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New chamber director feels challenged, welcomed
McCOOK, Neb. -- After about a month on the job, Chamber President Brandi McConnell said her new position at the chamber has provided the challenges she was looking for and that she loves being so involved in the community. “I just feel like it so neat how accepting McCook has been to me,” McConnell said.
McConnell is not new to McCook, she was previously the sales manager at Kinship Pointe. Originally from Oberlin, McConnell is a 2010 Decatur Community High School graduate and a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She and her husband, Evan, have two girls, Stella and Nora.
McConnell told the Gazette that she has made a few changes in her short time at the chamber, one being the log-on requirement to put an event on the chamber’s community calendar. She removed the requirement to log in, although she will still need to approve the event before it can go live on the calendar.
She is also working to educate people on the advantages of using chamber bucks as gifts for family, friends, and staff. “To be honest, when I first moved here, I didn’t know what [chamber bucks] were.” Chamber bucks can be spent at any chamber-member businesses except Walmart. Chamber bucks are accepted year-round, and they are convenient for member businesses to accept as they can simply be deposited at MNB Bank or Horizon Bank, or redeemed at the chamber office. McConnell said that using chamber bucks keeps spending local, while still providing the recipient with lots of purchasing options.
The chamber board of directors will be under the leadership of Chairman Lori Beeby of Community Hospital beginning July 1; with Trevor Taylor of VK Electronics moving to the Past-Chair position, and Jade Lesko of Citta Deli moving to the Chair-Elect position. Katie Farrell with Katie Farrell Yoga & Pilates will fill a board position vacated when Steve Rasmusen of Horizon Bank completes his term at the end of June.
The chamber is currently focusing on Crazy Days, which takes place July 8th to 10th. The theme of “1980’s movies” was chosen after a vote of chamber membership and will provide endless opportunities for business staff to dress up and compete in the annual Gazette costume contest on Thursday, July 8th.
Wagner Auto Group is once again sponsoring a Cruise Night and Car Show during Crazy Days. Cruising will take place Friday, July 9, beginning around 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to cruise. The car show will be held Saturday, July 10 on West C Street close to the Wagner Ford dealership starting at 9 a.m. Trophy presentations will occur at 12:30 p.m. There will be activities throughout the day.
Merchants are planning “awesome sales” throughout the community and the chamber is helping to promote the event through Facebook Live and other digital means.
Several chamber-member restaurants have signed up to provide $5 food vouchers to lucky shoppers throughout the three-day event. The chamber will pay the restaurants for the vouchers that are redeemed. Chamber personnel will be awarding the vouchers at random throughout Crazy Days as a way of thanking shoppers for patronizing McCook businesses.
New to this year’s Crazy Days is “Lemonade Days”, a collaboration between McCook Economic Development Corporation, McCook Community College, and the Chamber. About seven young entrepreneurs will be selling lemonade and other goodies in the downtown area on Saturday, July 10.
Other upcoming chamber activities include:
N-Stant Convenience grand opening ribbon cutting will be this Friday at 10 a.m.
Gary’s Super Foods will be honored at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 8 as the second quarter honor business.