Nebraska Northwest Development Corporation (NNDC) held their Annual Meeting on January 17 at the Heritage Grille Club Room. During this time USDA awarded NNDC a loan for $250,000, new board members were elected, and the new website was introduced.

 

In January we said goodbye to two of our board members and welcomed two replacements, Kristie Dexter and Greta Kickland. The day after our board meeting new officers were elected. Our new board consists of: Dr. Jim Dickey, President; Eric Fuller, Vice President; Kristie Dexter, Treasurer; Emily Klein, Secretary; Roy Fitzgibbon, Director at Large; Don Blausey, Greta Kickland, Donny Grantham, Zane Limbach, Bryce Landen and Ex-Officios are Sandra Powell and Morie Carnahan.

Many of you remember the Business Expansion & Retention Survey that was completed in early 2007. Using the results from the report, NNDC is trying to recruit a women’s clothing store chain and will continue to use the survey to meet the demands of the business owners. Another area recognized as needing attention was customer service training. NNDC has researched trainers and have found several options. If you are interested in the training and would send your employees, please contact us at 308-432-4023 or e-mail nndc @bbc.net and let us know how many people you would send.

NNDC Executive Director, Brenda Johnson, received a scholarship in the amount of $500 to attend the Heartland Basic Economic Development Course in Kansas City, Missouri. The Heartland Course topics include, but are not limited to: Business Retention & Expansion, Community Development, Marketing your Community, Business Attraction, and Business Recruitment.

One new business received a loan from NNDC. The Bean Broker, owned by Andrea Rising, opened on March 29 and is located at 202 West 2^nd Street. They offer specialty espresso drinks, coffees, Panini sandwiches, and quiche. Congratulations and we wish you the best of luck!

The NNDC Board is having a Strategic Planning Session this month. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to contact us before March 19.

If you attended the NNDC annual meeting, you were introduced to our new website. Tom Jacobs, who was an intern for the City of Chadron, created this site specifically for NNDC. We plan to use this site to inform NNDC members and Board members of regular NNDC happenings, such as Board Agenda and minutes, upcoming events, newsletters, survey results, etc. This site is ever-changing so visit www.nndc.chadron-nebraska.com on a regular basis.

And last but not least, we want to welcome two new members: The Museum of the Fur Trade and GMC of Chadron. We want to thank all of our members for your support and interest in NNDC. If there is anything we can do for you don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Best regards,

 

Brenda Johnson

Executive Director