Wachovia Securities, LLC
  - Brian Perrone

Midwest Feed & Mercantile
   - Melynn Cannon

Sunflower Wind, LLC
  - Dan Rasure

Stinger, Inc.
   - Larry & Bill Matlack

Little Caesars Pizza
  - David Graf

12th Avenue Production Company
   - Charles Johnston

Lubbers Equipment, Inc.
  - Randy Lubbers

Daylight Donuts
   - Otha Lollar & Brenda Pardee

2008 Operation

Thank You

Volunteers Needed

Interested in making contact with other Chamber members? Then volunteering for Operation Thank You is for you.

Operation Thank You team members will personally call on every local Chamber member business.

What is Operation Thank You? It's an effort by over 40 Chamber members (including you?) to deliver the 2008-2009 Membership Directory and to thank ALL Chamber members for their support of the Chamber and community.

Operation Thank You, sponsored by First National Bank of Hutchinson, will take place on June 26th. Volunteers can pick up their packets from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Chamber, 117 N. Walnut.

Interested in being part of the team? Contact Holly Schmidt or Tom Dooley.

Each participant is asked to visit 12 to 15 businesses sometime during the day. Territories will be organized so that minimal travel is required.

As a way to thank our volunteers this year; the Chamber will provide each volunteer with a gift card/certificate to one of the following locations:

Marcella's

Hutchinson Town Club

Pretty Prairie Steakhouse

Prairie Dunes Country Club

**LAST CHANCE**

Advertise in the 2008 Street Map and Resource Guide for Hutchinson/Reno Co.

As a valued member of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce, you are invited to have your business spotlighted on 10,000 copies of the full color Street Map and Resource Guide for the Hutchinson/Reno County Area distributed by The Chamber.

This publication is an extremely useful and valuable resource for reaching residents and businesses. New residents spend nine times more in the first year after a move than established residents.  This is an excellent way to reach them with your advertising message!

The Business and Professional Showcase Directory of Members section offers the opportunity to directly promote your business.  Premium advertising space on the back and a limited number of interior panel display ads are also available.

Participating advertisers will receive a complimentary supply of the folded maps with a countertop display dispenser.

Limited space is allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Spotlight Publications may be reached at 800.530.0307.

Membership Services:

RCAT, Inc. Receives Small Business Spotlight Award
Nominate a Small Business for the Chamber's Small Business Spotlight Award

Economic Development:
Internship Opportunities Focus of New Survey

Kansas Receives Three Excellence Awards for Business Development Efforts
KSBDC Offers Online Courses for Current & Potential Small Business Owners

This issue could be sponsored by your company. For more information please contact Holly Schmidt at 662.3391

or via e-mail.

Congratulations to Reno County Abstract and Title Inc. (RCAT) for being the June 2008 Small Business Spotlight Award Recipient.

RCAT's, history begins in 1884. Originated by J.S. May in 1884 as the May Abstract & Title Company, the company then changed ownership twice before Merv C. Hartke, John F. Hayes, and William Miller bought the company in 1955. In 1969, Merv purchased the interest of his partners. When Merv purchased the company, he was the manager of Hall abstract company, where he got his start in the title business in 1941. He then incorporated the two businesses into Reno County Abstract & Title, Inc.  The Hartke's sold the company to Charles and Suzanne Brown as RCAT, Inc in 1991. Charlie Brown continues to operate RCAT, Inc. today.

RCAT located at 408 North Main, is a full service abstract and title insurance agency dedicated to providing prompt and professional title insurance policies, closings, certificates of titles, home equity policies, foreclosure binders, sheriff sales, and limited title searches. RCAT, Inc currently has 13 full and part-time employees. “We attribute our success to the hard work put in by owner and president, Charlie Brown,” said Michael Holland. “We are fortunate to have Charlie’s experience and his background in the lending institution, his knowledge is what sets us apart from the competition.” In addition, to the knowledge and experience brought to the company by Charlie Brown, RCAT credits its employees for their success. “We have some employees that have been with the company for over twenty years,” said Todd Brown, Vice President of RCAT. “We have a low turnover rate and attribute it to the fact that we are locally owned and family operated.” Charlie Brown, along with his son Todd Brown and son-in-law Michael Holland, operate RCAT. Todd Brown joined the company in 1992 and Michael Holland joined the company in 1998, left and returned in 2006.

While RCAT works with both residential and commercial properties, residential makes up for about 90% of the business. “We work with lenders from all across the state of Kansas, as well as the U.S.,” said Todd Brown, Vice President, RCAT. “We also do most of our business within Reno County accounting for 95% of our business, with the other 5 % being outside this region.” According to Charlie Brown, the industry has seen a shift in business; “Over the last 15 years, we have seen a shift in the industry where at least 50% of our business comes in closing transactions.”

In addition to the services mentioned above, RCAT is the home to a complete Abstract Plant, a clone of the information that can be found at the Reno County Courthouse. “We’re the only company in Reno County to have these records on file, and available to the public,” said Charlie Brown, President.

When asked why RCAT joined the Chamber Charlie Brown stated, “Because it’s good for business and we like to support the community.” Michael Holland added, “Charlie’s always been an advocate for supporting the community. This is evident in his involvement with the Chamber, having served as the Board Chair in 1980, as well as serving on many other projects that support local businesses and the community. He believes that giving back to the community is important and good for business.”

The Small Business Council selected Reno County Abstract and Title, Inc. from nominations made by Chamber members. The award is given monthly to a Chamber business that exemplifies community spirit and superior business practices. Nominees must be a Chamber member in good standing, been in business for at least three years, and employ fewer than 25 people.

The Small Business Spotlight Award is proudly sponsored by First National Bank of Hutchinson and Hutchinson Credit Union.

Small Business Spotlight Award Nominations

The Chamber's Small Business Council is seeking nominations for the 2008 Small Business Spotlight Award. The award will be given monthly to a Chamber business that exemplifies community spirit and superior business practices and meets the following criteria:

• Chamber member in good standing
• In business at least 3 years
• Employs 25 or fewer

To make a nomination, click on the logo or contact Belinda McClanahan at belindam@hutchchamber.com or 662-3391 with the nominee's business name, contact, and telephone number.

Recipients will be featured in a newspaper ad, highlighted on a 30-second local radio spot and recognized in an Outlook newsletter and at a membership event.

Thank you to First National Bank of Hutchinson and Hutchinson Credit Union for sponsoring the Small Business Spotlight Awards.

Internship opportunities in Reno County are the focus of a Young Professionals of Reno County (YP Reno County) and Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce (The Chamber) partnership. The two organizations have teamed up to gather information from businesses in Reno County about internship opportunities offered in Reno County. 

“Our goal is to assist efforts that bring young people to Reno County to live and work,” said Mandy Swisher, YP Reno County member. “In many situations, an intern will return to the business for a full-time position after completing their education. With this in mind, we believe it’s very important that businesses use interns as a key strategy in attracting new employees.”

A survey developed by YP Reno County in conjunction with the Chamber is available online at yprenocounty.com or hutchchamber.com.  All Reno County businesses are encouraged to take the Internship Survey. After evaluating survey responses, the organizations next step is to determine the best course for providing businesses assistance with offering information on internship opportunities or enhancing existing internship programs.

As far as history reveals, no information of this sort has ever been collected.

The initiative fits both organizations’ goals of facilitating and fostering efforts to recruit and retain young professionals in Reno County. For more information about the internship survey, contact Mandy Swisher at connection@yprenocounty.com or Holly Schmidt at hollys@hutchchamber.com. 

April and May were good months for Kansas’ national economic development standing. During that time, Kansas was recognized by three major economic development entities for excellence in the industry.

Most recently the State was awarded the Silver Shovel Award from Area Development magazine, which recognizes the states that score the most points on the magazine’s weighted index of direct job creation numbers, new jobs per capita, amount of new investment, number of new facilities and number of projects creating high value-added jobs in 2007.

Only two weeks earlier, Site Selection magazine named Kansas a Top 10 state in its annual Competitiveness Awards. These rankings identify the states that score the most points on the magazine’s 10-category index of new facility construction. Kansas was ranked No. 10, finishing just behind South Dakota and Nebraska and giving the state its first top-10 finish since the awards began in 2003.

The announcement from Site Selection came just one month after Pollina Corporate Real Estate, one of the nation’s leading corporate site selection firms, named Kansas among the Top 10 pro-business states in the country. This was the second time in three years that Kansas has made the Pollina list.

“What a great few weeks this has been for Kansas business development efforts,” said Secretary of Commerce David Kerr. “Three major awards in six weeks is a great run, and it points to the success we’re having in making Kansas one of the nation’s top states for business.”

Fiscal Year 2007 saw the Department of Commerce involved in 43 location, expansion or retention projects in which Kansas was competing with out-of-state locations. These projects resulted in 6,800 jobs created or retained and $780 million in capital investment, an increase of $408 million from the previous year. Companies that built or expanded facilities included Pacific Sunwear, Prescription Solutions, Service Magic, Alorica and Capgemini, among others.

In Reno County, 2007 expansions included Collins Bus Corporation, Daymon Worldwide, and the completion of Kroger’s Human Resource Center.

For more information on these awards, visit www.kansascommerce.com.

The Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce will begin a bi-weekly radio show on KWBW on Monday, June 16th at 8:10 a.m. The radio show will feature business news, including the following topics; economic development, tourism, business growth and business retention.

"This is a great venue for the Chamber to share business information with the community," said Dave Kerr, President of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce. "We'll use these brief radio opportunities to let the audience know some of the interesting developments in Reno County business. We appreciate KWBW's invitation to partner."

Tune into KWBW, on Monday, June 16th at 8:10 a.m. for business news from the Chamber.