DEI Initiatives Move Forward

Chair Summer Ott Dierks has prioritized these efforts and a task force led by Lisa Sisley has been working on ways to incorporate DEI into our program of work.As part of that progress, we are pleased to be partnering on two events scheduled to take place ...

House Election Candidates Answer Chamber Survey

While there aren't a lot of local elections that are garnering attention this election cycle, there are some races for the Kansas legislature that are important to Manhattan area residents.

As we usually do, the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce ...

Manhattan Tourism Director Announces Retirement

Chamber Vice President and Visit Manhattan Director Karen Hibbard announced today that she will retire in February of 2023 after 26 years of service to Manhattan.

“I am forever grateful for the opportunity I have had to be a part of making the Ma...

Chamber Visits D.C. to Discuss Federal Issues

Special from Mike Matson, Director of External Affairs Members of the Executive Committee of the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce packed a lot of relationship-strengthening and federal issue briefings into a whirlwind 36-hour trip to W...

Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce announces the winners of the 2022 Business Awards

The Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to recognize the successes and outstanding achievements of our members in six categories: Cornerstone, Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year, Women/Minority Owned Business of the Year, Entrepreneu...

Several Items on Agenda

Business Awards - Hopefully you all were able to see the finalists for this year's business awards scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 13. If you missed it, you can read the information here. As we've mentioned before, we feel one of the p...

Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce announces the finalists of the 2022 Business Awards

The Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to recognize the successes and outstanding achievements of our members in six categories: Cornerstone (Lifetime Achievement in Business and Industry), Small Business of the Year, Women/Minority Owned Busines...

Chamber Focusing On Fort Riley Issues

With around 15,000 soldiers, another 15,000 family members and over 5,000 civilian employees, the post has an enormous economic impact. The annual economic impact estimate is over $4 billion with a direct impact of just under $2 billion. While this is an ...

SPS Companies Named Manhattan Chamber Cornerstone Award Winner

The Cornerstone Award is generally considered a lifetime achievement award for a business that has had significant impact on the community. Criteria was established for this award and nominations were taken. A committee evaluated each nomination and decid...

Business Awards Sept. 13

The Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce will hold its 3rd Annual Business Awards Luncheon Tuesday, September 13 at 11:30 a.m. at the Manhattan Conference Center at the Hilton Garden Inn. The event will be a great way to recognize those businesses that are ...

Thursday Good Morning Manhattan! Agenda Packed with Information

This month's session, set for Thursday at 7:45 a.m., is full of great community information including key elements around housing and Kansas State University.

I'm pleased that our membership will have the opportunity to hear from the Kans...

Business Showcase on Wednesday

Business Showcase returns to the Four Points by Sheraton this week. The Showcase is an expo-style networking event featuring booths from dozens of Chamber members looking to interact and promote their businesses.

Doors open for the event at 5:30 p.m. with ...

Inter-Region Visit Set for September

There have been a number of ideas over the past decade that we have implemented in Manhattan that have come from our annual Inter-Region visits to other parts of the country. This year's event is set for Sept. 26 and 27. We will travel south to O...

Program Connects Students to Career Paths

Classroom to Career is an opportunity for businesses to be paired with an area fourth-grade classroom to share about their business and future career opportunities, enhance learning environments and direct students toward life-enriching professions. With ...

Nominate Business for 2022 Award

In case you missed it, nominations are open for the 2022 business awards. This year's event is set for Sept. 10 at the Manhattan Conference Center. You can find the information here.

We have added a new award this year for "Business of the Ye...

Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce Announces Chamber Blue of Kansas

Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce Announces Chamber Blue of Kansas  Association Health Plan powered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas

Manhattan, KANSAS (30 June, 2022) - The Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce a new partne...

Chamber Seeking Mentors for New Program

I am pleased to be discussing another exciting initiative of the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce. The Manhattan Professional Mentorship Program was created as we saw the importance, desire and need for our young professionals and entrepreneurs to devel...

MHK, Pottawatomie County Commissions Considering Scorpion Annexation

As we discussed at that time, there were public processes that had to take place before the company could begin construction. Tonight begins the first of several meetings that are required to make the project a reality.

The Manhattan City Commission will c...

Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce welcomes Mike Matson as Director of External Affairs

The Director of External Affairs will be a senior level position at the Chamber and will provide leadership for public policy-related activities of the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce. In this position, Matson will be responsible for developing strateg...

Black Entrepreneurs Gaining Momentum

This year is no exception, as there are several events scheduled throughout the week. For more information and a list of the events, go check out their website here.

However, I want to focus on the aspects of this week's celebration related to bus...

Sports Tourism Strategist Graduates Honored

A Manhattan tourism professional was recently honored as a leader in the sports tourism industry.

Marcia Rozell, sports and leisure tourism manager at the Manhattan Convention & Visitors Bureau, was recognized as a Sports Tourism Strategist graduate by...

Retreat Participants Hear Great Ideas

There was significant dialog on a number of subjects but certain things came through very clear.

First, housing is a challenge in the Manhattan region just as it is across the country. The Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce will be monitoring the ongoing h...

Canadian company uses technology developed at Kansas State University to create jobs in Manhattan

Stuart Jara, chief executive officer of HydroGraph, said the location was a strategic choice. 

“The close proximity of our manufacturing facility to our research partners at Kansas State University will help us maintain our com...

Leader's Retreat Set This Week

Hopefully you have all signed up for this year's session, which once again takes place at the Manhattan Conference Center. The event begins Thursday morning and concludes Friday afternoon. You can find the schedule here:

This year will have four a...

National Tourism Week Activities Set

Our most recent born and bred talent is Bridget Everett, talented singer, comedian and actor, star of HBO series Somebody, Somewhere which is now in its second season, and continues to bring attention to Manhattan. The Convention and Visitors Bureau has o...

Scorpion Biologic Services

This project is the kind that has the potential to change the economic landscape for years to come. If you didn't get to see the presentation, you can view it here.

Now our team will be getting to work to make sure all of the I's are dott...

Linda Cook receives Lyle Butler Distinguished Leadership Award as Leadership Manhattan alum

Linda Cook has been named as the recipient of the 2022 Lyle Butler Distinguished Leadership Award at the organization’s 2022 graduation ceremonies April 19. Cook recently retired from Kansas State University where she served as the chief of staf...

KS Gov. Laura Kelly Announces Partnership to Build Large Biomanufacturing Facility Near Manhattan

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and a panel of federal, state, local and Kansas State University officials today announced a planned development partnership with Scorpion Biological Services Inc. to support the construction of a new biodefense-focused biomanufact...

Legislative Coffee Set Saturday

Our local delegation will give their thoughts on what has transpired so far when we hold a Legislative Coffee on Saturday. The event is scheduled at 7:30 a.m. Please note that this year's event will be held at 1880 Kimball, at the Kansas State Of...

Child Care Appreciation Event Set May 1

Child care has became an important topic for communities around the country. In fact, it was a priority identified by attendees at our last Regional Leader's Retreat. The Chamber organized a child care taskforce that has been working to develop c...

Visit Manhattan is hitting the road

This Thursday, March 31, Visit Manhattan, along with hospitality partners, will be hosting the Oh Manhattan Road Show at the KSU Olathe Campus. Meeting planners were invited to attend this come and go event from 3 to 6 p.m. and engage with Manhattan partn...

Chamber Releases Local Policy Agenda

An organization like the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce is pulled in a number of directions from people throughout the community looking for support for a variety of initiatives. We obviously have been a strong community organization over the years th...

Chamber Partnering on Job Fair

We developed our Made for Manhattan brand and collaterals to help our local human resource professionals promote the community. We also send representatives to career fairs over a multi-state area where we promote local job opportunities to indiv...

Chamber Preparing Statement on Local Issues

In order to highlight the key areas by which the organization judges current issues, we released a Core Principles document in 2019. This document outlines our position on key issues that face local, state and federal governing bodies. However, the items ...

Chamber releases 2021 Annual Report

Each year at our annual banquet, we take the opportunity to showcase the results of the previous year through our annual report on activities. As you know, we just completed the 2022 annual meeting in which we ceremonially recognized the passing of 2021 t...

Trio Wins Chamber Awards

The 97th Annual Meeting of the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce was an incredible event for the 400+ in attendance. In addition to hearing from our outgoing Chair Mark Bachamp and our incoming Chair Summer Ott Dierks, the evening was highlighted with ou...

Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce names Tara Grubb as Young Professional of the Year

Grubb is the second recipient of the Young Professional of the Year award.

Tara Grubb has been engaged in the community since moving to Manhattan in 2011. She immediately got involved in the Chamber’s Young Professional program volunteering as a ...

Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce names Wayne Sloan as Lud Fiser Citizen of the Year

The Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year award is named in honor of long-tenured former Manhattan Chamber president Lud Fiser, who served from 1948 to 1975 and was responsible for such community developments as CiCo Park and Manhattan In...

Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce names Tracy Anderson as C. Clyde Jones Volunteer of the Year at a

The Chamber’s volunteer of the year award honors C. Clyde Jones, a 60-year Manhattan resident who served as first dean of Kansas State University’s College of Business. Jones has a long-running record of community service activity in M...

Group Looks at New "Senior" Programming

The Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce has been working with our young professionals over the past couple of years on an expanded and rebranded program. The launch of Hype in 2020 brought a lot of enthusiasm and the group is now starting to hit its stride...

Business After Hours Focuses on Small Business, Entrepreneurship

Our numbers continue to tell that story, even with the influx of new members in the last part of 2021. Of the 855 members in the organization, nearly 50 percent have 1 to 5 employees or are individual members. Nearly 75 percent of members have le...

Annual Meeting and Banquet Around the Corner

Tickets are on sale for the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce 97th Annual Meeting and Banquet presented by The Trust Company. The event will be Feb. 18 starting at 5:45 p.m. at the Manhattan Conference Center. 

Decision makers from both the priva...

Growth Imperative to Manhattan

As we have continued to host new member orientations for our more than 150 new members since October, we have spent a great deal of time talking about community and regional growth. And why wouldn't we? It is central to our strategy of creating e...

Chamber Leadership Positions Chosen for 2022

As we get back into the swing of things in the new year, it is a time to recognize our new volunteer leadership.  The most prominent is the change of board chairs. Mark Bachamp (Olsson) ended his time as chair on December 31. Mark has a ...

Chamber Ties Membership Record in 2021

I am proud to say we ended the year with a record number of members. We had our 855th member join in December, putting us in a tie for the highest membership level in the organization's history. 

I can not begin to express the amount of a...

DoD Approves $60 Million in Grants under Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot Program

These awards followed a competitive selection process culminating in the Performing Duties of Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment’s selection of these proposals on August 13, 2021. These infrastructure projects benefit loc...

Hype Rolls out New Membership Structure

The organization is beginning its second full year of operations after relaunching in 2021 from our early young professional programming. Starting today, Hype will be offering memberships for anyone interested in being part of the organization. The $50 me...

Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce announces the winners of the 2021 Business Awards

Manko Windows was named the 2021 Cornerstone award winner. Other winners were Weddle & Sons, Wildwood Adventure Park, Loving Arms Daycare, and Borck Brothers. Additionally, Bockers II and Wal-Mart were recognized as new Legacy Circle members which are...

Manhattan Pursuing Private Developers for Speculative Industrial Building

The Manhattan City Commission approved moving forward on a new program to encourage private sector speculative building for new industrial and warehousing space. The program is the ultimate example of public-private partnerships that have made Manhattan a...