The Great Bend Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting and banquet took place Saturday night. A full house at the Convention Center heard a about the strides made in the business community.
The banquet remains a key gala event for the community and serves as a forum to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year. In a time of financial uncertainty, it was good to hear good news.
Recognized were a very deserving Jan Westfall as citizen of the year, Great Bend Coop as business of the year and veterinarian Nels Lindberg as the NextGen person of the year.
But, it is easy to lose sight of what has happened in light such high profile recognitions. However deserved these awards may be, there are a lot of other things happening that are worthy of note.
In the past year, economic development successes included Bartlett Grain, American Ag Credit and many more. The new businesses that open in 2014 included outside entities moving to town as well as local entrepreneurs who brought their ideas to life.
On another front, two new housing project broke ground and are starting to take shape. These will help alleviate the on-going shortage of homes for our burgeoning local economy.
 This year’s meeting theme “Expanding Horizons” was based on the chamber’s planned trip to China, but it also had a broader meaning. By investing in the community, the horizon of out hometown will also be stretched, either by opening a new business or opting to shop local.
It’s nice to know we still have much to celebrate.
Dale Hogg