The Chamber Strategic Planning Meeting was a Success -

We had an amazing turnout for the Wellsville Chamber of Commerce Strategic Planning meeting. Wellsville Health and Rehab provided the delicious dinner. We received tremendous feedback from our guests on the Chamber's role in our community and the benefits of belonging to the Wellsville Chamber.

Thank you to all who took the time to spend a couple hours with us and help us to be the best Chamber our town needs. Stay tuned as we prioritize what we learned and integrate your thoughts into our services.

If you would like to showcase your business by hosting a Chamber meeting and/or luncheon at your location, please let us know. This is a great way to familiarize other business owners with the tools and resources you have to offer the community and show off your physical space. Or you can cater the lunch and hold it at the Wellsville City Library or Wellsville Health and Rehab has also offer their space and can cater on site.

Lunch is Served -

• USD #289 will host on October 10^th and provide a tour of all the new updates at the high school. FACS class will provide food.
• Meet in front of the high school at 11:15AM for the Chamber Ribbon Cutting ceremony
• Enter at WMS doors at 11:30AM for tour of the school
• Lunch will be served at noon in Media Room
• Meeting will begin at 12:15PM
• November and December meeting lunches are still available, if you'd like to host!  

Stay tuned for another Chamber year full of Spotlights. For this next Chamber year (September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2024), we will focus on the products and services of our Gold and Platinum members!

Wellsville Chamber Sign Advertising program -

Have you noticed the beautiful banners displayed every two weeks on the Wellsville Chamber sign sitting on Highway 33 in the field next to Bert's and across from Auburn Pharmacy? If not, take a look next time you are driving by. We have received lots of positive feedback about the program. You can use the sign to celebrate a milestone, award, an employee or anyone or anything about our town.

If you would like to advertise to the thousands of cars passing by our billboard on Highway 33 each day, we can help produce and display a banner designed just for your business. This Chamber sign is especially important to your business if you are a business located somewhere other than on 33 highway. Many people who live outside Wellsville or are coming off the highway to stop at Bert's or Casey's don't know what other businesses Wellsville has to offer. They might make it a point to use your services each time they are in town if they only knew where you were!

We are currently soliciting 2023-2024 Chamber Sign spots. Platinum members will get first pick of dates. Please reach out if you would like to book a spot.

• UTV tag renewal is due October 1st at City Hall.

Wellsville Police Enforce Seatbelts -

Beginning September 17th through September 23rd 2023, the Wellsville Police Department will join other Kansas Law Enforcement agencies to stop what has been likened to an epidemic in Kansas. In 2019, 8 children ages 0-13 lost their lives due to car crashes in Kansas. Sadly, 62% of those children were not wearing their seatbelts.

”In the health field, they talk about making sure children have received their immunizations to prevent deadly diseases,” said Chief Hackler. “But what many parents don’t think about is that wearing a seatbelt properly is the best prevention of serious injury or death in a vehicle.”

According to the 2019 Kansas observational seatbelt survey, children are much more likely to be buckled up if the driver is wearing their seatbelt. If the driver is buckled, about 97% of the children are restrained. If the driver is not buckled, only about 30% of the observed children were buckled. We want adults to model good driving behaviors for children.

Starting on September 17th through September 23rd, 2023, law enforcement across Kansas will be EXTRA-VIGILANT when patrolling around the schools. For more than 20 years, officers have educated and warned drivers and passengers regarding the importance of the using seatbelts while in their vehicle.

There should be no surprises when it comes to this enforcement effort. Officers will issue citations to anyone who does not obey Kansas Law.

Chief Hackler says, “Even one child’s death is unacceptable. Please slow down, especially in school zones, eliminate the distractions, and ALWAYS buckle up.”

For the latest data and to see more about Kansas safety belt laws, go to: www.ktsro.org.

Please let us know if you have any job opportunities you'd like to share with the Wellsville Chamber members and the Wellsville community.

Monthly FCDC Review -

Workforce -

We have the final 2023 housing study. The full report has been shared with the City of Ottawa, City of Wellsville, Franklin County, potential developers, and FCDC members that work in that area as part of their business. The recommendation section of the report has been shared with all FCDC members. Paul Bean is hopeful this can be a kickoff point for more discussions in Ottawa and Wellsville for strategic planning of housing growth in the future. In the meantime, this study provides the document required for many grant programs. We are required to update this report every two years.

E Community -

We continue to see interest in new business and business expansion loans through E-Community and Network Kansas. Two more applications will be reviewed in September for two businesses in Ottawa. Paul Bean is happy to report we funded our first E-Community loan for a business in Wellsville this past month. We have currently awarded over $153,000 in E-Community loans this year.

Wellsville -

Paul Bean was the facilitator at the Wellsville Chamber of Commerce’s strategic planning session in Wellsville on September 5^th. We had a large turnout and a great discussion about the future of Wellsville and specifically the role that the Wellsville Chamber can play in the community’s future. Ottawa Chamber Director, Ryland Miller was on hand to provide insight which was appreciated by many.

Industry Luncheon -

FCDC will hold its next industry luncheon at the Wellsville High School. The renovations are complete and we encourage you to come see the fantastic improvements completed in Wellsville. FCDC member Loyd Builders did a fantastic job. The luncheon will be October 13^th, starting at noon. We will send out invites soon for your to RSVP so we can get the food count right!

FCDC Emergency Support and Assistance -

The recent storm that swept through Wellsville and Ottawa and the current heat wave have reminded us that things outside of our control can impact our business. It is wise to be prepared in the event your business is impacted by an event such as a tornado, electrical outage, flooding, cyber-attack, and more. 

There are programs available to help your business have a plan in place for such events. Feel free to use this link to get started on thinking about how you would respond if your business is interrupted by a serious event - https://www.ready.gov/business.

You are also always welcome to reach out to FCDC for support and assistance in connecting with the right agencies to assist you in the event of an emergency.

FCDC Housing Study Recommendations -

The 2023 housing study that FCDC contracted for to support efforts to obtain grants and other funds for housing development in our county has been received. Attached is the recommendation page from this report. The attached is the document that can help drive our conversations and efforts moving forward.

Franklin County has a unique opportunity to grow, and housing is a key element to that growth. What do we want our community to look like in the future? Strategic housing planning now will result in the long term health and quality of our community. The FCDC hopes we can begin to have constructive conversations throughout our community to build a strategic plan for growth. This report gives us a basis to start from for those conversations.

Franklin County Optimist Club -

School is back in session and the Franklin County Optimist Club is back recognizing Students of the Month at Wellsville Middle School. Our Student of the Month winners for August are:

• Landon Taylor -6^th Grade
• Bailey Adams – 7^th Grade
• Tavin Schuetz – 8^th Grade
• Students will each receive a gift card donated from Hot Off the Press.

Wellsville School District Projects and Programs -

Facilities Update -

The USD 289 bond project is complete!

• Ribbon-cutting ceremony for Wellsville Days
• 12PM in front of the high school on Saturday, September 23rd
• Tours will be included

Monthly Meeting -

• October 10th meeting will be held at he Wellsville High School.
• Meet in front of the high school at 11:15AM for the Chamber Ribbon Cutting ceremony
• Enter at WMS doors at 11:30AM for tour of the school
• Lunch will be served at noon in Media Room
• Meeting will begin at 12:15PM

Check out all the Wellsville Recreation Commission has planned for our community kids and seniors this month!

Library Updates -

The project is coming along nicely. Contractors are now hooking up the gas meter, toilets, and cabinets. Appliances will be installed soon. A walk through inspection is around the corner. The library staff has been sorting, cleaning and getting ready for phase 2 - the renovation of the old meeting room. It's not too late to make donations. They send a heartfelt "thank you" to EVERYONE who has contributed to this endeavor!!!

Wellsville Days Events Details -

• The 2023 Wellsville Days Booth Application is now available on the Wellsville Days website: https://wellsvilledaysks.com/booths/.
• All Main Street businesses need to complete the booth application for their 10X10 space

• Parade Registration: https://wellsvilledaysks.com/parade/

• 5K Registration: https://wellsvilledaysks.com/5k-runwalk/

Wellsville Secret Santa BBQ Competition -

The Wellsville Secret Santa Annual BBQ competition will be held October 6th -7th in front Chilli's. 

Sunday Service -

• Three identical in-person services at 8:00AM, 9:30AM, and 11AM
• Live online service at 9:30AM

Helping Hands Food Pantry Grocery Distribution -

• Fri September 15th
• Sat September 16th 19th

Open Table Community Church

Sunday Service -

• One in-person service 10AM
• Live online service at 10AM

Sunday Service -

• One in-person service 9AM
• Sunday School for all ages at 10:30AM
• Potluck on the 1st and 3rd Sundays at 11:30AM

Bible Study -

• Wednesday mornings from 9:30-10:30AM
• No matter how little or how much you know about the Bible, we guarantee you’ll learn something new at this study
• All are welcome to join us for an hour of study followed by a visit to Hot Off the Press for snacks

Men’s Bible Study -

• Tuesdays at 7PM

Revelation Bible Study -

• Wednesdays at 9:30AM

Youth Group -

• Wednesdays from 6:30-8PM

Small Groups -

• Wednesdays from 6:30-8PM (starting this summer)

Homeschool Co-op -

• Thursdays from 9AM-12PM

Men's Breakfast -

• Saturdays at 8AM

Women's Brunch -

• Every third Saturday from 9AM-12PM

Sunday Service -

•  In person worship and Church@Home - 10:45AM

2022/2023 Wellsville Chamber of Commerce Officers

Wellsville Chamber President

Jackson Dwyer

Loan Officer - Wellsville Branch

Mid-America Bank

Wellsville Chamber Co-Secretary

Sydney Kuhn

Universal Banker

Oak Star Bank

Wellsville Chamber Vice President

Susan Stueve

Sales Associate

Farm Bureau Financial Services

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Treasurer

Ken Larsen

CFO - Retired

Desoto School District