It’s pretty surreal being on this side of the President’s Column, having proofread so many of John’s letters over the years, it feels great writing this one. The transition process started right away once the Chamber Board approved the Hiring Committee’s choice for me to move into this role. It feels like a seamless change for me, I believe Sherri feels similarly. John was and is continuing to be supportive and help me when needed, my ability to lean on him continues to keep my mind at ease with new challenges afoot. I’m incredibly thankful for his mentorship over the years, as well as the community support I have felt… especially over the past handful of months. I have made some fantastic relationships in my four years of Chamber work and I know that is only going to increase as we move forward together, and I’m more than ready for it! This week has been one that will last long in the memory, my first week as President/CEO of your local Chamber is near complete. The famous quote phrases it perfectly, “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” This week has been eventful, and could even be called unconventional, the perfect week to start in a new role… let’s get into it.
Legislative Coffee
Franklin County citizens gathered in the City Hall Commission Chambers to hear from local legislators Saturday morning (pictures here). We have had great participation from both our legislators and public involvement over the three Legislative Coffees that have taken place this year. Big thank you to the Franklin County Farm Bureau Association and AT&T for sponsoring these each year, as well as the City of Ottawa for hosting the session. If you’re interested in watching last Saturday’s coffee you can click here to catch the whole conversation. A quick look-in of the discussion includes topics like… the proposed flat tax rate, a replacement of the state’s three tiers of individual income taxes being replaced with a single figure around 5-5.15% rate. A property value cap, that resonates with many throughout the state as they saw their valuation notices jump exponentially this year. Legislators also spoke up about their support or lack of support for a bundled fentanyl bill, their thoughts on local government regulating retail establishments and their use of plastic sacks, and continued to touch on where our money should go in regard to education. This event is a great way to learn more about what is happening in the capitol while they’re in session, but remember you can always reach out directly with specific questions to your legislators… here is a contact sheet for your information.
Intergalactic Surly Summit
Legacy Square was filled with bikers this past weekend as Jeff Carrol, Owner/Operator of Ottawa Bike and Trail, was set up for his first annual Intergalactic Surly Summit. To all the non-bike riders, this isn’t an event about bad-tempered space mountains, but rather an opportunity for Surly brand bike owners/admirers to gather. Ottawa Bike and Trail is the only store in our region that is a Surly Intergalactic Destination Dealer… an awesome accomplishment given the number of bike stores in Kansas, but even more impressive given he represents surrounding states as well. You can check out Jeff’s selection of Surly bikes here. The ride ended with a poker run, where riders checked out different businesses in Ottawa, as well as some scenic locations, to collect playing cards. Riders ended up at Not Lost Brewery to see who collected the best poker hand throughout the ride. Jeff also had a customized Surly bike on show for the event (check it out here) which pays homage to the famous 1984 film, Ghostbusters. If you’re looking for a new bike or your current bike needs a tune-up, who ya gonna call?
FCDC Luncheon
Over forty FCDC members piled into Mac Fasteners, located at 1110 E Enterprise Street in our north industrial park. Alicia Howard shared the history of the 30+ year-old company before taking us on a tour of the multibuilding facility (pictures here). Mac Fasteners shape and roll nuts and bolts of all sizes, as small as something you’d find in your eyeglasses hinge, to as big as five inches long. There is an important distinction between “cutting” compared to “rolling” the threads of a bolt, where cutting removes some of the material to make the grooves, rolling compresses the metal, making it far denser for high-quality results. This quality is essential to Mac Fastener’s clients, as they sell almost exclusively to aerospace companies, holding together the planes we use to travel in, along with military vehicles as well. They have even had previous contracts for SpaceX, the rocket and spacecraft company, how cool is it to know a piece of Ottawa has made it to space! To be able to produce over a million bolts a year means Mac Fasteners have 55 well-paid staff currently and noted that they are actively looking to try and hire more to continue to build their team. If you know of someone who would be a good fit, or even if you just wanted to learn more or take a tour, reach out to their office and I know they’d be happy to hear from you. Thanks to Paul Bean for organizing this luncheon, it’s always great to get community leaders together to mingle, even better when we get to learn about the businesses that make up our county.
Community Videos
One of the components that made this an unconventional week is the fact that the Chamber was shooting our triannual community videos (check our videos from 2019 here). We are given two days to get all the shots required, so our videographer and I were moving around town to make sure we checked off all our lists so the editing team can piece them all together in the coming months. These videos get posted to our website and pushed toward individuals who aren’t familiar with what the Ottawa area has to offer. They cover topics like education, real estate and relocation, and quality of life factors that hopefully entice people to visit for a day or even stay for a lifetime. I’m very appreciative of those who donated their time to be a part of the videos, whether that was for an interview or some great background footage (you can check out Dallas Purkeypile, AdventHealth Ottawa President/CEO, in the hot seat in this picture). In 2019 we made a Legacy Square video that was shot as the space was still being built, missing the finished product by a couple of months. I’m excited about the new video which will show it off in all its glory! The Chamber President/CEO has historically done the welcome video, which meant I had the opportunity to do my first video interview in my first week, seems like we timed it perfectly… we are yet to know whether my speaking is as good as our timing, we’ll have to wait and see, you can be the judge!
Franklin County E-Community
We had an informative Chamber Coffee this morning that took place at Corner Market. The Franklin County E-Community had the opportunity to share what the purpose of the group is, and what they have done so far (pictures here). This is Paul Bean’s second event of the week as he is the one who spearheads this board, the team he has garnered to serve includes Casey Lytle - Porter Spears & Bundy Insurance, Christina Claar – Franklin County, Garrett Brown – Ottawa University, Raymond Love - B-Squared Property, LLC, Blake Jorgensen – Kansas State Bank, Roger Maxwell – Kansas State Bank, and myself. The “E” in E-Community stands for entrepreneurship, with the hopes to increase and promote entrepreneurial activity in our county. This is accomplished in a handful of different ways; one is programming for preexisting businesses to help further educate owners on ways to create further sustainability. Another is through a Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, engaging middle, and high-school-aged students in our county to think about how they can take steps towards becoming or furthering their entrepreneurial goals. The last piece is through gap funding for new and existing businesses, by working with our local banks on how to get business owners over the finish line through support loans. All three of these things are only possible through a partnership with Network Kansas, which is a dedicated organization towards developing an entrepreneurial ecosystem across our state. Through this partnership, the Franklin County E-Community has been able to have its first success story, by providing an additional $30,000 loan to Riley Browning and his soon-to-be barber shop at 230 S Main St. here in Ottawa (check out his big check here). We couldn’t be more excited for Riley and his venture, an already established barber in town who is choosing to continue his business here is very exciting. Stay tuned for a date when we can cut a ribbon over at his new shop, he’s got some great ideas in store, so you won’t want to miss it.
If you or someone you know is looking to take steps towards starting a business in Franklin County, make sure to talk with your local business organizations to make sure you’re not missing opportunities for support. Lots of opportunities exist, regardless of industry, and we want you to be connected!
Happy Easter
I hope you have a more than good, but GREAT, Good Friday. Safe travels to all who are seeing family and friends for Easter. Makayla and I have plans to see both sides of the family over the weekend which will keep us busy for the next three days. We were talking with friends recently about Easter traditions, Makayla’s family always put on a cousin’s Easter egg hunt, and my family shared candy and small gifts. But a memory that resonates the most with my three sisters and me is our mom waking us up each Easter morning shouting “He has risen! He has risen!” until we got out of bed. A loud reminder of the reason we celebrate each year, I might have to keep the tradition alive in our household…
I’m looking forward to connecting with you each week in this way, though I am in need of some help with naming this column. I could simply continue to call this newsletter “Connect with Ryland”, but in a time of transition it seems like I should think outside the box. One suggestion from our friend Clara Cox at ECKAN was “Ry Ry the Chamber Guy”, I couldn’t help but share her creativity. I’m going to give it another week before I make any decisions… shoot me your idea and I’ll put it in the running!
Happy Easter and see you soon,
Ryland Miller
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
ryland@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000