Randy is senior vice president of economic development for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and leader of the six-county Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership. Randy is from Michigan and has done Economic Development in that area prior to joining the Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
Randy is shown above with his Rotary host, Doug Heim.
RANDY'S PRESENTATION
Randy was introduced by Doug Heim. The primary focus of his message was the effort to respond to the plans underway by ConAgra to move their headquarters to Chicago and to reduce their staff remaining in Omaha. The chamber's focus is on 1,000 people to keep their talent in Omaha. Their Twitter "hashtag" title #we keep talent. applies to their effort. The Chamber has called meetings of the area's larger employers to identify employment opportunities available for salary levels of $80,000 and above. 176 companies have connected with the ConAgra employees so far and hiring is already taking place. This effort has a high priority for Randy and his staff and the Board of Directors of the Chamber are fully committed to find alternate employment.
Our Club President, Roger opened the meeting with a welcome to our frequent visiting Rotarian, Larry Johansen, from the "Downtown" Club. For those who don't know Larry, he is originally from Shelby, Iowa and former executive with Chicago Lumber Company. The Right Reverend Jim Tomanek gave the invocation this morning and lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Treasurer Rita reported $9,794.86 in the bank or somewhere nearby. The Prez reported that he had to leave early for a "meeting" in Lincoln. Tod Ringenberg commented on our 3 $1,500 scholarships. Jim Tomanek reported on the lunch bunch which met on Wednesday, at Shevy's in beautiful downtown Elkhorn. Becky Kern with the National Weather Service discussed the forecast for the upcoming winter and had several colorful handouts to dazzle us with their color printer and give us an idea of their forecasting process. (Becky is originally from North Dakota and had quite a spirited conversation with Roger Bettmann about the merits of North Dakota hockey)
President Roger questioned Jasmine about the SNOW DAYS at Elkhorn Public Schools and we suspect she wanted several, even during good weather.
Jill Muegge announced that she will be attending the Rotary Leadership Institute in Omaha on Saturday the 17th. Our club will benefit from the many important things that she will learn. Jill also volunteered to help with the Club Runner Bulletin which thrills our membership each week. (unfortunately, they were thrilled three times with the technical glitch that Ron blames club runner for giving each member 3 emails of the bulletin.
Neil was quite effective in collecting fines again from various guilty parties including a few that just had a few extra dollars.
Diane announced they had an enjoyable time at the Dive in Ashland on Friday the 9th. There were 9 people in attendance, plus a couple who ate elsewhere in the restaurant because misdirection from the restaurant staff as to the location of the "Rotary Club party".
Effective October 19th, Roger Bettmann, a former member has returned to the ranks of the Western Douglas County Rotary Club. Roger is definitely our club's MASTER Gardener.
This photo was taken outside the Bank when Steve Nichols was President and he provided us some storage space in their adjacent garage (adjacent to a car probably repossessed from one of our members). This reminds me, why can't we have the club banner displayed during club meetings?
The above spreadsheet is a sample of two such sheets provided to COPE for selection by their clients. There are a total of 13 bikes in storage under Ron's back deck under a tarp. If the COPE demands decline, an alternative is to haul a load of bikes to worthy agencies such as Reservations in Macy or Ponca. Donations are still welcome as storage space is available.
Randy is senior vice president of economic development for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and leader of the six-county Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership. Randy is from Michigan and has done Economic Development in that area prior to joining the Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
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