Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce Annual Report 2023/2024

HutchChamber

2023 Chair 2024 Chair

I’ve seen firsthand how membership dues and Reno Rising pledges, coupled with private gifts and public funds, are producing tangible returns through the passionate but thoughtful e orts of the Chamber and its many partners. I’m excited to see continued collaboration between the Chamber and governing bodies at the city, county, and state levels. While the Chamber pursues transformational economic development projects, it’s also helping to explore strategies in support of childcare, housing, and downtown redevelopment. I’m proud to be involved with one of the most impactful chambers of commerce in the state. The momentum is real, and your support has made it possible. Let’s keep it going.” — Joe Ontjes, Luminous Neon, 2023 Chair

“As my tenure on the Board concludes, I am filled with optimism and enthusiasm for the future prospects of both the Chamber and Reno County at large. Witnessing remarkable developments such as the establishment of a new Industrial Park, which positions Reno County as a key player for major projects, and the continued growth and development of dynamic community partnerships like Career Quest, has been inspiring. Additionally, the introduction of the Downtown Hutch Master Plan heralds exciting changes. I have full confidence in Debra’s leadership and the Board’s direction, augmented by the exceptional capabilities of our sta , to propel the Chamber to greater achievements. Serving on the Board, particularly in the role of Chairperson, has been a profound privilege, and I am deeply thankful for the experience.” — Dan Springer Heartland Credit Union, 2023 Past Chair

Joe Ontjes

Luminous Neon

RisingTogether

2023 Board of Directors

2024 Board of Directors

Bryan Schulz Kansas State Fair

Dr. Dawn Johnson USD 308

Scott Meggers* Scott’s Professional Landscape & Outdoor Powersports

Michele Pitts Reno County Farm Bureau Association

Kevin Rule Sleep Shoppe and Furniture Gallery

Brooke Stover* Hutchinson Clinic

Dan Springer* Heartland Credit Union

Dave Sotelo City of Hutchinson

Janeishka Venegas Peoples Bank and Trust

Holly Thomas* Holly’s Sweet Treats

Sarah Rodriguez Pools Plus

Andrea Finlay Harley’s Bicycles

Troy Hutton First National Bank

Lori Bower BowerComm

Lindsey Thiessen Hutchinson Clinic

Tony Hoover* Conklin Automotive Group

Nick Baldetti Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System

Rob Hanson Tyson Foods

Niki Harvey* Dillons

Brett Henry Adams Brown

Leading On Big Issues

Last year we embarked on exciting new projects together, many sparked by the two simple words – WHAT IF? In December, we gathered at our Annual Meeting where we challenged each of you to imagine what is possible if we all work together to grow Reno County!

I am proud of our talented team of professionals – Visit Hutch promoting tourism amenities across our unique communities, Greater Hutch and Growth Inc embarking on a bold era of economic development, Downtown Hutch promoting revitalization in the heart of Hutchinson, Market Hutch helping promote retail growth through the “Share the Love” campaign, and our Chamber Board of Directors, Ambassadors, volunteers and sta who serve our members and advocate on big issues for all of Reno County.

What if we began the next chapter of our Reno Rising strategic plan, developing a future industrial site to help us compete for new economic development opportunities? We are grateful for gifts from private donors like the Sharon Kimbell family, along with matching support from Reno County and the Kansas Department of Commerce, and local city leaders who share a vision for a greater future along the K96 Corridor.

What if we grew the Career Quest program to all corners of Reno County, inspiring youth in their quest for careers of the future? What if we co-hosted the first Manufacturing Expo with Startup Hutch to create supply chain connections amongst our manufacturing and service members? Our united economic development e orts are positively impacting every corner of Reno County, creating jobs and prosperity for our future.

What if we started new events such as a first lighted parade in Downtown Hutch, and what if we launched a new Downtown Hutch Master Plan? These things are all possible because of

partnerships with the City of Hutchinson, the Hutchinson Community Foundation and many donors who care about preserving and activating historic spaces, renovating existing buildings and bringing people and visitors together in new ways.

What if we ushered in a new chapter of tourism, breaking ground on a new Hilton Garden Inn while anxiously awaiting the grand opening of a new historic boutique hotel downtown. Citizens across Reno County have identified several key priorities to achieve future growth – childcare, housing, workforce and economic development. It is exciting to be a part of this transformational work.

Thank you for your continued ideas, creativity, and partnership to keep Reno County rising together!

In partnership,

Meet the Chamber Team

• Debra Teufel, President & CEO

• Marcy Kau man, Vice President of Membership

• Belinda McClanahan, Membership Data Manager

• Valerie Harper, O ce Manager

• Mary Lou Herring, Accountant

• Ashley Scarborough,* Events & Communications Coordinator

• LeAnn Cox, Vice President of Operations & Tourism

• Holly Leiker, National Sports & Destination Sales Manager

• Lacie Janzen,* Economic Development Manager

• Lauren Storm, Business Retention & Expansion/ Workforce Program Manager

• Sarah Diamond, Downtown Hutch Manager

*Denotes

MISSION: Working Together to Grow Reno County

With a variety of volunteer and network building opportunities, there are many ways to get involved with the Hutch Chamber. Our goal is to help you connect and find ways to hone your leadership skills for personal development and contribution to our committees and program of work. We are thankful for the hundreds of committee volunteers who help us accomplish our mission — Working together to grow Reno County.

Each year, Chamber Ambassadors and Sta deliver Thank You appreciation gifts to our members along with an invitation to attend the Membership Cookout. This year we had over 25 volunteers to help deliver bags to members and nearly 200 members attended the Membership Cookout the following week.

Honoring Small Businesses

Small businesses serve as an important driver of economic growth and job creation in our community. The Small Business Council nominates and selects an exceptional small business to receive the monthly award which is presented at the following Membership Breakfasts and Luncheons. A diverse cross-section of members and SBA sponsors review all 12 monthly winners to select the Small Business of the Year

Thank you to the Small Business of the Month Sponsors

Reflections Salon and Day Spa

The Phoenician Salon & Spa

Good Vibrations

The Rock Group

Plaza Astle Realty

Cris Corey Agency - State Farm Insurance

Fair City Management

Selwyn Marketing/Splinters-N-Rust

Bornholdt Plantland

The Wool Market & DIY School

Temaat Retail Liquor Store

Esau & Miller Family Dentistry

Representative Joe Seiwert, Debra Teufel, and Jackson Swearer of Startup Hutch Debra Teufel, Lieutenant Governor David Toland and Lacie Janzen

embers

New Events in 2023

Reno County Legislative Forums

Minority Business Mixer In it’s second full year, the Minority Business Mixer event in partnership with the City of Hutchinson Human Relations O ce, hosted after hours mingles to get to know some of the minority owned businesses in the area.

The Chamber partnered with Startup Hutch to o er Co ee in the County as a way to build awareness for new entrepreneurs and

Legislative Forum at Hutchinson Community College

Co ee In the County at Pleasantview Home Improvement

– Pleasantview

Minority Business Mixer at Preferred Real Estate Co-Sponsored by United Way of Reno County

Women’s Conference

The 2023 Women’s Conference was held on June 8 at the Crystal Ballroom, featuring keynote presentations, panel discussions and entrepreneurial success stories to help women leaders find their

Wendy Doyle with United WE spoke about the advocacy work that she is doing across the Midwest on issues of importance to women such as gender pay equity and childcare. An expert panel of local women in business spoke about their career journeys and words of wisdom for young women in business.

Co-Chairs: Brittany Inskeep and Angie Davenport, Ashley Scarborough, Dale Wilsher, Debra Teufel, Marcy Kau man

Panelists:

Dr. Stacia Biel, Owner of Revive Chiropractic

Lori Bower, Owner of BowerComm

Sarah Fankhauser, President of DCI

Lucinda Piligian, Owner of Fair City Management

Dale Wilsher Keynote Speaker

2023 Awards Night

The Annual Awards Night was held at the Crystal Ballroom at The Burt in Downtown Hutchinson on March 2, 2023.

Veteran Owned/Supporting Business – Cha n Electric

Pictured from left: Marcy Kau man, VP Membership, Sarah Fankhauser (DCI), Janeishka Venegas (Peoples Bank and Trust), Rachelle Fideldy, Antonio & Rachel Flores (Anchor Inn), Gina Emel (The Traveling Bowl); Roger Cha n (Cha n Electric), Debra Teufel, President/CEO

2023 Annual Meeting & Sponsor Expo

Outgoing 2023 Board Members, left to right: Scott Meggers, Scott’s Professional Landscape & Outdoor Powersports, Holly Thomas, Holly’s Sweet Treats, Dan Springer, Heartland Credit Union, Tony Hoover, Conklin Automotive, Niki Harvey, Dillons, Joe Ontjes, Luminous Neon

2023 Vice Chair, Scott Meggers

Debra Teufel, President/CEO

Keynote Speaker, Lt. Col. Scott Mann

With his wealth of experience in leadership, resilience, and prosperity for our community.

PREMIE R S PONSOR

Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System

Heartland Credit Union

ONEOK

VisitHutch ByThe Numbers

Visit Hutch is a division of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce. Its purpose is to promote Hutchinson and Reno County as an attractive travel destination for sporting events, agricultural events and livestock shows, conferences/meetings, motorcoach groups and leisure travelers

The travel sector is an integral part of the Reno County economy. Visitors generate significant economic benefits to households, businesses, and government alike and represent a critical driver of the county’s economy.

Visitors spent $112 million in Reno county Travel sector created 1,457 jobs

Visitors generated

In the upcoming years, Hutchinson will host many events:

North Central Jr Simmental National Show 2024

NJCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship 2025

New Zealand & California Rabbit National Show 2026

Santa Fe Trail Association National Symposium 2027

U.S. Senior Open Championship 2029

U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship 2032

Motorcoach Groups Hosted

National Sport Shows Attended

Share The Love Campaign By The Numbers

In June 2022, Market Hutch launched a new branding campaign around the theme “Share the Love” that has been used to promote Hutchinson and Reno County restaurants, retail and attractions.

Event Planner Meetings

Breaking Ground Future

It took many years and many committed community leaders, but on October 30, 202 broke ground on a 112-room hotel and conference center. When completed, this $18 million project with 15,000 square feet of meeting space will enable our community again to host regional and national events without losing visitors to neighboring towns.

“I think it’s important to recognize the e orts it took of so many to find the path to make this development happen. There are so many more parts for a project like this to even get to the stage of physical construction. I think everyone did a good job in creating a mutually beneficial outcome for the developer and our community.”

— Jon Richardson, 2023 City of Hutchinson Mayor

Greater Hutch Growing the Economy

The Greater Hutch Economic Development Partnership is a collaborative, countywide e ort created in 2016 with funding from a series of capital campaigns in a public/private partnership model with Reno County, area cities and over 80 investors.

KEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES:

1) Business Retention and Expansion

2) Business Recruitment and Attraction

3) Enhanced Community Development Capacity

4) Workforce Development

The Reno Rising Campaign set goals over the five year period of 2022-2026 and is on track to surpass the established goal of 400 new jobs created over the next 5 years.

Reno County recently earned the ranking as the top micropolitan city in Kansas by Site Selection magazine in 2022 & 2023, a distinction that places us in the top 28 micropolitan communities in the US.

The Reno County Economic Outlook Conference held each year in partnership with WSU CEDBR features experts on the forecast for the regional and state economy.

Shawn Riley, APAC Shears, spoke to Reno County o cials about the impact of their $5.5 million new Kansas headquarters expansion planned on Airport Road.

Tom

Graphic

displays the new printing equipment recently installed in their new South Hutchinson location, allowing them to

Westfall,

Impressions,

double their production to serve a new national customer.

Greater Hutch helped James Weve of JW Machine with NRP and other incentives for their 5,700sf expansion in Hutchinson.

Micropolitan City in U.S. by Site Selection Magazine

Most diversified county economy in U.S.

APAC Shears

WSU CEDBR

Graphic Impressions

JW Machine

Spec Buildings and Industrial Parks

Greater Hutch, during their Reno Rising campaign strategic plan, identified a lack of available industrial buildings and shovel ready sites as two development opportunities to help provide new product for the pipeline of projects. In the last two years, groups of investors in Reno County have started developing a variety of spec buildings to meet industry demand.

In November 2022, Salt City Investments broke ground in the Kansas Enterprise Industrial Park in Hutchinson, which has resulted in renewed interest in attracting suppliers to support the needs of existing industry.

In September, o cials gathered in Buhler to take part in the groundbreaking for Buhler Industrial Park Phase II. This marks Buhler’s first major industrial investment in recent years. The Buhler Industrial Park o ers practical solutions for businesses in need of cost-e ective, purpose-built spaces, tailored to accommodate the specific needs of small to mid-range industrial companies.

New Industrial Park on K96 Taking Shape

Last year, Growth Inc. a division of the Chamber began plans for the acquisition of land for development of a future industrial site on K96 thanks to a significant donation from the Kimbell family. Last year Growth Inc. was awarded a grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce as part of the Building a Stronger Economy BASE 2.0 program which has allowed development to continue. Through leveraging private donations, grant funding, and local partnership funds through Reno County’s ARPA support, Growth has been able to acquire over 300 acres toward a future 500 acre master plan development

rks Pave the Way for Future

A steering committee engaging the cities along the K96 Corridor, Hutchinson, South Hutchinson, and Reno County o cials are meeting regularly to work on infrastructure and planning around site and the K96 Corridor. In December, formal annexation and zoning of the new site for industrial purposes was approved by the Hutchinson City Council which will allow Greater Hutch and Growth Inc. to begin to market the site for large industrial projects to bring jobs and grow the Reno County tax base.

Partnering for Growth

Greater Hutch and Startup Hutch have partnered on many initiatives such as the Reno County Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Partnership, hosting Business Builder Lunch and Learns and Entrepreneurship events. Partnering on the first Manufacturing Expo combined with a Career

Quest Manufacturing Day, StartUp Hutch and Greater Hutch created opportunities for 23 area businesses to network with each other, connect with industry and community attendees, and educate over 300 Career Quest students. Reno County 6th grade classes learned about careers available in the manufacturing industry

Developing the Workforce of Tomorrow

Developing the workforce of tomorrow is critical to the economic vitality of our region. In 2022, we launched Career Quest and in its second full year, Greater Hutch has scaled the program up to serve 650 6th graders across Reno County with on-site business tours and mega tour days of a variety of industries.

“All in all I think that the animal shelter was my favorite. I would really enjoy working there.”

“My favorite experience was (HCTEA). Since the beginning of the year, my views have changed and I am now interested in animation.”

— Owen Price, McCandless Elementary

Lincoln Elementary

Collins Bus

Kansas Department of Agriculture

Miller Dairy

Signing Day Celebrates Futures

Greater Hutch hosted the 3rd Annual Signing Day event in May at the HCTEA where 80 students signed letters of intent to join their peers in a technical program pathway of choice in the fields of Automotive Technology, Collision Repair, Welding, Manufacturing Technology, Machine Technology, Construction Trades and Medical Services CNA & CMA. Family, instructors, administration, counselors, industries, potential employers, and government o cials celebrated the students and the commitment they made to their future.

Greater Hutch is proud to partner with Hutchinson Community College, Hutchinson Public Schools, Hutchinson Career and Technical Education Academy, and area business sponsors to host this annual celebration for students all across Reno County.

Celebrating Downtown

Downtown Hutch, in partnership with the City of Hutchinson, manages the marketing and promotion of our vibrant Downtown, based on the four pillars of the Kansas Main Street model. Four Downtown committees meet regularly including the Coalition, Design, Promotion, and Economic Vitality teams which are energizing many new events and revitalization. From bringing life back to historic buildings, creating new spaces, boutiques, craft breweries, upper floor living, and a new boutique hotel, Downtown Hutch has had 65 new businesses open in the last 5 years.

New events added in 2023

Easter Egg Hunt (April)

Chalk the Town (July)

Hutch High Homecoming Parade (September)

Shop and Treat (October)

Light Up Hutch Christmas Parade (December)

The planning process took place over 12 months and consisted of four phases.

The Incentives Without Walls program currently manages a loan fund that has seeded 125 new jobs and $8 million of new investment since 2019. E orts to revitalize downtown are being further enhanced by the Downtown Hutch Master

Through an 18 month planning process, consultants from Olsson Studios engaged the community in visioning exercises and surveys which will enable planning for the next decade of Downtown momentum.

F&A Flooring Layton45

Roma’s Italian RestaurantThoracic Park Wellness Clinic

HUTCHINSON/RENO COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

117 N. Walnut, Hutchinson, KS

hutchchamber.com

620.662.3391

MOMENTUM MEMBERS

• Collins Bus

• Crystal Ballroom at the Burt

• Dillons

• Evergy

• Kansas Gas Service

• Howerton+White

• Kuhn Krause

• NextEra Energy

• RE/MAX Elite Real Estate

• Twisted Prints Co.

• Tyson Foods

• Peoples Bank and Trust

• PrairieStar Health Center

• Walmart

OVATION MEMBERS

• Allen Samuels CDJR

• First National Bank

• Heartland Credit Union

• Hutchinson Clinic

• Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System

• ONEOK

• RCB Bank

• The Bradbury Group