Aurora City Council members vote to contribute
Justise Rhoden, executive director of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, was on hand to present the 2022 Chamber report, an update on the past and future of the town’s businesses, to Aurora City Council members during last week’s meeting.
Rhoden took time to break down her speech along the lines of a document handed out to those in attendance with a focus on six areas: events, business growth, programs, marketing, partner projects and the future.
“I think that it reflects very well, just in the fact that we’ve been doing this presentation for the city for almost four years,” she said in a later phone interview. “(Back then) we were kind of bare bones, just trying to get by. Now the fact that we have so many great partnerships with the city has been just, I would say, amazing. We have so many new programs.”
Events were broken down by six as well with the first one focused on being the recently concluded Bands on the Bricks.
“We’ve actually had great attendance this year with an average of 400 to 500 people each week,” Rhoden reported.
The executive director credited participation from residents outside the county, coming from York and Grand Island, for the increased numbers. She attributed this to more popular bands and advertising to employees that hire many out-of-county residents such as the Iams plant.
“We’ve reached out more to sponsorships,” Rhoden stated. “For Iams, they were a big sponsor and they have a lot of employees from Grand Island and a bunch of them said that they never stepped foot in Aurora and we are glad that they did.”
Market on the Square had 20 vendors participate with an uptick in young entrepreneurs.
“We know that is important because they want to come back later, start their own business and their going to remember these types of moments,” she explained.
Scare the Square also was recorded to be growing, with 100 stores handing out candy and an estimated 1,000 children haunting downtown. Rhoden stated that there will soon be a dogs’ costume parade and the event will include dancers from Tempo Dance Studio.
Also reported on by Rhoden, Come Home to Christmas in 2021 had the largest attendance ever for the event with 1,500 joining the holiday cheer.
“We had people parking clear down to by the Hamilton (Telecommunications) parking lot, where we have the tractors and stuff,” she commented. “We are looking for other options for parking around because it was becoming a bit of an issue.”
Finally, there are the chamber events for members, such as the golf tournament and annual banquet.
The growth was not only in the community’s activity in events, but also the number of businesses that have opened in Aurora. There were a total of seven ribbon cuttings as of this point in 2022.
Rhoden also took the opportunity to talk about the workshop on many topics like new trends, marketing and succession planning, the latter which she said was becoming increasingly important.
“We’re having a lot of this generation changing, so we want to make sure they are ready to pass on to the next generation,” she said.
For programs, Rhoden announced the new Aurora Chamber Ambassadors program, which began in June of this year, bringing it back from the 90s. Five business owners have donned the metaphorical red coat including Jennifer Dennis, Loren Berthelsen, DeVonte Robertson, Faith Gustafson and Sasha Zulkoski, to bring connection to the almost 170 members. The chamber has a goal of 10 total ambassadors.
“We are growing so much as a chamber and we, as a staff, want to bring those connections with our members,” Rhoden stated. “These ambassadors have to act as an arm of relation for (us).”
There were also 12 students who went through the Hamilton County Leadership Tomorrow program, where they completed a class project to identify a problem in the county and showcase how other communities handle the problem. The topic this year was child care, which was presented to community members and city officials.
Also important to the future is getting the word out about all that Aurora has to offer.
To help make the impact of marketing bigger, the chamber printed brochures for the second year in a row to list things to do and places to eat.
On the technology side, the chamber is also charging in with a new community calendar feature that not only lists chamber events, but can also be updated by business owners. The chamber also launched a new QR code that leads to their website.
Rhoden touted the statistics on the social media engagement for the chamber. The first was on their Facebook ‘Question of the Week’ which averages 40 comments a post.
“Some people have said its a little controversial but that’s the game that Facebook plays,” Rhoden said, before saying it was beneficial to answer people’s comments in way that directs them to more attractions in Aurora.
The Chamber of Commerce in Aurora also became the first in the state of Nebraska to launch its own podcast, with 152 listeners not just in the United States, but 2 percent also in Germany.
“Someone said that it’s because in Germany, when you’re trying to learn the language, you listen to podcasts from the US and I guess we’re on their radar,” she explained. “I’ll take it.”
The podcast has inspired other chambers in the state to follow with their own, according to Rhoden.
Overall, the chamber has 3,564 social media followers and 982 subscribers to its community e-blast, an email service that informs recipients of events, projects, job openings and current area information.
The chamber also has a commitment to programs with the city council called partner projects. Those include the downtown revitalization grant, the Leadership Tomorrow class, employment opportunities, daycare providers, housing opportunities and welcome packets for new residents.
“We love to have a relationship with you guys,” Rhoden said to city council members during the meeting. “We can’t be doing what we’re doing without you guys.”
Looking toward the future, Rhoden said the chamber is trying to put Aurora on the map with other chambers across the state and the US Chamber of Commerce.
“I guess when I first started (about four years ago), we became members of the State Chamber (of Commerce),” she said. “So we’ve been involved with them for a while. The US Chamber of Commerce, we just joined them this year and so we are exploring those avenues…So when other businesses are looking to expand and they see that our chamber is part of a nationally recognized chamber, they know that we’re taking it seriously.”
Chamber staff also attended two conferences, where Rhoden presented about the podcast and best practices in a small community. They also met with other chambers in Sioux Falls to learn more about workforce challenges.
Rhoden was also recognized for Leadership and Professional Development at the Connecting Young Nebraskan’s Conference last October.
“It was an honor,” she said. “I mean, growing up in Nebraska, I like to say that I’m a little more humble. So it was really nice to be recognized for all of the work that we have been doing.”
The city council members voted to provide a contribution of $7,500 for the Aurora Chamber of Commerce.
“I think that it shows that they want to keep that partnership with us,” she concluded. “We do a lot for them; they do a lot for us. And with us supporting the business community, having that financial help just solidifies that they want to see the community grow and see businesses grow.”
In other action at the city council:
* Mayor Marlin Seeman reported that the water tower is receiving internal and external sandblasting as part of its maintenance;
* Seeman communicated that crosswalk and school zones across Aurora have been repainted;
* Seeman confirmed that the pool was closed as of Aug. 8, with preparations for next year already under way;
* JEO Consulting Group Principal Steve Parr gave a 1- and 6-year plan with road update projects for 1 year including North Ridge subdivision phase 2, Friesen subdivision, an expansion of 9th Street from R Street to 150 ft north of Jennifer Road and ADC development of the annexation ordinance land south of Highway 34 and west of 1st Street. The 6-year plan included an update to 1st Street from railroad tracks to Highway 34, Lincoln Avenue from Highway 34 to 500 ft south of Highway 34, Matson Industrial Avenue from 500 ft south of Highway 34 to the culdesac, Craig Street from Jennifer Road to Terry Road, E and C Streets from 8th Street to 9th Street, 8th Street from A Street to Railroad Avenue and asphalt and milling of Adams Street from Grant Street to Jefferson Street as well as from Grant Street to the southern corporate limit.