As I write this paragraph, we are on a bus traveling east bound on I-70 from Colorado Springs.  Over a dozen members of the Salina Basketball Task Force went to the annual meeting of the National Junior College Athletic Association.  Salina hosted a dinner for more than 125 athletic directors, coaches and organization leaders in the effort to extend the championship tourney in Salina to 2012.  This group of hard working people has strong consideration for Chamber volunteers of the year.  Visit Salina staff (Tiffany Benien in particular) and the volunteers do a great job! 

As I write this, Sylvia Rice (Visit Salina director) and I are billboard watching on I-70.  Our intent is to locate eastbound billboards that are candidates for advertising Salina as a travel destination.  When you stop and think about it, as I am doing now, it is amazing to see how many billboards there are.  You can learn about the strategy of other cities by seeing how they promote themselves.  It is also surprising to see how many "dead" billboards are still up for no reason when the business no longer exists.  It is an opportunity for Salina and certainly a good use of our time on the bus. 

I actually listened to the floor of the Kansas House over the Internet.  Around 10:30 pm on the day before I wrote this, I listened to Charlie Roth, Deena Horst and Josh Svaty all speak in support of an amendment that will help Salina address the lack of affordable workforce housing.  Nice to see bipartisan effort to help Salina. 

Overheard today at a meeting (I am paraphrasing) "I'm busier now than I've ever been before.  So much for this so-called recession." 

On a related note: I was talking to a site location consultant the other day.  He advises clients about where to locate their major retail businesses.  He said, "sure is kind of slow right now. Everyone is nervous about the future."  I asked if Salina should retreat in our efforts to promote Salina as a location or should we take advantage of the fact that others have backed away from marketing themselves.  He said "by all means, now is the time to be aggressive and show you've got a strong market!"  Perhaps there is a lesson for other businesses and organizations. 

Chamber staff has attended a couple of really interesting meetings lately. There is some good thinking and cooperation occurring between four different post-secondary institutions and the Kansas Department of Commerce to work together.  Look for some innovative programming to help supply Salina area manufacturers with trained employees. Cooperation has its benefits and I expect to see some real good things coming soon... 

Speaking of training, did you know that over 700 employees in Salina are involved in training programs administrated by the State of Kansas?  Dave and Aaron can help you access these programs so your employees can increase their productivity.  Call them today!