What’s new at the Blair Area Chamber of Commerce Good Afternoon!

How is it February already? Will “Punxsutawney Phil” see his shadow tomorrow morning? What exactly does that mean anyway? According to folklore, a groundhog's behavior can predict the weather. A sunny day that allows the groundhog to see his shadow will send him scurrying back into his burrow, a sign of six more weeks of win-

ter. A cloudy and therefore shadowless day is a sign of spring encouraging the ground-hog to stay above ground. Thank You so very much to everyone that attended our Annual Meeting last

week. We had a great evening of socializing, networking, sharing successes and set-

ting goals. Congratulations to The Blair Volunteer Fire Department & Rescue on win-ning the Chamber’s Annual Community Service Award– we are beyond blessed to have these amazing people in our community, putting in hundreds and thousands of volun-teer hours each year to help us when we are in need. Congratulations to Emily Ander-

son on winning the 2016 Chamber Ambassador of the Year Award, and Congratula-tions to Terry Dutton on receiving Gateway Development’s Emmett Award. (enjoy the pics from the evening on pg. 2) We have had a few scam warnings come in to the Chamber office. One we

have heard a few times before, a company from Texas contacts your business and asks you to sponsor t shirts that will be handed out (or shot out of a t-shirt shooter) at the school sporting events as a fundraiser for a particular group, ie: cheerleading, foot-ball,etc. Please contact the school directly if you have questions, and remember to

work with your LOCAL companies! Another one that has been rampant across the entire country, is a phone scam where you will receive a call and they will ask “Can You Hear Me?” This company is recording you when you say “Yes,” then they use that

clip as your approval for different charges– then they come after you to pay up. If you get these calls, either by a person or robo-call, do not respond– just hang up! Has your business visited the Careerockit website yet to submit your opportu-nities for this program? http://careerockit.com/ We are at ~ 100 student experiences

right now, so we need to bump this up to 500 in Washington County! This can be ANY type of business. The school will then pair up students that have an interest and they’ll come in to “job shadow” or learn about what you do during the week of April 1 -8, 2017. Students range from 3rd grade through college age.

The BACC has some great Lunch & Learns scheduled for 2017– so please keep an eye on your emails, calendar and I hope to fill up our conference room for these. Do you have a topic in mind that you would like to see for a session? If so, let me know. I want to make sure that we are offering the classes that will be beneficial

for our members! Social Media has been requested again, so that is one we will get added in soon! The BACC will be partnering up with 6 other Chambers again for the “Northeast Nebraska Day at the State Capitol” on Tuesday March 7th. This will be a

great opportunity for you to head to Lincoln to listen in to committee hearings and join us for speakers and a reception with Senators from across the great State of Nebraska. If you are interested in being a sponsor and having an opportunity to present about your business, please contact me ASAP!

Our 25th Annual Golf Outing & Fundraiser will be held on Friday May 12th at River Wilds. The registration form for that is ready to go– so get your team together and get signed up! Teams will be limited to 30 and we will have hole sponsorships available. Gateway to the West Days has officially been recognized on the State of Nebraska’s

“Sesquicentennial Celebration” calendar. We will go with the Nebraska History theme for our event this year. I am working on the forms for this, they will be available on our web-site and in the office soon. The dates are June 8-11, 2017.

If you read my last newsletter (I am sure everyone does, right!?) then I had Three Challenges for Chamber Members– how many of you have done 1 of them? Log in to your member portal and update it, add a job listing or an event? Do you have someone attend-ing the Ambassadors meeting? Do you have a rep from your business that is attending the

Lunch & Learn next week? Maximize your Chamber Membership today! Schedule a meeting with me to go over any of these things benefits or to talk about the numerous oth-er ways to get involved in the Chamber. I have heard a lot of people say that they want to “get more involved in 2017”- well call me and let’s get going on that!

Thank You for supporting Chamber Member businesses and events! ~ Jordan

Chamber

Happenings

January 2017

Blair Area Chamber of Commerce

1646 Washington St. Blair, NE 68008 402-533-4455 Jordan@Blairchamber.org www.BlairChamber.org

UPCOMING EVENTS:

February 1: Chamber Ambassador Meeting

February 2: Ladies Day Out!

February 2: Groundhog’s Day

February 2: NE Chamber Annual Mtg & Legislative Caucus

February 3: Dueling Pianos @South Creek

February 5: Kiwanis Club Pancake Feed 8am-12:30pm

February 6, 13, 20, 27: Blair Kiwanis Club Mtg.

February 7, 14, 21, 28: Blair Rotary Club Mtg.

February 7, 14, 21, 28: Step It Up!

February 8, 22: Blair Optimist Club Mtg.

February 8: Downtown Business Meeting

February 9 & 23: Chamber Chat on River Country 97.3

February 9: Lunch & Learn: CyberSecurity

February 14: Valentine’s Day

February 15: BACC Board of Directors Meeting

February 20: President’s Day

February 23: WCHA After Hours @Frahm House

February 25: MCH Auxiliary Gala

March 1: Chamber Ambassadors Mtg

March 2: Ladies Day Out!

March 3-5: Blair ACE Hardware Grand Opening Celebration!

March 6, 13, 20, 27: Blair Kiwanis Club Mtg

March 7: Northeast NE Day at the State Capitol

March 7, 14, 21, 26: Blair Rotary Club Mtg

March 8, 22: Blair Optimist Club Mtg

March 9: Chamber Chat on 97.3 w Cottonwood Cove

March 9: Lunch & Learn– Back Up: Protect your important company information

March 12: Daylight Savings Time Begins

March 15: BACC Board of Directors Meeting

March 17: St. Patrick’s Day

March 20: 1st Day of Spring

March 21: Coffee & Connections @WC Extension Office

March 23: Chamber Chat on 97.3

March 25: Rotary Club Comedy Night @Cottonwood Cove

*As always, please check the Chamber Website for MANY more events

going on around the area. If your Business has an event coming up, log in to your member portal and get it added to the events calendar!

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT : DALE’S HOUSE OF BOTTLES

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY EMILY ANDERSON

CHAMBER AMBASSADOR

1074 Washington st. Blair, NE

(402) 426-2005 e-mail: dondar@abbnebraska.com

DALE’S House of Bottles

Dale’s House of Bottles, located at 1074 Washington Street in Blair, is a full-service liquor store. Originally

started in the 1970’s, it has been owned by the Kruse family since 1988. Dale purchased the business after retiring

from farming, and son Don took over in 2004.

Dale’s House of Bottles provides many choices of liquor, beer, wine and sodas. Some options include craft

beers, microbrews, Nebraska beers and wines. The liquor choices run from top shelf to economy brands. Special

orders for any event can be filled within just a few days.

The store also caters beverage services for both private and public events. Dale’s House of Bottles is a famil-

iar face behind the bar at many Chamber After Hours events, providing bartending services and catering licenses.

They work closely with Joseph’s Coat on their annual golf outing as well. You will also see them at the upcoming

MCH Auxiliary Gala event at the end of February.

Dale’s specializes in boating traffic, with space to pull your watercraft through the lot while filling up on es-

sentials. Free ice is available for your cooler with beer purchase.

Dale’s House of Bottles is open 365 days a year – holidays are always open! Their hours are 9:00 a.m. – 11:00

p.m. weekdays, and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Please stop in for all your party needs!

Business Spotlight Article January 2017

Events & Ambassadors

Ambassadors Corner :

Emily Anderson: for helping Jordan with January’s

spotlight article

Maggie Smith: For making contact with a potential

new Chamber Member Business

Chadd Stackhouse: Referring a non-chamber Mem-

ber business to Jordan

Holly Cooley: Getting us a new Chamber Ambassa-

dor from a business we’ve been trying to reach out to

Jane Ferneding: For volunteering for everything

Jane Van Horn: always willing to volunteer

Becky Heller: Organizing the Downtown Business

Meeting each month

Thank You to everyone that came out for the Ribbon Cutting at

the Tula House Yoga & Studios.

Does your Business have an Ambassador? Our Chamber

Ambassadors meet the first Wednesday of each month

from 12-1pm. Location rotates between the Chamber

office and Chamber Member Restaurants. Contact Jordan

today if you have question or if you have a representative

that you would like to get involved in this group!

January 2017

June 8-11, 2017