hays chamber of commerce
hays chamber of commerce
Saturday Aug 06, 2022
FHSU job fair connects area business to potential workforce
Saturday Aug 06, 2022
Saturday Aug 06, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast, Lisa Karlin Fort Hays State University career and internships advisor shares information about an upcoming career fair.
Tuesday Jul 26, 2022
Area leaders tour FHSU campus
Tuesday Jul 26, 2022
Tuesday Jul 26, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays Chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger, shares details of the 2022 Community Cruise.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
James Bell
Area officials will tour Fort Hays State University campus this week from the Hays Chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger stops by to share the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.
Sarah Wasinger
So for many people, they may not know what the community cruises and we're calling this one community cruise for today's edition, because we're doing it a little bit different format. So the community Cruise is usually when the downtown Hays Development Corporation grow haze, the haze Convention and Visitor's Bureau and the chamber and haze, of course, get together to take our elected officials and community leaders across town. And we show them all the different projects and things going on. Because there's been so much growth and development on the Fort Hays State University campus over the past several years, we thought how cool would it be to kind of re think that I did just a little bit this year. So we're inviting those folks onto campus today. And we'll have some presentations from our partnering agency directors that I just named, and talk about what things are going on within our organizations and some of the projects we've been working on. And then we'll also give folks an opportunity to just kind of visit with one another but such a neat event.
James Bell
Yeah, I love that. You know, and we were kind of joking. Some of us here in the office the other day about about these events, because it's kind of it seems like on the surface, you know, Hayes's let's be real. It's not the smallest of towns, but it's a small town. And like, what else could there be deceived? But then you think about and you actually get in on these things, and you get driving around. And absolutely, there's so much going on that you don't even recognize and you're absolutely right for his campus, holy smokes, talk about some work that they've done. It's like that's like a whole new campus from when I went
Sarah Wasinger
there. I know, I don't barely recognize that myself anymore. I'm like, this would have been really cool when I was going to school. So. But I'm so excited that our students in our community and those who come to visit us from out of state, really have such a wonderful campus to enjoy. So they do a great job, just highlighting everything. And Jason Willoughby has been wonderful to work with. And a big shout out to Melissa Dixon. She's kind of taken the reins for organizing this year's cruise with him. Lunch will be provided by the Fort Hays State University Foundation, so people will be treated to that. It is kind of an invitation event. So we do have I believe media invited as well to cover that. So I'm not sure if there will be a Post story about that. I do believe there will be well, there'll be a guy named James Bell.
James Bell
No, it's not me. I'm going to be here. I wish I could. I love going to those things. But you guys, you planned it too early. So next year, keep that in mind. early afternoon works better for me. Okay. Duly noted. That's the most important thing. It's can James go, can James. No. But there will be a haze poster story up there. Christina Janie, who's doing news for us this morning here on the eagle morning show. I'm sure we'll be getting that up maybe tomorrow or Thursday. So it'd be great to see
Sarah Wasinger
Perfect. Well, we look forward to seeing her. One thing I do enjoy. And what people should know is, you know, our elected officials work really hard to do a good job representing us. This gives them an opportunity to kind of be in the same room together. And there's something to be said about breaking bread with your fellow community leaders and elected officials and just making sure that everybody has a good idea of what things are going on in Hayes, I think when we can all be on the same page, and we can kind of get our gears turning in the same direction we can achieve more together.
James Bell
Absolutely. And you know, I think there's something to be said too, about the informal events. You know, when you're when you're only interact in these settings where you know, you've got business to do there's something on the agenda. You don't get to, you know, have fun and enjoy those people. And once you make those connections, and you have that ability, I think it you know, it serves the community better when those leaders are and maybe not friends but friendly.
Sarah Wasinger
Yes, absolutely. Well, ironically enough, I've been with the Chamber now full time since July of 2019. We were we usually do this event in April. And so I've not had a community cruise in my capacity yet. So this is my first one. Oh, I'm Melissa Dixon and I were both talking. She's like this might be the first one I remember. She said maybe I was a part of one. And I just don't remember, it was just so long ago. And I think this thing could be said for Doug Williams too. So we're definitely excited. So to our community leaders if we, you know, put our feet or miles or do something differently than what you're accustomed to give us just a little bit of grace as this is our first time putting this together.
James Bell
Well, and maybe maybe it's time for a little change, do a little different. Get some new ideas in
Sarah Wasinger
there. Maybe next year, we'll bring the best back and get the band back together and go tour.
James Bell
There you go. There you go. Well, Sara, before we run out of time, we got to talk about some of the events because you got a lot going on this week. As always, you always busy down at the chamber but there's some really cool stuff going on this week. Yes, this
Sarah Wasinger
week is jam packed with a wonderful selection of events for people to participate in should they choose Wednesday, July 27 at 4:30pm are hazy and professionals member development committee will be meeting at defiance this downtown location so definitely come and check that out. Thursday, July 28 at 1pm. We talked about this last week in greater detail but higher pass On the LS county educators roundtable we'll be going on. That's just a great way for educators to learn about higher pas and how they might be able to utilize that programming in their classroom. But event is free to attend. And it will be at brief space in the basement conference room. So if you plan on attending that, please be sure to park in front of the brief space location. And then we're going to be doing the same type of event at 3pm. That same day, July 28. But that will be a higher pass Ellis County Business Roundtable. So business owners can figure out how they can utilize higher pass to attract workforce, which obviously is something that everybody is struggling with right now. And it may not provide immediate relief, but it's definitely something that people can add to their toolkit to help them be successful. Yeah.
James Bell
And I would think anything you can get in that toolkit right now is helpful.
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely. Any visibility is usually good visibility, as they say, in marketing. And then Friday, July 29, at 9am. We'll be having our ribbon cutting and chamber chat with the fhsu inaugural TGIF, so Tiger year on Friday Partner of the Year, and we will be hosting that at the sunflower bank North location. So please be sure to join us for that. And then since it is last week of the month, we'll of course be having our membership lunch on Friday, July 29, as well, that will be held at noon at Smoky Hill Country Club that will be sponsored by sunflower bank. And um to kind of round the week out for folks who maybe can't attend those roundtables. Kristin Brighton, who will be our featured guest speaker at those roundtable, higher pass discussions will actually be talking about hire pas in general and kind of sharing some videos with those in attendance. And they're really cool. They're called those Colker videos that we talked about last week. So be sure to register for that. Yesterday was technically the deadline, but I'm sure if you treat the staff really nicely today and call in before noon, they'd be able to get you in, um, RSVP.
James Bell
Very cool. Yeah. And that's, um, if you're interested, don't miss it. Because what it what a powerful and helpful tool for the community.
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely. Well, all right, sir.
James Bell
Anything else before we go,
Sarah Wasinger
you know, just want to remind folks that that chamber blew up Kansas, we still have that survey window open. And this week is the last week for the survey for the childcare business survey that we have going on. So if you have not already participated in those and are interested in doing so, we would encourage you to visit our website to check those out.
James Bell
Absolutely no cost associated with either of those now, correct, right. Correct. But the chamber thing we've talked about this so many times, so I like talking about it, because it's what a cool benefit for the community. And but you need the people that have the interest, even if you're just maybe like, I don't know, get signed up for one of these sessions and do the survey and all that now, right? Yes, so
Sarah Wasinger
a little foreshadowing into next week. So next week, Friday, our chamber chat will be at the Welcome Center. We'll be talking about chamber blue of Kansas. So if you weren't able to check out the breakfast or lunch that we had to learn more about that. Come check that out and join us to learn more next Friday. Next Friday.
James Bell
Okay, good. 90 calendars. Interesting. Yep. Yep. And plus the Welcome Center. You go down there, it's a you know, every time I go in there, it's very welcoming, which I suppose is the point but everybody is always so happy when you walk in that building. I love it. Well, we're
Sarah Wasinger
going to have cathedral holding roast coffee there for folks as well as McDonald's breakfast burritos and sausage McMuffins. So even if you don't, per se feel like you want to learn more about insurance or you're good there. You should just come for a good meal and good conversation because we have a lot of interesting people that attend them.
Friday Jul 15, 2022
Backpack for Kids donation event planned Friday
Friday Jul 15, 2022
Friday Jul 15, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast Nex-Tech Wireless brand manger Tasha Eichman and Hays Chamber vice president of membership, Rhonda Meyerhoff share details about the upcoming Backpacks for Kids donation event.
Friday Jul 08, 2022
FHSU to host job fair
Friday Jul 08, 2022
Friday Jul 08, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays Chamber President and CEO Sarah Wasinger, along with Lisa Karlin, Internship Career Advisor with FHSU Career Services share details about an upcoming job fair.
Thursday Jun 23, 2022
Planning underway for 2022 Educators Appreciation dinner
Thursday Jun 23, 2022
Thursday Jun 23, 2022
The Hays Chamber's Educators Appreciation dinner may be months away, but the planning has already begun. Hays Chamber President and CEO Sarah Wasinger shares the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Hays Chamber to host childcare informational meeting
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger shares information about as upcoming informational childcare meeting.
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Hays Chamber explores Blue Cross insurance option for members
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger discusses Chamber Blue of Kansas, an BlueCross BlueShield of Kansas product, being evaluated for potential implementation for members.
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Hays Chamber to present Dale Carnegie training
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Wednesday May 25, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger stops by to share information about their upcoming Dale Carnegie training.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
James Bell
The Hays Chamber's, Dale Carnegie workshops are coming up in early June. President and CEO of the Hays Chamber, Sarah Wasinger stops by to share some of the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.
Sarah Wasinger
When I first started at the Chamber almost three years ago, mind you, back in June of 2019, I was able to go through the Dale Carnegie class on the front end, starting at the chamber. And it was quite frankly, one of the most wonderful professional development personal development opportunities that I have ever had. And looking at, you know, a unique job as the chamber presidents Oh, it was just really a good opportunity to really hone in on better communication skills, and really kind of understand how I can, you know, really stop and pause and listen, and really hear what other people are saying and understand what their needs are. And that's really been one of the biggest tools I've used in my day to day jobs.
James Bell
That's awesome. Yeah, I'm looking at kind of the class notes here. Confidence, competence and enthusiasm is what they're practicing. I love that.
Sarah Wasinger
Yes. So if you are the type of person that maybe you're not extroverted, you're introverted, but your job requires you to maybe push yourself outside of your comfort zone couldn't imagine what that's like, I don't know, do we have jobs like that?
James Bell
We may, we may be a public faces of the community? Yeah, well, I
Sarah Wasinger
would say that this is that opportunity to put yourself outside of your comfort zone, you know, it's not just a traditional sit in your chair, you know, from 830 to five o'clock training session, you're actually getting up, you're interacting, you're moving around, and you're going to have to prepare, you know, a couple of minutes speeches here and there. But the cool thing is, is that you're sitting in a room of people that are in that exact same place that you are, you know, they're testing their comfort levels. They're not, you know, probably speaking at the public level on a daily basis, either. People that were in my class ranged anywhere from people in the banking industry, we had folks in education, agriculture, you know, just essentially people that were in the marketing filled, business related, you know, competencies, it really had the gamut of people who, you know, would benefit from this class. So, we also had the opportunity to act out skits, which I'm not one that is very creative, but really, they put you at ease when you're in the class. I'm Amy Gross is actually the facilitator. And for people that listened a couple of months ago, we actually had her on to talk about the class that we had back in April. So she does a great job. And it's my understanding that Tasha Iseman from Nex tech wireless is going to be last year's guest, um, graduate facilitator this year. So she's going to come in and kind of help and keep the class engaged and keep everybody on their toes.
James Bell
Very cool. Very cool. Yeah. And I was gonna say, I remember that interview. And for those out there listening, want to go back and listen to that you can find that over the post podcast, I'm sure that's there. Over at Hayes post.com. But the I love that. The exactly you you kind of alluded to this a little bit. But this really this class is not for just business professionals or Chamber members. It's for anybody you there's something that you can take from this, no matter what your job position or life experiences.
Sarah Wasinger
It is absolutely so the thing I like about this course is when we started back in 2018, kudos to Tammy Walbrook, excuse me my predecessor, she's the one who brought this opportunity. And so this is just a really nice way for people to have amazing, you know, communication training, but you don't have to travel away from haze. That's the value of it, right? So where you as you would normally travel out of town for, you know, three to five days for a training like this. You get to have it right in your own back door. We're going to actually have it at the venue at Thursday's. And that will be on June 7 14th. And 21st classes will start from 8:30am and go until 5pm
James Bell
Very cool. Very cool. Yeah. And, you know, first off the venue, what a neat little place. I I've had some meetings in there and I love it. I think that's one thing we still probably need more of venue spaces here. Nice. But anyway, the travel piece of that absolutely to get this world class training. I mean, normally you'd have to go to Wichita, Kansas City to do this but you guys bring it right here to the people in Hays. I love that.
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely. You're not paying gas prices, you're not paying costs to stay overnight in a hotel. You're staying right here in Hays. And, you know, you don't have to be paying us to take the class we have in the past have had people from other communities and counties travel into town to take it. So registration information can currently be found on the Chamber's website. We do have fliers, essentially, that will be coming out. While I guess if you go back as far as I think our February newsletter will have a Dale Carnegie flyer in each of the month's newsletter so definitely go check that out. If for any reason you can't see that. Feel free to call us at the Chamber office at 785-628-8201 and either ask for myself or for Rhonda and Mariah M, we're giving her that some of that information too. So, we will do our best to get you all the information you need. And more than anything, too, we would be happy to connect you with Amy gross, the facilitator from Dale Carnegie at the Kansas heartland.
James Bell
Okay. Now I'm curious, do you have to be a chamber member to get in on this?
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely not. Now, there is a cool benefit to being a chamber member. However, we will give you a 15% discount for being a chamber member. When you register through the course, there is a code on the flyer at the Chamber's website. And of course, they'll Carnegie will verify that all those who register with that code are true Chamber members. One thing that we haven't talked about is there are three books that come with this training. And I actually, I feel like I use one of the three on a weekly basis, if not more. So the quick and easy way to effective public speaking, I actually read that one, before going on stage at the Chamber banquet my first year. And I think had I not done that I might have just, you know, maybe gotten really red faced and paused and not knowing what to say. But that book really helped me with some personal competence. Just being able to speak in front of you know, 400 of my peers across town, and then how to win friends and influence people and how to stop Worrying and start letting. I think that even though we look at Dale Carnegie as the concept for professional development, and they've been doing this for over 100 years now, the principles still really do remain true. I think the thing I love the most about the books is it gives you a lot of different stories that kind of illuminate some of these different principles that we talked about, to where it's easy for you to internalize as your own self within your own experiences. And you can kind of really pull from a variety of examples for those.
James Bell
Absolutely, yeah, I highly recommend those books. I've never done this class, but I've read those books, or at least a couple of them. Yeah, I don't remember exactly which ones. But yeah, well, I gotta pulled up here, just aside the titles in front of me on the on the web. And they're like, they're $5. I mean, what a what an investment your future, if you don't want to take the time at this, at this point in your career to do a class like this, please read those books,
Sarah Wasinger
at least read the books, they're amazing. Um, so a few of the other things that you will learn in this class are creating a safe and caring environment, managing stress and minimizing worry, obviously, everybody is doing a lot more, with a lot fewer staff right now. So, um, who could benefit from that one, and then energizing and engaging listeners, that's sometimes very difficult, because we consume so much information on a daily basis. And so just making sure that the message that you're sharing is really being taken in by your audience. And then I think the thing that I love the most is building trust and persuading people to take action. So a lot of times, maybe we have that fear point that, oh, maybe I shouldn't act, maybe I shouldn't do this. Because I'm worried about what the possible outcome might be. I think this class really helps you guide your own internal thought process, and really helps you feel comfortable maybe pushing the envelope in certain instances when you wouldn't, you know, not in a bad way. But you know, if you see something that could yield from some positive change, it gives you the courage to act on it.
James Bell
Very cool. Yeah. And that's one of the things that I see that, I don't know, it kind of digs at me a little bit is the lack of action. And, and especially, and not not anyone here locally, but around the state in other locations I've been in, I see these towns, and I'm thinking like, goodness gracious, what we've got all these cool things going on in Ellis County, why aren't they doing it here?
Sarah Wasinger
Right. So I think you have to ask yourself that question, you know, are you okay with the status quo. And I think part of what Dale Carnegie teaches you is that, you know, we can be proud of the foundation and the roots that we have, that have built us to be where we are today. But we also have to owe it to ourselves to look forward to, you know, what our futures really need. And one of the questions that I love the most that people will learn about in this course, are, what's the worst thing that can happen? A lot of times, that's the thing that makes us worry the most is we're worried about the worst thing that can happen. Well, if you can identify that elephant in the room, what's the worst thing that can happen? A lot of times, it's just doing nothing. And so doing something is always better than doing nothing. And it takes courage to try different things. And I feel that our county, as you've pointed to James has been very successful as of late because we've been willing to try some different things. And we know that in order to grow, we need to shift a little bit of the way that we've done things in the past. And I'm very proud of our community for doing that.
James Bell
Absolutely. lots lots to be proud of here in Ellis County, and Hayes specifically. We've got just a few minutes left, I want to make sure we were telling people again, how do you get registered for
Sarah Wasinger
this thing, so they can go to Hayes chamber.com and access that flyer, so they can go to the news and announcements tab and under our newsletter, link there. They can just click on that. There's an actual link in the flyer itself they can go to and then if they have any issues, registering there or getting that access discount code to work, they can call us at the office and we'll be happy to put that in there and want to make sure folks do now may 31. So next week Tuesday is the deadline to register for the class. And so if you have any questions beforehand, you know, we'd be happy to connect you with other graduates of the class. I know that many of them are always willing to share their experience with others.
James Bell
Absolutely. And I have never heard anyone that has taken this class have a bad thing to say about it. Not a single person. That's incredible to me. And I've known quite a few that have been through that. Absolutely. All right. Well, Sara, before we run out of time, we got to talk about this. You got a lot going on this week. Well, we always do. It's always busy down the chamber.
Sarah Wasinger
So Wednesday, we have Gracies corner at fhsu Memorial Union, that'll be at 4pm. I'm Grace these corner is actually their new pet line of fhsu Tiger gear that you can purchase for your four legged friends. Oh, that will be kind of exciting.
James Bell
The first dog gracious. Took me a second but yeah, the Masons dogs.
Sarah Wasinger
And then Wednesday as well, we're going to have our H yp MDC meeting that will be held at defiance at 4:30pm. And then Thursday, we're going to have a lunch and learn with the Wild West festival. And it'll be at the press at noon, and lunches available for $12. Such a great opportunity to learn how you can get involved, and an event that really hits almost every corner of Hayes, that we have a lot of people that come visit us that week. So I know that they are definitely high in demand for getting some volunteers and help for that. So if you have an inkling to learn more, as well, as you know, hear some music while you're there, and volunteering. That's a great opportunity. And then Friday, we're excited to have our chamber chat with cathedral roast, and they are going to be at the downtown Pavilion at 9am. We're going to learn about what Jeff Broll has been doing with his new coffee business, as well as talking about the downtown market that will be kicking off that weekend. And then finally, we're going to have our monthly membership lunch at Smoky Hill Country Club that will actually be this Friday at noon. And leadership Hayes will actually be our topic that they can use as a response. So if you're curious to see what our leadership Hainsworth has been doing for their class project, it's a great chance to get involved
Friday May 20, 2022
Hays Young Professionals plan June Street dance
Friday May 20, 2022
Friday May 20, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays Chamber vice president of marketing and communications, along with Advisory Council chair Tom Graham share details of the upcoming Street Dance scheduled for June 17.
Tuesday May 10, 2022
Chamber Checks help stimulate the area economy
Tuesday May 10, 2022
Tuesday May 10, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays Chamber vice president of membership Rhonda Meyerhoff shares the benefits of Chamber Checks as graduation gifts.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
James Bell
It's graduation season and that means graduation gifts, Hays Chamber vice president of membership Rhonda Meyerhoff says chamber checks are an excellent option. She joins us to talk about that and more on this episode of the Post Podcast. First thing I got to know how the golf tournament go last week.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Oh James. Oh, it was wonderful. So everyone knows we had plenty of rain last week. So that the Greens even the fairways were they're not watered. They were beautiful and green. A disappointment might be the the ball to get bounced further ahead when he hit it. So that might have been a Debbie Downer. But a golfers were so happy. It was an absolutely beautiful day. I had fun telling people when they commented about what a beautiful day it was that I said it was their chamber hard at work for them. No, gotta take off we can get but no, it was a beautiful day. Absolutely beautiful day. We had 36 teams join us. And that was great. So that was two teams per hole. And they all seem to have a really good time. Spirits were high. I think people were so excited. For one, maybe they were ready for a break from the rain, which I will never complain about rain.
James Bell
Yeah, you weren't. But sometimes you just got to I know what he did. And we need it. We need it. But oh my gosh, it brings it down. Oh, I'm ready for some stuff. Ialso remember though, Dan and I were very young in our marriage. And we lived in Lincoln, Kansas. And I remember that summer, ranchers were having to haul their cattle off to someplace else other states, because there was no rain. So there wasn't enough grass for their, their cattle. So ever since then. I mean, I was a farm girl, I realized how important rain was. But that that really sent a signal to me that we should never complain about the rain. I don't know how well I would fare in another dirty 30s. James, I'll be
fair enough.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Yeah. No, it was absolutely a beautiful day. weather wise, the sun was out. golfers were happy. The patio party went over? Well, the online auction did great. And we had three lucky winners, who I still haven't found out who they are.
James Bell
They know they know they've got the prize.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Yes. And they're they're picked up. So no, that was great. I actually had to leave the event a little bit early to get down to Wichita to listen to my son grandson playing his first piano recital. So the only reason is that yeah, yes. So it was a great tournament, I would know more about the tournament. But Mariah and I are manning the office. This week, Sarah's in Washington, DC with the western Kansas delegation, talking to our political regime out there and trying to make a difference for this part of the country. And so we're really excited about that for her to represent us. But yesterday morning early, we got in the First Order was for about $5,000 in chamber checks. Wow. Our largest denomination is 20 fives, so you can check. And then we got another order for $2,700 in chamber checks. So we ended up doing chamber checks for most of the day. And that that subject just didn't come up. So yeah, and we were excited to get that order.
James Bell
I was gonna say that's a good problem to have. I mean, although it's a lot of writing of checks.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Well, you know, those are, those are all all done, they're stamped and Oh, you just gotta like rip them apart. And well don't make it sound like it's just a simple process. James. Well, I don't know.
James Bell
The only only experience I have with chamber checks is I get them and I give them to the clerk at the store and I get my stuff. Yes, as far as my goes,
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
no, they're pre printed and numbered with our own wonderful printer here in town with Northwestern printers, and they're numbered there. But then they have to be stamped with Sarah's signature. And moralists. God bless her heart took really good care of us before she left only I don't know that she was planning on that big of order, which we are again, very happy about. But yeah, it's folding them stuffing them in the envelopes and getting them already. And I am so paranoid James, when it comes to people's money, I counted once and then I counted twice. And I counted a third time as I was stuffing envelopes. You know, gosh, we got that done. And so we have a lot of happy winners from from all the things that were going on at the time. Ultimate? That's for sure. Fantastic.
James Bell
Love to hear it. Yeah. And yeah, absolutely it was what a beautiful day. I don't think could ask for better weather.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
No, no, not at all. But you know, speaking of chamber checks, James, that's a great way to give graduation gifts, multiple checks that we prepared yesterday. Not all of them were for students a large quantity of them were. But what we need to stop and think, is that money will stay local. The one place where they can't be spent, people can't cash them into their bank account. So that money needs to stay local. And almost $8,000 A little over will stay in Haynes and help our local businesses,
James Bell
not not just once, but then again, yes, because it's cycles. Yes. And I don't reserve shared with me that number one point. I don't remember where it is, but it's in she's currently good with all that. Oh, yeah. It's like a steel trap up there. But yeah, it just keeps going and going to go on. Yeah. Helps me for weeks and months.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Oh, absolutely. And we need that here in Hays. You know, they can be spent at any chamber member and it helps them to pay payroll tax as then, you know, helps helps them pay employees and, and their, the rent on their building or any all of that. It just really helps. Plus, it's really nice. Because as as someone who's giving, you don't have to worry about getting it to the right store that they like to shop at. So you've taken that worry away. Plus, they're just fun.
James Bell
Yeah, you know what I like about him. And Sara blew my mind a while back with this number. But there's over 400 chamber businesses. Yes. So it's, I don't even know where all 400 of those businesses are. And I was counting because I couldn't come up with them. I had to drive around account. But you've got an incredible assortment of places you can spend those?
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Absolutely, absolutely. Restaurants. We probably don't want any young high school graduates to go to bars yet. But maybe college graduate could go. Yeah, but there's trash shops. There areas in town that a lot of them. The hallmark store, just there's a lot. Yeah. So there's a wide variety of what people could do, absolutely will restore options. Yeah, there's a lot. So they come in denominations of 510, and 25. So one of the orders yesterday was mainly a combination of 20, fives, and 25. And then $50 bundles, and the other one was $15. Set. So we were able to put a 10 and a five together. So and don't be afraid of those small numbers. It's just that many more times that people get to use the chamber check. Oh, now so and it works just like a check for the businesses
James Bell
or if you're not familiar with the check, because I know a lot of younger people don't really have that experience. It's just like cash. Really?
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Absolutely. Absolutely. So that's really fun. So what we would like to ask people is, if they're going to have significant orders, to please let us know, a day or two ahead. It took Ryan, I quite a bit of time to figure out that yesterday. Again, we're happy to do it. But we would rather not have you have to wait around for us as we prepare all of that. Give us a heads up and then it can be ready when you come in to get them and pay for him.
James Bell
Sure. Yeah. Easy, efficient. Love it.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
It is very easy and efficient. You know, James, today's a big day.
James Bell
I was gonna say we've got just a couple minutes left. We gotta get this in. Yeah,
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
big day today. Today's the last day that you can vote for the USD 49 infrastructure and the sales tax issue. You know, regardless of what your political views are, or what side of this coin, you're flipping on, get out and vote. That's the main thing, vote. You know, we have a lot of veterans and a lot of young men and women now fighting for our country to give us these freedoms. So take advantage of this freedom. Get out and vote. Yeah, so today's today's lot seven o'clock. I
James Bell
believe polls close today.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Is that what time it is? I voted early.
James Bell
Every day, every day. I said I told my wife told my co workers here I'm like, I'm gonna go vote today. I'm gonna get it in and get it done. And then I didn't and here we are on the day. I'm gonna get it in today, though. Oh, good. Absolutely. I always I always vote. I had the early voting to me. I like it because it's convenient. But it's one of those things that mentally at least for me, I'm like, Well, I can still do But later I can still do. I'm a procrastinator, you see?
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Well, and I in I work in a building where everyone's talking about voting early. And so that helped me this year, or usually I'm in the same boat you are. I'm going to go do it. But there always seems like something better to do. But gosh, today, James, but your voice be heard.
James Bell
Absolutely. Everybody get out there and get and the turnout already. I don't know what the number is. But I know it's been an incredible early turnout, far surpassing any of the previous bond attempts. And I think just really good turnout in election in general for for Ellis County so far. And
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
that's great. We shouldn't have that maybe this will be a start of something new. I would love that. And what by new I mean that people will start voting more often reinvigorated.
James Bell
Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Well, Rhonda, I tell you, Oh, we got to get over to news and weather. But any other last thoughts real quick before we go?
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Thanks to those who support the chamber and thanks to those who came out and played golf with us, who donated prizes who voted at the online auction all of that it was a large community working together and we sure do appreciate everything everyone does for the chamber. Thanks
Tuesday May 03, 2022
Hays Chamber Golf Tourney set for Friday
Tuesday May 03, 2022
Tuesday May 03, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast president and CEO of the Hays Chamber Sarah Wasinger, along with president and CEO of the First Care Clinic share information about the upcoming Chamber Golf Tournament.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
James Bell
The Hays Chamber is putting the final touches on their golf tournament set for Friday, President and CEO of the Hays chamber Sarah Wasinger, along with President and CEO of First Care Clinic, Bryan Brady, join us to talk about that and more on this episode of the Post Podcast.
Sarah Wasinger
So this week is like the week. It's golf tournament week, which also means it's our silent auction week. And we have her scare clinic who is sponsoring that silent auction this year for us. And we are so excited about that, because it helps us do a lot of nice things, including showcase all of the wonderful auction items that have been donated by our chamber member businesses, and even a few non chamber member businesses. Because this is the one event every year that we allow those folks to participate in our events as well.
James Bell
Absolutely. No, I do want to get this out of the way. You sold out on the golf tournament. Right? We have but your team's 30 teams. Oh my goodness, that's a lot to manage. But you've still got tickets for the patio party, right?
Sarah Wasinger
We do. Okay, great. Do so the cool thing about that is tickets are $25 each, it comes with a fiesta taco bar. Let me get that right. So it's literally a day after Cinco Demayo. So we thought that might be a fun play on what's going on. And then we also have a margarita that comes with that too. So you can get to enjoy a margarita out on the patio, some tacos, and have a chance to play the Plinko board. And that Plinko board will come with some great prizes too. So we have anything from T shirts to nice coffee cups to some sunglasses, you name it, you can win it.
James Bell
Very cool. Very cool. I love that. And you know, honestly, when we've talked about this a little bit, what an exciting event for the community to be able to get together and really celebrate businesses and everything else going on.
Sarah Wasinger
Exactly. So we, of course are excited to have we do have a special guest just dropped in. How are you, sir? Construction?
James Bell
You timed that perfectly? You Oh, yes. What a mess right there at that intersection? Oh, my goodness, I have to do that every day. It's terrible. How are you sir?
Bryan Brady
I'm doing great. Thanks so much for having me.
Sarah Wasinger
So Brian Brady is the president CEO at first care clinic. And as we shared, they are our sponsor for our silent auction this year. So Brian, tell us a little bit about you guys. And what you offer at first Care Clinic real quick. we'll segue into that.
Bryan Brady
Sure. So first Care Clinic is what we call a federally qualified health center. And what that means is we take care of everybody regardless of their ability to pay regardless of their insurance status. And we're really proud to do that. And grateful we can do it for the AES community.
Sarah Wasinger
And they've been a well, well trusted chamber member for quite some time now. So and Brian actually also serves on our chamber board of directors. Next year, he will be our board chair. Oh, very cool. Excited
about that, for sure.
Sarah Wasinger
So, Brian, you guys obviously are playing I think I'm a golf tournament too, right?
Bryan Brady
Yes, I've played in that. Almost every year since I've been in Hays. It's such a great event. We have a great time. And looks like we'll get to great weather tomorrow or Friday as well. Yeah, we
Sarah Wasinger
were looking at that and very excited knock on knock on wood. So one thing that is fun of note, we actually kicked off the Auction yesterday. So ours is a little unique. We start that on Monday morning at 8am. And then that online auction will run until Friday at 3pm. So we actually had the auction link that will go out today in our newsletter, but it can also be accessed online. So feel free to contact us at the Chamber if you have any issues getting onto that link.
James Bell
Very cool. And what what an amazing assortment of items during that auction
Sarah Wasinger
over $13,000. And we're actually getting closer to $14,000 as we speak and shut up. Ah, we're adding a few things here at the last minute. Love it.
James Bell
We're talking about some of the things I'm looking at the list and I figured you would
Sarah Wasinger
come to my office because it looks like the auction actually blew up in there. And it's very fun. We have a plethora of gift certificates from our chamber member restaurants and obviously some good eat options there. So you have to feed your family. So you might as well go online and check. Check those out for sure. Absolutely. One of the other things that we're really excited about is we got a ridiculous amount of coolers this year. And they're also interesting in their own right so we have a couple of Gatorade slash KJ hot coolers, and those were donated by Pepsi Cola. I've got a fully stocked Coleman cooler that is full of neat swag items from five broadband 60 cord Polaris Northstar cooler that was donated by BLS motorsports. And then we've also got some tools, speakers, adult food, beverage and food baskets. So those are really neat because you can kind of buy those. Maybe Mother's Day gifts. Think of Mother's Day.
James Bell
Is that coming up soon? It's I'm just kidding.
Sarah Wasinger
Well, the nice thing about our auction is of course we bring all of our items to Smoky Hill Country Club, because many of our golfers do bid on those. And so whether you come to the chamber office throughout this week to look at those items through noon on Thursday or if Do you want to come down to Smoky Hill Country Club and peruse those? You sure can. But you can pick up the items after we close the auction at three o'clock. So you would have them technically in plenty of time to celebrate Mother's Day. Very cool. We have some unique experiences this time around as well. And we were very excited. President and Mason fhsu has provided a dinner for for at her home. We also have for fhsu All sport general admission tickets for the 2020 to 2023 football and basketball seasons. A couple of new ones that we are offering from the chamber this year include our 2023 chamber banquet dessert sponsor. And you might be asking, what is that Sara? Well, you get two tickets to attend the event. We're going to put you in the program, you'll get plenty of advertising leading up to the event and after the event. And what that sponsorship does is allow the chamber to help offset the costs of the dessert at the event.
James Bell
So neat idea.
Sarah Wasinger
I love it. Yeah. So Rhonda came up with that one. So it was a
James Bell
Rhonda. That was a little bit sooner.
Sarah Wasinger
That's It's amazing Sandra kudos. And then we're also going to have a couple of tickets that are VIP tickets actually for the 2022 Wild West fest. So very exciting for that. And then another unique item that we're offering for next year is going to be our 2023 Plinko patio party cocktail sponsor. We've gotten a lot of good feedback already that folks are excited to have a cocktail out on the patio with their meal on Friday. And so we're going to of course, as well give that opportunity that will come with a couple of tickets to attend next year's event. Awesome. Brian, are there any items that you plan on bidding on?
Bryan Brady
I haven't looked through the auction yet. But don't tell my wife there's an auction.
Sarah Wasinger
Okay. I'm gonna just Facebook message earlier that
James Bell
sounds like you just found your next Plinko patio pot party cocktail sponsor right there.
Sarah Wasinger
We also have a couple of other awesome items, we have some men's and women's Oakley sunglasses that are donated by EMI specialists associated and Hatton Montero family eyecare has also donated a pair of designer glasses that are Kate young brand. And then you can also bid on different items that are related golf like haste municipal golf course has a round of four for golf. So just want to make sure that people go online, we have some pictures uploaded. And we do have descriptions of each of the items there. I'm starting bids are open, of course right now. And then we have, you can set a max bid if you want. So let's just say you're not good at keeping up with stuff. You can put what you're willing to pay for it. And then as long as no one else bids more than that. You can actually technically be the winner
James Bell
meet. Yeah, I think so many groups that do the do auctions ahead to move it online. So I think everybody at this point had a little bit of experience with an online auction. But
Sarah Wasinger
I think the chamber was kind of a trailblazer in that they've been doing the online format for quite some time since the start of the tournament. So and then of course want to give a shout out to Avalon of Hayes. They are also our big sponsor for our Plinko patio party.
James Bell
Yay. Thanks to them. Yeah,
Sarah Wasinger
next Tech wireless, where would we be without them? There are the actual tournament sponsors so grateful for everything that they do to help us and put on a successful event. And then a final shout out to our ambassador team. And they've gone above and beyond and helping us get some prizes for the raffle for the auction and all those other cool things.
James Bell
Very cool really takes a village to put this thing together. Huh, it does. So
Sarah Wasinger
we've been planning this event since probably February. And I think everyone's ready for a good afternoon to relax and enjoy the day. It's here. It's here it is here.
James Bell
Alrighty, well, we've got just about a minute or so left any other events going on. And this is probably taking the bulk of your week up. But I would imagine get ready for this.
Sarah Wasinger
So for the remainder of this week until noon on Thursday, we are still celebrating childcare provider Appreciation Week. And so we still have probably about 25 appreciation backs and a handout. So if you didn't make it down yesterday, please feel free to stop by our office. If you're a childcare provider. Obviously you're offering care during the day and you can't get away feel free to send someone on your behalf to get your care package for you. We also have leadership pays tomorrow at 830 at the Welcome Center. We'll be celebrating in the carpentry house at NCQA Technical College on Thursday at 10am. Our H yp networking and Engagement Committee will actually meet at 1205 at the Welcome Center on Thursday. And then of course Friday is Game On work around the country clubs so we won't be in the office the office will be closed
Tuesday Apr 26, 2022
Hays Chamber begins search for next Administrative Assistant
Tuesday Apr 26, 2022
Tuesday Apr 26, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays Chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger, along with vice president of marketing and communication Mariah Leglighter, share information about the search for the Chamber's next administrative assistant.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
James Bell
The Hays chamber is on the hunt for their next administrative assistant from the chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger along with Vice President of Marketing and Communications Mariah Legleiter stops by to talk to us about that and more on this episode of the Post Podcast.
Sarah Wasinger
Our dear friend Marlis Fletcher, she's our current administrative assistant is taking a position at a chamber member location. So we are actually in the process of looking for a new administrative assistant.
James Bell
Okay, well, I mean, okay, well, this is great. She's amazing. And it says over here, and you guys, there's no replacing her?
Sarah Wasinger
Well, you know, they say everyone's replaceable, she just holds a very special place in our heart. She's literally the glue of our office. And she's that first point of contact when people come visit us at the chamber. So definitely will be difficult to replace her. But we feel like we have a pretty fun team. I mean, I'll say that I brought Mariah so she could actually validate if
James Bell
you're the boss to say like, yeah, we have a great time at work. Everybody loves me.
Sarah Wasinger
I can I paid Mariah extra, she'll say nice things.
Mariah Legleiter
It has been, it has been fantastic. Um, the last, what, five months, six months has been just, it's gone by incredibly fast. I've learned so many new things. And I've just gotten to dip my toes in a lot of different aspects of the community. And I've gotten to talk to a lot of different people and learn new things. And it's just been really fantastic. And, you know, working with Sarah, and working with Rhonda and working with Marlise has just been fantastic, too. I mean, they're fun. I don't think I've had a day that I haven't laughed, probably for half the day. I mean, it's it. Yeah, it's a great environment. And it has been fantastic.
James Bell
Very cool. You know, and I got to imagine much like kind of my job here. It's one of those positions that it changes everyday, it's a little different.
Sarah Wasinger
Yes. If you don't like what you're doing just sneeze and you'll be doing something different. Yes. That's for sure. Yeah,
Mariah Legleiter
I would like to say it changes by the day, but sometimes it's by the minute.
Sarah Wasinger
Wow. But we get to work with a lot of wonderful people, I think the biggest thing that I wanted to communicate about this position is we are in a very special place in our community that we get to impact a lot of different things by the work that we do. And so it's not just how you get paid by the benefits. But I think internally, the paycheck that you get to sign right at the end of the day for doing things like addressing child care, helping get the school bond passed, all those different things, the work that we get to do on a daily basis, supporting our local businesses, advocating on their behalf, really desperately your bucket.
James Bell
So yeah, and I think you know, especially for young folks, when I say young, I'm thinking younger than us, we're Sarah, we're about same age, Mariah is clearly younger than
Sarah Wasinger
obviously, she has less wrinkles.
James Bell
But for younger folks, it's a lot of it's about that it's about the difference you can make in the community paychecks are great, and everybody you know, at the end of the day, has to make money to live. But you know that that sense of belonging that the ability to make a difference is tremendous.
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely. So I just wanted to kind of point that out. Um, you know, we did talk about Marlis being the glue for our team. And that's very much true, I'm just kind of wanted to give a glimpse as to what maybe the average day looks like. So obviously, you're the first point of contact when coming into the office. Um, she Marlise currently does a wonderful job answering the phones. So this person would help be that first point of contact, we have chamber checks, of course, and this position would kind of manage that program, and assist in doing the bulk of processing those orders for folks, when they come in. We do have a software called chamber master. It's kind of our database that we use to track our Chamber members, excuse me, I've got a frog in my throat this morning, that they would be taught how to utilize that system to kind of keep track of different events and things of that nature. Obviously, we're very event driven at the Chamber, because about 45% of our total budget comes from the income that we earn from those events. So they would definitely help us assist and organize and coordinate those things that we have going on. Whether it be an appreciation and appreciation the banquet, so and then of course our regular events that we have to like chamber chats, ribbon cutting and some membership lunches, they'll help get those things on the calendar for us and make sure that we're not overlooking any important details.
Mariah Legleiter
Yeah, we, um, you know, working working at the Chamber has been really fun. And being able to work with Marla. She's been really organized and really great. And I feel like that's also something that that's really important to this role is just being really organized and being able to keep us kind of organized and help With our calendars and just kind of do those, those things for us and keep us on our toes as well,
Sarah Wasinger
yeah, someone who's an effective communicator and fearful of a fast paced work environment would definitely probably thrive in this position. So,
James Bell
and correct me if I'm wrong, too. But we have we, as I've watched the you fill positions like Moriah, here over the last few years, the job is kind of also tailored to the individual, right? Because it's a small team, there's only the four of you folks down there. So it kind of builds around that skill set that they might bring in, right?
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely, we definitely want to make sure that people are fulfilling their purpose. I'm at the chamber. So we had this defined set of job descriptions. But if there's a passion that someone brings to the table that maybe we haven't considered or done before, and they're going to be a part of that team, they're going to be given the opportunity to give feedback to help really guide and mold the purpose of our direction going forward. Okay, cool.
James Bell
Well, we got to probably talk about some of the specifics here, because it is pretty, some pretty good list of benefits that come with this job.
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely. So some of my favorite things are, you know, we pay full coverage for a single person's insurance. So that definitely is a strong benefit right now, because the cost of health care is significant. And we also have the 3% retirement contribution match. And one of my favorite things is a flexible work schedule. Mariah, you're a young mama, do you want to talk a little bit about that.
Mariah Legleiter
So we actually open at 730 Every morning, but I can't drop off my kid at school until 730. So they've been really, really great about working around that schedule. I'm able to drop Olivia off and then go straight to work. And I mean, it's been seamless, like it's just worked out really, really well. And yeah, we, anytime Olivia Has anything at school, or if there's something in the community that we need to go do, as long as you know, we're communicating with each other. And that comes back to that good communication. As long as we're doing that, then we make it work. And it's very flexible. It's been really fun.
Sarah Wasinger
Work life balance is a very important thing that I always want to provide for my team. Because I feel that the more that you can take advantage of enjoying your family, the better position that you are to be effective at work. So that's definitely something that we've tried to champion over the past couple of years. Another thing that is wonderful too, speaking of family time is our paid holidays off. We have New Year's Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving. So if you want to shop local, you can do. And then hint hint, wink wink there. And then also Christmas Eve New Year's Day, we actually get that full kind of week and a half off, and from our chamber board of directors. So we also accrue sick leave on a regular basis. And after six months of consecutive employment, you earn one week of paid time off. And after one year, you get two weeks of paid time off. And then of course every year after that, I think five years you get to move up. But that's definitely something wonderful just so you can have that work life balance. Like I said, it's really nice to be able to enjoy the time away with your family, and then be refreshed and come back ready to work.
Mariah Legleiter
And I know that you know, talking about the week off, um, that was super, super helpful for us. Because then you only had to find one week while the kids are out of school for Christmas break. You only had to find one week of childcare versus two weeks of childcare or we can you know, two and a half weeks. And it just made everything run so much smoother. Oh, I bet yeah.
James Bell
One thing we hear it's Oh,
Sarah Wasinger
yeah, we're working on an issue. The biggest thing I would take away though, too, that surprised me I think the most about this job is really the friendships that you make, and the connections that you make that are truly lasting. And I've met some of the most wonderful people that I've ever met in my entire life just by working at the chamber. And so getting to work side by side with people who are like minded and want to make a difference in our community has been so empowering and just a blessing really,
James Bell
very cool. Now, before we run out of time, we should probably tell people, you know, if they're interested how they can apply for the position.
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely. Thank you for nice segue there, James. So they can call the chamber office that 785-628-8201 If they want to ask specific questions, we would request that folks who are interested that they email, Hey, CeCe at Hayes chamber.com with a resume and a cover letter. And then we're asking for at least three references, not reference letters, we would be happy to call and get the references from those folks over the phone. But yeah, the information can be found on our chamber website at Hayes chamber.com/news-announcements. Very
James Bell
cool. And while you're there, check out all the events you guys got going on this week because you do have a lot going on, right?
Mariah Legleiter
Oh, yeah, we do. So tomorrow, April 27. At 4:30pm There's an H yp MDC meeting at defiance the downtown location on Thursday, April 28 at noon, the is going to be a ribbon cutting for the Kiwanis Club at the Welcome Center. If you RSVP to Sarah at Hayes chamber.com There is going to be a lunch served for that one, but we need a headcount to let everybody know or to know how much food to make. Also on Thursday at 5:30pm, the H yp is having an X yp event at Siena's massage, education and retail at 106 West wealth. Alyssa Owens is going to be talking about self care. Friday, April 29. At 9am. There's going to be a chamber chat for the TMP Marian ace auction at 1701 hole Street,
Sarah Wasinger
and that is one of their biggest fundraisers for the year and talking about the importance of quality schools and the facilities that we have a wonderful opportunity to support them and all the good work that they do to educate our area's children. Absolutely.
Mariah Legleiter
Yeah. And after the chamber chat on Friday, April 29. Well, during the chamber chat at 930 will have the Dale Carnegie self awareness, insights on personal leadership and workshop at the Rose Garden banquet hall and catering 2350 East eighth and Friday, April 29. At noon, we will have our monthly membership luncheon at the Rose Garden banquet hall and catering at 2350 East eighth.
Sarah Wasinger
And one final plug tomorrow is administrative professional state. So if you have an administrative professional like our Marlis Marlis if you're listening we love you and thank you. Please make sure that you thank them for everything that they do to support your organization your business
Tuesday Apr 19, 2022
Hays Chamber: Shopping local can make a big difference
Tuesday Apr 19, 2022
Tuesday Apr 19, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Chamber, president and CEO Sarah Wasinger along with vice president of marketing and communications, Mariah Leglighter stop by to talk about the importance of shopping local.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
James Bell
Choosing to shop local can have a significant impact on the local economy. From the Hays Chamber, president and CEO Sarah Wasinger along with vice president of marketing and communications, MariahLeglighter stopped by to talk about that and more on this episode of the Post Podcast.
Sarah Wasinger
It's been a while since we've really focused our message on the radio of shop local. And I think you hit the nail on the head, there are so many big events coming up Mother's Day is just around the corner this weekend as well. Or no, sorry, three weeks from now.
James Bell
I don't know why you're looking at me, I have no idea.
Sarah Wasinger
I'm thinking about the golf tournament. And that golf tournament, Friday leads into Mother's Day weekend. So I'm already there. I'm at the time, but too much. But no. So we've got a lot of important and fun things coming up. And our business community does so much to support, whether it be our local schools, our sports teams, our arts programs, and things of that nature. And so just a good reminder to slow down. Um, instead of pushing, instead of going online and clicking a cart online, we want you to go push a cart somewhere in Hays somewhere in Ellis County, where that tax base that you're paying for your goods that you're purchasing actually goes back to reinvest into your community, our roads, our schools, our infrastructure, things that help us have good quality of life here.
James Bell
Yeah, you know, and I, there's been a couple of situations real recently with myself, where I've realized that things that I were buying online, you can find locally, and, yes, slightly more expensive, um, but it's just so like, not even enough to really make it a consideration. But I found that it you know, it feels better, because you're out there. And you, you know, when you when you lay down that $10 bill for whatever it is, it's supporting the local community.
Sarah Wasinger
While there was a statistic back in 2017. That said, for every dollar that is spent in haste, it reads circulates an average of seven times. So think about the power of $1. And how many dollars we spend on a daily basis, we have to talk a little bit too about our cost of gas right now. Right? So for people that are considering shopping out of town, because they just want to go someplace else, you have to add the cost of your gas in your time into that trip, as well. And when you look at the cost savings that you could have by just staying here in Hays, um, it really adds up very quickly.
James Bell
Yeah. And for those that are in those towns that scattered around here in Hays, I know Hayes's your your deal, but you know, think like Ellis Victoria, those little small businesses there, same kind of deal. And this was, especially in the Victoria, you were at that meeting where we heard that, you know, they really want to support the community, it's a vocal and, you know, almost tangible desire there in the community to keep that money locally.
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely. So I think the more we reinvest in ourselves, the more we help ourselves. So I'm just thinking about those businesses again, that, you know, I was surprised, we looked everywhere in town for a couple of items for the chamber A few weeks ago. And finally, I just said, You know what, we can't find it here right now. But let's just see if they can order. So sometimes, maybe you don't actually see the item on the shelf, but give that business owner an opportunity to share with them what you're looking for nine times out of 10, they're going to be able to find something for you and probably get it in just as quick as if he would buy something from the evil word amazon online. So when I hear people talking about Amazon, I just want to beat my head against the wall, because Amazon is not investing in our schools, they're not supporting local initiatives, and making our community a special place to live work in place. So please, please, please keep that in mind as you are making your purchasing decisions this spring.
James Bell
Yeah, absolutely. You know, and I think to about, you know, in the, in the historical kind of nature of shop local, you know, at least in my head, I still think about supporting those local business owners, you know, the main street businesses and not going to those chain stores. But even when you if you have to make the decision between going to a chain box store here in Hays, and going to Amazon, the chain box stores still better in terms of supporting the community.
Sarah Wasinger
They are, you know, they, Mariah, I think you have some, you know, we've been talking a little bit about this, and the actual chamber office, you know, Walmart, I think this was two years ago, give a very wonderful donation to the ark Park. You know, it's not just the mom paws, it's everybody that comes together in our community to make a big difference. So we don't discriminate between smaller big businesses at the chamber. We support them and love them all, that they're local. And we're our job is to make sure that people keep that in mind when they purchase.
Mariah Legleiter
Absolutely. And like you said, I mean, that was something that kind of surprised me is that you can go in and if you can't find something that you're looking for, you know, just talk to the owners and usually they can get you what you're looking for just as kind of a deterrent to go to evil Amazon.
Sarah Wasinger
And we talk about it too, you know, just planning in advance. I think our society has become very good about instant gratification. And delayed gratification can be something you can do with as long as you're planning ahead. So, um, just make sure that if you're looking for birthday presents, like we talked about this wedding presents, graduation, Mother's Day, all those things you know, just put Ain't ahead and you can make sure that you're supporting your community while taking care of the people you love all at the same time.
James Bell
Absolutely, you know, and a great way to do that we've talked about this before, but the chamber checks, get that and whether or not you're using them, or giving them as a gift that ensures that that money is going to be used locally.
Sarah Wasinger
Well, if you're like me, and your mom and dad literally, like buy everything they need themselves, and don't give you the opportunity to buy them something for them, just to say thank you, um, chamber checks, do you make a great option because they can be spent at almost 500 locations, you know, across Ellis County. And, you know, that's a great way to make sure that that money is staying local chamber checks can't be used and other communities. So that's really the big benefit. They spend like cash, and they don't expire. So you can take them in at any time and go ahead and use them to purchase whatever you want. So and the nice thing is, is, you know, because they have that choice, and that flexibility, the sky is really the limit. And you know, whether they want to go out to eat at one of our wonderful restaurants, that's a chamber member, or just do some shopping or maybe get gas or groceries. They're all options.
James Bell
Very cool. You know, and I like that too. Because it's, it's one of those things, you know, when I think about gift cards, right? Gift cards are can be so handy, but also so annoying. Because if it's something that's not local, you got to think about it. Like I'm trying to think of a restaurant that is not in haste schlocky Sovran slide forgot a gift card to schlocky is it to remember to take that with me all the time. Or remember that I'm going to be stopping in schlocky wallum in Salina later this afternoon. So I should grab that gift card. But a chamber check, you choose it anywhere. Exactly. And for the experiences, I love that, you know, it's not just the shopping, it's the you know, doing things as well, you could use those for
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely. So just a friendly reminder, chamber texts do come and 510 and $25 increments. And if folks do want to make any orders for their upcoming gifts and things of that nature, if they can just give us a call at 785-628-8201. We'll go ahead and get those orders ready for you. That way we can make sure that they're I'm ready to pick up when you come by the office. Oh, quick and easy love. Very easy. Yes. And we do also include a brochure. We tried to have our brochure be as up to date as possible. But the best way to figure out and which businesses do take chamber checks is usually by visiting our website, Hayes chamber.com. And clicking on our membership directory.
Mariah Legleiter
I just updated that shop local brochure. So it'll be updated for about three days about how long that lasts. So what's a good thing though, that
James Bell
means businesses are coming? Joining up? Yes,
Mariah Legleiter
absolutely.
James Bell
Well, guys, we want to get into this too. There is there's a lot going on. Now. There's always a lot going on down the chamber, but this week, especially Holy smokes.
Mariah Legleiter
We were just talking about that on the way here. Today. We actually today, Tuesday, April 19 at 10am. We have a ribbon cutting at my town media. They are a new member at 1105 East 30th Street Suite. See I've heard that's on the north side of the building. Tuesday, April 19. At noon, we have the H yp connection lunch at thirsties venue Wednesday, April 20 at 8:30am. We'll have the leadership Hayes group at the Welcome Center. Thursday, April 21 at 8am. We'll have the downtown dialog Friday, April 22. At 9am. We will have our regular chamber chat over the USD 489 Bond opportunity at Rockwell Administration Center 323 West 12th Street, and on Friday, April 22. At noon, we will have our monthly Ambassador luncheon at the Rose Garden banquet hall
Sarah Wasinger
and a few quick clarifications. We will have Joseph Glassman, he is the president CEO at Glassman Corporation, he will be our guest speaker for the hrrp lunch today. And the downtown dialogue event of course is sponsored by the downtown Hayes Development Corporation. And they always had that event down in the basement at breathe coffee house. So um, it's a great opportunity for us to get to sit down with the downtown business owners. And one final point of note is today is a big day. And for people who have possibly been paying attention to the USD 49 upcoming bond election today is voter registration deadline. So if you have not already verified if you're registered to vote, you can go to 489 bond.com There's a link to verify that you're registered.
James Bell
Very cool. And it's not hard to get registered, just sit down to the county chamber or the county whatever that what's the building the administration's county administration center, yes. And get yourself registered if you're not even for this election or for the next one.
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely. And a friendly reminder to folks to that this week and next week and they can still purchase raffle tickets in our Avalon of Hayes and CO patio party tickets that are in conjunction with our golf tournaments. So always a lot going on and as always make sure that you check out his chamber.com/events for all of our upcoming them and that's what we have
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Hays Chamber readies for Dale Carnegie training sessions
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Chamber vice president of membership Rhonda Meyerhoff and administrative assistant, Marlis Fletcher stop by to share information about upcoming Dale Carnegie training sessions.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
James Bell
The Hays Chamber has a couple of Dale Carnegie leadership training sessions coming up in the near future administrative assistant Marlas Fletcher as well as vice president of membership, Rhonda Meyerhoff stops by to talk to us about that and more on this episode of the post podcast.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Marla's has taken the session. So she's still currently smart. I'm not.
James Bell
Well, you're getting in on this round. Right?
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
I am very cool. Yes.
Marlis Fletcher
Yeah. You're excited about it? Yeah.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Yeah. I'm very excited about it.
James Bell
Yeah. And I know, this is one of, you know, Sarah is the president and CEO down there. She loves Dale Carnegie's, she's always talking about these things.
Marlis Fletcher
Yeah, it's a great, great experience. And we've actually got two different workshops coming up. The first one's April 29, from 930 to 1130. It's the same day as our membership lunch. So you can sign up for this. It's self awareness, insights on personal leadership. And then right after that you can, and it's $50 for Chamber members and 60 for non members. So anybody can come. And right after that, you can come to our membership lunch, so it's same place just starts at noon. So you're right there, and you can hit both. Both things at one stop. Yeah, convenient. But they do. This is just a one day one. And I've never been to like a one day one. But you know, this one is you're going to be able to learn techniques to enhance your self awareness. So any training that Dale Carnegie, Carnegie puts on is good. But I'm especially excited to be able to go to this one.
James Bell
Yeah, because I think we've talked about the the longer training sessions, a bit of a one day event, because I think about like the time commitment involved in in taking a long session. You know, maybe not everybody has that. But I think everybody could carve out an afternoon. Well, it's
Marlis Fletcher
930 to 1130. Morning, you know, it's the morning and then yeah,
James Bell
don't show up in the afternoon, because you will you will miss the event.
Marlis Fletcher
You will. But yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah. So then after that, we're having the June 7 14th and 21st. It's Tuesdays for three consecutive weeks, we're having the full Dale Carnegie training. For non Chamber members, the cost is $1,995. But you get a 15% discount if you're a chamber member. So it is from 830 to five, each of those days, they do break an hour for lunch on your own. And this is the one I took. And I really, really enjoyed it. I learned a lot about me, I learned a lot about how to deal with people. You do get three books. And I have them in front of me. And one is How to Win Friends and Influence People
James Bell
the classic right? That's the one that started it all.
Marlis Fletcher
It says over 30 million copies sold. But I bet you it's probably more than that
James Bell
it does the cover looks and not say it's an old book, but the cover looks like an older version. So I bet it's considerably higher than that now,
Marlis Fletcher
I bet it is too. And then How to Stop Worrying and start living. And who wouldn't want that? Yeah,
James Bell
I was just gonna say like, maybe looking to borrow that one.
Marlis Fletcher
This one, Sarah. Sure. And then the quick and easy way to effective speaking.
James Bell
Ah, very cool. I could use that one as well, I think here on the radio. Oh, you do pretty good. But
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
yeah, it's been really interesting, though. Because people that have taken it just, I mean, they go back to it and go back to go back to in their workplace and their personal life. Right?
Marlis Fletcher
That's right. Like, I actually have somebody in my life who had taken that does not live in Hayes. But they took it from the same. He took it from the same people. And he has a very good job. And he claims that he got his job because he had the Dale Carnegie training while he went through his interview well, so
James Bell
yeah, it's gonna be the kind of stuff that, you know, I haven't been involved. But I imagine that the stuff that is discussed and talked about and it's actionable, it's, it's not and I think maybe people will balk at the price, because it is a hefty price tag it is but what you're gonna get out of it, you're gonna build us in any job for the rest of your life.
Marlis Fletcher
Oh, personal and professional. So, you know, each each session each each of his chapters you he has different principles. And like the first principle that you're going to learn if you read How to Win friends and influence people is don't criticize, condemn or complain. And you know, that's a pretty good life lesson there itself. So it gives you it gives you it'll give you instances where different things have happened and how this person handled it or should have handled it in the book. And it's it's just a really interesting learning experience. Yeah.
James Bell
And getting in it's actionable content, right. It's not, you know, it's not like a lecture on how to be leaders. or do leadership? Well, it's stuff you can take and actually use
Marlis Fletcher
apply, apply. That's before
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
you, you know, one thing on here that I'm really anxious to apply. I'm getting it that wonderful age where people's names sometimes elude me. But that's actually that doesn't
James Bell
happen to everybody all the time, because I was gonna say, the listeners here on the show can tell you, every once in a while I forget the news guy's name like I see him every day.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Well, one of the things that you'll work on is the process to recall names and facts. And I'm really, I'm happy about that. Because I've told friends, if we go somewhere, and I don't introduce it, it's because I can't remember the other person's name. You know, it's just yeah. So that is for sure. actionable. It's so embarrassing. When you can't recall someone's name.
James Bell
But better. I mean, and in your world, though, how many people do you interact with an average? I mean, you're just all over the place. And there's so many people you want to you want to remember every name, but sometimes it's
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
one of those individuals isn't important. Personal. Absolutely. They deserve to be called by the right of the right name. Yes, yeah. So yeah, that's three days,
Marlis Fletcher
it is three days, June 7 14th, and 21st. And it's really all day 830 to five.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
there last year, there was a group that came up from Dodge City, Kansas.
Marlis Fletcher
There were they all worked at a it wasn't a feedlot, but it was something cattle related. Yeah. And they were fun. We had a lot of fun with them. Very cool.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
You know, yeah. And you talk about actionable items. You know, just strengthening relationships. We all think we might be good at that. But sometimes you used to do something so well that you forgot to do it anymore. And I don't know if that makes sense. But I'm old enough that, you know, things that you used to do, you just kind of let slip off the radar, because something else came in and took its place. Sure. Um, so that'll be that'll be good to look at that. And, you know, just all the different things that I saw Marlis grow a lot. In taking this.
Marlis Fletcher
It does, it gives you a lot of confidence, you know, to speak to a person that you don't know, or in public, it just gives you a lot of confidence. I felt like this has confidence, competence and enthusiasm. But I really felt like the competent. The confidence was the big one for me.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Yeah, you know, and James, yeah, a price tag, not cheap. But for, for our own Chamber members. You know, we surveyed them, that was still yet when Tammy was at the chamber. And one of the things that our businesses wanted is, they wanted to be able to provide training for their employees, but not have to send them to salon to which taught Kansas City to Denver. And so that's part of the reason why they brought Dale Carnegie here. So what I would like to share with our local individuals, yeah, there's a price tag, but you're gonna get to save on gasoline, your hotel, you're gonna get to save even more time, because you would spend time traveling to these locations. So that's more time out of the office. So there's actually a lot of good reasons why to take it here. Why to take it local, and put some money into your people. Surveys will show too, that employees really respect a business more and their employer more if they feel like they're valued, and that they have put some money back into the person, aside from their wages, invested time and skills. Yeah, absolutely.
James Bell
And, you know, and talk about a time when when keeping and retaining people is paramount. I mean, everybody is looking for help. And right now, if you're losing employees, you've got problems.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Absolutely. You know, and if you want to look at succession planning, maybe you're in that middle age group, and you're kind of thinking that someday, you'd like to retire, maybe it's your own business, maybe you're at the top and CEO or president or whatever, or some other position. What a great way to start grooming the next person coming in. By having them do some of this training, and actually preparing them to take on leadership within your within your company or your business. You'll not only gain from this succession planning, but you'll gain during the time that they're there supporting you while you're still there.
James Bell
Absolutely. You know, and I will say this I have spoken to I don't know how many over the years people that have been through these training classes and I've never heard anyone say my I didn't feel like it was worth it. They everybody that comes out of this has has just nothing but positive to say,
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
well, and I'm excited to get to take it because when they do the Dale Carnegie quotes, I might be able to do one too.
James Bell
Oh. So you know, we've we've run out of time, we should tell everybody like how if somebody is interested in participating in one of these sessions, where do they do?
Marlis Fletcher
So you can call us at the chamber, and we'll give you the information, the phone number is 6288201. And we'll we'll send you the the sheet on it. We can email it to you.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Yeah, we'll send you a registration link to and, and get you going. We'll help you through the process. If there's questions, we'll do the best we can.
Marlis Fletcher
And we have it in our newsletters. We've had it in like the last two newsletters, I think so.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Yeah. And those newsletters that our listeners want to know, all of our newsletters are actually online. If they go to Hayes chamber.com Go to News and Events tab at the top, go click to the right. And there's a section that's newsletters. So James, they could look in the March newsletter or the April newsletter, either one and learn more about both of these subjects that are coming up. Individuals maybe don't receive the newsletter.
James Bell
Sure. Yeah. And you know, like and that online interface is so slick. i We still have we always have the paper version floating around. But I love the online. And plus, you can always reference it no matter where you are. You're on your phone, you're at your desk, you're at home, you can just click over there and get all the information you need.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
Yes, exactly. And it's easy for us to share.
James Bell
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Well, all right, guys. We got just about a minute or so left, what else you guys got going on this week.
Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership
All righty. We are going to be having a ribbon cutting already at 10 o'clock this morning. We are going to celebrate, there's been a turf project out at Hayes rec on their their sports complex fields on the northeast quad. And we're going to be doing a ribbon cutting. We believe that's going to make a huge change and then being able to have teams in every weekend, spending money in haste and helping the economy but yeah, we're gonna celebrate with haste wreck on that with at the bagel, Schmidt sports complex. And then on tomorrow is going to be Mental Health First Aid training. And that is the free of them. But they do want to know if you're going to be there that so if you'd like to attend that call the chamber. And that event is from eight to five tomorrow, and it's going to be a brief space. And there's also on Thursday, then H yp advisory council meeting at the Welcome Center that starts at 515 April 14. Also, you know, James, one of our big projects that we're working on that I think will be ours forever, and we're happy about that is childcare and so it's going to be in Victoria, and it's the prospective and current childcare provider meeting. And that will be from 630 to 730 at the ELMS conference room 613 grant terrace. And then I want you all to know, we are very blessed Friday the chamber team has off. They don't have us work on Good Friday. So we get to have that day off and and go into work Friday things with our church family. So that's what's going on this week.
Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
Mental Health first aid training planned
Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger and High Plains Mental Health outreach, education and marketing manager James Gerstner discuss an upcoming mental health first aid training session in Hays.
Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
Hays Chamber readies for 2022 Golf Tourney
Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
Tuesday Apr 05, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger and Nex Tech Wireless director of sales & customer development Alicia Tripler share information about the upcoming chamber golf tournament.
Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
Hays Chamber Golf Tourney not just golf
Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
Tuesday Mar 29, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays Chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger and administrative assistant Marlis Fletcher stop by to talk about the upcoming Chamber Golf Tournament.
Friday Mar 04, 2022
Hays Chamber visiting business this week
Friday Mar 04, 2022
Friday Mar 04, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays chamber vice president of membership Rhonda Meyerhoff and ambassador LaVonne Giess stop by to talk about the upcoming Stepping Out day.
Tuesday Feb 15, 2022
Hays Chamber works to create stronger community through networking
Tuesday Feb 15, 2022
Tuesday Feb 15, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays Chamber and CEO Sarah Wasinger, along with intern Reece Leiker, shares ways the chamber works to connect the community.
Tuesday Feb 08, 2022
Internship programs benefit area business; education
Tuesday Feb 08, 2022
Tuesday Feb 08, 2022
On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays Chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger talk about internships with the chamber's Fort Hays State University, Dane G. Hansen Foundation intern Avary Huff.
Transcript
James Bell
Internships can be valuable for both businesses and students. Hayes chamber president and CEO Sarah Wasinger along with their Fort Hays State University, Dane G. Hansen, intern Avary Huff stopped by to talk to us a little bit about internships and Avery's experience that the Hays Chamber on this episode of the post podcast.
Sarah Wasinger
Oh, you had a pretty unique place that you came from before you join our chamber. Do you want to talk a little bit about your experience last semester before we jump into some other things?
Avary Huff
Sure, Sara. So last semester, I was actually studying abroad in Spain. Wow. I was there from the end of August to the middle of January. And I really got to learn about tourism in Spain since that is my major. I was really putting it into that real word world perspective, and also working on my Spanish. So had a blast over there.
James Bell
I mentioned it's hard to not have a good time hanging out in Europe.
Sarah Wasinger
Yeah, absolutely. A lot of good fish. I wouldn't call the fried sardines. Good fish. But we talked a little bit about that. Like, what was the weirdest thing she ate the definitely the best food over there.
James Bell
I think you may have been going to the wrong restaurants, just fried sardines. But that's very cool. That's very cool. Um, so yeah, you're over here at the chamber. Now, what does an intern do at the chamber.
Avary Huff
So I've only been there for a couple of weeks now. But I've been helping with all the events that have been going on, and just really getting out into the community, whatever's on the calendar for the day, I'm there to help and figure out how I can be best assistance in the office as well.
Sarah Wasinger
So for in another thing that we did, because it's kind of the beginning of the year. So obviously, our board financial reports are approved a month delayed. So Avery even got to experience creating the month by month budget report with me this last week to Yes, we did was very exciting.
Avary Huff
Um, it wasn't the most exciting event I've worked on. But it was definitely a learning experience.
Sarah Wasinger
But we tried to give Avery the opportunity to really witness the gamut of what goes on at the chamber. So obviously, yes, events are a very big part of what we do to feature businesses, but really giving her some ability. The big part of her job will actually start here very soon, because we're going to start preparing for our golf tournament, which is our biggest fundraiser of the year. And that might be a good segue to the question that we were just talking about in the car. What was one of the things that surprised you the most about your last couple of weeks at the chamber?
Avary Huff
Um, there are two things. So the first thing that surprised me is that most of the Chamber's budget does come from dues. So based on dues from members joining, that's how we're able to host events throughout the year, and then also the fast paced environment that happens at the chamber. I don't think I didn't realize that I wouldn't just be working in an office all day. You're really getting out into the community. There's always something going on 24/7
James Bell
Absolutely it sir about that all the time. You guys are always always out in the community almost every day. There's an event that you guys are at, or asmuch running around us.
Sarah Wasinger
I do you think I'd be you know, like a slice for life goals right there. So I just need to go see one of my members to workout.
James Bell
And we've got some new, we've got some new workout options coming up from what I understand as well do we do I'm sure that I'm well, I'm not sure. But I'm imagine that those new ones are going to be Chamber members as well. We have a meeting with them. Okay. Well, now I've jinxed it.
Sarah Wasinger
We'll talk about that when it happens. There you go, there you go. But one of the things that is very important to you that I think a lot of people don't, maybe they have some trepidation for being in a business that has a intern, it doesn't really take a lot of energy, the biggest thing is to make sure you're incorporating them into the day to day, give them a variety of ways that they can be involved. And I think so many times people are like, well, maybe I just don't have time to bring that person along. But Avery, I think has some information to share just based on her experience so far, but this is not your first internship.
James Bell
Is that right?
Avary Huff
No, it's my third. Okay. Wow.
Sarah Wasinger
So why do you recommend internships to students and businesses.
Avary Huff
Um, for students, I would definitely recommend internships because it's a lot different from the knowledge you're learning in the classroom, you actually get to go out and apply it and see how it might not be exactly the same as what you have learned from your professors. So you really just get that real world application of those topics. And you get to learn all those skills to make you more marketable as a student looking for jobs once you graduate. So that's really exciting for this internship opportunity. And then as for the business side of things, I would recommend internships for businesses, because not only are you investing in members of your community, and growing their skill sets, but you're also getting another extra helping hand so they'll help increase your employee productivity throughout the day. And then you really just get to have a fresh new perspective on things because interns are usually students, so they're exposed to different things. They're not in the workforce. So they have different outlooks on things and can definitely bring new ideas to your business.
James Bell
Yeah, and you know what, over the years, I've had some different roles where I've worked with interns, and one of the things that just to speak to that a little bit, one of the things I love is when they bring in like the latest in, because you're in the classroom, you're hearing the latest in academic research in your field, whatever the field might be, and you're now able to bring that directly to a business owner. I mean, that's a resource that they probably don't have time for otherwise.
Avary Huff
Exactly. Exactly. It's a fresh perspective. And it's a real asset, because they are learning that information. It's fresh on top of their mind, and they're able to apply it at your business.
Sarah Wasinger
And specifically speaking about the Dane G. Hanson program, I think that a lot of people forget how affordable it is for the business. It's a $500 investment for about 240 hours. Yeah, 240 hours. So I mean, if you do the math, I mean, I think James is trying to do the math.
James Bell
I came up with a four nine or something, I couldn't do the math, talk either. But no, that that is that's an incredible amount of help and support, you can get $400 That's a pretty good price. And you know, it's a win win. I you know, I mean, I love the Win Win Win situations. And this sounds like exactly.
Sarah Wasinger
And I do have to speak to the fact that when we interview, so each business gets the opportunity to interview, you know, anywhere between four to five students. And each of the students that we interviewed as a chamber staff, we were just blown away from so I mean, you're talking about, you know, the cream of the crop when you're looking at the Dean Johansen interns. So you're getting someone who's already essentially pre vetted by Fort Hays, they know the caliber of the students that are putting into that program. And so it is, you know, kind of like hiring that hidden gem, because you're getting that opportunity to have that fresh perspective that Avery was talking about. But also just, you know, some extra hands on the ground. Yeah. And what better way to give back to a student who might want to find a job in Hays because they love it so much, you know, so it, it can help us build our workforce.
James Bell
Exactly. You know, that I was gonna say that was one of the topics that was discussed last night was keep retaining people here. And what a great way to do it. You know, I imagine like if we got somebody here at Eagle radio, and they they enjoy the position, and then a position is open, like, if that's an obvious choice, and then we know we're not losing them to Denver or Kansas City or salon or wherever.
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely.
James Bell
Very cool. Well, you know, I just I'm curious, is it just college kids that come through Fort Hays for this program, they don't look for any the high school. So it's it's a imagine you have to be at least a second year college kid to be able to apply? Apply them.
Avary Huff
Right. So the internships are open to all the Fort Hays students. I'm not sure if you're able to do it your first year, maybe the second semester of your first year. But other than that they're open for all the students to apply for.
Sarah Wasinger
And we do also have a haste High School intern Reese liker that we have at the Chamber currently right now too. So I know there are high school opportunities for students. And I think those are usually reserved for seniors as well, since they have a more flexible schedule. But um, yeah, definitely. If you're a business and you have questions, we would be happy to answer those for you. And I know I'm Career Services at Fort Hays State University, obviously would welcome phone calls to learn more about the program.
James Bell
Very cool. Very cool. Well, before we run out of time, sir, we probably should talk about the events going on this week, because you've got a number of things going on. Again, as usual,
Sarah Wasinger
We do. So, our HYP Advisory Council retreat will be this week, Thursday at 5:15pm at the Welcome Center. And Friday, we are very excited. Speaking of Fort Hays State University, our chamber chat will be the tiger gear on Friday, that will be at 9am. At Professor sandwich shop and more, we do have it under good authority that they're going to be drawing for some sweet Tiger gear that day. So you might want to wear your Tiger Gear to that one, as well as just maybe be ready to get a new cool new shirt or something.
James Bell
I love Tiger gear. I need you not to
Sarah Wasinger
We bleed black and gold. Exactly. It's I mean, it might be scary in the medical professions. You know,
James Bell
There's such a vital part of the community and what a cool program to help that, you know, connection.
Sarah Wasinger
Absolutely. And we would be remiss to not remind a few people that chamber checks are always on sale at the chamber. And Valentine's Day is just around the corner. So if you don't know the right gift to get your sweetheart, they can be spent at nearly 500 locations in Ellis counties. So it's not a bad idea. Yeah,
James Bell
There's some beautiful spots downtown. Well, there'd be the spots all over Ross County. But yeah,
Sarah Wasinger
restaurants
James Bell
When I'm let them pick the gift that they want. That's right, I found that that is usually just the easiest thing to do.
Sarah Wasinger
Stay out of the doghouse by a chamber check. or multiple again, another win win win. That's my man. And then the only other thing we really wanted to share was congratulations to our USD 489 School Board for their approval of the bond issue to be put on the ballot in May, our chamber is actually going to be hosting two different opportunities this month specifically, to give folks the opportunity to learn more about what will be included in the bond issue. So superintendent Ron Wilson will actually speak to our HIV connection lunch group on February 15, at noon at thirsties. HIV members if you have not signed up for that lunch yet, please do so today if possible, and then February membership lunch will be February 25 at Rose Garden banquet hall and catering and that was sponsored by Golden Belt Bank and he'll be speaking at noon as well. So definitely make sure that you come ready to learn and he'll be able to ask questions or answer questions.