Box Butte Development Newsletter
RETAIL FORUM
Thursday, March 28th was a great night to pull local retailers together from Alliance and Hemingford.

We discussed the recent announcements and closures of two anchor retailers, sales tax, resources available, retention & expansion opportunities for existing businesses. It is harder to recruit new businesses to a community who's existing businesses need support. We plan to strengthen our current base and once we do that, new opportunities should come knocking.

We dove in deeper to discuss challenges & successes. Marketing seems to be the most challenging for existing businesses. Today, the consumer is looking for more convenient or immediate access vs. "shopping" and that is disheartening.

We as a community need to be better about supporting those who support our community. The sales tax collected goes into our streets, infrastructure, and quality of life things that most take for granted. Our parks, pool, and museums are all successes and something to be proud of. Why can't our businesses we have be a success vs. the lack of what we don't have?

We are in a "use it or lose it" world today. I challenge you to spend some time in our stores. Become familiar with what they do have and who is willing to order in what you want. You will be suprised. I personally value a "relationship" over a "dollar" but I may be old fashioned, and I'm only 32.

BIG BOX retailers have certain demographics to meet and proximity to warehouse distribution plays a major part in getting the product here. The City nor BBDC have NO authority to prevent any business from coming to our community, despite what you may hear.

BBDC is here to assist any business looking to start, expand, or relocate. We have valuable resources available, just ask.

Support local. The big boxes aren't supporting our local teams and fundraisers. If you don't shop local, we will lose more.

I want to leave you with a positive. Over half of our population is under 50, meaning young families are choosing to move back or home. It isn't because of the businesses we have or don't have, it's because of the quality of life they remember or desire. There is enough negative in the world, why not try being positive for a change.

~Chelsie Herian
INVESTOR SPOTLIGHT
WESTCO &
Land O’Lakes donate $6,000 to Hemingford Food Pantry

WESTCO and the Land O’ Lakes Foundation continued their support of local food pantries with a $6,000 donation to the Hemingford Food Pantry on Monday. The contribution was made possible by the Land O’ Lakes Foundation’s Member Coop Match Program, Feeding Our Communities, which focuses specifically on helping alleviate hunger in rural America.

The Member Co-op Match Program matches dollar-for-dollar the cash donation of member cooperatives, thus doubling the funds available for hometown projects and programs.

“As a part of our commitment to rural communities where Land O’Lakes, Inc. members, employees and facilities are located, Land O’Lakes Foundation is pleased to match donations by member cooperatives which help enhance the quality of life in their local communities,” said Lydia Botham, Executive Director for the Land O’Lakes Foundation.

WESTCO General Manager David Briggs added, “WESTCO is grateful for the opportunity to partner with Land O’ Lakes once again in supporting local food pantries. The Hemingford Food Pantry continues to provide a vital service year-round and we hope these funds can help them with their goals of alleviating hunger in the community.”
VIDEO MARKETING
CLASS
June 25th, 2019
In an effort to enhance our communication efforts with our investors, businesses, and our community we have decided that we need to utilize video marketing. We want to make sure we are putting out not only quality information, but a quality video as well. WNCC will be having a hands on class walking through shooting, editing and posting the video on June 25th 2019 in Scottsbluff at the Harms Center.

For more information please contact Shaylee Hance.
HEMINGFORD NEWS:
Business Appreciation Dinner - March 22nd - a success with 44 attendees. Table Top Meats & the Randolph family catered a fantastic meal by the way. Everyone is looking forward to next year!

Chamber Board - meets once per quarter - second Tuesday's - NOON - Hemingford Telephone Co. conference room. Always looking for more members to join the board. SAVE THE DATES: July 9th & October 8th (next board meetings)
Hemingford Community Foundation
Some determined community members set forth a mission to make a difference and to develop a better place to live, learn, work, and play for all of Hemingford's residents and their surrounding areas. These community members recognized a need to create a nonprofit foundation with a principal purpose of making grants to pass along these local legacies. Please help support the Hemingford Community Foundation.
NEW BUSINESS & EXPANSION
Hemingford Community Redevelopment Authority (CRA) approved its first TIF (tax increment financing) application April 23rd. Ryan & Katie Dannar purchased the corner lot at 716 Laramie where they plan to build a new commercial building which will house Katie's salon along with other users. Congratulations!
Farmers Co-op Elevator expansion is still underway. The new bin will hold 919,000 bu, doubling the storage capacity on the east side of the elevator.

The new bin will be state of the art!
*****Public Transit Service - click here for dates/times of service.
TOURISM: CHART YOUR COURSE
Tourism in Alliance is gearing up for the next tourism season! May 1 st the Nebraska Passport Program releases! Afraid you will miss out on some of your stops? Download the Nebraska Passport App for free, and Chart your Course! May 5-11 is National Travel & Tourism week. This years theme is Travel Matters! Did you know that 50% of our Sales Tax Revenue is gathered from our visitors? Tourism and Economic Development go hand in hand, and this week is dedicated to educating everyone that travel matters! Keep an eye out for some fantastic facts in the next week! On top of that, we are getting our spring cleaning done, and putting out a full line of new and improved ads, as well as getting our slogan out and known! Our Instagram, Facebook, and Website are working toward being more updated and active. In February BBDC & Tourism partnered with KCOW to bring back the weekly activity report, you can listen to it on KCOW every Monday around 9:40 AM before OpenMic, or you can find it on our Visit Alliance Facebook Page. After attending a Nebraska Tourism Commission meeting, we have learned a lot about where Nebraska is spending their marketing budget and we hope to capitalize on their efforts and make Alliance stand out from the rest of Nebraska!   Learn more .
Starting June 1st - Denver Air Connection will take over the Alliance essential air service with direct flights to Denver (DIA).

Boutique Air will continue to serve Alliance through May 31st.
THE PERFECT BLEND W/ BBDC:
May 14th - Farmers Co-op
@ 317 Osborn St. (Hemingford)

June 11th - Alliance Rec. Center

July 9th - Dairy Queen

August 13th - NE State Chamber
@ Newberry's (Alliance Chamber)

September 10th - Village of Hemingford @ Village Pizza

More to come...
BANDS ON THE BRICKS - 2019
Contact Elizabeth Fritzler
to Volunteer! 308.760.3926 BandsOnTheBricks@outlook.com
Every Friday in July! (Alliance)

Hemingford's - Band on the Butte

Things to remember -
  • FREE Admission
  • LIVE MUSIC @ 6 p.m.-10 p.m.
  • Bring your lawn chair
  • Family Friendly
  • Beer Garden & Food Vendors
THANK YOU MEMBERS 2018-2019
PARTNERS:
Box Butte County
City of Alliance
Village of Hemingford

DIAMOND:
Bank of the West
Box Butte General Hospital
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway

GOLD:
Black Hills Energy
First National Bank of Omaha
Hemingford Telephone Co.
Westco

SILVER:
Dairy Queen
Western Nebraska Community College

BRONZE:
American Electric Power
Gregory's Insurance
PREMA
Parker-Hannifin
AFFILIATE MEMBERS:
Alliance Grocery Kart
Alliance Public Schools
Alliance Tractor & Implement
Allo Communications
Consumers Cooperative Federal Credit Union
Eagle Communications
Edward Jones - Rich Otto
Farmers Co-op Hemingford
Farmers National Co.
Farmers State Bank
Heartland Real Estate
Hemingford Public Schools
Holiday Inn Express
Kunzman Title Co.
Mobius Communications
Nebraska Dept. of Labor
Redman's Shoes
State Farm Insurance - Bob Neville
Steph's Studio
Syndicate Block Co.
Western Nebraska Real Estate

STRATEGIC PARTNERS:
Alliance Chamber of Commerce
Hemingford Chamber of Commerce
Chas & Ellen Lierk
Mike McGinnis
BOX BUTTE DEVELOPMENT & TOURISM
308.762.1800
www.boxbuttedevelopment.com
www.visitalliance.com
Connect With Us
CHELSIE HERIAN
Executive Director
SHAYLEE HANCE
Assistant Director/
Tourism
JESSICA LUX
First Impressions Ambassador