Building a Legacy with Leadership
Leadership Sarpy, a Sarpy Chamber program, develops leaders with the scope of serving the entire county. A series of interactive sessions offers participants a program orientation retreat, comprehensive tours of the cities of Sarpy County, an in-depth look at the community’s nonprofits, a tour of a medical facility as well as Offutt Air Force Base. Participants also attend workshops on crisis management and educational talks from local government representatives and business leaders on Sarpy County’s economic development, and more.
Rope course at the Carol Joy Holling Camp orientation retreat
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FROM THE PRESIDENT So much of this issue is focused on
board are putting in the hard work
the future. The 2019 Leadership
strategic planning for the chamber.
Sarpy class has created Legacy Projects with lasting effects. The State of the County event took a close look at population projections for Nebraska regarding workforce
We hope the themes of thinking and planning ahead inspire you to take an active role in creating your and your business’ future.
development. Our own staff and
WHAT’S INSIDE
Karen Gibler WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT..............1
MEMBER TO MEMBER
SARPY STRATEGY
This event brings Sarpy
Learn more about the Sarpy
Chamber members together
Chamber’s process for plotting out
with cookies and connections.
what’s next for the organization.
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TRANSPORTATION PRESSURE..............2 UPCOMING EVENTS...........................4
402.339.3050 WWW.SARPYCHAMBER.ORG 1243 GOLDEN GATE DRIVE
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State of the County and Workforce
The 2019 State of the County focused in on the key issue of Workforce Development for the event held on May 28th at Bellevue University. Speakers discussed a variety of topics with a primary focus on local workforce development and its relevance to the future growth of Sarpy County. The event featured presentations from: David Drodz, Research Coordinator at UNO Center for Public Affairs Research Dr. Rikli, Superindendent of Papillion La Vista Community Schools Allison Hatch, Talent Development Team Leader State of NE Dept of Economic Development Bryan Slone, President of the Nebraska State Chamber of Commerce Angela Cooper, Chief Diversity Officer at Mutual of Omaha Drozd’s analysis of U.S. Census data painted a picture of strong and consistent populations gains in greater Omaha with Sarpy County as a standout. “Sarpy County is the leader by far, there’s just no doubt about that,” said Drozd, “If you’re a home builder, full speed ahead.” Over the next four or five years the total population of the Omaha metro area (Douglas, Sarpy Washington, Cass and Saunders counties in Nebraska and Harrison, Pottawattamie and Mills counties in Iowa) is projected to top one million. Drozd explained that reaching that population will likely increase demands for workforce. Many national companies search to expand into metro areas with populations greater than one million, and Omaha will be on their radar in several years. Drozd’s figures also project a decline in Nebrasa’s prime-age workforce population over the next ten years. “If you’re having difficulties finding workers right now, this suggests it’s not going to get any easier,” he said. Slone, president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, identified a workforce unable to meet
employment needs as the most important issue facing Nebraska’s economic health. He expanded upon the workforce challenge facing not only Sarpy County, but the entire state. “If 50,000 people arrived in Nebraska today we could employ them right away,” he said, citing the 30,000 to 40,000 unfilled jobs that are currently unfilled in the state as well as the 10,000 to 15,000 jobs left unadvertised due to a lacking workforce. Slone identified immigration and a focus on technology in Nebraska’s traditional industries like agriculture and transportation as key components of the workforce solution. He also emphasized the work of Blueprint Nebraska, a group of business and industry leaders from across the state with the goal of creating a strategic plan that offers a clear path towards sustained economic prosperity.
Workforce by the Numbers
6.3%
Douglas, Lancaster, and Sarpy County are projected to increase their age 25-64 population by 6.3 percent over the next ten years. However, the rest of Nebraska’s counties will see their prime age workforce decline.
25+
Douglas and Sarpy Counties suffer from brain drain, primarily losing higher income individuals. The net migration of the age 25+ population with a Bachelor’s Degree or more ranges from -938 and -1,846 between 2006 and 2017.
2028
The prime age workforce in Nebraska (age 25-64) is currently peaking, but a decline over the next ten years is projected, with its lowest point in the year 2028. *All numbers are from Demographic Data and Trends from UNO’s Center for Public Affairs Research
Sarpy Chamber at Heartland 2050
On Wednesday, May 8, 2019, Heartland 2050 held its annual Summit at the Downtown Hilton Omaha. Katharine Eagan Kelleman, the CEO of the Port Authority of Allegheny county (Pittsburgh), was the keynote speaker, bringing a unique perspective on transit and its importance. Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce president, Karen Gibler, was featured in the Highlighting Transportation Pressure Points Panel. She was joined by Abbie Kretz from the Heartland Workers Center, Jaymes Sime from Micah House, Keith Station from Heartland Workforce Solutions, with Katharine Eagan Kelleman as the moderator. The panel discussed the need for successful transportation planning and efforts to put the people who rely on transit in their daily lives at the center of the conversation.
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Gibler spoke on the transportation needs she’s identified in Sarpy County. “Our county is really growing, and as it continues to do so, the need for a more robust and convenient public transportation will grow right along with it,” said Gibler. “This needs to be an important and regular part of the conversations that form our cities and our county. We need to ensure we have the infrastructure to support the growth that’s coming.” She also highlighted the need to create direct lines of transportation between Omaha metro areas with higher unemployment and Sarpy County. “We have workforce needs in our area and we want to attract employees to these jobs, but it’s hard for someone without a car and without access to reliable public transportation to make that work.” Gibler has worked with her fellow panelists, Sime and Station in the past on transportation initiatives in the county along with several major Sarpy employers. She appreciated the opportunity to speak at this event as keeping lines of communication open across communities on this issue is important to her work on this issue.
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Ribbon Cuttings The Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce is always thrilled to celebrate a business’ opening, new location, remodel, or groundbreaking. We celebrated those accomplishments with these businesses last quarter. We wish them success and can’t wait to see the ways they enhanced the Sarpy County business community. 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.
April 2nd OrthoNebraska Papillion
May 7th 365 Daily Hustle Sarpy
April 4th MJ Sewing & Vinyl Supply Papillion
May 30th Kimistry Salon LLC Bellevue
April 18th Schmit Law Firm Papillion
May 31st Quality Care Chiropractic Gretna
April 25th AVI-SPL La Vista
June 6th Forged Woodworks Springfield
May 6th Sarpy County Tourism Papillion
June 13th Vision Specialists of Papillion Papillion June 27th Team Mom’s Papillion
Chamber Group Events Major 3rd Quarter Events
Ambassador Quarterly Date: Wednesday, July 10th Time: 9:00-10:00am Location: The Amazing Pizza Machine
Modern Professional Guest Speaker Event Date: Thursday, July 18th Time: 8:00-9:30am Location: SCCC Office
Come hear from a man who has turned personal tragedy into triumph. Raised on a farm in Lyons, Nebraska, Ron “Gus” Gustafson was a standout basketball player in high school in spite of having lost his right arm and shoulder in a tragic childhood farm accident. After a knee injury ended his collegiate basketball career, he was devastated. But, once again, his faith and courage sustained him and he redirected his energies, building outstanding academic and business careers.
Government Affairs -First Wednesday of each month at the SCCC Office August 2018 - Leadership Sarpy program begins Visit sarpychamber.org/events to check on updated event details and to learn more about our many other networking events.
23rd Annual Golf Outing Date: Thursday, July 25th Location: Tiburon Golf Club Economic Outlook Date: Tuesday, August 20th Ladies Golf Outing Date: Thursday, September 12th Location: Tiburon Golf Club Guy’s Event Date: Tuesday, September 24th Location: Oak Creek Sporting Club
Meet the Staff: Annisa
Annisa Visty started working for the Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce ten years ago and is currently the Vice President of Events & Special Programs. She was a finalist for the “Event of the Year” award from the Mid-America Chamber Executives for the State of the County event in 2016. Her years of experience at the Sarpy Chamber and participation in the 2015 Leadership class has given her the skills and perspective to develop innovative programs and events. Annisa continues to stay ahead of the curve with new and inventive ways of supporting the Sarpy business community through the chamber.
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Legacies of Leadership
Over the course of this 9-month program, participants are assigned to smaller teams and tasked with creating a Legacy Project. These are community initiatives created by Leadership Sarpy teams that allow them to directly apply their new skills and knowledge to a project that will leave a lasting, positive impact on Sarpy County. 2019 VCP Legacy Project Matt Rau-FNTS, Jerad Kuhl-The Weitz Company, Todd Mack-DLR Group, & Efrain Rosas-Pinnacle Bank This group began their project wanting to address homelessness in Sarpy County. The problem’s lack of visibility in the county attracted their focus and personal and community connections to the veteran population led the group to reach out to the Veterans Community Project. VCP, a Missouri-based nonprofit, is on a mission to eliminate Veteran homelessness by creating Veterans Villages, communities of transitional tiny-homes and onsite services to provide housing stability and address the underlying cause of the Veteran’s homelessness. Conducting an intensive feasibility study for a VCP community was the first phase of their project. The study redirected their focus to include the general population and phase 2 will see them working to identify land for the project. Rejuvenating Women Project Andrew Wesley-Ayars & Ayars Inc, Katlin WilsonSarpy County YMCA, Kevin Sasse-Olsson, & Pete Pirsch-Sarpy County Nonprofit Day, a Leadership Sarpy session focused on nonprofits working in Sarpy County, is where this group was introduced to the organization they would partner with for their Legacy Project. Rejuvenating Women is a faith-
based, nonprofit organization committed to providing hope and restoration to those enslaved in human trafficking, and the group wanted to create a project that would compliment their needs and services. They met with leaders and Rejuvenating Women and came away with the understanding that for those recovering from human trafficking, small comforts can make a big difference. They created the concept of the Birthday Box and worked with local businesses to curate a gift box of donated items and gift cards. These boxes are given to women in the Rejuvenating Women program to commemorate birthdays, graduations, and holidays. Medical Crisis Response Initiative Jacob Betsworth-Sarpy County Sherrifs Dept., John Schwartz-Papillion La Vista Communty Schools, Marcus Madler-Sojern, Rachel Carl-City of La Vista, & Sarah Schram-Sarpy/Cass Health Dept. With a desire to focus their project on schools in Sarpy County, this group wanted to create an initiative around crisis bleeding control. Uncontrolled bleeding is the #1 cause of preventable death from trauma and the group sought to incorporate training and equipment to combat deaths from violence in schools stemming from shootings, industrial class accidents and traumatic sports injuries. The group harnassed the power of their community partners, Gretna Public Schools, CHI Health, Gretna Fire Dept., Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office, and Bellevue University to procure Individual Crisis Kits, schedule and coordinate training sessions, and market the initiative. Kits are now in all 26 schools in the Gretna School District and Papillion La Vista School District. They look forward to continuing the program in more schools in Sarpy County.
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they doubled their goal and raised $16,000 for 21 markers along the route. Partnering with the Papillion Community Foundation and the City of Papillion has helped to ensure the project is sustained and maintained long-term.
Historic Downtown Papillion Walking Tour Amber Powers-City of Papillion, Derek PetersonNiteLight Marketing, Jerrod White-Citizens State Bank, Lisa Bowen-KidGlov, & Liz Stratman-Hillcrest Health Services When deciding on their legacy project, this group wanted to build it around their collective skills as well as Papillion’s upcoming 150 Year Celebration. They landed on the concept of a Historical Walking Tour of Papillion. Their goals were to preserve history, provide education opportunities, increase public foot traffic to the downtown area, and better connect the downtown areas north and south of Papio Creek. The route was created through the group’s research and input from historical societies like the Sarpy County Museum and the Downtown Business Association. They originally hoped to successfully fundraise for marker for 10 sites, but
La Vista Beautification Club Laura Schwartz-Papillion Community Foundation, Michelle Seiter-Papillion Manor, Travis David-Core Bank, & Travis Jacott-Adams & Sullivan, P.C., LLO As this group was deciding on a Legacy Project, the city of La Vista reached out with the desire to create an organization dedicated to beautification in La Vista. They felt it was the perfect project to take on and worked to provide the resources La Vista was seeking. With 17 city parks and 2 municipal buildings in need of a formal plan for beautification/landscaping and no current staffing or organization to facilitate this venture, the city needed to engage citizens in community volunteerism. Forming a temporary committee to facilitate club operations and approve bylaws became the group’s focus, with the long-term goal of turning the project over to an official gardening club. They have met with local master gardeners and have held public meetings to get the organization started.
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Bites from the Cookie Drop The Sarpy Chamber’s annual Cookie Drop campagin was underway this June with the help of over 30volunteers. This campaign is not only designed to thank Sarpy Chamber members with a treat, it’s a fun and unique opportunity for our member to get to know each other and build new connections. “This year’s Cookie Drop was a total blast! TJ Matgen and I had the pleasure of visiting about 15 different businesses together. We went into a lot of businesses that I didn’t even know were in the Sarpy area and were able to make new connections that have, sense then, turned into costumers and potential customers. I always look forward to this, it’s such an awesome gesture that we do for our members!” -Ashley O’Neal, SignIt
“The cookie drop was a great way to meet chamber members outside of the Sarpy community and learn about their businesses. We had a great time visiting with George and Deb from Ollie the Trolley and learning about some of the new exciting projects they have underway!” -Lisa Bowen, KidGlov
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Strategic Planning for Chamber Three years the Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce implemented a business plan strategy with goals like adding marketing opportunities, creating manageable growth, and expanding the chamber’s team. A little over two years later, all of those goals have been accomplished, but that doesn’t mean it’s time for the chamber to rest. It’s time to plan for what’s next. For the Sarpy Chamber, strategic planning sessions set priorities, focus energy and resources, ensure that chamber employees and board members are working toward common goals, establish agreement around desired results, and assess and adjust the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. The Sarpy Chamber president, Karen Gibler, describes it as a balancing act, “We need to leave these sessions in a place that allows us to remain consistent in our strengths, but ready to adapt to the growing needs of our members.”
quarter in sessions dedicated solely to strategic planning. It also means input from outside of the county, and even the state, are necessary. The Sarpy Chamber’s president and vice president attended the Mid-America Chamber Executives 2019 Conference in South Dakota, this past May. They also plan to participate in the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives’ Annual Convention in Long Beach, in July. “Getting outside perspectives helps us add to our toolbox,” Gibler explains. Increasing meaningful and unique connections between the Sarpy Chamber and each of the cities in the county is a top priority for the current strategic planning sessions. Expanding business education opportunities and advocacy are also major points of conversation.
“We take a very disciplined approach to our strategic planning,” says Gibler. “We’re making decisions and taking action that will shape and Gibler also emphasizes how the strategic planning guide who we are as an organization with a process cannot be insular. “This can’t just be an focus on the future of our county and business assignment you hand off to one or two people community.” and have them report back to leadership. That’s not effective. We need to have buy-in across our organization, so we need a team mindset from the beginning.” That means the Sarpy Chamber’s board has spent several days this past
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Insight into Making your Membership Work for You! Maximize Your Membership In Person The Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Group is an integral part of the chamber’s community outreach. As the official public relations arm and welcoming committee you’ll find an unlimited amount of opportunities to get in front of local businesses while representing the Sarpy Chamber as well as your own business or organization. When you help us bring in new members you’ll get the opportunity to draw for cash prizes and gift certificates for great local spots. If you’re interested in joining the Ambassadors or learning more about the group, please contact Brian at grow@sarpychamber.org
Maximize Your Membership in Print Reserve your ad space in the 2019 Directory! Production of the Directory is done in-house, which means ad prices haven’t risen and 100% of the ad revenue will go towards the chamber. You’ll be supporting the chamber while stepping into the spotlight! The ad space reservation deadline is Friday, August 2nd. Ad design services are FREE, so contact marketing@ sarpychamber.org to learn more!
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COMING SOON! 304 Olson Dr, Ste 115, Papillion, NE 68046 402.671.8897
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SARPY CHAMBER STAFF Karen Gibler President Annisa Visty Vice President Celeste Pille Communications & Design Associate Brian White Membership Specialist
OUR MEMBERS PUT THE HEART IN SARPY!
Quinn Cooper Membership Manager Gery Whalen Administrative Assistant Jim Masters Leadership Sarpy Facilitator
“AVI-SPL is a global digital services provider entering a new market so it was important to us that we showed our desire to contribute to the community. The Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce has been a fantastic organization to work with, introducing us to other local businesses and professionals during our Grand Opening event, communicating our passion and purpose within the region, and making us feel at home. We’re looking forward to continuing our relationship with the Sarpy Chamber and helping each other enhance this great community where we live and work.” -Doug Seaman, AVI-SPL
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402.339.3050 WWW.SARPYCHAMBER.ORG 7775 OLSON DRIVE