1 P a g e FREE! TAKE ONE! Milford Chamber of Commerce Community Newsletter December 1, 2015 2015 Board of Directors Volume 27, Issue 1 Nancy Jantze, President - SCC Milford Campus Josie Stauffer, Vice President - Sunrise Country Manor Susan Nitzsche - Jones Bank Roger Wittrock - Pizza Kitchen Kurt Kadlec - Farmers & Merchants Bank Katie Wergin InsureNE Kylie Schildt - Advanced Association Management Lindsay Kohout - Secretary/Treasurer Mark your Calendars!! Cooks from around the community will be simmering up a variety of soups and chili s to warm your hearts and fill your tummy! You will be able to sample a variety of soups, and cast your vote for your favorites! Join us for a casual evening of fun and fellowship! January 23 rd, 2016 5:30 7:00pm SCC-Milford Campus Dunlap Center If you want to enter your favorite soup or want more information, email chamber@milford-ne.com
2 P a g e Happy Holidays from InsureNebraska! Starting November 23, stop by our office and pick a gift request from our Gift Tree. All gift requests will help Milford Families in need of assistance this Holiday Season! You can also call or email and we can pick a gift request for you! MARK YOUR CALENDARS! InsureNebraska OPEN HOUSE! December 14 December 18 Call or Email with any questions! 402-761-2291 or info@insurene.com Chamber Gift Certificates make wonderful employee gifts! Support your Chamber Business partners with this something for everyone gift idea. Available in any amount at Jones Bank Milford, Farmers & Merchants Bank Milford, and Pizza Kitchen. Upcoming Chamber Events! Dec. 2 nd Chamber Board Meeting 12:00 pm @ Pizza Kitchen Dec. 5 th Kiwannis Santa Party 9-11:30 Dec. 10 th Dec. 22 nd Milford Elementary Gym Chamber Member s Meeting 12:00 pm @ Pizza Kitchen **Chamber Christmas Party!** **Free Buffet Chamber Members Only!!!** Movie Night -the Webermeier Library Concessions at 6pm & Movie at 7pm
3 P a g e Advanced Association Management All Care Grounds Management Austin Company Bellwood Mennonite Church Beth-El Mennonite Church Burkey Farms Inc./Slepicka Construction Casey s General Store #1622 CEDARS Foster Care Cheney Lawn Care, LLC City of Milford Crestview Care Center Dragonfly Coffee House East Fairview Mennonite Educational Service Unit #6 Farmers & Merchants Bank Farmers Cooperative Fossil Fuels, LLC G & P Development Landfill Gatherings on the Blue Gerhold Concrete Company Grace Missionary Church Hauder & Martin Inc. Havlat Computers Heartland Log Crafters & Sons Heyen Tax & Accounting Inc. Home Real Estate Stacy Hartgerink InsureNebraska & Premier Real Estate Jantze Group Inc. Jones National Bank & Trust Company JRS Roofing, Inc. Juice Plus+ - Darla Armstrong K&T Auto Cleaning Kohout Farm Repair, LLC Lauber-Moore Funeral Homes Leichty Rentals Martin Excavating Inc. Midwest Feeding Company Midwest Tree Cutters Milford A/C & Appliance Inc. Milford Area Historical Society Milford Assembly of God Church Milford Chiropractic Clinic Milford Dairy Queen Milford Dental Clinic Milford Family Medical Center Milford Frame Clinic & Autos/Alimo Storage Rentals Milford Housing Authority Linden Village Milford Mennonite Church Milford Pharmacy Milford Physical Therapy Milford Plumbing Inc. Milford Public Schools Milford Times Nelson Contracting, LLC NPPD Pac N Save Milford Pizza Kitchen Randy s Studio Roth Aerial Spraying, Inc. SB22 Properties, LLC SCC-Milford Campus Schlueter Repair & Specialties Schweitzer Customs Seward County Bridges Seward County CASA Seward County Independent Seward County Pheasants Forever Seward County Public Transit Sheri s Bar & Grill Stelling Carpentry & Construction Stop N Shop Milford Subway Motors Company Subway Sandwiches Milford Sunrise Country Manor Super Spray Car Wash & Super Storage/Roth & Troyer Construction The Garbage Company Total Essence Salon Troyer Insurance Inc. Turning Point Behavioral Health & Addiction Counseling United Methodist Church Uribe Refuse Services Inc. Watson Automotive Service & Sales Wergin s Lawn Service The members of the Milford Community Chamber of Commerce would like to wish you a healthy and happy holiday season. Thank you for your patronage. We look forward to another year of providing our services to you!
4 P a g e YOU ARE INVITED TO THE ANNUAL Santa Party and Gingerbread House Contest Sponsored by Milford Kiwanis Where: Milford Elementary Gym Santa Party: Saturday, December 5 9 to 11:30 a.m. Visit Santa, participate in crafts, view Gingerbread creations, and socialize with refreshments. Deliver Gingerbread Houses to Milford Elementary Gym on Friday, December 4, 3:15 to 6:15 p.m. All participants in gingerbread house contest receive a small prize. Prizes are awarded in all categories from pre-school through adult. Gingerbread houses and decorations must be of edible material. The base does not have to be edible. Houses may be made of gingerbread or graham crackers. Baked goods for sale by Ladies Auxiliary. Questions: Sheryl Piening Keller- 402.761.3576 or Verlyn Dunlap-402.761.2523.
5 P a g e MILFORD AREA CHURCHES HOLIDAY SERVICE SCHEDULES December 2 nd -Christmas Program, Little Leaps of Faith at 10:00am -Advent Dinner at 6:00pm Advent Services at 7:00pm December 6 th -Advent Sermon Series The Thrill of Hope 10:30am December 9 th -Advent Dinner at 6:00pm Advent Services at 7:00pm December 13 th -Advent Sermon Series The Thrill of Hope & Children s Christmas Program 10:30am -Christmas Program at 6:30pm Beth-El Mennonite Church 115 North F Street, Milford December 16 th -Advent Dinner at 6:00pm Advent Services at 7:00pm -Bellwood Christian Montessori School Christmas Program 6:30pm Bellwood Mennonite 520 South B Street, Milford December 20th -Sunday School Children s Program 10:30am Bellwood Mennonite 520 South B Street, Milford -Christmas Service 10:30am Children s Christmas Program 6pm followed by a soup supper. Milford Mennonite Church 920 3 rd Street, Milford -Coffee & Fellowship 9:30am Christmas Celebration- 10:30am Milford Assembly of God 303 South A, Milford -Advent Sermon Series The Thrill of Hope 10:30am December 24th -Christmas Eve Service - 4:00pm Beth-El Mennonite Church 115 North F Street, Milford -Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 5:30pm Bellwood Mennonite 520 South B Street, Milford December 24 th Continued - Christmas Eve Service 6:00pm Milford Assembly of God 303 South A, Milford -Christmas Eve Service - 7:00pm -Christmas Eve Service 7:00pm Grace Missionary Church 501 Fairway Drive, Milford -Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 5pm & 11pm -Christmas Eve Candlelight Service-11pm Milford Mennonite Church 920 3 rd Street, Milford December 25th -Christmas Day Service 10:00am -Christmas Day Service 10am East Fairview Mennonite Church 508 280 th Road, Milford -FREE Christmas Dinner EVERYONE welcome! 12:00pm 1:30pm 2016 Fun Days Theme!! Do you have a suggestion? Contact a board member or email chamber@milford-ne.com
6 P a g e Milford Chamber 2016 As 2015 draws to close, the Milford Chamber has been in the midst of planning for 2016. Along with events and fundraisers for the community, the chamber has been actively discussing its role and future plans for Milford. We have enlisted the help of the Nebraska Main Street Program to help us clarify our vision, goals and structure moving forward. We have identified three key areas to address: feedback, outreach and structure. Our first step will be sending out surveys to the community to help us learn how to better serve the needs of our businesses and the people of Milford. Current chamber members will receive these surveys with their renewal letters next month. We will also be actively pursuing feedback from non-chamber members and the community as a whole. These surveys will guide our decisions on how best to use our time and resources. We hope you will take the time to give us your feedback on areas we can improve. In addition to the surveys, we have also determined the need for a more structured system to reach out to local business. Starting in 2016, we will be forming a committee to perform regular visits to area businesses. This will enable the chamber to stay connected to needs of our local business community. For this first year, we aim to meet with one business a month for these more in-depth interviews. The third area to address for the upcoming year is to solidify our committee structure. This should enable the board to better provide the services needed to Milford. Guided by the results of our surveys, we will be evaluating our existing activities and making decisions on how to be the best stewards of the resources generously provided by our members. We on the board recognize the great wealth of membership provided by our Milford community and ask for your continued support of both time and resources to best meet the needs identified by you, our members. We welcome your feedback over the next few months as we begin to make these changes. As chamber members, your input and continued participation is key to making our organization successful. Thank you all for the work you do for Milford and for the chamber. Josie Stauffer -Milford Chamber Vice-President
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8 P a g e What s happening.. at Southeast Community College Milford Campus with Ed Koster, Director/Vice President for Technology Hello, well it s been a little over a year since I took on the role of Milford Campus Director/Vice President for Technology for Southeast Community College. For those who may not be familiar with me my name is Edward Koster, I have been working in higher education for about 9 years with the last four years in senior administrative positions. Prior to my time at Southeast Community College I spent three years as the Chief Information Officer at Mount Marty College in Yankton, SD and before that I spent five years at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City, IA as the Director of Information Systems. I grew up on a farm in Northwest Iowa and have a bachelor s degree from Northwest Missouri State University in Finance and a Master of Business Administration Degree from Wayne State College in Wayne, NE. It has been a whirlwind of a first year here in Milford. Southeast Community College is working on taking a detailed look at where we are and where we want to go. This process is really a transformational one consisting of four phases. The four phases of the transformation are enrollment planning, strategic planning, facilities planning and organizational structure. Two of these phases have been completed, the enrollment planning and strategic planning. The facilities planning piece is getting close to being completed and the organizational structure analysis will begin being looked at in the spring. This has generated many exciting future possibilities although many are still in the planning and approval process. But enough about the future possibilities. Let s talk about things that have changed over the last year. For anyone who has driven by the main entrance you will notice we have installed a new digital sign so that we can share information to those just driving by. Also many of you may be aware that our John Deere programs at the Milford Campus have a new expanded facility that now has doubled the square footage with four new classrooms and more lab space. Finally if you have been in the Eicher Technical Center recently you will see we are just completing major renovations to our Library Resource Center. There have also been some changes that you won t see but demonstrate the college s continued commitment to the Milford campus. The college has spent considerable funds updating roofs, installing new HVAC systems as well as enhancing the security systems on campus. Finally, I will leave you with some information about an upcoming celebration. The Milford Campus of Southeast Community College will be celebrating 75 years of existence. The college will be celebrating this event on May 6 th and 7 th, 2016 and I would encourage all of the community to come by and see all the changes and additional information about the future of Southeast Community College.