Continued growth is essential to Grand Island’s success

Grand Island is my home, and I am proud to call it my home. It has been for 36 years, and I plan for it to be for many years to come. In those 36 years, I’ve watched Grand Island grow from a cornfield-lined Highway 281 city of 35,000 people to a population of approximately 51,000 people and an ever-growing corridor. Like most businesses do, I subscribe to the belief that if you aren’t growing, you are dying. As such, I strongly believe a community should strive to grow and evolve. Your Grand Island Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Johnson, her staff, and the Chamber Board of Directors are united in that same mindset.

As a board member of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce, and now as the Board Chair, the age-old question I often hear is, “What does the Chamber do for me or for Grand Island?” Well, the Chamber’s focus is far and wide, but the priorities include developing Grand Island’s workforce, working with government officials on both the state and local level, encouraging a shop-local mindset, and simply making Grand Island a great place to live, work and play. These simple concepts have been at the forefront of the Chamber’s mission and will continue to be a driving force for the Chamber’s many initiatives.

If we have learned anything from these past couple of years, it’s that making a conscious effort to support our local businesses is a way we all can participate in developing Grand Island. In partnership with Grow Grand Island, the Chamber spearheaded the Look Local Grow Local initiative, a messaging campaign centered around bringing awareness to Grand Island businesses and educating the community on the importance of choosing local buying options first. By supporting our local businesses, we are not just ensuring we have a variety of choices in Grand Island, but we are also supporting the business owners and employees. We are truly helping our own friends and neighbors.

One of the Chamber’s biggest concerns is workforce development. This has always been a concern for our community, but it has become an even bigger issue as of late. Most businesses I am familiar with are in need of additional employees, regardless of what type of business it is. There are simply not enough qualified workers for the number of jobs available in Grand Island. It is difficult, if not impossible, to effectively grow a community by recruiting potential new businesses to town if there are not enough workers available.

The Chamber realizes effective workforce development is critical to the overall growth and advancement of a community. Recently, the Chamber has been working with local and state organizations, including Grow Grand Island and Wayne State College, to target a market of individuals not yet tapped into: young, college students. The Co-Operative Internship Program will bring Wayne State College seniors to Grand Island for an internship in their final year of college. This program will expose those students to Grand Island and the opportunities we have to offer in a way that no weekend trip or brief visit could accomplish. The hope is to immerse these students in Grand Island’s culture and community to learn firsthand why Grand Island is a great choice for the start of their post-graduation career. Ideally, these individuals would seamlessly transition from an internship to a career with that same business.

In addition to Wayne State College students, the Chamber also has a vested interest in young working professionals. We understand that to have a healthy and growing workforce, there must be active efforts to coach our young workers to take on leadership positions in the future. Chamber programs like the Young Professionals, Top 35 Under 35 awards, and an active presence at job fairs statewide, foster strong relationships with young professionals and engage them in Grand Island beyond their source of income.

In contrast, the Chamber’s EDGE program focuses on developing the already existing workforce by providing training to help individuals improve their level of professionalism, time management, communications skills and work ethic. These efforts help strengthen our current workforce by addressing skills that are often overlooked in the classroom, yet have a huge effect on whether or not an employee is successful in the workplace.

Housing also plays a significant and prominent role in workforce availability. People need to have access to acceptable housing before they can move here and go to work. When Grand Island has only a limited number of housing options available, we are losing potential residents and workforce to other communities. On the positive side of this topic, it is encouraging to note we have several developers and builders in the process of adding numbers to our current low housing inventory. Additionally, the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corporation’s Build Grand Island program is working with $2 million in their revolving loan fund program to revitalize and add to the housing in Grand Island.

All in all, Grand Island has been blessed to realize its fair share of growth in the past, and fortunate to have several projects in the works to fuel growth in the future. You can be certain there will be plenty of challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

I am confident our business and community leaders will meet these challenges head-on, and Grand Island will continue to prosper and be an attractive place to raise a family. You can also be certain the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce will continue to pursue pro-business opportunities that will result in enhancing our quality of life.