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Dennis Lauver    [Email]    [vCard]
President/CEO - Dennis is a native Kansan.  He returned to Kansas in late 2006 to become President/CEO of the Chamber.  Dennis previously served as President of the Chamber of Commerce in Clinton, Iowa, Sarpy County Nebraska and South Sioux City, Nebraska.  Dennis began work in the late 1980's at the Sioux City (Iowa) Chamber of Commerce as the Director, Community & Government Relations.  He is on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Economic Developers Association and has previously served as chair of the government affairs division of American Chamber of Commerce Executives, the trade association of Chambers of Commerce.  He has been a speaker and moderator at several of their National conventions.

He serves Kansas as an appointee of the Governor on the Electronic Health subcommittee of the Kansas Health Policy Authority. In addition, he is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank's Affordable Housing Council, which works with the bank to encourage affordable housing in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Oklahoma.

In 2009, he was designated a "Certified Chamber Executive" (CCE).  Less than 500 chamber officials in the world have the designation.  

Dennis graduated from Morningside College in Sioux City, IA and has an MBA from Wayne State College, which is part of the Nebraska University system.

Dennis and his wife have two boys.  In addition to spending time with his family, he enjoys being involved with the church they attend in Salina, reading and golf.    

You can follow Dennis at www.facebook.com/dennislauver and www.twitter.com/denlauver 

Don Weiser    [Email]  [vCard]
Senior Vice President - Don is a Kansas native and has been at the Chamber for 35 years.  He is a graduate of the University of Kansas with a degree in Journalism.  He is also a graduate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management, and has completed six years of Post-Graduate Institute.  Don is Past President of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce Executives and Past Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives Communication Council.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce Executives, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the American Chamber of Commerce Executives.

Don's primary responsibilities include membership development, communication, Leadership Salina and Salina Business Hall of Fame.

Don and his wife have two girls and 3 grandchildren.  In addition to spending time with his family, he enjoys all types of sports.     

Sandy Cole    [Email]    [vCard]
 Accountant - Sandy joined the staff in 1989.  Her primary responsibilities include accounts receivable and payable, membership database management, monthly financial reporting and budgeting for the Chamber and Visit Salina.  Sandy serves as staff liaison for the Finance Committee as they provide fiscal oversight and management of the organization’s assets.

Sandy studied data processing at the North Central Kansas Technical College, and is a graduate of the US Chamber Institutes for Organizational Management curriculum and Leadership Salina. She and her family live in Bennington, just north of Salina, which counts her among the many in the Salina workforce that commute from ‘bedroom communities’ daily. Sandy is also an active member of the Noon Network AMBUCS club. 

She shares her talent as a pianist in her church’s Praise Band.  In her spare time, she enjoys music, movies, needlepoint, and is an avid reader.

Larry Powell   [Email]    [vCard]
Director of Business Retention and Expansion - Larry joined the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce in 2008.  He has previously served as the Director of Community Development, City of Haysville, KS; Director of the Butler County, KS Economic Development; General Manager of Butler County, KS Port Authority; Business Relations Director for Pittsburg, KS; Director of Darlington County, SC Economic Development Board;  Economic Development Specialist for the Topeka, KS Community Development Department; President of the Ottawa, KS Chamber of Commerce & Ottawa Industrial Development Board and Executive Director of the Beloit, KS Area Chamber of Commerce and Beloit Industrial Development Board .  

Larry attended Business Retention & Expansion International training in 2009-2010 and is now a certified BR&E Project Coordinator.  Larry also holds a Mini-MPA from the “Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs” from Wichita State University; is a Graduate of the Economic Development Institute of Norman Oklahoma; a Graduate of the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management at Boulder Colorado; a Graduate of the Kansas Law Enforcement Academy (KU) and holds a BSBA with minors in Psychology and Music from Emporia State University.  

Larry is a member of the Governors Kansas Cavalry and served on that Board as the Assistant Regional Commander of Region 5 and Region 6 and is a founding member of the Kansas Industrial Development Authority, currently known as the Kansas Economic Development Alliance.  He has served on the state boards of the Kansas Retailers Association; KEDA and was the State of Kansas Representative on the Southern Economic Development Council, Inc. Board of Directors for 4 years.

Larry and his wife Patricia have five children.  They both enjoy outdoor activities, reading, traveling and playing card games. 

Eric Brown [Email]    [vCard]
Workforce Development Director - Eric is responsible for organizing and implementing Workforce Development programming to provide Salina area employers with sufficient quantity and quality of labor. He also works closely with other local, state and federal government partners to support local workforce development objectives.

Eric currently oversees development, marketing and continual updating of the Salina Education 2 Career website, which features a matrix listing all the career positions that exist in the Salina area. He also provides staff support to the Salina Area Young Professionals organization, this organization is designed to provide young professionals in the Salina the ability to improve their careers, develop leadership abilities, build their professional network, and give back to the Salina community.

Eric is a Kansas native having grown up in Brewster, Kansas. He received his B.A. degree from Fort Hays State University and his M.B.A. from Kansas Wesleyan University.

Eric and his wife Danielle have two wonderful children; a son and a daughter. In addition to spending time with his family and friends, he enjoys anything sports related, playing video games and is an avid Denver Broncos fan.

Rachel Hinde [Email]    [vCard]
Director of Communications and Military Affairs-Rachel joined the Chamber in 2011.  Her responsibilities include developing public relations and marketing programs, producing content for publications, online and social media communications, event coordination, implementing initiatives to build a healthy economy and improve the quality of life for the military and community.

Rachel graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations and a minor in Communications and Biology. She currently is a member of the following; Salina Arts and Humanities Commission Community Art and Design advisory committee, K-State Salina Students in Free Enterprise board, Salina Area Young Professionals, Salina Downtown Inc. Salina Breast Cancer Awareness Month steering committee, Professional Business Network, Volunteer Connection Advisory Board, and Senator Jerry Moran's Military and Veteran's Advisory committee.

Past achievements and memberships include: 2009 Salina Chamber of Commerce Leadership Salina,
2009 KWU Class Alumni Leader, 2008 Public Relations/Communications Club President,
2008 KWU Advance newspaper feature editor and staff writer, 2007 Salina Art Center steering committee member.

Rachel enjoys spending time with her daughter Liv, family and friends.  Her interests include; art, theatre, cooking, public relations, networking, travel, music, animals, outdoor sports, and running.

http://www.facebook.com/rachelhinde7  http://twitter.com/#!/rachelhinde7  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rachel-hinde/29/78a/421
http://www.facebook.com/salinamilitaryaffairscouncil  http://twitter.com/SalinaCofCMAC  http://www.youtube.com/user/SalinaCofCMAC?feature=mhee
http://www.facebook.com/SalinaMakesSense  http://twitter.com/#!/salinamakessens  http://www.youtube.com/user/SalinaMakesSense?feature=mhee
http://www.facebook.com/salinachamber  http://twitter.com/SalinaCofC 

Delta Bryant    [Email]    [vCard]
Administration and Operations - Delta is support staff for the front office and her responsibilities include event coordinating, School to Career placements, coordinator for the All America Team and Mid America Farm Expo.

Before moving to Salina Delta was a floral designer in Colorado.   Some of her favorite hobbies include reading and watching classic movies.

Donna Smith    [Email]    [vCard]
Accounting Assistant - Donna assists in compiling and recording financial data and maintaining fiscal records according to established accounting procedures.  She also manages the Plan Room and Visit Salina Annex rentals.  

Prior to joining the Chamber in Sept 2000, Donna was a sales/service manager for a local manufacturing facility. 

Donna is a life long resident of Salina and along with recreating with family & friends, she enjoys agricultural activities, culinary arts, digital photography & reading.

Heather Stanek     [Email]    [vCard]
Data and Events Specialist- Heather assists in updating, maintaining, and staff training in the membership database. She also spends time with Visit Salina in providing support for coordination and communication with volunteer forces, database management and website maintenance, creation and distribution of materials, and support on events that come to Salina.

Before joining the Chamber staff in July 2011, Heather worked with the Salina Parks and Recreation Department assisting with the athletic programs. She is a native of Fort Dodge, Iowa and graduated from Minnesota State University-Mankato in 2010, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services with an emphasis in Leisure Program Management.

Heather enjoys playing volleyball, zumba, running, leading a local church band in vocals and guitar, anything outdoors, and learning all that Salina has to offer!


Visit Salina Staff

Sylvia Rice    [Email]    [vCard]
 Director - Sylvia joined the Chamber’s Convention and Visitors Bureau staff in 1991, first specializing in the convention market.  Years of experience in hotel sales, operations and management instilled a strong commitment to great customer service and providing a warm welcome to our visitors, the basic tenants upon which the Visit Salina program is built today.  Her primary responsibilities now include marketing, advertising, publications, administration, staff development and the group/leisure markets.  Sylvia works with Salina’s hospitality industry – hotels, attractions, retail, restaurants and events – to develop and promote the “Salina Experience”.

Sylvia is passionate about tourism and about the role Salina plays in creating the Kansas product.  She represents Salina in many regional coalitions and partnerships, including the Kansas I-70 Association, Kansas Adventures Times III, North Central Kansas Tourism Council, and the Travel Industry Association of Kansas (TIAK), having served as 2007 TIAK President.  Sylvia attended Kansas Technical Institute, is a graduate of the US Chamber Institutes of Organizational Management, and has earned the TIAK designation of Kansas Destination Specialist. 

Sylvia and husband Richard have three grown children and six grandchildren. Sylvia enjoys classic movies, theatre, concerts, cooking, and is involved in her church.  But her most treasured 'down time' is spent exploring Kansas with her grandchildren – tourism promoters in the making!

Tiffany Benien    [Email]    [vCard]
Sports and Events Manager - Tiffany is responsible for servicing and securing sports and special events that attract visitors into Salina.  She is passionate that Salina is a great city to promote as a destination for new and existing sports and special events, she strives to ensure that the sports market will continue to attract visitors and create a significant influx of new dollars into the Salina community. Tiffany often evaluates and estimates the visitor spending that events hosted in Salina provide to the community.  Vital to her staff are scores of community volunteers, which Tiffany recruits, directs and builds strong relationships with so that Salina’s events can be successful.

Tiffany also works closely with the staff at local facilities including the Salina Bicentennial Center, the Salina Parks and Recreation, and USD #305. Tiffany has experience working with several sports events held in Salina on an annual basis.  Examples include Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) championships for baseball, basketball, football, softball, volleyball, and wrestling; the NJCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship--the Salina JUCO Basketball Blast; KS ASA Softball Tournaments; Triple Crown Sports; Youth Baseball and American Legion Baseball tournaments; golf tournaments, conventions and more.

Tiffany began working for the Chamber in 1995. Prior to the Chamber, Tiffany attended Kansas Wesleyan University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business. Tiffany is a native of Salina, attending high school in Bennington.  

Tiffany and her husband, Jeromy, enjoy softball, volleyball and traveling to destinations where palm trees are plentiful. They have a daughter, Rylee, born Dec. 2008 who brings new focus and tremendous joy to their lives. Rylee likes Salina and is also fond of her favorite vacation destinations, Orlando and Merrit Island, Florida.

Jo Ann McClure    [Email]    [vCard]
 Convention Sales - Jo Ann joined the Chamber’s Visit Salina office in 2004 as the Convention Sales and Services Manager. Her primary responsibility is to market Salina as a convention and meeting destination.  She works closely with Salina’s varied meeting venues and lodging facilities to attract and successfully service groups of up to 1,500!  Jo Ann has a strong commitment to meeting planners who  select Salina as their host city.  Since joining our staff, she has enjoyed working with many state and regional associations, reunion and military groups, and has been instrumental in hosting significant events including the Kansas Unmanned Aerial Systems Symposium and Hawgsmoke.

Prior to joining the team at Visit Salina, Jo Ann spent many years as an Advertising Sales Executive at the Salina Journal, and several years in the hospitality industry while she attended and graduated from Cloud County Community College and Kansas Wesleyan University.  

Jo Ann is the bride of Russell Schmidt and they continue to make their home in Salina. They enjoy traveling, cruising in their 1969 Corvette, company of friends, family, and their dog and cat.

Andi Pahl    [Email]    [vCard]
Administrative Assistant - Andi keeps Visit Salina running like a well-oiled machine!  Her primary responsibility is the distribution of visitor information - Visit Salina and other promotional brochures, requested visitor information packets, responses to advertising inquiries, and calendar of event information, just to name a few.  She supports the Visit Salina staff in coordinating volunteer schedules, arranging customized services for conventions and events that might include transportation, registration, welcome packets and programming. 

She is a proud Salina native, and is our ‘unofficial historian’ on staff.  If it’s a question about Salina, she either knows the answer, or knows the person who does!  She often represents Visit Salina at consumer travel shows such as the Kansas Sampler Festival and Kansas State Fair.

Andi graduated from Salina High School and Brown Mackie College.  She returned to Salina in 1998 after 20 years in New Jersey, where she was an editorial assistant at Financial Executives Institute, Morristown and executive assistant at Metro Commercial Real Estate, Mount Laurel. 

In her leisure time, Andi explores for antiques, is a great cook, and likes to travel.  She also enjoys Chamber events and First Thursdays in the Lee District!
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