Join us for the 2015 Agri Business Seminar
February 26, 2015
5:30 – 9:00 pm
Crow River Winery
Tickets: $40 each
Guest speakers will be discussing topics such as: Creating a Competitive Advantage, Avoiding Legal Pitfalls, and Farm Bill Updates.
Each ticket allows for TWO individuals to attend the seminar and includes a two meat buffet, door prizes, and more. Spouses, business partners, and successors are encouraged to attend the seminar together.
Tickets are available at the Chamber office. Stop by or give us a call at 320-587-5252 if you would like to attend, have questions about the seminar, or are interested in sponsoring the event.
Thank You and Congratulations 2014 Award Winners!
Thank you to everyone who attended, participated, and sponsored the Annual Banquet on January 23rd. We had a wonderful turnout and it was great to see so many faces! Our guest speaker, Jerrid Sebesta, was enjoyed by all with his funny anecdotes, quick wit, and thought provoking questions for the evening. We had several committees and groups help out in providing fun, informative centerpieces for the evening, 20 different centerpieces in all! And thank you to Chef Craig Catering and their staff for a wonderful meal!
Thank you again to our sponsors: Crow River Winery and Citizens Bank & Trust
Congratulations to the 2014 Award Winners! Award winners are chosen from nominations submitted to the Chamber and Hutchinson Jaycees each year. They have all shown great dedication and continued support to our community. Congratulations to this year’s award winners! 
Pictured Left to Right:
Adam Fink – Outstanding Young Leader
Kathy Nordby – Teacher of the Year
Joey Willmert – Volunteer of the Year
Keith Heikes – Business Person of the Year
Something from Mary
What do you want?
A good questions raised by Jerrid Sebesta at our Annual Banquet. #BlameJerrid
Whether you are thinking on a personal or professional level, there’s opportunity to utilize the chamber to identify resources to help you do or get what you want. …
Read the full article here.
February Business of the Month:
Hometown Realty, Inc. is our February Business of the Month!
Learn more about Hometown Realty, Inc. here.
Bringing Together Tourism and Technology
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQmx76r5Z9Q[/youtube]A big thank you to Tony Smith at FRF Productions for helping us put together our new video! We were excited to share it at our Annual Banquet, and are even more excited to have it on our website. You can find it on our website under ‘Visiting Hutchinson’ or by clicking on the link below. Feel free to share the video with friends, co-workers, and potential new residents!
https://explorehutchinson.com/visiting-hutchinson/
Stop Shop & Drop – Spring Shopping Event
Our second annual spring shopping event, Stop Shop & Drop, will be held on March 21, 2015. We are currently taking information from businesses that would like to participate in the event. Please contact by email or call 587-5252 to sign up. Last year we had close to 30 businesses join in the fun and we can’t wait to see who participates this year!
Participation is free and simple! The Chamber will be marketing this city-wide shopping event in several local and regional publications. We will also have a blog post where we will list all participating businesses, their hours of operation, their address, and a special (if you choose). Member businesses will be linked to their member information page for additional exposure – so make sure your member information page is up to date!
Help make the event a success! Participating businesses are encouraged to share the event information through social media as well as plan their own marketing campaign in conjunction with our efforts. Though not required, the more media we spread, the better the event will become.
Member Education – What is “Bring It Home”?
What is Bring It Home? Bring It Home is a committee of the Hutchinson Chamber made up of 11 volunteers. They raise awareness of how Hutchinson consumer and business spending decisions affect our local economy. We want residents, businesses, and organizations to think twice before spending money out of town, or on the internet.
Each year they promote and support Small Business Saturday, the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. Last year their support of Small Business Saturday included having Welcome Stations downtown and at the Hutchinson Mall. The committee and Chamber Board Members thanked shoppers for choosing to keep their money in the community, and paid a total of $5,000 in customers’ bills at local businesses!
This committee also hosts the Bring It Home Family Fun & Business Expo, which will be happening on April 11th this year. The Expo is a great event for local residents to learn more about the businesses we have in Hutchinson. Visit the Bring It Home Expo post to learn more, and to register.
Something to think about:
- If you are shopping online ask yourself, “Can I buy this product locally?”
- When shopping online, does the cost of shipping and potential difficulty getting good customer service outweigh the perceived savings?
- Does it really make sense to take the time, and additional money driving to another community, to buy something you can get locally?
- If you can save a significant amount of money outside the community, have you considered talking to a local resource and asking them to match the price?
New & Returning Members
We would like to welcome our new members to the Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce!
Redline Systems, Inc. ~ 25 Michigan Ave SE, Hutchinson ~ 320-234-8331
TEK Mechanical Service, Inc. ~ 220 5th Ave NW, Hutchinson ~ 320-587-2779
We also want to thank our renewing members:
February Business After Hours
February Business After Hours will be held on February 12th at Factory Direct Furniture from 4-6 pm.
Updates & Reminders
Hutch Bucks are officially retiring as of February 28, 2015.
Postcard reminders are being mailed out to Hutchinson businesses this week.
If you have any remaining Hutch Bucks, we encourage you to spend them locally as soon as possible. As of March 1st, all outstanding Hutch Bucks will be expired and should not be accepted. We also ask that you deposit any remaining Hutch Bucks at your earliest convenience. If you have any questions, please call the Chamber office at 320-587-5252.
Music in the Park applications are available for bands, social hosts, and sponsors. 
We have been working on some fun and exciting changes and look forward to a summer of great Monday night concerts! Applications are available on our website or by email/phone request. If you have any questions about Music in the Park, becoming a Concert Sponsor, hosting a social, or playing as a band, we encourage you to contact us.
Click here to view the applications
Extras
Make sure to check out additional information from our members as well as some extra information from the articles above. Clicking on the photos will bring a full page view for your convenience.
