership continuing to grow and I see us adding staff positions to meet that growth. The passion I’ve seen people have for expanding their business education makes me confident that the Sarpy Chamber will place special emphasis on growing and expanding those resources for the membership.
10 YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT -Membership grew 22% in 10 years. -18 Partners in 2012 - 50 Partners in 2022 -3 staff members in 2012 - 7 staff members in 2022 -84% retention rate in 2012 - 95% rention rate in 2022 -85 events in 2012 - Over 210 events in 2022 -In 10 years the Sarpy Chamber has gone from renting office space to owning a building and renting space out to local businesses.
Trivia Night H.E.T.R.A. Fundraiser
the form of a Trivia Night at Lucky Bucket Brewing Company. The event raised money for H.E.T.R.A., whose mission is to improve the quality of life both physically and emotionally of adults and children of all ability levels through equine-assisted activities.
Each year the Modern Professional group hosts a fundraising event that benefits the current winner of the Sarpy Chamber’s Nonprofit of the Year title. The goal has always been to raise money and promote awareness of a local nonprofit, but the event itself is always changing shape, and on March 3rd, the Modern Professional fundraiser took
A dozen teams of 4-6 people competed in a 4-category pub quiz specially written for the event. Teams were tested on their knowledge of famous firsts, pop culture families, music lyrics, and the trickiest category gave players the name of a horse and asked them to identify whether that name was a horse at H.E.T.R.A., a My Little Pony Character from 1986, or both. Proceeds from team registrations, raffle ticket purchases, and sponsorships enabled the Modern Professional group to raise over $2,000 for the Nonprofit of the Year Winner. The group is incredibly thankful to event sponsors, First State Bank, American Family Insurance Franker & Associates, and ROC Business Technologies. Prizes for the quiz and raffle were also generously provided by Lucky Bucket and Wounded Warriors Family Support.
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Power of the Membership Meeting
Business professionals know all too well how many meetings can leave you feeling like it could have been taken care of over e-mail, or even worse, wasn’t worth the time. However, carving out even just 20 minutes in your work week for a one-on-one meeting with a Sarpy Chamber Membership Specialist is a sure bet for a meaningful meeting.
“I have so much respect for the work our members do, particularly those who own a business, so I love learning about them and their business. There’s a unique understanding that can only come from talking with someone and hearing their story and that helps me have a better understanding of their needs and who to connect them with.”
One-on-One Meetings help us: -Know and support your business and goals -Anticipate your needs -Take action on your feedback and insight One-on-One Meetings help you: -Understand your full member benefits -Connect to the best partners and resources -Get focused attention from your business advocate
Breann on how membership meetings empower members: “Membership meetings are a time and place where we welcome you to be really honest with us about your needs, what’s made you successful, what’s challenged you. Don’t feel like you need to tell me ‘No worries, everything is fine,’ when there’s something the Sarpy Chamber could be doing to reach that next level. I want to engage with people on their goals and have those conversations.”
When the Sarpy Chamber team KNOWS your business, we can GROW your business! Put us to work as your best advocate by scheduling a meeting with Sarpy Chamber Staff, Breann Lundblad, Tara Simons, or Evan LaMontagne. Tara on what she like most about membership meetings:
Whether you’re thinking about joining the Sarpy Chamber or want to get more out of your benefits as an existing member, setting up a meeting is your next best step. Contact Tara at grow@sarpychamber.org, Breann at membership@sarpychamber.org, or Evan at info@sarpychamber.org.
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Sarpy Chamber Group Advocacy
(January Legislative Coffee Event)
Serving as an unwavering advocate to the business community in the fastest growing county in the state means the Sarpy Chamber needs to diversify resources to meet many different needs. Sarpy Chamber groups are instrumental in providing niche resources and the chamber is thrilled that events for these groups are back in full swing. Groups like Government Affairs, W.O.M.E.N., and B.U.Y.S. allow the chamber to focus space and resources on specific demographics which enables them to meet their unique goals. The Government Affairs group kicked off the new year with a return to Legislative Coffee events. Part of this chamber group’s mission is
to connect people with their elected officials. These events are free and open to the public and in January and February guests heard from Sarpy County state senators on their priorities in the legislative session and learned how those potentially impact their businesses. It was also an opportunity for people to learn about available financial resources for pandemic recovery. Bellevue University’s Military and Veteran Services Center hosted Senator John Arch, Senator Carol Blood, and Senator Rita Sanders on January 14th. Tiburon Golf Club hosted the February 18th event with Senator John Arch. The government affairs group is grateful to the hosts, representatives, and attendees who make it possible for these important conversations to take place. We Optimize Mentor Elevate Network are the words behind the Sarpy Chamber W.O.M.E.N. Group acronym and they’re at the heart of the group’s events. The group returned to regular in-person events on January 25th at Soaring Wings Vineyard. Guests heard from an Entrepreneur Panel featuring Dr. Kate Hansen with Essentials Natural Family Health, Kim Jones with ProCare
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Collision Center and Rhonda Uhe with Five Salon. In February, W.O.M.E.N. focused the conversation on leadership with a panel of women in leadership positions at Cobalt Credit Union. Robin Larsen - President & CEO, Keli Wragge - Chief Operations Officer, Haylie Rodgers - Chief Administrative Officer, and Sharon Stahr - Chief Human Resources & Marketing Officer lead a fascinating group discussion and fielded insightful questions from the group. In March the group gathered at Pint Nine Brewery for the “Call to Action” event, a relaxed forum designed to open up meaningful conversations on the needs, expectations, and experiences of women in the workplace. The group will continue to facilitate unique conversations at their April 26th luncheon at Oak Hills where guests will hear from guest speaker Diane Sullivan with The Organization Station on de-stressing and de-cluttering. The B.U.Y.S. Group (Beef Up Your Sales) is back with events that focus on refining your sales skills and training. In January, Clayton Mulford with The Ignite Team at Platinum Realty presented on Cold Calls vs. Warm calls and highlighted different approaches to make the most or your time. Jim Barger with ActionCoach presented in February and took attendees through the DISC Assessment and how it can be used to
analyze the personalities of your clients and best sales practices for each of the different personality types. In March the B.U.Y.S. group focused on long-term relationships building by having T.J. Matgen with HiTouch Business Solutions speak on “The Long Game.” The presentation focused on building relationships with prospects and ways to utilize CRM System to manage your time and your approach for prospective customers. In April the B.U.Y.S. Group will dial up the motivation by welcoming Professor of Business Intelligence and Analytics from Creighton University’s Heider College of Business Greg Dyche. His presentation will give expert insight in resilience, mindset, and productivity on April 19th. All B.U.Y.S. Group events are hosted at the Sarpy Chamber office in Papillion.
(January W.O.M.E.N. evet at Soaring Wings Vineyard.)
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New in Networking and Education With spring in full swing, it’s the perfect time to highlight the Sarpy Chamber resources that are either newly expanded or newly created! Sarpy Chamber T.I.P.S. Groups are an essential hub for building networks and maintaining relationships between business community peers. Most groups, with the exception of the Modern Professional T.I.P.S. Groups, keep membership exclusive to one person per industry, which makes it exciting to offer a new T.I.P.S. group that meets Thursday afternoons at 3:30. If you’ve been looking for one of these exclusive industry-specific spots in a T.I.P.S. Group then it’s worth checking out this group that will be meeting at The Brant in Gretna. The space in these networking groups will continue to grow, so watch for additional groups to be added throughout summer and fall. Get started by contacting Breann Lundblad at membership@sarpychamber.org and visit any new or existing T.I.P.S. Group. Tara Simons with the Sarpy Chamber was interested in channeling the networking power of a T.I.P.S. Group into a resource specifically aimed at nonprofits. This vision led to the creation of the Nonprofit Collaboration which
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meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month. The purpose of this group is to create a space for nonprofits to support one another by sharing successes as well as obstacles and ideas on overcoming them. Members not only build up their network, the discuss topics like fundraising, managing a board, volunteer recruitment, community engagement and internal communications. Those interested in visiting the Nonprofit Collaboration can contact Tara at grow@sarpychamber.org. Education resources are back to offering in-person events and workshops. The new Business Education series began on March 23rd with guest speaker Dr. Joe Kirby, Assistant Professor in the College of Business at Bellevue University. This free event focused on effective decision-making and alignment with strategic business management. The Business Education Series will continue on April 20th with guest speaker Dr. Strawberry Olive. She has been working in the field of training, professional development and organizational development for the past 20 years and she’ll present her expert perspective on team building.
Cash Mobs Across the County
(Cash Mob Ambassador Blaster at Springfield Artworks.)
Working as an unwavering advocate for local businesses means the Sarpy Chamber is not only dedicated to providing resources, but ensuring those resources are accessible to different kinds of businesses. Connections can be readily made at groups and events dedicated to networking and it’s relatively easy for a typical office-worker to leave work and reap the benefits of these resources. How does the Sarpy Chamber offer that kind of support to businesses, like retail stores and restaurants, who can’t leave their locations as easily? That’s where the Cash Mob Ambassador Blaster event comes in and brings Sarpy Chamber support directly to those businesses.
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You don’t need to be a part of the Ambassador Group to attend these events, they are just hosted by this dynamic group dedicated to making sure Sarpy Chamber support has a large reach. There is no cost to register, either. You just need to sign up and come prepared to spend money at a fantastic local business during a specified window of time. The business gets “mobbed” with an influx of business and participants get to put their cash towards supporting the local economy while getting to know the host businesses from across the county. Local shoppers found plenty of great deals and unique items at Cash Mobs at Abby’s Corner in Papillion and Springfield Artworks in Springfield. The Cash Mob will soon visit Bellevue on Wednesday, May 11th at Chocolat Abeille, which offers artisan chocolate, local honey, confections, and tea. Stay updated on all upcoming Cash Mob Ambassador Blasters at sarpychamber. org/events, and if your business would make a great Cash Mob destination, please reach out to us at chamber@sarpychamber.org.
Thank you. In 2021, people around the world found ways to stay connected, even when they were far apart. Those connections you enable through the Meta (formerly Facebook) data center in Sarpy are truly remarkable, but the ones you create in the community inspire us even more. Thank you for your partnership and helping to make Sarpy County so special.
“Winds of Change” This mural, commissioned for the Sarpy Data Center, was created by regional artist Justin Queal.
Sarpy Data Center | datacenters.fb.com/Sarpy2021
1st Quarter Ribbon Cuttings 9
The Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce is always thrilled to celebrate a business’ opening, new location, remodel, anniversary, or groundbreaking. We celebrated those accomplishments with these businesses last quarter. Visit www.sarpychamber.org/events to check dates for upcoming ribbon cuttings. Sarpy Chamber ribbon cuttings are free and open to non-chamber members. Contact us to learn more about setting up a ribbon cutting.
Rejuvenating Women New Office January 11th Omaha little guy branding Rebranding Launch & 12 Year Anniversary January 26th Papillion Gateway Mortgage 10 Year Anniversary February 23rd Omaha Pinnacle Bank New Location March 8th Papillion Nebraska Vietnam Veteran Memorial Ground Breaking March 29th Papillion
Rejuvenating Women
Holo Sail Technologies New Business January 4th Papillion Hair Haven New Business January 10th Papillion
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Upcoming Sarpy Chamber Events Modern Professionals Business Tour Thursday, April 7th 4:00pm Werner Park Ambassador Quarterly Wednesday, April 13th 3:00pm Sarpy Chamber Office B.U.Y.S. Event - A Well Scripted Life Tuesday, April 19th 9:00am Sarpy Chamber Office Educational Series - Team Building Wednesday, April 20th 9:00am Sarpy Chamber Office W.O.M.E.N. Destress & Declutter Luncheon Tuesday, April 26th 11:30am Oak Hills Country Club
Membership Breakfast Thursday, May 4th 9:00am Sarpy Chamber Office
2022 State of the County Thursday, May 19th 8:30am Papillion Landing
Modern Professionals Business Tour Thursday, May 5th 4:00pm Two Men and a Truck
W.O.M.E.N. Event - Women in Politics Panel Tuesday, May 24th 8:00am La Vista Public Library
Leadership Sarpy Graduation Tuesday, May 10th 3:00pm Beardmore Event Center
2022 Guys Event Thursday, June 2nd 11:00am Oak Creek Sporting Club
Website 101 Training Wednesday, May 11th 9:00am Sarpy Chamber Office
2022 Ladies Day Out Golf Event Wednesday, June 22nd 11:00am Tiburon Golf Club
Ambassador Blaster Cash Mob Wednesday, May 11th 3:00pm Chocolate Abeille B.U.Y.S. Event - Better Use of Networking Tuesday, May 17th 9:00am Sarpy Chamber Office
Visit sarpychamber.org/events to register and get the latest on upcoming events including monthly networking, ribbon cuttings, and more.
SARPY CHAMBER STAFF Karen Gibler President Shelly Stotts Development Director Kelly Deane Event Director Celeste Pille
OUR MEMBERS PUT THE HEART IN SARPY!
Marketing Manager Tara Simons
“Housing Foundation for Sarpy County is glad to support Affordable Housing Development in Sarpy County. We believe that housing in Sarpy County should be affordable for all income levels. We know that this needs to be a community effort. It cannot be accomplished by just a few organizations and developers. We utilize the Nonprofit Collaboration Group and the Modern Professionals T.I.P.S. Group to help us build that community support. In the nonprofit group we learn about each other’s strengths and leverage those in partnership. In the T.I.P.S. group we find important partners and volunteers from the business community.”
Membership Breann Lundblad Membership Evan LaMontagne Director of First Impressions
--Monica Battreall, Housing Services Director at Housing Foundation for Sarpy County
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