HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce hosted a campaign celebration event this week at The Alley to thank community leaders and program investors for a successful campaign that will fund economic development activities in Reno County for the next five years.

Rick Staab, President of Disability Supports of the Great Plans and the 2016 Chamber Board Chair, thanked everyone for their support of the Hutch Rising Capital Campaign and announced that the total amount raised was $1,628,280, from 123 businesses, organizations, and individuals. This exceeded the campaign goal of $1.6 million total for the next five years.

“Throughout the campaign we heard a lot of positive feedback from many of the businesses and leaders in the community that have made economic development a priority in this community,” said Staab. “Their generosity has given us much to celebrate.”

In March, the Chamber announced the Hutch Rising capital campaign and released “Greater Hutch, an economic development partnership for Reno County”, as the new name of the economic development division of the chamber. Over the span of the campaign, more than 150 presentations of the economic development strategic plan were made to more than 250 individuals in the community.

Campaign Co-Chair, Bob Bush, owner of City Beverage, touched on the next steps for implementing the five-year strategic plan.

“The first step is to establish an ongoing Economic Advisory Council to the Chamber Board,” said Bush. “This group of businesses and community leaders will be the primary group the Economic Development team works with to report activities, evaluate progress towards goals, establish an annual plan of work, and, most importantly, manage the financial resources that have been committed to the program.”

The Campaign Operations Committee will serve as the nominating committee to establish the Economic Advisory Council, which will ultimately be approved by the Chamber Board. Some of the initial items the committee will address include the 2017 economic development budget, updated job descriptions to prepare for new staff, workforce recruitment resources, and streamlining several economic development functions that are now spread across several chamber organizations.

Greater Hutch will continue to work with city, county and state officials to attract new business to Reno County while also working closely with existing companies on expansion efforts and other challenges they face.